Work'n for the Weekend

Saturday was a great day to relax because it rained almost all day. In the morning I slept in with the rest of the family and then had a simple breakfast of biscotti and juice. For the rest of the morning I hung around the house playing a board game with Filippo and avoiding Ruggie because he wanted nothing to do with me. (I think he is having a hard time with the new change because he had the same nanny since he was five months old and she left the day before I got to Turin. So for the moment he won’t even acknowledge I am here, however, Filippo and I are buddies).

For the afternoon I was free so I chose to walk around the main street of Turin (only 10 mins from my house). It started to rain on my way back but I came prepared with an ombrello. Afterwards I watched a movie on my computer that I brought from home. Ah alone time….gotta love it. That night I went out with two other Au pairs, Anna and Beth. We went to a sports bar/restaurant and had hamburgers and French-fries…not bad. Afterwards we went to an Irish pub and watched rugby. Overall the night was nice but the other girls and I don’t have much in common so I think it will be hard to hang out with them a lot because we don’t like any of the same things. I told Pat this and she told me not to worry that I have time to make other/better friends and just give it time because it will happen.

“Majesty”

Today was a wonderful day. I decided that I would go to this chiesa (church) that Alberto found for me. When I found the church I sat down and waited for it to start. They told me it was in English but I was given a hymnbook in Italian and I thought I might be in the wrong place. So I asked a woman where the English service was. It happened to be in the right building but in the basement. The church was amazing. There were 18 people in attendance. We sang a least 7 songs acapella (three I knew: Majesty, the Doxology and Friend we Have in Jesus) because the organ player is in Turkey for two months. The speaker preached about praising God in all things not just when good things happen or when prayers are answered “how we asked for them”. After the service we all greeted each other. I met a guy from Indonesia, India, a woman from Minnesota and a girl and guy from Ghana. The girl from Ghana, Sylvia asked me if I would like a ride home and since it was raining I said yes. When we were almost to my house they asked me if I would like to hang out with them and since I didn’t have anything else to do I said yes. Instead of going home I went with them to pick up a friend and then we went to a SUPERmarket. That was the biggest grocery store I have ever seen. It was as large as a Sam’s or Costco but all food. We went back to their apartment and ate lunch. They fixed me calamari and zucchini and pasta with red sauce. I was thankful they did because they fixed them a traditional African meal of some kind of weird looking meat (I didn’t ask) and maize they ate with their hands. But overall my part of the meal was good. We ended up watching 2-1/2 African movies. They were all in English but some of their accents made it hard to understand. These were the equivalent of very low rate independent films. After the marathon they brought me back to the house. The family was going out for dinner and asked me to come along. So I decided this sounded nice and accepted. Two of their friends are members of a country club close to their house and invited us and one other couple to dinner at the club. On our way we passed the old Olympic area and saw the huge torch and stadium that held the opening ceremony. This could possibly be one of the most interesting groups of people I have met so far. One woman was a professional Violist and music teacher, her husband is a composer and talented piano and guitar player, their 13-year-old daughter plays the clarinet, their 9-year-old son plays the drums and loves Walker Texas Ranger (and was excited to meet me cause he thought I might know Walker). The other man was a professional soccer player. He has been retired for 3 years but still!! He played in the same league as Beckham and was very handsome (it is times like these I do not mind the kissing of the cheeks to say goodnight ☺). The pizza was wonderful as well as the conversation. I tried my Italian but mostly just listened because they were speaking so fast I was trying to understand. My day was jammed packed with new acquaintances. As the church bells ring for midnight, I begin to think of the busy day that lay ahead. So with that in mind I wish everyone a goodnight Bounonotti!!