Matera

Wow, I just realized  that I haven't even posted about Matera yet and i've been here for 1.5 months!

Well, I was originally told that I would have the first floor apartment to live in, but the family changed their mind and decided that they wanted me to stay upstairs with them. It's definitely a full-immersion Italian experience and often chaotic with the three sons. The house is large by Italian standards, but definitely much smaller than 90% of american homes. The mother is OCD about being clean/germs while the father works long hours as an Orthodontic Technician. The two older sons, 18 and 13 share a room together while the five-year old still sleeps in the same bed as his parents. I have my own bedroom, but it's also the office/study/homework room for the 13-year old.

Me, Vittoria (Mother) and Pino (Father)

I teach English every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday night and on Saturday mornings. I go to a free italian lesson offered by the city of Matera every Monday and Wednesday evening. I also take a hour italian lesson twice per week from the lady who lives downstairs and in return, I teach her husband english twice per week. Every Sunday is a day spent with the family either touring a town nearby or going to their hometown of Irsina to visit with the extended family. I worked for two weeks in October for a dentist who had me read a real-estate book in english, form a summary and translate it into Italian; talk about a hard job! Translating from Italian to english is one thing, but translating from english to Italian is a different category. When I don't work in the morning, i'm busy running around town with the mother shopping for groceries or this and that.  The father and oldest son come home for lunch and we eat at 2pm everyday. Mind you, there must be pasta at every single lunch. It's a crazy life, but it's my life until mid-December when I finally return to the states for good....there is NO changing my mind this time!!

Me and Vittoria

I'm grateful for my experience here, but I will be even more grateful when I am back in the US and have my independence back. I realize how wonderful my family is and I wouldn't trade them for the world!!

Me and Pino