Venezia

Venezia the main canal

My Italian friend Fede and her family extended gracious amounts of hospitality toward me, inviting me in their home, feeding me authentic Italian cuisine and taking me around their hometown and Venice. It was so wonderful to be in a home, and comforting to sit around a dinner table with family. I am more than grateful for my stay with the Romors!

Fede is my Italian sister who studied abroad in the United States in my hometown last year. She became very good friends with my sister Ruth, and was always over our house when I came home on breaks. When she found out I was studying abroad she invited me to come stay at her home which is conveniently located just out of Venice and offered to show me the city.

The first day I attended her high school, she is in 13th year which is equivalent to freshman year of college. It was interesting to take English class at an Italian school. After school, which is only from 8:30-1:30 we went to her grandfathers house. Her Aunts prepared a feast, approximately four courses, and then three types of dessert. Side note, I gained 1.5 Kg that weekend which is equivalent of 3 pounds. Everyone spoke Italian, or their regions dialect, every once in a while I would mutter a sentance in Italian, usually saying Buono, buonissimo, mi piace.... (Good, very good and I like..) The pasta we had was Carbonata, which is a typical pasta dish with eggs and bacon. BUONISSIMO!!!!

Dinner with her Grandfather, aunt, cousins and friends

That was only lunch, after exploring her hometown and the beach, we went back to her house and had dinner. There was more dessert including a homemade chocolate chip cheesecake. How could I resist that? Most people would be in a coma by the end of the night, but due to my high sugar intake I managed just fine.Something else I learned was that they eat sweets for breakfast. Sure, in america we eat pancakes with syrup, but it is different in Italy. When we make dessert in the US we eat it the next day after lunch, or after dinner, however, in Italy they eat it the next day for breakfast. So when I woke up the next morning still full from the previous day of feasting, I sat at the breakfast table with a slice of cheesecake, a platter of cookies, another slice of cake and biscuits in front of me. Shamelessly I ate one of everything to prepare my body for the busy day in Venice. I forgot to mention the fried dough was there as well, special to Carnivale season. 

You get the picture, the food was AMAZING, and Fede's family was so welcoming. I also learned  a lot of new Italian conversation words. Conversations were an exchange of languages. They would say something in Italian, I would respond in English, they would correct it to Italian, then it would go the other way around with me teaching them English. It was tiring trying to communicate, and I started speaking very theatrically so they would understand through my gestures. At times, I am sure this was a funny sight to see, and maybe they joked about how silly Americans are when I went to bed, so sorry if I made us look foolish. 

Venice was amazing, and I have no need to try to describe the uniqueness and beauty of the City since you can marvel at the pictures. Even though most of the day was rainy and wet, the city is still very photogenic. One of the best parts of the day besides walking the streets in utter awe at the scenery, was being with Fede and her Italian friends. It was one of the first times I did not feel like a foreigner, and did not feel out of place. At the restaurant I got treated like an Italian, usually I get treated like an american or a tourist, and it is so much better to feel welcomed! They even gave us samples of their house drinks, which would never happen if we were just tourists. We also met up with my roommates.

Fede and I near her home town at the beach

The trip was so wonderful and I cannot thank Fede and her family enough! They even gave me some of their family recipes.  

The rest of my pictures will soon be posted on Facebook!