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When I first got my sim sorted out I sent a message off to Gabri, my first host mum, to let her know the number and also to work out a time when we could catch up. I didn't hear back straight away and my first few weeks in Italy slipped by in a new language and post exam haze of tiredness. Before long every email from my mum ended with 'when are you going to see Gabri?' i sent her another text and when I didn't hear back this time sent one with Facebook too.
She was super excited to hear from me, we still don't know what happened to the messages but she was joking that she thought I'd died. With plans to spend 9 days at the mountains with Sara we weren't left with very much time to catch up =( after all the Christmas fuss calmed down I headed off for dinner with Gabri and Giu and to spend the night.
Walking in the door I got enveloped in giant hugs and when they were over almost knocked down by how hard Cleo was wagging her tail. It was just like coming home. They also live in a house, not an apartment, but it is much smaller and cosier than Sara's and despite the fact I was only there 2 months I'd say I'm more attached to that house than Sara's.
Everything was almost exactly as I remember, the coat rack was slightly closer to the wall, and they'd just got a new microwave (the old one still on the dining table). They'd upgraded the tv (and got Skye), the Christmas tree was out and Cleo's chin had gone a bit white but Giu still had the same key ring and the same tablecloth was out.
When we'd made plans Gabri said we'd have pizza so I didn't mention I couldn't eat things, figuring it would be easier to explain in person where I could order pizza without cheese or farinata, a Chickpea flour pancake. This was an oversight on my part. Having remembered how much I loved pasta she'd made pasta al forno (baked pasta, sort of like Lasagna but make with pasta instead of sheets) topped with fresh mozzarella. I ate it very happily for it was absolutely delicious. I had gluten enzymes in my bag so wasn't worried about the pasta and had been good regarding cheese altering being rather ill a few days before Christmas.
I cannot stress how delicious it was, I've been eating gluten free pasta for years and while it's passable I had forgot just how much better proper pasta was. I declined to finish my meal with more cheese, not wanting to tempt fate too much, but it wasn't one of my favourites anyway. Not only was my weight loss (back to my normal) commented on, but also how much better my skin was doing. When I stayed with Gabri and Giu, and in fact for most of my stay in Italy I had terrible skin, I thought at the time from the gluten. I have now though changed my mind, believing that it's actually from eggs; when I first arrived we found some delicious GF biscuits but they were 9% egg. Thinking it wouldn't kill me too much so long as I only ate them for a little while I had them for breakfast most days. About ⅔ through the packet my body decide that was enough, my skin was super oily and there was barely 2cm between pimples. Once I started baking my own biscuits and finished the backed of store bought ones my skin cleared up pretty quickly.
I explained to Gabri that I was allergic to eggs so we think that was mainly why, but it also happens if I eat too much milk, which also allowed me to explain why I had brought soy milk for breakfast.
After dinner we all plunked down in front of the tv and alternated between watching it and talking. I was super proud that I did the whole thing completely in Italian. I didn't have any other choice, Gabri knows only a few words of English and Giu has forgotten most of hers since she finished school. There was much hand waving and pausing as I tried to think of the right word or conjugation. I know that my grammar was very poor, most of what I was trying to say required several different forms of past tense and I've only ever learnt the two most basic. I stuck with just using them or swapping back to present simple when quoting someone.
Gabri was super impressed with my italian, even going so far as to say it was better then hers (which is an obvious and extreme lie, but appreciated all the same). When I stayed with them for my exchange I was basically mute. I could understand very little italian and speak even less. When I got home from school I would retreat to my room to sleep, read or play around with my computer, anything really on my own, in silence and away from Italian. At the time I used to listen to music while I went to sleep but was complete unable to for several months, falling into bed each night completely exhausted and with my mind in absolute overdrive. I might not have been speaking italian I sure was trying my absolute best to pick up and follow what I could. The only real time I would spend around the house with other people would be after dinner. I'd make an effort to sit on the couch and try and follow some TV, or play around on my computer there.
Gabri revealed that she'd been really worried about me, always being shut up in my room and sleeping all the time. I spent a while trying to explain it to her but she still couldn't understand why I had been so tired when I never did anything with my time. I finally pointed out it was my brain that was tired from trying to follow conversations where I knew so little, trying to puzzle out what on earth was being talked about. When we got to this point it seemed to click into place for them just how difficult those first few months had been.
Half way through the night Gabri declared how nice it was to actually get to see the real me, who could communicate and was boisterously waving her arms, and how different it was to how I'd been before. It was a really great night the three of us an Cleo all sprawled on the couch, discussing something when it came to mind and settling in to watch TV in between.
We did presents after dinner and there was much sighing and exclaiming over the fact that i shouldn't have brought so many things (a present each and novelty ice cube tray). For Gabri i had bought a blue glass necklace that she insisted on putting on straight away and was wearing again the next morning with her pyjamas. I was pleasantly surprised that when Giu opened her present she excitedly asked if it was a room perfumer and pointed out she was in fact in need of one, I shouldn't have been stressed at all.
From Gabri and Giu i got a beautiful new scarf and a scalda mani (a small instantaneous reusable heat pack). Throughout the night Gabri also gave me a blue glass eye bead from Greece for luck and a pair of cuffie (earmuffs) for the mountains. The earmuffs were hers but she was very insistent in gifting them to me, with little use for them in Australia I will probably return them when I visit again when I'm back from the mountains.
January 6th is Befana, the day when a good 'witch' come around and gives coal to bad children and a you/caramelle to good children. It's the day we're heading home from the mountains so I've promised to go back and visit again that night or the next.
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