The Journey to Paris

Even though my train wasn't departing until noon, I was dropped off at the Padova train station bright and early on that Thursday morning. You see, this was the only time Chiara could take me. Mattia had a doctor's appointment in Padova that morning, which would last a few hours, Marco had work, and there is no form of public transportation near my house.

So at 8AM I found myself in line at the help desk inquiring where the left luggage station was. I made my way to platform one to the office where I could pay a small fee to leave my suitcase for the day.

By 8:30AM I was across the street at McDonald's ordering a croissant with cream, while noticing a man standing awkwardly close to me. 

I had planned to pass the time away by leisurely eating breakfast and reading my book until it was time to meet up with an Au Pair who lived nearby. As I was scoping out the sitting area looking for a good place to hangout that morning, I realized there weren't any good spots. It was full of students grabbing breakfast and studying before heading off to class for the day. So I found myself sitting at a table in the middle of a long bench where two tables were on either side of me. A girl occupied a table to my right. Unfortunately, no one was to my left. Two dirty trays were setting on the table directly to my left though and I figured that would be enough to ward off any unwanted company.

I was wrong.

The man entered the sitting area with his tray of food, proceeded to set his tray on the tall table across the way (I breathed a sigh of relief). But it was only to free up his hands so he could move the dirty trays setting on the table to my left, so he could sit directly next to me. I still had hope that maybe I would be able to enjoy my morning.

Once he sat down I decided to scoot closer to the girl who was to my right. As I did this the man said, "No, No." (Great. He had made contact with me. Morning ruined.)

He started speaking to me in Italian. I thought "Perfect, I'll just tell him I speak English and this will end. I will be free to enjoy my reading". No, of course, homeboy knew how to speak English. Just my luck. 

He began the conversation with what I'm presuming is his go to pick-up line: "Do you come here often? I have this extra discount for a coffee and croissant for one Euro, I'd like to give it to you."

I found myself trapped. I was speaking to this man whom I had no desire to be speaking with. I got asked the usual questions: Where are you from? Are you studying? Why are you here? You're a what? How long will you be here? Will you learn Italian? 

The last question, "Will you learn Italian?" was the kicker. I replied, "I want to." He then said, "I think I may be in the profession to help you. I'm an Italian teacher at the University!" I said, "Oh cool." He continued speaking with much excitement about meeting up with me again, showing me around Padova, teaching me Italian. All the while, I was sitting there thinking, "Oh great. This is miserable. He is not attractive at all. Will he please just stop talking?"

I answered each question with as little enthusiasm as possible hoping he would get the hint and let me be. 

He didn't get the hint. 

And thus began my statements of lies. 

I finally said, "I have to leave to meet my friend", which was a lie. He replied, "How can I contact you? Do you have a phone number?" I lied and said, "No" thinking that would be the end of it. Nope. Thanks to social media he then said, "Do you have Facebook?" If I had said no then I would've been strange. I mean who in this day and age doesn't have a Facebook?! He then handed me his phone to add myself as his friend. I lied again. I said, "I can't find my profile. There's too many to scroll through." He said, "What if I add myself on your Facebook?" "I need WiFi for it to work", I said. That was lie.

But did this deter him? Noooo! He then said, "Why don't I give you my name and you can add me later?!" So he typed his name in my notes and I thought, "Finally, I can leave!" 

No, not before he tried doing the European greeting with me. It was the most awkward thing ever. Even more awkward than my first meeting with Chiara at the airport when I was totally not expecting the "kiss kiss" thing and it turned into an embarrassing, awkward hug. 

This one with the random guy takes the cake! I was not trying to get up close and personal with this man. He shook my hand and then leaned in for the "kiss kiss", but I was sure not to let him touch my face. So it was just this awkward hand shake with him trying to kiss my cheek, but I was making sure to keep my distance. 

He then made this awkward laugh and said, "I look forward to getting your request on Facebook." I gave him a fake smile and by 9AM I was walking down the streets of Padova annoyed that my morning plans were ruined. 

Christina.

Christina is an older woman Sammie and I met at the Coliseum. She was there with two of her girl friends and we happened to be on the elevator at the same time. We made small talk then, but it wasn't until we bumped into each other on our exit that we learned more about Christina.

She was born and raised in Scotland. She met her husband at a University there. He just so happened to be Italian so they eventually moved to Rome. She told us that her husband just passed away last year. They had been together fifty years. She spoke so highly of him. She said, "He was a wonderful man, not a typical Italian. I am very lucky to have spent all those years with him".

She is now trying to relive her life. She had been to the Coliseum before but said, "There are always things you haven't seen!"

She told us she is trying to get through each day. Some days are harder than others. She has two children, but they have their own families. She said, "I lost my family when I lost my husband. Your children are your family, but they have their own families. You can't wait around on them."

Christina spoke with such sincerity and passion.

This is why I love traveling.
Traveling gives me the opportunity to meet wonderful people and hear their stories.
It's truly an amazing thing.

P-I-Z-Z-A!

 The oven takes 1-2 hours to heat.

The oven heats up to 300-400 degrees Celsius.

