I Video

 

Dominic and Matteo had a little video exchange.
 

Only in the countryside.

There are so many scioperi (strikes) and manifestazioni (protests) in Milan!

Italian radios play about 80% American music so they know all our songs!

Arco della Pace. Arc of Peace.

Sara goofing around with my laptop photobooth!

Sara's birthday speech.

These are the most famous/expensive streets, known as the "quartiere"

The fog is like nothing I've ever seen and apparently it is worse outside the city.

Another birthday celebration with others from their "Quattro Gatti" church group.

Just a little peek into the life of an aupair!  I have many more from Christmas, that I'll upload later.  :)

Il Sondaggio

Time to answer the poll question!  "Facciamo le corna" is the Italian way to say "knock on wood".  You make the "rock on" hand gesture with your palm facing downwards, while you say it.  Try to guess the next one that is posted!

Confermato

I am happy to confirm that I will be staying here until next October!  I went to the head polizia office this morning, bright and early, to get my questions answered once and for all.

As you can only imagine how excited I am to be able to take my gap year, (that I was fighting so hard for, this time, last year) I will miss the birth of my sister's baby girl and my lifetime friend's wedding.  They have both been so supportive to me, and I understand I must sacrifice some things in order to follow my plans.  Life is just a big tangle of decisions that you must make, isn't it?  What fun.  I was never a very decisive decision-maker.  Thanks to God, He can help you make the right one!

I also found out it takes weeks to get an answer by email and is impossible to get things done over the phone.  Let's just say that the Italian bureaucracy is one of the only things that is how I expected it to be.  After dealing with the Italian Embassy in D.C. I had a pretty good idea.  Luckily everyone I have met sees how badly I am trying and gives me good advice.

A dopo!

Una Porta Si Chiude, Un' Altra Si Apre

I have bad news and good news.  Bad news?  Gloria (the Peruvian woman I told you about in my "Gloria a Dio" post) started acting suspicious about finding me work, I felt uncomfortable, and I stopped communicating with her.  Good news? I might be able to stay here until next OCTOBER!

I used to visit Gloria and her daughter, Jessica, as often as I could to stay connected.  The last time I stopped by was the Sunday before Christmas.  If you do not remember, right after I met Gloria (on a tram..) (and she had reassured me I could get work..) she invited me to live with her.  I was being cautious however I am desperate for work and it sounded too good to be true.  Well, indeed it was.  I tried to ask about the process of obtaining work and she said I would have to travel to Torino (Turin) to take an expensive course and brushed it off by adding "but your dad will help you pay right?"....That's when I knew it was a scam.  I may not know the procedure to a career, but I know you do not pay to get a job.

Not to mention the fact she lives with her ex-husband and adult daughter.  It was just an uncomfortable situation in the end, that I would prefer not be apart of.  Luckily God knows I always like to have something positive to work towards, for my future.

Last Friday I picked up my permesso di soggiorno (permit to stay) and found out it is valid until October 24th, 2014.  :)  I am currently researching how this will work, since my student visa expires June 11th.  From what I am understanding, I am clear to stay! I will keep you posted of course!

Another positive aspect?  Things are working out for me to stay!  Although this is a confusing mess at the moment, perhaps just God thinks it's better if I handle Italy a few months at a time?

One thing is for sure; when He closes one door He opens another.

Il Sondaggio

The poll time is up!  The answer to the first pizza invented is.......Margherita!  Simply tomatoe sauce, basil, and mozzarella on the original crispy, thin crust.  The results were 3 votes for Pomodoro and 1 for Margherita.  Good guesses! It is an anonymous poll however I happen to know my father won.  Congrats, dad!


Go on and guess the next question!  The poll is on the right sidebar under the Blog Archive.

Epifania

Yesterday was Epiphany!  The kids, indeed, woke up to a gift and stocking stuffed with sweets from La Befana.  Matteo got a Peppa Pig coloring book that teaches him English and Sara got "The Complete Book of Flower Fairies" that she had asked for Christmas. Baby Jesus and I had a miscommunication of who would buy it, so we ordered it a tad late.  I started bursting into laughter when I saw coal in their stockings!  They receive candy that resembles carbone (coal) every year as a joke.

Since today is giorno festivo (public holiday) we got to spend the day all together.  We headed off to Mass (it's a holy day of obligation here) and right after, to climb to the top of Il Duomo!

