Day 123!

I can’t believe it’s Christmas Eve! Erin’s relatives were planning on taking us around Novara today, but unfortunately the weather was too bad. It rained here all day and is very cold. But that was fine with us because then we got to relax/sleep in/read for most of the morning. Elenora had us come down and eat breakfast—several kinds of cookies, brioches, and nutella (a MUST for Italian breakfast!), coffee, and tea. Around noon the other relatives arrived for Christmas Eve lunch. Mario and Maria came, and we met Mario and Flavio’s sister Dina and her husband Angelo—both so sweet! Dina is a trip, she will go on and on about how bella we girls are and how brava we are because we speak Italian and drink wine and eat a lot—love her!!! Lisa and Domenico joined us about halfway through the meal, which took at least two hours! We started with several different appetizers including roasted red and yellow peppers, little onions, meat with tuna sauce (might not sound good, but it was delicious), something like potato salad, and olives. Then we had the first course—DELICIOUS homemade lasagna! For the second course we had a roast, fried calamari, salad, potatoes, and french fries. So much food! And of course, there is always bread and a wide variety of beverages on the table. Italians always have wine, water, and at least one other choice; today it was coke and Italian style orange juice. At the end of every meal here they bring out a basket of clementines, as they are supposed to help with digestion. I’m not sure if that is a seasonal habit or one that lasts year round, but I like it! We also had dried chocolate-covered figs with a hazelnut inside for dessert and, like good Italians, espresso. It was such a wonderful meal, but not just because of the food! Erin’s relatives are so wonderful themselves. I really wish we could stay here for a few more days. We had really lively, fun conversation throughout the whole meal. The women are especially fun to watch when they talk to each other. I really like being here because it is strange enough to be exciting, but familiar enough to be comforting. Elenora reminded me so much of my grandmothers today at lunch because we were all sitting and eating while she kept going to and fro from the kitchen bringing out more food. Dina was telling us girls about her and Angelo’s travels in America. Years ago they took a trip around the United States to California, Las Vegas, Niagra Falls, and so many other places. They have seen more of my own country than I have! As I said, Lisa and Domenico arrived while we were eating, and they sat down on our end of the table, so I got to talk to them quite a bit. They are both so funny and seem so much younger than they are. Erin, Alex, and I all thought they were about 25 or 26, but we found out tonight that Lisa is 31 and Domenico is 32! We also found out that they have been together since they were 17—14 years! They are such a cute couple because you can just tell that they are happy people and happy to be together. Actually that’s how all of the couples are here, it’s really too cuteJ Anyway, after we were impossibly full from lunch, Flavio and Lisa took us to the train station to try to make reservations for our train to Interlaken. Turns out we have to do it in Milan on Saturday, so we will be leaving here at about 6 that morning! Next Flavio drove us to an outdoor outlet mall close to where Lisa works. There were a lot of great stores, but it was still raining and none of us really needed anything, so we didn’t stay long. After that it was back to Mario and Maria’s for dinner! This time Maria made a dish very typical of this area—risotto with mushrooms. Mario found the mushrooms himself in the woods—he loves to mushroom hunt, but doesn’t really like to eat them, which I think is cuteJ The risotto and the mushrooms were fantastic! We also had roast, salad, cheese, bread, and the famous clementines. Once again we were stuffed to the gills!!! Domenico and Lisa came over after dinner, and we all sat talking for a little while. We found out Domenico is a magician, which absolutely made my day (I LOVE magic tricksJ)! He did a few magic tricks for us, but then we had to leave because Maria needed to get to church to sing at midnight mass. Domenico and Lisa took us to a pub where we sat talking for a long time. They are so much fun to hang out with! It’s so interesting to talk to them, too. They do the funniest impression of us speaking English. They also gave us some hilarious examples of different Italian dialects, like Napoletano (Domenico is from Naples). We made plans for coming back in the spring so we can see more of Novara and the lake. We also talked about meeting in Milan this summer for a South American festival, and I invited them to come to Ibiza with us for my birthday. I really hope all of these plans pan out because I love these people! I am so content here that it’s almost ridiculous. I simply cannot stop smiling and end up feeling kind of silly, but oh well! I wish everyone could meet all of these wonderful people because I know no amount of description could ever do them justice. In fact I want to go on and on and describe every little detail of them all, but it’s just hopeless! And it’s technically already Christmas now, so I better get to bed so Babbo Natale can do his thingJ Auguri!

xoxo