Ciao Italia!

Hello everyone! I’m finally writing the much anticipated first entry to my blog, Twenty-One in Tuscany. And by much anticipated, I mean that my mom really wants me to do it. Gotta keep the fans happy!

First, I would like to address that I am actually twenty, and I turn twenty-one on June 26. Didn’t want anyone to accuse me of lying (I know that my hardcore fans know everything about me).

A few months ago I found a program that allowed me to au pair in Italy. I applied for the program, and about a month and a half ago, I was paired with a family: a mom, dad, and 9-year-old daughter.

So.. this past Saturday (June 4), I hopped on a plane in New Orleans headed for Rome. I had one stop in Atlanta, which was delayed 4 hours. The thing that was the worst part was that they had us board the plane, and then the delay continued. However, I made a new best friend (a 70-something year old Asian lady from California), and she thought I was awesome.

The plane ride was uneventful. I landed in Rome (around 12:30 pm of June 5), and realized, due to the delay, I had missed my train by 20 minutes. I got a new ticket, hopped on the train, and was en route to Siena, where my host family lives. After running around train stations likea crazy person (and postponing my arrival because I missed one of my connections), I made it to Siena where my family was waiting for me. Their names are Lucia, Giovanni, and Francesca.

The parents speak enough English where we can communicate through both languages (struggling but still communicating). Francesca, however, doesn’t speak any English. That didn’t stop us from playing a hilarious game of hide-and-seek, though.

After the family picked me up from the train station, they brought me over to a friend’s house, where dinner was waiting (and by dinner… I mean 5 courses… so feast, in my opinion). I honestly don’t know what everything was, but let me try to explain it.

When I arrived, they popped a bottle of champagne. There was very little English being spoken, so naturally, there was a lot of smiling and nodding on my part. We began with fresh tomatoes, with some intense, delicious paste and olive oil on top. Second, we had some vegetable (no idea what it was) that was stuffed with another delicious paste-like filling. The whole time bread is being served with the option of yet another delicious paste on top of it. Next, they open a bottle of red wine. The third course we had was a pasta. It was angle hair, mildly cheesy, and had a small amount of vegetables in it. Don’t know what it was, but it was molto delizioso! For our meat course, we had small tender beef medallions that had been cooking in a tomato sauce. Even though I wanted to cry from fullness, they brought out a chocolate mousse with cookies in it, so I was forced to eat it. Naturally, they opened a dessert wine from Sicily. They also insisted (they didn’t have to do much convincing) that I try another type of cookie that “is a Siena Tradition”!! It was light and airy, had a hint of lemon, and was topped with powdered sugar.

It was fantastic!

When we arrived to their home (in the very heart of Siena) they showed me to my room, which has a little staircase to reach it and provides a lot of privacy. The home is beautiful, and I can’t wait to get started!