Christmas in Italy

I apologize that this is the first time that I have written in the past week, however I have been in Saluzzo, Italy with my professor and his family, and did not have Wifi to write.

Christmas this year was very nontraditional for me; I was not with my family for the first time, but rather I was in Italy, and with 3 boys (I am always with girls during the holidays as I am the only boy on either side). However, I learned a lot about myself, Italian culture, and what the true meaning of family is in the past week.

As I said, I was in Saluzzo, which is a small city south of Torino close to Mount Viso (The Paramount Pictures mountain). I spent 6 days there with my professors family, and it was a great time.

While I was there we did a couple things for Christmas that allowed me to see into the Italian way of doing Christmas:

Christmas eve we went to Julianna's parents house to eat dinner with her side of the family. Her parents live in the old town in Saluzzo and had a great view of not only the rest of Saluzzo, but of 2/3rds of northern Italy. I could see from Milan to Torino and farther all at once!

The hill on the right is actually Torino (hard to see, but it is)

For dinner we had at least 12 different courses of food, three of which were dessert, and plenty of good wine. Ironically, none of the courses had anything to do with pasta, tomato sauce, lasagna, meatballs, or any of the other American stereotypes that we have of Italy and Italians. The dinner was wonderful, but it was the conversation after that intrigued me the most. Everyone talked at the same time, and the moment the children left the room, so did the gloves!

Notice how everyone's mouth is open at the same time!! It is normally hard to understand someone when they are speaking Italian, but if you have 8 people doing it, and then you add in the fact that they are talking fast, interrupting one another, and you have never heard any of the words they are using, then you become a bystander who takes a video like this one to capture the moment;

On Christmas day we spent time at the house with the boys and grandma and grandpa Dastru. I must say although it was sad not being with my family, it was nice to feel welcomed into someone else's and not be alone. It was also fun to go back to my childhood a little bit and help the boys construct their Legos because I used to play with them for hours as a kid.

Francesco working on his Star Wars Space Craft

Carlo and I working on his Space shuttle

Playing with their completed Legos

We also spent a day and went up to a valley right before Mount Viso, where I was able to take some really cool photos. We spent the afternoon just conversating about life, Christmas, and Italy. It was a good time for me, because not only was my view absolutely magnificent, but I was also able to talk about my family, my Christmas traditions, and how Italy was treating me! To be honest at that moment I recognized that my time here in Italy, and life in general, has been greatly enriched by the people that have surrounded my life. For instance, I would have been alone for Christmas if It hadn't been for such nice people here in Italy welcoming me into their family and home.

 

 

I also had the privilege of a free day to explore Saluzzo on my own, and walk around the old town for almost 5 hours. It was a really good time to just get away from things and step back into an older and historical part of Italy.  While I was walking around I ran into some interesting people, awesome places, and ate some delicious food. It was a unique experience to be able to talk to a few elderly men hanging out at this local cafe. Although I was only able to understand half of what they were saying, they held a conversation with me for 30 or so minutes over a cafe, asking me about life in America, what brought me to Italy, and lots of other funny things.

In fact at one point I had said that everything in one way or another is better here in Italy and the one guy stood up called me a liar, and proceeded to say that the only things that are better here than in America are the "'e donne e i cibo" or in English "the women and the food" (I must admit that this is a true statement, however I would add in many other things such as fashion). I also came across a house with a great view of Mount Viso, and being the American that I am, I of course rang the buzzer. This kind older lady came out and after explaining to her that I wanted to take this one photo, and how I was an American studying here in Italy, and how I am traveling to Rome, Naples, and Florence the next two weeks,we had a lovely conversation about where it is that I should go when I go to Florence!

As I continue to travel, experience different cultures here in Europe, and dive into the culture of Italy, I am finding that I couldn't have been luckier to have a family that is caring enough to be without me for Christmas, but never forget me. Furthermore, I can't talk about my Christmas here in Italy if I don't also talk about what Christmas was like back home. Although I have no idea what Christmas was actually like, I do know that my mom took the time to make special Christmas cards this year so that I was included and also took a few photos on Christmas eve and Christmas with our family that I wanted to share!

Christmas Card #1 - featuring Mom, Dad, Kortney (my older sister on the motorcycle),  Kelsey (my younger sister and the soccer player), and yours truly all the way here in Italy!

Christmas Card #2 featuring all of us again

Christmas Photo of the family

Cousins on my dad's side

Cousins on my mom's side

My sisters and I

Christmas to me has always been more about spending time with the people that you love, rather than the presents that are under the tree, and being away from those people this year gave me reassurance in this. I recognized that regardless of in the same room, or on opposite sides of the world, your family is your family, and they will always be there for you! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a great new years!

This year instead of sipping on sparkling grape juice or something stupid, I will be in Rome with two of my closest friends having an absolute blast here in Italy, and regardless of where you are I hope you do as well!