Mi Famiglia and My New Home

Today was the day we are assigned and move in with our host families! – A nerve-wrecking yet exciting event. Our roommates and families were posted after lunch and I immediately began to look for my roommate. I found her (surprisingly) and got to know her briefly. Alison is very nice and a vegetarian like me! (most likely the reason we were put as roommates) Later that afternoon, our families came to the Villa Rosa (our school building) to greet us and bring us home later in the afternoon. 

(The Villa Rosa)

I am living with Marco and Cristina Brandigi, an older Italian couple who have four daughters, and eleven grandchildren (with one more on the way!). They are one of the most experienced host families in the program as they have been hosting Syracuse students for 18 years! Marco picked Alison and I up from the Villa Rosa and brought us to our new home, for as Marco kept saying “Our home is now your home.” There we met his wife, and we all got to know each other. Thank god they know a little English! Cristina offered us some tea and biscoti which were much appreciated. She said the cookies were “biologica” which I understood to mean organic – delish! They are such a sweet couple and I am very content with my host family placement.

Alison and I were then shown to our room and given time to unpack our things. Our room is quite lovely with two twin beds, a giant closet for us to share and our own bathroom! We are also lucky to be equipped with wifi here as many families do not have this feature. Our home stay is a 25 minute walk to the Villa Rosa, or a 5 minute bus ride. Alison and I have decided to walk the first couple days and then possibly look into getting a bike!

After we were all settled in it was time for dinner. We started with some delicious squash soup, then tried three different types of cheeses, moved on to salad with tomatoes, and concluded the meal with fruit (a kiwi for me!) and a Ghirardelli chocolate that I had brought as a gift for my family. Throughout dinner Marco kept introducing us to new Italian words such as fork, and knife. They are very helpful with helping us learn the language!

Overall, today was very successful and I am so glad to like my roommate and my host family. My nerves are at ease! Off to make my course schedule and then to bed.