First Day in Saronno!

September 30th: I arrive at the train station in Saronno with Alisa who decided to accompany me because my suitcases are a total pain for only one person. Grazia spotted me/us immediately and we followed her to her car. Luckily she found a spot close to the station (which is rare). Alisa headed back to Milan and Grazia and I went to ITC Gino Zappa, the high school where she teaches math and I will be helping with English. I was introduced to many teachers and administrators, did some paperwork, then it was off to the police station for more paperwork. Unfortunately, we didn't have the paperwork so we went on home. Her housekeeper, Giueseppe (sp?), hauled my suitcases up the stairs for me which was super kind and super helpful! I'm staying in Grazia's oldest son's old room. It hasn't been changed so there are the planets on my ceiling, a spongebob outfit, plenty of books and toys, and wall art from when I think he was 5 years old. It's very cozy and I have a desk and a place to put everything. My window is actually two doors that open up onto a balcony. There aren't blinds, just a white curtain, which doesn't really block the sun in the morning but I got up before sunrise today anyway. For lunch, Grazia made breaded turkey breast with olive oil and lemon juice and cooked some carrots for me when she realized that and potatoes are practically the only vegetables I eat. We shared many laughs throughout the day with our Italian and English broken speech. I am going to be a PRO at charades! Carrying my dictionary around has proven quite helpful for both of us. The last girl she hosted, Angelica from Philadelphia, was a pescatarian and it was her 3rd trip to study in Italy so she spoke much better Italian than me. I'm pretty much the opposite of vegetarian which she found quite amusing. I went to take a nap and she went to school for a meeting. When I went back downstairs later, she had gone to the supermarket and bought red apples for me and nutella and bread for the toaster. In case you haven't noticed, she's super nice. Dinner was risotto (rice and mushrooms) which was very tasty but dinner is usually around 8pm :0 I'm going to have to get used to this. We also had prosciutto sliced very thin (ham essentially) and fruit. I shared Reese's cups with everyone (Grazia, her husband, and son, Gianluca). Gianluca was at Tchoukball practice but normally would eat dinner with us too (he arrives home from university in time for lunch as well). He loved the Reese's and requested peanut butter from the store. Apparently this sport exists in the USA but I've never heard of it until now.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tchoukball

Grazia's house is very nice. It's a townhouse with 3 stories and a basement. Her husky, Aika (eye-ka) is very friendly. Many people smoke in Italy, I'm thinking more than the USA. She lives on the outskirts of Saronno so it's very quiet here and there is a park nearby but also a bus stop and small grocery store. Time for dinner so I'll write more later. check out my facebook for photos!