WOW

Wow, talk about culture shock. I didn't picture Rome so..modern. I know that's weird, but I literally pictured old, cobblestone roads and everything that went along with it! I also didn't picture the Vatican to be WALLED IN. Hahaha.

The trip was LONG. And lonely. But I got to Fiumicino and sat and waited where Amalia said she'd meet me at 6:30. Every single person with an orange shirt, I was like, is that her?! Well, 6:45 rolls around and I'm freaking out..but I figure she's just stuck in traffic. Finally I see her..she's the cutest little thing!! (And yes, she did wear that outfit just for me, though she did admit to liking bright colored clothes!) HAHA. She did get stuck in traffic because there's a strike in just about every other mode of transportation, so everyone was driving and she didn't anticipate that.

We get to her apartment, literally across the street from th Vatican, and it's AMAZING!!! Holy shit. You walk in and there's like this enclosed courtyard...indescribable. Then you go up in this old-fashioned elevator, with steel bars that you can see out of, and their apartment is..amazing. I cannot even describe it, I'll have to put pictures up.

So I meet the current au pair, Deborah, from Germany (my age) and the kids, and they are the SWEETEST things!! They took to me right away!!! Eduardo and I were playing soccer in the hallway and he'd freak out if I left for like, a second!! "Non, voglio giocare con te!! Ti prego!!" HAHAH. And Chiara just like, takes out this book of American vocab and starts rambling off, hahah! "I colori in inglese! PINK! ORANGE! PURPLE!" HAHAHA. And then her husband came home, Frederico..he's an architect, and he's SO NICE!! He doesn't really speak English at all, but he tries and it's so cute!! We all ate dinner together..pasta with sausage (mmm) and chocolate chip ice cream with fresh fruit for dessert. OH!! Speaking of "mmm"..I took a bite of the pasta and it was really good, so I said, "mmmm!!!" and the kids started CRACKING UP!! They were like, "Rifarlo, rifarlo!!" HAHAHA!! I was like, "That's what you do, when something is good!!" So then we started saying "mmm" in like, every possible intonation. Hahah, it was great.

Oh, and Chiara for some reason started calling everything "brain" HAHA! She'd point to the pasta, the glass, the fork, anything, and be like, "brain!" even though she knew what "brain" really meant. They're adorable!!

After that, Amalia's cousin, Veronica, the ER doctor, stopped by, and they took me to her apartment close by. I have my own room, and I'll be here for a month, until Deborah leaves.
More to come! =)))