Letters from Italy...1. Welcome!

I'll have to admit it has been quite the adventure and I have only been here for a couple days. I was expecting a little bit of a culture shock but it is certainly different once you're here and living it. The people here are unbelievably kind I have never met so many welcoming individuals. I have four roommates, all Italians (2 from Tuscany-Marta & Mara, 1 lives north of here whose family owns a farm- Andrea, and the other is somewhere near Bologna -Sara). This is only the living situation for a couple weeks till the other foreign girls come in- Darcy from Los Angeles and Katrina from New Zealand. 

Stories from Day 1:

I get up the next day recovering from my jet lag and craving coffee (del caffe). What I got was a glass the size of a thimble. Espresso shots are what they serve here! My roommates found this was hilarious- my expression to Italian coffee was something quite unexpected.  Apparently I didn’t Google enough about the Italian lifestyle… It was yummy but after adding lots of sugar; it’s so strong!

During lunch we are all sitting around the table and three of the girls speak fluent English the other one seems to understand me but it’s difficult to carry conversation. Anyways they found out I liked red wine and two minutes later I have homemade wine cracked open in front of me and we’re all drinking a glass, even with practice in a couple hours (totally against KL’s rules, haha KSUSB)! It was great; they don't seem to have a care in the world. Next comes homemade salami from my Andrea’s farm for me to try. Her family makes a lot of homemade stuff, cheese, wine, meats… her house is an hour from here and I’ve already been invited, definitely going there!! Day one and I've already had homemade wine and salami. I could get used to this hospitality.

So practice was an adventure in itself! It’s definitely more relaxed than playing college ball in the U.S., with coffee shots being served during practice to whoever wants them and the coach cracking open a 40 oz. beer once practice is done. I was very amused to say the least. There are several different coaches, all three Italian coaches were there today, although the head coach doesn’t come till next week because of the earthquakes in New Zealand he is home attending to his wife and kids. So I was practicing not understanding a word being said and balls being hit every which direction! The girls were trying to translate everything to me but it was truly chaos. I was told the practices will be getting better once the head coach shows up and we start playing games. Dear Lord lets hope J

I went to dinner with two locals from Forli who play on the team (they’re sisters), the owner, some of and their friends and families. It was quite the experience; I had my first Italian pizza! YUM! And I couldn’t finish it because it was huge. I mean really big (GRANDE). But of course everyone finished their meals, really way to stand out like an American! I immediately realize I’m going to get crap. And when I said no to dessert, oh my, they acted like I just shot them in the foot. It was actually quite funny, and they were very kind about it. Although they did tell me "I must gain weight… eat more like an Italian!” So I do know I have come to the right place!

Well I must be going heading to the grocery store now so I am sure this will hold more stories since I'll have no idea what exactly the packages are saying :-/  Well looks like I need to be spending more time on Rosetta Stone! Miss you all and love you!

Ciao!