Same ol’ character, just with different backdrops.

Well, I finally got around to setting up the self-proclaimed highly-anticipated blog, so I guess that means I’m settled enough after 1+ week of being in Europe.

I’ll begin with the most recent events, as I want to be able to recall as much detail as possible while it remains fresh in my mind:  THE 2ND DAY ITALY UPDATE.

First things first- a list (don’t act surprised) of the 3 meals (ditto) I have had thus far in Italy.  All of these are homemade by Stefania, the 30 or 40-something year-old mother I am living with.  This is also, of course, to make you instantly as jealous as possible.
1.  Wednesday Dinner:  Eggplant lasagna with a side of some sort of prosciutto-like beef slices drizzled with olive oil and shaved cheese, fresh bread, followed by a platter of various whole fruits, with grapes like I’ve never had before.  For dessert, the best tiramisu I’ve ever had in my life.
2.  Thursday Lunch:  Farfalle pasta al dente topped with cheesy-creamy tomato sauce, more fresh bread, and then fresh mozzarella and roma tomatoes sprinkled with oregano, salt, pepper, and olive oil from heaven.  I might have unconsciously closed my eyes for an extended period of time while eating that last part, jesus christ.
3.  Thursday Dinner:  Stuffed pizza with red peppers, onions, tomato sauce, cheese, gigantic slices of pepperoni and some other unidentifiable sweet meat, salad with salt and balsamic vinegar, more of the fruit tray, and more of the tiramisu, chilled.  Also, homemade (what else) Lemoncello, which got me pleasantly tipsy.

Naturally, every meal has been accompanied by the best red wine I’ve had since however many years ago in Spain.  I don’t even need to go into detail of how incredible that wine is.

Alright so, now that we’ve got that covered, documented, and sufficiently rubbed in your face, let me tell you about this child I’m teaching.  Giulia is nearly 6 years old, an only-child, and complete with unnervingly similar personality traits to the 6 year-old version of yours truly.  She not only speaks fluent English, but does it astoundingly better than the typical American of the same age.

An example, which I think might be my favorite story yet:
This evening, Giulia and I went with her parents to the athletic fields (“Daddy’s Field!”).  I was initially somewhat worried that I’d have to fake exercising, as both Stefania and Aldo are quite the sportsmen (Aldo is a bone surgeon, and is therefore overzealous about running, soccer, and pretty much every other sport in existence).  However, to my intense relief, after a quick 10-minute game of chase, Giulia wanted to go chill on the stands with one of her English workbooks (she never, ever puts these down).  After about eight repeats of “One, two, give me your shoe // three, four, open the door // etc. etc.,” she looked up at me and said, “Ashlee, we are inseparable.”  Aside from this being potentially the cutest thing a child might ever say to me, THIS ITALIAN-MOTHERTONGUED 6 YEAR-OLD EFFORTLESSLY INCORPORATED A 5-SYLLABLE ENGLISH WORD INTO A SENTENCE.

Anyway, this is just one of the many instances in which my jaw has dropped from the sheer intelligence of this kid.  She’s also spoiled rotten and has already had 2 tantrums, but I can’t really talk shit about that, considering.  Another point of endless amusement with G is that she often switches between English with a British and American accent.  Often times when I correct her on the incorrect word for something, she informs me “It’s British.  You are speaking American,” regardless of it being incorrect on both fronts.  Clever girl.

Aside from that, the parents are really nice as far as I can see.  Stefania and I have already discussed Italian designers, and Aldo gave me a really nice notebook and pen, so that he can teach me Italian if I teach him English.  At dinner tonight, he told me “This is your house, too.” which is awesome because btw, the house is OMFG GORGEOUS.  Multi-level house with I don’t know how many staircases, 3 gardens, and I get my own bathroom and bedroom with a queen bed.  All appliances are brand new and top of the line.  Original art everywhere, 2 full dining room tables and 3 dens (one each are on my floor, the bottom, which I think is never used nor inhabited by anyone else but me and the 2 cars and scooter) and I get my own patio too.

The only downside I see is that so far, what I’ve seen of Lecce has been a significant disappointment.  A number of people warned me about the uncleanliness of southern Italy, and I’ll admit that at this point, my observations serve as proof of that.  There’s plenty of wonderfully old ruins, but it almost seems as if the city government, or lack thereof, has done little to nothing to preserve or even incorporate the richness of the architecture into the overall quality of the city.  It’s not really trashy per se, it’s more as if nobody has done anything for any sort of upkeep.  Grafitti is everywhere, but it’s not like gang grafitti like we’d have in the States; it’s more along the lines of what I’ve been saying… as if no one really gives a shit and there’s no enforcement.  I did see a wall today black-spraypainted with “Giuseppe e Natalia” and giant hearts, and I cursed myself for being roped into an exercise outing unable to bring my camera.

Either way, it’s only been 2 days and I am hardly deterred.  Going into the city center to get a SIM card tomorrow morn, so we’ll see what that looks like.

A post with London pics to follow soon (and yes, it was one of the best weeks ever).  Stay tuned.

Oh, and Ciao, if I wanna be all typical about it.  PEACE.