La Vita è Bella

Merhabā! Teşekkür! Lütfen! Yes, I picked up a little Turkish. ;) Just watch. Pretty soon I'll be speaking languages you've never even heard about! I am definitely starting to think in different languages (or rather words I keep hearing randomly pop into my head..but hey, it's a start!)

To begin, let me give a brief summary of where I have been/ what's been happening. I had a four hour layover in Turkey, with my flight to Milan. Deniz, my Turkish best friend from high school, goes to school in Istanbul now so (all thanks to my amazing dad!) I called the airline asking to delay my flight. It worked and I arrived in Istanbul, Turkey on September 20th to spend one week there. It was unreal! Deniz is just as obsessed with Turkey as I am with Italy and she can go on for days about how it's the best. Now I cannot argue, Istanbul is a stunning city and some parts reminded me of Italy. I was surprised by how much we did in such a short amount of time. We took a boat ride to one of the five Princes' Islands (Büyükada was the name of the island), visited the Aya Sofya (better known as the Hagia Sophia in English), the Sultanahmet Mosque (aka Blue Mosque), Galata tower, and took a boat tour along the Bosphorus strait. We would walk around all day long, then go out with her friends in the evening. We were well worn out. There are some major pluses for having a friend who speaks the language! We saved alot of money with Deniz explaining that we are students.

I have so many pictures from Turkey that I will add later and emphasize on all the details that way.

So then, on September 28th I traveled from Istanbul to Milan. My host family was eagerly waiting for me at the gate! I met the two children I will be responsible for, for the first time. There Sara, who is 7 years old and Matteo, who is 5. The girl warmed up to me immediately. She now holds my hand while we walk! I feel accomplished, with this being only my third day here. I still have to break down a little barrier with the boy, but he enjoyed me teaching him "Ring around the Rosy", "Duck Duck Goose" and he loved Pap's game of "cracking" my hand on his knee like an egg. I need help thinking of more American games! I am still getting the hang of the routine around here but the first week is always hard. It will be different than my aupairing experience over the summer though, because I have my own schedule too.

My first day of language school was today! Thankfully my host family gave me a tour around their area yesterday, and drove me to check out where my school is located. I spotted a classic red Ferrari, as we walked around! My school was difficult to find so I was very grateful for their thoughtfulness. I am taking the metro, for now. However there are multiple ways of public transportation, so I'll figure out the best one. There are seven other students in my small class. We are all girls; there are two other Americans, one Danish, one Spanish, one Dutch, one Japanese, and I do not remember the nationality of the last girl. I was put into level 2 of 5, and it is a perfect fit for me. I am comprehending everything so far and we speak only Italian in class.

I am lucky to have found my host family, because they are very involved in their church and attend Mass every Sunday. Many Italians do not attend regularly nowadays (although they claim Catholicism), even with all of their impressive churches. Tonight we prayed together before going to bed! I will start teaching them the basic prayers in English, since I know them in Italian. I will join Comunione e Liberazione (a movement in the Church especially for young adults that helps make them coworkers in the Church’s mission in society, and was started in Milan). My mom was suggesting me to find a group just before I left, and I was lucky enough to learn one is right at my host family's church!

In conclusion, I owe everything to God working through my parents. He has my back! Turkey was totally unplanned and I can't believe where my life has gone.

I kept seeing a perfume ad, in Istanbul, saying "La vie est belle", meaning "Life is beautiful" in French, and I kept thinking "I couldn't agree more."

Adesso Noi Aspettiamo

I originally started this blog to copy my whole journal from my past aupair experience, from this summer, onto here but now that I will be leaving back to Italy on September 28th :) I will not have enough time. So I will wait until I am there to start fresh! Ciao for now! Un bacione!