Day 9

--Let me tell you a little bit about where I live. I live in a pensione, a small hotel or boarding house in Italy. The first floor is simply a walk in “lobby,” which now looks a little bare since the Christmas tree was taken down. You walk up the stairs, and on the second floor is where twenty other students from the university and I live. On the third floor, there are guests, as well as the host family/owners of the pensione live and stay. The guests on the third floor are staying here as a bed & breakfast.

These are the stairs when you first walk in.

This is where I sleep.

Middle bed; I have two roommates. There are also  two small desks and a bureau that we share in our room.

This is where I look outside my window.
Hence the messy sketch.

This is our bathroom.

Our pensione host family cooks meals for us, providing us with all meals during the weekdays, and breakfast on the weekends. All the students on the second floor eat together in our family dinner style. 

This is where we eat meals.

This is where the host family cooks for us.

The pensione hosts include a bit of a family. Kiara is the main manager, and is a very pretty Italian woman. Her relative’s name is Illio. He seems like an uptight guy at first, but trying to speak Italian with him brings out his funny (and dancing) side. He also gave us girls a tip for how to keep the forward Italian men away (with language that I will not translate for you; very entertaining though). There is also grandma, and I am pretty sure her name is Marianella. It’s hard to know as she speaks almost no English. She’s terribly adorable, and was so cute and excited when she heard us practicing our Italian we had learned in day one. There is also Jesus, who helps clean up after dinner. He is from Lima, Peru, and insists that I am Liza Minnelli. Kiara and Illio have a son and a dog. 

This is Forco, the dog.
He smells a little, but is still super cute.

Oh yes, did I mention that my pensione has a great location? School is 4 blocks away, and the Duomo (yes, folks, thee Duomo) is down my street about 7 to 10 minutes walking. And the Ponte Vecchio (translating into “old bridge” in Italian) is not too far from there. I was stunned when I found this out during a wandering walk on the first night. Bene bene!

I’m hoping to take photographs on my film camera of the members of the family, which I will post if and when I ever get it developed. That's all for now!