When the inside of the oven is completely white, it is ready.

Chiara normally makes 15-20 pizzas when they have guests. Tonight we settled for 4.

This pizza had cheese (no mozzarella though), potatoes, spices with no sauce.

It only takes 1-2 minutes to cook the pizza.

The pizza must be turned a quarter of the way every few seconds.

Time to eat!

Sette Giorni

Since I only have seven days left before my return I decided to catch everyone up on what's been going on:

• Since my trip to Paris, I have had a few more Italian lessons with my host grandpa. I can definitely understand and read more Italian than I can speak. 
• I went shopping and bought two shirts and a pair of leggings.
• I took a trip to Naples, Capri and Rome with my Au Pair friend, Sammie. We almost got robbed on the bus in Naples. 
• We went to the Blue Grotto in Capri, where you have to literally lie back in the boat to fit through the little cave entrance. The blue water was so spectacular.
• On the train to Rome from Naples, we met a father and his daughter who both happened to be psychologists. The father didn't speak English, but the daughter did.
• The Coliseum was amazing. It was there we met the sweetest older lady named Kristina.
• The hostel owner took us to see The Keyhole in Rome and the optical illusion with St. Peter's Basilica. (As you drive closer to the building it gets smaller, as you drive away it appears larger.)
• I didn't get to see the Sistine Chapel in Rome. For this reason, I must go back one day.
• My host family, aunt, cousins, both sets of grandparents and I went to a bird release in Limena. They also released a hare that all the children decided to chase. The poor hare had to literally jump over one child.
• I finally bought a pair of Italian high top shoes. I love them.
• My host family took me to a country bar to learn to line dance, but it didn't start for another thirty minutes and the children were tired so we returned home.
• I love closing the shutters to my window at night so I can sleep in total darkness. It's wonderful.
• I have read three books since being here. I ordered four new books on Amazon for this summer. I can't wait!
• I'm trying to learn more about photography and how to use my Nikon dSLR. 
• I haven't cut or colored my hair since I left the states.
• Last weekend, my host family took me to Verona, which is where my host mom is from. I saw Juliet's house, from Romeo and Juliet. We ate lunch with her parents, which lasted a full two hours and consisted of entrees, wine, dessert, coffee, and a limoncello shot. So much food and drink.
• I've already started packing my suitcase.
• This past Saturday I made pancakes for my host family! I even made Mickey Mouse ones for the kids. They loved them, especially, my host mom. They only drizzled a bit of maple syrup on their pancakes. I quickly corrected them and said your pancake needs to be drenched in syrup! 
• My host dad bought the children a little basketball goal and soccer goals, which has been fun. 
• My knee no longer hurts. I think it's healed, finally!
• I spent Sunday in Milan hanging out with a friend from college. It was so great catching up. It had been nearly five years. 
• Tuesday I spent the day in Venice with another Au Pair who lives nearby. The weather was beautiful! 
• I never took a ride in a gondola because they are roughly 80-100 Euro.
• I have ordered more TV shows and movies on Amazon than I'd like to admit. It's the only way to watch American TV here in Italy. Netflix, ABC.com, etc. are all blocked.
• I have seen the movie Frozen a gazillion times, but not once in English. I have YouTubed the songs in English though. So now Giorgia will sing the songs half in English and half in Italian. 
• She also knows "If You're Happy and You Know It", "1-2-Buckle My Shoe", "B-I-N-G-O", "Old MacDonald" and plenty of the Beatles songs. 
• We've been playing outside a lot lately, which I love.
• I've decided I want to learn Spanish and the piano. 
• This past Sunday was the "legal time" change, as they call it here. So we are now back to being six hours apart for all you Eastern Standard Timers. 
• I've actually gotten Giorgia to play Go Fish with me! She normally says, "No" every time I ask her to play. The other night we played four times in a row. It's so cute when she says, "Do you have tuttle?" and when she tells me, "Gooo fish"! She has such an adorable accent when she speaks English.
• My host family has an outdoor wood fire oven! We made homemade pizza last night. It was delicious and quite possibly the coolest thing ever. My host dad told me, "Now when you return home you can start a pizza shop!"
• My host grandpa is the coolest. He's a retired orthopedic doctor. He plays the banjo, ukulele, guitar, bass, and other stringed instruments. He taught himself how to play each instrument. He's in a jazz band, which plays every weekend. He and his wife have a house in Garda Lake that they stay at from May-September then they return to Verona for the remainder of the time.
• I was talking to my host parents about my time in college and how I lived in the dorm for two years. My host mom said, "Did you have your own chicken?" I was quite confused by this when my host dad said, "Chicken?! Kitchen!" It made for a good laugh. Apparently Italians get those two words confused quite often. 
• Mattia knows the American Sign Language for "Please". He uses it all the time with me to try to get everything he wants. Doesn't always work out in his favor. 
• This weekend my family is taking me to Gardaland Amusement Park! 
• My flight leaves in exactly one week at the break of dawn. Not looking forward to all the flights and layovers, but am stoked to be reunited with my puppy who will be awaiting my arrival at the airport.