Under the Tuscan Sun

So this one will be kind of short cause I'm pretty tired...and my legs hurt....

So my day started off a bit rough. I could barely walk this morning cause my legs were swollen and they felt like I was on fire...We had to leave our house about 20 minutes early so that we could make it to class on time!! Walking is so hard!! We walked into the school just as the 9 o'clock bell was chiming from the clock tower...I still haven't found out the name yet. Other than that little adventure, school is just the same. AND every morning Roberta makes me a little shot of coffee!! I don't even have to ask anymore!! Bene Bene!!

The best part of the day began after school started. Scottie felt a little bad for me since it was hard for me to get around and it took me ten minutes to walk up the stairs!! So she went and bought me some yummy gilato...which by the time she had made it back to the school it was melting all over her and even made it onto her flip flop and foot!! But it was so delicous!! Before she got there we were all so hungry that we ate almost every peach off the peach tree in the front of the school. DELICIOUS!!

We were waiting outside of the school for Errol's host mom to meet up with us. WHY you may ask?? Well she is going to teach us how to make some real Italian food!! Her an her son showed up and actually her son, Philipo, was going to teach us how to cook a meal! So we all hopped into the cars...I actually morphed into 23 shapes in order to get into the car....and we took off for the country side....which is always nice because I love it when we get to go outside the walls of Siena. The walls are super old and massive....they are the original, unrestored walls from the Medival times...and if you are educated on that time period...they are SO THICK. They were built to last and withstand and they have done just that! ANyways, we left the center of the city and headed out to Miriam's house to learn some cooking styles...for me just how to cook in general!! :)

Miriam lives in the most beautiful house in the whole world!! It really reminded me of the movie Under the Tuscan Sun...you should see it if you haven't yet. I wish I had taken pictures of her house but my battery in my camera died so I couldn't...another time....but her house is made of bricks and stones and is set deep in the hills of Siena. When you walk up you cannot see her front door until you are right up to it because of a huge tree and a garden of lilies that guard the front entrance. After you make it up the steps to the door, you walk into what makes you feel like you are living in a fairy tale house...it makes you feel at home and you just want to take it all in a slowly as possible to enjoy every last morsel of comfort. Another flight of stairs takes you into the kitchen and From her kitchen window you can see rolling hills for miles and miles. It is every color from the green of the grass to the bright yellow of the spanish broom. I have never seen a panorama more beautiful than this.

Take a breath...I know it's amazing and you're jealous but you can look at the pictures and be envious...I won't tell!! :) So Philipo and his mom showed us all how to make...from scratch...a pasta dish with beef, kind of like ravioli, a yummy sauce, soup and all the flavours that pull it together. As much as I would have liked to have helped...my legs were so sore I couldn't stand for very long so I had to sit on the steps and take notes!!

While we were waiting for the food to be finished, me, Vicki, Errol, Scottie, Luigi and his love sat in the living room and chatted it up. Rita was walking around filming everyone and wanted us to tell a story. In class Luigi always tells us these elaborate stories in LIS and then makes us sign then to a partner. I always forget parts of them or rearrange the order of events...but it's an awesome technique and it really helps us learn LIS. So Rita had the great idea of having us all sign in LIS a part of one of the stories from class today. It was fun and hilariou because between the three of us, but kind of got the point of the story across and Luigi had a good laugh!! We are getting better though and I'll try and get a copy of the Video from Rita!!

After almost 2 or 3 hours of preperation, we finally got to eat. We sat outside and enjoyed our .... ahem...thier...delicious creation! It was so tastey and had I not eaten so slow I would have enjoyed seconds...o well...We all washed it down with some vino and a bowl of cherries. The nights here tend to get a bit cool so we all grabbed a jacket and sat outside and talked for quite some time. Its crazy to hear and see all the languages going around. Between the 15 of us that were there, we had ASL, LIS, English and Italina happening all at once...everyone teaching eachother. It was awesome and when it turned dark and the sun set over the hills...the whole area was filled witht the flicker of fire flies that came to light up our conversations!! It was truly like a story and made me want to move to Siena! Or out to the country side somewhere in Italy!!

I hope you enjoyed this blog today!! CIAO!!