Dinner with the relatives

Yesterday evening, I had the joy of taking a one hour bus ride across Florence to my cousins' house just outside the city. My cousin, Arianna, picked me up at the bus stop and as soon as we got to her house, her Mom (Antonella) gave me lots of hugs and kisses. Andrea, the boy cousin, greeted me kindly too. I felt so welcome right from the beginning. I had seen Arianna and Andrea in the beginning of the semester here, but I hadn't seen Antonella since Dec 2007. Now, Antonella knows no English, Arianna knows a little, and Andrea knows a conversational amount. But, we spoke all in Italian the whole time! It was sooooo cool! I felt fluent because we just kept talking and talking! It was a great experience because I was with no one else that had to learn Italian, so I could talk as much as I wanted! They were sooo interested to hear everything I had to say and they even said that they were really impressed with my language skills! Yay!

Benedetta showed up around 8:30. We sat down for dinner around 9 pm and had tagliatelle with mushrooms, pork roast, french fries, and salad. For dessert, she had 3 cakes- all of which she insisted I try, and roasted chestnuts. I was soooooo full! And she kept trying to get me to eat more! Those darn Italians. After dinner, Benedetta's parents came over (I had also met them in Dec 2007). We all sat and talked for a while. It was so much fun! I got home from their house around midnight and I was completely exhausted but really happy to have family here in Florence. Even though it was only my second time hanging out with all of them, I felt like I had known them forever! They are so nice and easy to talk to... and so funny- especially when they bicker. I can't wait to see them for Thanksgiving at Aunt Gail and Uncle Ellis' house! We are going to have lots of fun chatting in Italian! Yay!

Ok, I have to write my paper now because we are going to aperitivo with Kevin's mom in a few hours. She's visiting from New York.

Ciao!