Hi there! Long time, no post. To get you up to speed, my summer in Atlanta has come and gone, and I currently find myself living in a valley surrounded by the Alpine foothills in Northern Italy. I am in a small town, known as Gazzaniga, where I will be teaching English this fall.
I taught English last year at a high school in France, but this fall will be a little different as I'll be teaching English to elementary schoolers and middle schoolers. I just arrived this past Saturday, and I'll be here until mid-December. My arrival to Italy was definitely an adventure, so let's get into that first!
First of all, my parents were planning to take me to the airport last Friday afternoon because my flight left last Friday evening, however, my mom's friend ended up taking me instead. My parents had been out of town all week and they were supposed to return to Atlanta on Friday morning, in time to take me to the airport. However, they missed their flight by accident, so after making a few calls, my mom's friend said she could take me. Thankfully, I end up getting to the airport just in time because of Ms. Tanya who is kindly able to drive me there. After I arrive, I check my bag, get something to munch on, and then walk to my gate. No problems. Soon, a flight attendant arrives behind the desk in my gate and starts making routine announcements before we board the plane. It turns out that Delta had overbooked this flight from Atlanta to Milan, and was looking for 6 volunteers to spend the night in a hotel for free and take the next flight to Milan tomorrow. Delta was also offering a flight voucher, which started at $600, and as they had a hard time looking for volunteers, the value consecutively went up to $700, $800, $900, $1,000, and $1,200! I mean, heck, I was starting to consider this offer. Spending a night in a hotel for free and getting $1,200? Who wouldn't?! But, I stuck to my chair, and waited until they found all 6 volunteers. I wanted to catch this plane because I had already planned to meet my host family at the airport the following morning when I landed and I wanted to stick to my word. The search for volunteers, as well as the cleaning and sanitizing of the plane created a delay in boarding, but I finally get on the plane and we lift off shortly after. Now, I thought the plane ride would be a simple and easy affair. A direct flight from Atlanta to Milan and no layovers -- it felt like a breeze. However, after boarding, I find out I have a middle seat. This isn't a big deal, but I do have to use the restroom a few times so this makes it inconvenient for the person sitting next to me. Then, a couple hours into our flight, the TVs start malfunctioning. The plane reboots the TVs multiple times, but nothing works -- my TV stays broken for the rest of the flight. My dreams of finally watching Grease are crashed. A few more hours into the flight, the pilot makes the announcement that we will be going through major turbulence right now and also for the landing into Milan. Everyone puts on their seatbelt and must sit down, including the flight attendants. My stomach is a little bit unstable by the time we land. And when I finally get off the plane, you can say I was a tad relieved.
Now, I thought all my problems were done once I landed in Milan. So I'm going through passport control, confirming with my host mom that I have arrived, and I finally get to the baggage claim area. I'm so close to meeting my host parents so I'm getting really excited! Little by little, everyone gets their suitcase, but I continue to wait for mine. I wait, and wait some more...and keep on waiting. My pink suitcase with a polka dot tag never appears. Disappointed and worried, I ask an airport worker for help and he tells me to go to Lost and Found if I don't see my bag after waiting 15 more minutes. So, after waiting some more and not seeing my suitcase, I head there quite despondently. However, I do find out some valuable information. It turns out that my suitcase was just left in Atlanta and is arriving tomorrow on the next flight from Atlanta to Milan. I'm so relieved, because now I know that my suitcase isn't lost and that I will receive my belongings soon. I give the airport personnel my Italian address and they say that my suitcase will be delivered to me once it arrives in Milan. With having done as much as I can do, I finally leave Lost and Found, and make my way to meet my host parents who are picking me up at the airport.
What an arrival to Italy!
Fortunately, things at the Bergamelli's house go a lot smoother. This past weekend, I get settled in my room and walk around my town to know my surroundings a bit more. On Tuesday, I finally receive my suitcase.
My host family lives in a small town called Gazzaniga, in the province of Bergamo which is in the region of Lombardy, about 60 kilometers northeast of Milan. It has a population of about 5, 027 people and it is surrounded by the beautiful foothills of the Alps. The Serio River flows also flows through the town and the surrounding Lombardy region.
This is the front yard of my host family's house. The little house you see is the cage for their 2 guinea pigs.
On Sunday, I went on a hike with my host parents in the Alpine foothills. The air was very fresh and I saw a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside.
The comune of Gazzaniga
This is one of the schools I work at. I actually work at 4 schools -- an elementary school and a middle school in Gazzaniga and an elementary school and a middle school in a nearby town called Cene.
The Serio River. In italiano: Fiume Serio.
My host parents are also terrific cooks and during my stay with them so far, I've tasted a number of incredible Italian dishes.
This dish is called polenta. It is a typical dish of the province of Bergamo, made out of boiled cornmeal. Polenta is typically eaten on a Sunday.
Of course, we have made pizza! An Italian classic!
What you see above may be my new favorite pasta dish: Pasta alla Norma. It is Sicilian pasta dish made with tomato sauce, fried eggplant, garlic cloves, fresh basil leaves, as well as ricotta and Parmesan cheese. It is exquisite, and I definitely had more than one helping.
So there you have it! Those have been the highlights and some information so far about my arrival and stay in Italy, and I'll be sure to update you more as I continue to get settled in here. But for now, a presto!
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