Sunday lunch with the family

I was feeling a little lonely throughout the past few days here in Florence, so I called up Anarita on Thursday night and invited myself over for lunch for today. It's never an issue inviting myself because they are always trying to get me to visit as often as possible.

Antonio picked me up from the bus stop as usual, and we went to Alberto and Maria's so that they too could be included in our lunch. We had a really nice time, and I was glad to see both Benedetta's family and Maria and Alberto at the same time. The food was terribly unhealthy, but delicious. We had two types of pasta, one with mushrooms and the other with fish. I loved them. Then we had fried chicken, fried veal, fried eggplant, fried zucchini and fried artichokes. Those Neapolitan folks really love their fried food. Maria also made a fabulous cake with strawberries and cream, but it was WAY better than American strawberry shortcake because the cake part was soaked in strawberry and sugar juice. I was in heaven.

I also got a kick out of their family dynamic, as usual. Alberto can't hear well and also likes to annoy his family members, so he started singing at the table and speaking very loudly. He was driving Benedetta crazy because she was trying to talk to me and couldn't hear what I was saying. Benedetta yelled at Alberto and he thought it was funny, so he just started yelling and singing even louder. I wish my voice carried a little more because I was rather unsuccessful today in the conversation department with Alberto as my challenger.

On a side note, I expressed my nervousness to Anarita about being able to see everyone before leaving and she solved my problem for me. I was afraid that I would continue to go over for visits with them planning a next time for me every time, up until the day I had to leave. I just don't have time for that. Anarita understood, so she planned a big party for me for next Sunday, and the whole family will come to say goodbye to me then. They are sooo nice. I can't wait!!!


Anyway, I have to go write my final paper. I'm almost done and Benedetta said that she would proofread it for me. I'm sure there are a lot of grammatical errors, so that will really help me out.


A dopo!