I Miei Genitori Per Due Mese

My host family and I have become very close. I feel like they are actually my real parents. For example, I have a sensitive stomach and moving to a new country, it is going to take a couple days to get used to the water, time change, and food. One night I was not feeling well and Mary Grace brought me a cup of tea and a cold washcloth for my head. I truly felt at ease and like she was my real mom looking after me. After those couple of days my body was adjusted. Also I am pretty clumsy and stubbed my toe, ending up with a huge blood blister, sorry for the details. Mary Grace saw my foot and grabbed it immediately and began to treat it. I felt bad because it was my foot, and that is a little gross, but she cared for me so much, she took care it right away. Mary Grace has a nickname “Ginger” because of her beautiful fiery red hair; I can easily spot her in the middle of a crowd. 

Paolo, her husband and my host dad, is hilarious. He is constantly smiling and singing throughout the house, he always brings me into a cheerful mood. Every morning right after I wake up and walk down the hall to Paolo’s office and greet him good morning. Usually I am pretty out of it, since I just woke up, I am rubbing my eyes and Paolo asks me how my night out was and how I slept. I tell him all the funny stories of me attempting to converse with the Italians and I come back with some new words of the dialect of Grado. He laughs because I usually pronounce them incorrectly, but enjoys that I am attempting to understand the culture more. Every night I cook dinner with them. I have had some amazing meals and have learned many new cooking tricks. The food is so fresh here, they grow all their own spices like basil, rosemary, mint, and tomatoes. Also the pasta is completely fresh and tastes ten times better than the pasta in the states. My favorite dish is mascarpone and gorgonzola cheese with zucchini and noodles, it is so good and I learned how to make it. I cannot wait to bring the recipes I have learned form my host family to America. They are so much healthier here like using olive oil instead of butter and no high fructose corn syrup; I do not know how I will return to the food in America. 

I also love the conversations that I have with my host parents. I fill them in with every thing that is going on in my life, I trust them and they give me great advice to live my life how I want and how important it is to be happy. In addition we will talk politics about the problems in the United States how they differ from the ones in Italy. I am very lucky that I was placed with my host family because they have added so much to my experience here.