Cena (Dinner) with local Italian Family

Mar 3rd

I remember it being a sweet day full of lots of stuff, but I only have time to focus on one really cool aspect of the day. We got the opportunity in the evening to go have cena (dinner) with a local Italian family in groups of 4 or 5. My group went to Luca and Elise’s house. Elise is Alessandro’s (Italian teacher) sister so that was our “in.” They had three children, the smallest was Maria, next was Francesco (cute little guy), and then Chiara was the oldest. They were a very precious family and it was cool to see the love that they had for their children. We got to play with a balloon with the kids and stuff before and during dinner. Elise and Luca knew a little bit of English and Spanish so we were able to communicate with our Italian/Spanish/Spanglish/English. It was soo awesome. It was excellent Italian practice and emersion. Being put in that position helped those Italian words that I barely knew pop right back into my head, which was fun. I really hope I can find someone in town to be able to talk to frequently who knows a little English so that I can learn Italian quicker.

Our meal was excellent. We had delicious Lasagna and chicken and peas. The dessert was a like a chocolate cake that was denser and richer than brownies, but not quite to fudge state. So good. Anyway, it was a really cool experience to get to just chill with an Italian family and get to practice Italian as well as see how a typical Italian family interacts. That barely gives the day justice, but I don’t have a bunch of time.