Arrival in Florence
Trip Start
Mar 09, 2007
1
7
Trip End
Apr 12, 2007
Florence,
Italy
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Il mio "famiglia" is:
Fabio Feri, padre
Allesandra Feri, madre
Martina Feri, bambina, peperina
Miu (il cane) small and hungry
another student boarder: Yuki Taccata, loves fast cars and kimonos
Myself, an American of Czech and Russian descent, studying Italian in Florence with students from Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Japan, the Czech Republic and, of course the USA.
This is the learn-Italian-and live-with-family deal in Florence that I volunteered for, and happily I have been well placed
F1
. The family is delightful! Fabio is a fix-it guy with a lot of energy, and patience in speaking my broken Italian, his broken English. He's about 45, lived in Argentina a for years and also speaks Portuguese, is slightly pot bellied, warm hearted, and seriously trying to be helpful. His lovely wife is just as friendly. Their young daughter is beautiful, intelligent, studying guitar and the times tables, is allergic to wheat and eggs and tree pollen, has many friends... I like her, but she's hardly noticed me yet. It must be difficult to have a series of boarders in the house; but her parents assure me she just takes time to warm up to someone new.I have come across an excellent and relevant book written by an American expatriate with 15 years in Florence: "Italians Dance & I'm a Wallflower: Adventures in Italian Expression," by Linda Falcone. Each short chapter (about the length of an episode of Words on Books, but I haven't measured) focuses on one or another aspect of Italian psychology. From her I picked up the word "peperina" - Martina is what Italians call una peperina. "It means she has spunk and fills her words with red pepper."
There is the unusual young woman from Japan, named Yuki, staying in the room above mine. She wears a lovely kimono from time to time (see picture), is a motorcyclist and fan of fast classic cars. In fact, she is planning to go to Naples with two other Japonese friends this weekend, for a big car show. I think Fabio and Allesandra are a bit worried about this. All week they have been joking that they have called Yuki's parents in Kyoto and they said don't go. But she is definitely going. The bus leaves Friday night at 11 p.m.
F10
At our first dinner Yuki showed me pictures of Kyoto, including her parents (my age - he is a commercial baker) and her friends. Then she took out a Japanese car magazine and showed me a feature in which she is pictured at a car show, looking nothing like the demure woman in a kimono. Also, she plays drums.
The small ex-shelter dog is named Miu, and he is almost as small as a large cat. We made immediate friends; he stands up and leans on my leg so I can pet him behind the ears. Soulful eyes; we now are soul mates, and I didn't even feed him any of my roast turkey and potatoes.
