Back in Milan

So I have finally found something I do not like about Italy... They maintain their highways too well and I get car sick on them. I got carsick both directions. Crap.

But once we were there it was great. Andrea has one brother, who 53 and never been married and a sister, Angela, who is 46 with two sons. Angela's sons are Luigi (21) and Enricho (17). They are very spread out in age. Andrea is 37. Everyone spoke a little English but apparently they were all too shy to speak to me. So I got a lot of practice in Italian.

Pescara is so cute. It is on the coast and a small town. We were 10 minutes from the center of town so while they all took naps I would walk to town and wander. On Sunday there was a great open air market. It's like a big garage sale so most of the stuff is good if you are looking to redecorate your house. I saw some really amazing furniture. This place is just so different its almost indescribable.

Oh and we had marathon meals the whole weekend. First course is pasta, followed by meat or fish with bread, followed by a vegetable, followed by fruit, followed by cookies or chocolate and often both. And everyone plate was what I would normally eat for a meal. They were so sweet, but all nervous that I was not eating enough. So I had eight people watching to make sure I ate enough and let me tell you I did. It was all delicious and there was so much.

We celebrated Christmas (Buono Natale!) on Sunday at Andrea's moms house. Her house is so much like I remember Grandma Mistretta's being. It had a built-in wall of shelves with Encyclopedias and old paintings of her children. Really nice furniture but also clearly very old. There are only a few family members so the presents seemed crazy to me. They bought Andrea's brother Dolce and Gabana underwear and Andrea got them all digital photo frames. Francesca got a new Cavalli scarf. Also Andrea and Francesca got me some really nice Puma lotion and body wash. It was just crazy. Oh and by the way just because a famous company is based here does not mean it costs any less here. But I also got to truely see how everyone is the same no matter where they are from; Enricho got in a "fight" with his uncle just like would happen with like Payne and Andrew or whoever. It was really fun.

Then on Monday we went to Andrea's sister's house for lunch. We ate again for like 4 hours with wine for appetizers, lunch and dessert. I only had a little because there is really no hope of me keeping up with these Italians. Her house is as modern as it gets. Sorry mom but compared to her house ours is outdated. The only sign of Christmas was a Santa Clause that sang Jingle Bells. I had to inform them that the words were wrong but it was from Naples so they were not suprised. Oh yeah they all look at Naples like we sometimes look at Alabama. You know as the defunct part of their country.

Well I have now writing a really long blog about my weekend so I will let you all go back to your lives. Oh one last thing all weekend I was really popular with Alice and Jacopo when we were with their family. I know it is just because they see me everyday instead of their relatives but it felt great. Oh and Alice is learning "I Want A Hippotamus for Christmas"; I got really tired of Jingle Bells after the 47 millionth time. Ciao. I will try and get you guys pictures tomorrow. Hopefully everyone will be well and go to school.