I have been waiting to do this ever since I understood it was possible, back in the summer.  However I wanted to do it with my host family.

Some fun facts of Il Duomo:  (Heads up! I may quiz you later!  :P  )
- This is the third largest cathedral in the world, after St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, and the Cathedral of Seville in Spain.
- It took 500 years to complete.  The Italians of Milan have a saying "..took longer than the building of Il Duomo".
- There is one tiny staircase, made for one person, with 919 stairs on it, leading to the roof.  Otherwise there is an elevator..but we went all out!

Il Duomo e La Galleria

The stairs took a toll on the kids.

My wonderful famiglia ospite!

Piazza del Duomo

La Madonnina d'oro (The golden Madonna)

Un doccione (gargoyle)

Although Italians are generally more relaxed than Americans, they are significantly more relaxed than us during the holiday season.  The reasoning behind this? They are always spending time with their family!  Hence, it is just a vacation for them.  They do not have the pressure of being forced to try to bond with the family in one week.  In America we typically only get to see grandparents on the holidays, while Italian kids typically get picked up by their nonni from school and are babysat by them until the parents arrive.  Even Sara and Matteo, who have Alina (the nanny) and me, see both sets of grandparents at least once a week.  How nice is that?

So there you all have it.

When you keep your family around, you have less stress and therefore more happiness in life because they are your happiness.  :)

Giochiamo!

I was just editing my blog page and discovered a fun gadget!  If you look in the sidebar to the right, under the Blog Archive, there is a poll!  I will be posting a question every so often, to quiz you on your knowledge of everything Italy; since you know how much I love to learn about Italy!  It will be a fun way for me to share what I am learning.  All I need is for you to participate and guess!  Let's play!

P.S.  I tried to create a page break in my last post but now it is hidden.  You must click on "Discover more on Italy" when you get to the bottom, to see the rest of the post.

Feste Feste Feste!

First of all, I would like to wish you a Happy New Year!  Buon Anno!

I hope your Christmas and New Years was enjoyed with all your family and friends, and you appreciated spending time with them.  I sure missed my family, but I also had an experience I will remember forever.

Since I have so many pictures, I will describe what I did over my pausa (break) through the pictures, by writing in the captions.

Matteo's school put on a Christmas play, and he played Giuseppe!

Sara!

Sara and Diletta (her cousin..I love that her name means "the one you love the most") with Lola, the puppy that pees everywhere and jumps on everyone.

I discovered that Daria does not like dogs.

 

The adults table. We spent Christmas Eve with Simone's side of the family.

The charming casa of Simone's sister, Serena.

Schiaccianoci. Nutcracker.

Gesù bambino arrived after dinner! Matteo and his cousin, Filippo, (who wants to be a pilot when he's older) got Legos!

Dolce tavola. Sweets table! Or should I say panettone table, because that is the only choice during the Christmas season.

Chin chin! Cheers!

Christmas morning! Look at those happy faces.

Thanks, Baby Jesus!

We spent Christmas Day with Daria's side of the family, at her parent's house. Her mother's specialty is ravioli in broda (ravioli and broth) which is so simple, but you can't hate until you try it!

The day after Christmas, we went to Sirmione (a peninsula in the middle of Lago di Garda, right in between Milano and Venice) for a reunion with Simone's extended family. This is the quattro stelle (four star) hotel where we spent the night.

The town reminded me of Certaldo, Tuscany!

Most of all the children at the reunion.

Oh, and did I mention we got to bathe in heated thermal spring waters? After all, our hotel was named "Terme di Sirmione" :)

Castello di Sirmione

I loved the antique feel to it! This somewhere that I would rather live, than the city.

Quasi tutta la famiglia. Almost the whole "family". I found out that Simone has a very international family with relatives in New Jersey, Switzerland, and England!

Olive trees..

..and groves everywhere! The weather in Sirmione stays mild all year round, being surrounded by Lake Garda.

Although these are not the Dolomite Montagne, they were just a little ways away.

Ave Maria

Car ride home.  This is the life of an aupair.  :)

 Then my host family took a vacation to ski in the mountains for the last week off.  I stayed behind, as it was too expensive, so I got to do some exploring and relaxation of my own.

Cimitero Monumentale, a HUGE cemetery famous for it's artistic tombs.

I loved looking at the old pictures.

This one was my favorite.

An exquisite panini shop with over 200 choices.

It is a rare occasion to see the sun set, in gloomy Milano.