toscana

The first one is in the morning, before the fog had cleared that day. The building is the castle. Right now as I'm typing its nighttime and I can see their lights flickering in the wind so I guess they use like gd torches or cannons or something, I can only assume this is what you do in a castle.
The second one was when I went for a nature ramble (intended on a hike, went a good three minutes direction away from the house, got scared of getting lost and went back).

One thing everyone knows to expect while in a different country is the communication problems, language barriers. I think these always provide great humorous and humiliating anectdotes.

1). So, to say "down" or "downstairs" in Italian is "ju" pronounced phonetically, 'jew'. I was aware of this yet it was nonetheless a little disconcerting, when, at the dinner table, the family dog Tobia leapt up to try to grab a bit of food and the family would collectively smack her down yelling, "NO! JU! NO!"

2). Probably by now I've told you all about the happy birthday \ happy asshole story? If not ... I think you can imagine how that one played out.

3). Sometimes things aren't my fault. Sometimes there is slang words that I can't find in a phrasebook. For example. There is a word that is similar to that for PENCILS which in Italian slang means DICKS. The family had some friends over, I was keeping the kids entertained colouring in the other room. I sincerely thought I would be thrown out when I came in the roomto ask for what I THOUGHT meant "coloured pencils"..........

arrivado

ciao a tutti. i am in italy.

The trip over was shockingly flawless and painless. Planes rides were fine (even now i still say plane rides instead of FLIGHTS. It's like referring to a baby as being in a woman's "belly" when it's actually not there) . The FAs were cruel though. Like genuinely abusive and unkind, actually YELLING at passengers like, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" But we got to eat canneloni and watch Fantastic Mr Fox in Italian, so...I didn't complain. As soon as we got off in ROMAAAA my suitcase was like the fourth one of the conveyor belt thingy. As I headed to the washroom I accidentally ended up in the train station. Took the train to the central station, another longer train to Grosetto, then a bus ride to Cinigiano. The bus ride was mostly schoolkids and when I dropped my suitcase and swore & then apologized loudly in English, a bunch of kids overheard.

"AMERICANA?"

"Ah, no, no ... Canadese...?"

I spent the duration of the bus ride being asked, °What's up?" and being expected to answer, "Cool."

Finally in Cinigiano I found a phone, called, Giovan and he came to get me in three minutes flat. We went to pick up Antonio from scuola. He is supercute, after he got in the car he asked his father how to say in English that both my hair and my name were very beautiful.

Their home is a postcard of Tuscan Italy. Big stone house perched high on the rolling hills of farmland and vineyards. Giovan even pointed out a fucking CASTLE not too far in the distance.

The family is so warm and adorable. They've been having people come from all over the world to stay with them for many many years now. Little Federico (not fRederico) is in grave danger of me smushing his face and eating it. Ilaria never stops moving and laughing and eats like a machine but is very petite. Giovan is much more chill, he pours me some of the family wine at dinner and is very pleased when I polish off nearly half the bottle. I intend to go upstairs and retrieve the gift I brought them but am too tired at this point to do much but collapse. One of the previous WWOOFers left a copy of Twilight in the room. I read it to fall asleep. It's pure crap.