Day 1 (part 2): Home

I arrived my home a few hours later than expected due to my landing delay. When I arrived, I rang the front door and then was buzzed in (the door made a loud clicking noise). After opening the huge wooden front doors, I walked into a large entry hall. My roommate, Amanda, came down the stairs and helped me with my luggage. The apartment was on the first floor, which is second floor for Americans (American first floor is called the ground floor here). At the door I was greeted by my homestay house owner, Rosanna, who speaks no English. She showed me to my room and then told us which cabinets we could use for storing our things. Amanda and I spent most of the afternoon unpacking and talking. After I finished unpacking, I sat on my bed and then fell asleep for a few minutes before Rosanna came in to tell us to come to dinner.

Our beds (and Amanda)

The "desk"

The alley outside the window

Door/ shelving

A bathroom!

Whats that??

We sat in the kitchen a small white table. Rosanna made us pasta with what I presume to be parmesan cheese, carrots soaked in vinegar, small sliced potatoes and some sort of small meat cakes. While we ate, Rosanna watched the television, switching between a dubbed soap opera and the news on channel “primo”. After we had both finished eating, Rosanna took our plates and pulled a pastry out of the oven, which she told me was “cioccolata.” The pastry itself was thick and dry, and the chocolate filling tasted similar to a fig, like the filling of a fig newton cookie.

After dinner, I took a shower. Though we have a bathroom in our room, the shower is located down the hall. This bathroom is much larger than ours and has a large sink, a toilet and bedit. The shower is a large bathtub with a small hand shower head on the side. The cold knob is labeled F and the warm is labeled C.

So far the most interesting thing has been communicating with Rosanna. Though I have some Italian language background, it has been difficult at times to speak with her. For the most part I able to pick out certain words and we gesture. I also frequently point at things and ask her “che significa?” to find out the Italian word.