Ti amo Sarah

    We made it to Lucca, a small city in Tuscany entirely surrounded by a wall from medieval times with a perimeter of about 4.2 kilometers (2.7 miles), a population of around 85,000 and exactly 103 churches. It is such a quaint place, where you can walk everywhere and see very few cars driving through the streets. In fact, the part of the street we are staying on, "Via Fillungo" is designated solely for pedestrians.

Outside the wall, about to head into Lucca.

Our host family is very warm and friendly. They are a family of four including Isabella (who works at the language school), Maurizio and their two adopted sons from Ethiopia. Oh, and we must not forget about their dog Cico (pronounced Chico) a fast friend of ours. :) We joined all of them for dinner last night, asking the boys if they wanted to run with us... to which they replied "no" because they would be too fast. Isabella shook her head and said "I am not so sure about that," but I get the feeling they are probably right about that.

   We had our first class at the Koine Italian Language School today. We were excited to start our "Pane, Vino e Lingua" (Bread, Wine and Language) course.  It is broken up into two sessions, the first of which focuses on language and the latter around cooking and wine. We take the language portion in the morning from 9:00 to 1:00, have a break for lunch and "siesta" (yeah nap time!) and then continue with the cooking and wine segment in the evening (start time ranges from 4:30 to 6:30).

Upon arriving to the Koine School, we learned that we would be assessed on our language skill levels first thing. I immediately thought to myself "oh this should be embarrassing," followed up by "what if I'm not even paired in a class with Lisa?" (She had at least been practicing basic Italian prior to this trip). I decided to just give it a try and hope for the best, being called in for my individual testing shortly after Lisa went in.

   The instructor immediately spoke to me in Italian, saying hello, followed by something like "where are you from?" Without much thought, I instantly responded with "ti amo Sarah," which not only didn't answer the question, but didn't even answer what my name was either.  I had, in fact, told the instructor "I love you Sarah," which she laughed at, reverting back to English for the remainder of the time. Needless to say, I was placed in the beginner level class.

    We have already met so many intriguing people since starting our course today. One of my favorites is Erling (Airling) and older, Norwegian gentleman, who lost his wife two years ago and has decided to travel around the world ever since. He reminds me of my family's old friend, Uncle Jerry... very approachable and easygoing, while earning your respect almost immediately.

Erling

   Within our own class is Sabine, Eilidh (Ailee), Lisa and myself. Sabine is from the Netherlands, and made the trip to Lucca on a whim. She was supposed to be traveling throughout Tuscany with her sister, but she canceled last minute...and so Sabine elected to take an Italian language course in Lucca. Lucky for us. :) Eilidh is from Edinburgh, Scotland. She is in Lucca with her friend Gillian , who is in the advanced Italian class. Both girls are extremely friendly, and come with great, Scottish accents!

    Lisa and I adore our Italian instructor (insegnante) Maddalina. She is very animated and supportive, particularly when it comes to my limited language skills. She rarely speaks English in class, so we have to focus even harder to understand what is being said. In another memorable moment, Maddalina asked me if my primary language was English, "Parli inglese?" to which I responded "ehhhhh" while waving my hand back and forth as if to say "so,so." Lisa then quickly whispered to me "she is asking you if your main language is English!" and I abruptly started nodding my head, exclaiming "si, si, si!"

    We finished our language course and headed home for lunch and "siesta," grabbing a few groceries at the one and only "supermercato" in town. Our cooking and wine course started at 4:30, where we went over the itinerary before taking a small tour of Lucca. Ironically, Isabella (our homestay host) was our guide for the evening,  pointing out some of the "artiginale" (authentic) gelaterias, pasticcerias (pastry/bread shops), pizzerias and ristorantes. She also taught us that the only cheese of Toscana (Tuscany) is pecorino, and that bars ("un bar") in Italy only serve reheated food, since they do not have kitchens. She went over a little bit of the history of Lucca, informing us that the city structures are from the 1400s medieval times. This city was around long before America was even discovered!

Total fanny packs spotted to date: 26

Total scoops of gelato consumed between the two of us: 25 

Oh and here is a shout out to my brother... Buon Compleanno Gary!