La Mia Famiglia

Cristina and I in Ancona 

This past weekend my friend Summer and I went to Jesi, Italy to visit my distant cousins. Jesi is a very small town on the east coast of Italy right outside the city of Ancona. On Friday morning we took a four-hour train ride through the countryside of Italy. It was the most beautiful train ride I have been on. All the trees and vineyards were beautiful fall colors and the hills and the countryside were breathtaking. Cristina picked us up from the train station and took us back to her house where we stayed for the weekend. Cristina is my age and luckily speaks English really well. We stayed with her mom, Lucia, and her 12-year-old brother, Andrea.

Andrea, Giovanni, Elisa, Cristina and I 

The town of Jesi is small and adorable and right in the middle of the countryside. After having an incredible lunch on gnocchi and mushrooms, Cristina took us on a mini tour of Ancona. We saw an extremely old church and saw a beautiful view of the Adriatic Sea. That evening we went to Cristina’s grandparents house for dinner. I met the rest of the family: Simona and her husband Renato, and their kids Elisa who is 10 and Giovanni who is 3. For dinner her grandma prepared homemade pizza that she had spent the entire day making. We sat around the table, everyone speaking in lots and lots of Italian, and ate the most incredible meal of my entire life. With Cristina’s help we were all able to communicate. I attempted the little Italian I know as they attempted the little English they know. Their family reminded me of my family back home, with all the cousins yelling, and the parents shouting over each other; the only difference was the language.

Nutella Tiramisu

On Saturday we had a girls day of shopping in a nearby local market with lots of clothes and shoes. The market was wonderful and I wanted to buy everything. That afternoon Cristina and Summer and I made tiramisu with Nutella and then watched Madagascar in Italian. It was so nice being in a home and baking and watching a movie on a couch. Elisa and Andrea spent a lot of time with us also, which was great. Andrea and Elisa are adorable and are like brother and sister, always playing, telling stories, talking a mile a minute. We tried our best to communicate in Italian, but we mostly just watched them go back in forth in their elaborate stories with lots and lots of hand gestures and animated speaking.

Cristina, Summer, and I at the festival

That evening Cristina took us to the city center of Jesi, which is a medieval castle area. It was were all the locals hang out on Saturday nights and was so crowded and lively. We went to her favorite restaurant for dinner and had an appetizer of focaccia, prosciutto, cheeses and amazingness. We split 2 pasta dishes and a dessert; I have never been so full and content after a meal in my whole life. After dinner we went to her boyfriend’s nearby town that was having their annual festival. There was live music and festivities happening in the city center. We tried a specialty of the festival: brule: hot wine. Surprisingly it wasn’t that bad.

Family photo!

Sunday was relaxing; we just spent time with everyone, playing European monopoly complete with Euros and various countries in Europe. I also found out I have cousins in Australia and we skyped them all together in the morning. Cristina and I decided we need to go to Australia together. Before we left, the whole family came over for tiramisu and to say goodbye to us. They all took us to the train station and saw us off. They were so incredibly nice and wonderful and I’m so happy I was able to visit them. It was the most Italian experience I’ve had in Italy and was the best thing I’ve done so far abroad.