In the midst of attending various orientation meetings and activities, taking care of important documentation and purchasing a few necessities for my stay, I was promptly introduced to my host family the day after I arrived in Florence. After attending numerous mandatory events, I used my last hour or so to study useful Italian phrases in an attempt to commit them to memory and make the first night with my host family a little less awkward. However, during my cramming session I coincidentally met the roommate who I would be living with and we decided to use the time to get to know each other so, we could focus on getting to know our host family when the pick-up time came around. By the time that we went to meet our families at 3:30 pm, we had exchanged basic information— originally from Las Vegas, Kristen is an Art History and Italian double major at the University of Southern California. Her Italian skills and the limoncello that she bought as a gift for our host family have both proven useful during this period of acclimation. Haha! The placemats I brought from Crate and Barrel….not so much.
Soon enough we were being introduced to the people who would be adopting us for the next four months or so—Marco and Cristina Brandigi. Devout Catholics, great cooks and members of a large family, they are not too far off from the idea I had in my head. The Brandigi’s, who have been hosting through the Syracuse program for 18 years, have four daughters ranging from age 29-41 and eleven grandchildren (with a twelfth on the way). Of course, this is a continuous learning experience and nothing is ever quite what you expect. Living in a foreign country with new people who live by a different set of cultural standards comes with certain challenges. I quickly learned you do not walk around the house barefoot, you do not make eye contact with or smile at strangers on the street and that I must make my bed. This message was made pretty clear when I didn’t make it and my host mom asked, “Do you want me to show you how to make a bed?” That was a bit awkward.
Anyway, upon meeting my host parents I whipped out all the appropriate Italian phrases I knew in an attempt to be polite and make a good impression. Subsequently, although I had informed them that I don’t speak Italian in Italian, they decided that they were going to start speaking only in Italian immediately. This has certainly proven challenging for me and I have been fairly limited to smiling, nodding and saying please and thank you. However, I understand more than I had initially expected. Though, I am still only getting about 15% of what they say and my roommate fills in the rest. Luckily, they have been patient with me. Aside from the frustration that comes along with not understanding what people are saying and not being able to speak, I love to hear people speak Italian. It’s such a beautiful language!!! Even my name sounds prettier – “Allie” didn’t really compute so, I told them to call me Alessandra, the Italian version of my full name). And I’ve enjoyed picking up new phrases and words when I can and I’ve only had a few Italian classes so far but I already feel like I’ve learned a lot. Although, I can’t say that learning how to ask where someone lives (Dove abiti?) and who they live with (Con chi abiti?) will be helpful in a conversation with my host parents. However, despite the little hiccups and miscommunications, living with this host family has been really good. They have been extremely hospitable, attentive, they genuinely care about us, always ask us what we did that day and of course prepare delicious food! Slowly but surely, they have started to warm up to me. Although, I think it’s just because I love their food and have what some might kindly refer to as a “healthy” appetite or what the Italians might call una buona forchetta. Literally meaning “a good fork,” this is how my host parents referred to my appetite. AWKWARD. My host father said something like “You eat like me….una buona forchetta.” I’m not sure how to feel about this. LOL!
As part our immersion weekend with our host families, Marco and Cristina took us to the beach. We drove about an hour and a half to two hours to get to beach in Forte dei Marmi. Meaning “Fort of the Marbles,” this sea side town is near the cities of Versilia, Viareggio and Carrara—known for its marble mountains Alpi Apuane which is part of the Apennine Mountains. We finally settled at of beach club of sorts complete with a restaurant, swimming pool and a gorgeous beach full of umbrellas, comfy beach chairs and chaise lounges—the pictures should give you an idea of how pretty it was. When we arrived we were able to meet up with Cristina’s sister and the two girls that she was hosting through the SU program. We all spent the day swimming in the warm water, laying around, walking down the beach in the soft sand and enjoying each other’s company. Eventually, we ate lunch at the beach club when we also were able to meet another one of Marco and Cristina’s children, Beatrice, her husband Giorgio and two young sons Samuele and Francesco. The children were adorable—big surprise, I know—and watching Marco interact with his grandchildren was heartwarming. All the hugs, kisses, glances, engaged conversations, even cutting up Francesco’s food for him with his arm still around him. It was all very cute. It was a fantastic day—minus the sunburn I got on my back—and we even grabbed fantastic gelato on the way back to Florence. It was a really nice day of fun and relaxation after all the chaos involved in orientation and the stress of traveling. 
Unfortunately, I have fallen behind in my blogging duties and a lot has happened in a short span of time. I will do my best to update more frequently to catch everyone up on everything that has happened. For now, this post has gotten long enough. Upcoming posts include the following topics: walking around Florence, classes, and daytrips to Pietrasanta and Carrara.
Until then….Ciao!!!
Allie (Alessandra)
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