Torino, Thanksgiving, Marco, & Angelo’s Birthday

Four major events. In my defense, it’s these that provide interesting material that have prevented me from posting!

Torino was wonderful. I can’t wait to independet travel there (what SYA calls it when students travel in groups of three or four)! We saw lots of old stuff: a monastery, a (completely reconstructed) castle, a few churches, a baptistry, a beautiful lookout tower, several Autogrills, and two really cool museums (Egyptian and Cinema). Also, we spent upwards of 20 hours on a bus, so… that was cool.

Shortly after our arrival back in Viterbo was Il Giorno del Ringraziamento (Thanksgiving)! All the host families got together Thursday night for an epic potluck. It was so much fun to be with friends and family! Our school is so small that I still feel like I can strike-up a conversation with anyone, so it was great to talk to people I don’t normally about Thanksgiving traditions and cranberry sauce (a precious thing in Italy)!

OK, backstory: the most popular show in Italy and the show my family is completely obsessed with (we’re watching the finale as I write this) is called X-Factor. It’s a lot like American Idol and Marco is by far the best and the most handsome. And get this: he’s from Viterbo! Hopefully he’ll win tonight! Anyway. Friday night I went with my host family and Sara (lives next door) to Marco’s concert at a discoteca close by!

Finally, Sunday was Angelo’s birthday! We ate pancakes for breakfast, which really made me nostalgic for home. In Arkansas, we always make pancakes for my dad’s birthday, too.

Pictures!