Day Uno

There’s so much to say about my new home. First of all, it’s pretty awesome:

My host family is so very nice. Michele and Pamela speak English well, and little Fillipo understands it perfectly (but will only speak English words when prompted). They live on the first floor of this beautiful, Italian house, while Pamela’s parents live on the second. Nonno (Grandpa) and Nonna (Grandma) are exactly what you’d expect of Italian grandparents – pretty much, the best grandparents ever. They speak nary a word of English and I have a feeling that I’m going to learn a ton from them.

My room is in the apartment on the third floor (though in Italy, it’s called the secondo piano, second floor). I have my own room with a balcony, huge wardrobe that dominates one wall, internet, and two twin beds. (Count ‘em: two). I also have access to a kitchen all my own and it’s balcony. Awesome. From my eastern windows, you can see the foothills of the mountains (they might be the Alps, Apennines, or the Dolomite mountains where the two ranges meet. I haven’t figured it out yet).

Outside the window, an owl hoots at random times in the day and night. On the hours and half-hours, the church bells sound. My room smells of holy water, and though I don’t dislike it, every time I walk into my room I think, my room smells like holy water.

To see more pictures of my new home, check out my photobucket images.

So the title for au pairs is “Tata.” That means that my name in this household is Tata Lindsey, but from the mini-Italian, it comes out “Tata een-say.” I have to say, it kind of fits, doesn’t it?

The three Tatas before me where all different nationalities: Australian, Scottish and Irish. So they are having a bit of trouble understanding my American accent. I find this very amusing.

It’s cold and rainy, but it’s Italian cold and rain, so it’s pretty cool.