Gubbio

11-24-12

Even though I wasn’t going to school today, I still had to get up at the same time because Janie and I were being dropped off at a grocery store to volunteer with two of my friends from my class.  The reason why we weren’t going to school was because there was a strike this morning and a bunch of students and even some teachers were participating.  They were protesting because I think the government isn’t giving the school enough money.  From 8 to 10:30, we were at the grocery store handing out a flyer and a bag to the people who came in so that they could buy the food products listed to donate to the poor if they wanted to.  Janie and I were the bag people because we didn’t know how to say the stuff in Italian.  There ended up being a lot of food donated.

After our “shift” was up, Janie, Emily (a friend in my class), and I walked to the center.  The strike was over, but there were still a ton of students in the center.  During Saturday mornings, there’s also a street market in Fabriano, and since we have school on Saturday, we never get to go.  So today we walked around and looked at everything.  We met up with a couple more friends and then we went to a small restaurant place called Kebob.  It was really good.

By the time we were finished eating, Janie and I had to walk back to my house because Janie’s host mom was picking her up there at 12.  When we got there, nobody was home so I called my host parents and they said they were in their country house.  We sat outside until Janie’s host mom got there and then I went over to her house for a while until my host parents got back. 

We ate lunch and then I got ready to go to Gubbio (a medieval city about 35 minutes from Fabriano).  Around 3, Janie and her parents came to our house and we all drove together.  A family there had invited Janie and I to stay the weekend at their house.  The woman is American and the man is Italian.  They also have a son.  We knew that the woman would speak English, but it turned out that everybody spoke it really good.  I guess they usually speak English around the house.  Our host parents stayed and talked with the family for a while and Michael (the son) showed us around the house.  It was beautiful.  He showed us to our rooms and we put our stuff down.  Then we went upstairs and got to see their chickens.  They also had two dogs and four cats. 

We went downstairs and one of Michael’s friends came over and we played two games of pool.  Janie and I were on a team and we lost both times.  I also met one of their cats and it is the coolest cat ever.  It was just super chill and when you picked him up, no matter how you held him, he would just purr and fall asleep. 

Our host parents left and we went upstairs and watched tv for a little bit.  Then we ended up going out before dinner and meeting up with another of Michael’s friends.  Janie and I got our first hot chocolates in Italy.  It is so different!  It is way thicker and way more delicious.  Janie and I were really full by the time we got home and it was almost dinnertime.  We talked with the woman in the kitchen for a while and then we went outside and talked with the man while he was cooking meat on the grill.  I guess the family lived in Italy for a while, moved to the United States for 10 years, and then moved back to Italy.  They have three sons, but two of them are staying in the States right now.

We all had dinner and then we went to the center with Michael and his friends.  We all talked and walked up and down the streets.  We went to a pub around 12 and then home to sleep! I was exhausted!

~Devon