Good Start

My host dad bade me farewell with a "Good Amusement" this morning (he likes this more than "Have Fun") and I was off to Tuscany. 

My new director met me and one of my new co-tutors at the Arezzo station and we drove to Foiano.  A few minutes after leaving I asked her in very simple English how many years this camp has been running and she said "Your family is 15 minutes from the camp."  This was not a good sign.  Then she sped straight into a roundabout not seeing the car right in front of us and slammed on the brakes a couple feet short of it.  Also not a good sign.  The director situation this week should be interesting.

But the family, oh the family.  They have a 4-story free-standing building.  The first floor is the garage, second floor is for the dad's parents, third floor for guests, fourth floor for the family (where I'm staying).  It's quite a hike to get up here but the reward is a miles-long view of the Tuscan countryside. 

I have a host sister who will be attending camp, a host mom who works at the family furniture shop, and a host dad who coaches Foiano's football (soccer) team.  Oh and then there's Guido, the dog who's probably the best footballer in the family.  He always has a ball in his mouth that he rolls down the driveway until you kick it somewhere and he's on it in 2 seconds.

Tonight we went to a festival in nearby Acquaviva with a few other families, where they were celebrating their patron saint's day.  The parent who spoke the most English explained almost every item on the menu to me, like "Penne is a type of pasta."  I had the typical pici pasta which my Mom and I made a few weeks ago at our cooking class, and my host dad and I split a 1 kg steak.  Definitely the biggest steak I've ever seen.  But we finished it.

Tomorrow is lunch at my host mom's mom's house, who's rumored to be the best cook in the family, and then a trip to somewhere nearby, not sure where.