Buon Compleanno

The other night, I had to accompany the little girls to their friend Mia's 5th birthday party. This is why I love my job. I got paid to admire a beautiful home in Piazza Venezia while gawking at the high designer clothes all the mom's were wearing. There wasn't a single couch or corner that didn't have a couple middle aged women whispering to each other, laughing, and smoking cigarette's. At the same time, there were about 30 children running around, staining their fancy dresses and trousers with the abundance of food. I found myself chatting with one of the maid's and she said, "Isn't it too bad? Her favourite colour is blue, but the mom insisted the colour theme to be white."
But this was no ordinary birthday party. It looked more like a wedding, just without the groom. There were tables filled with trays of finger food, two stands for crepes and cotton candy, and a coca cola fountain. There was also a live puppet show performance in the living room. I ventured onto the wrap around terrace which had, as my host mom told me, "one of the best views of the whole city." It really did. 

I will never forget the sad images of the house workers running about to make sure this party had gone off without problems. The three of them, dressed in formal maid uniforms, were constantly speed walking all over the place cleaning up spilled drinks and making sure everyone had enough to eat. I saw the male cook who could've very easily been someone's grandfather, and I have never seen someone look so tired in my life. He brought the cake out which was a delicious vino cake. As in wine cake. What 5 year old gets a cake made with wine for their birthday? I must say, it was so delicious, with little chocolate chips baked inside. The whole time I was there I was wishing I had someone else to share it with. 

What's It Like In New York City?

So. I have something on my brain that I need to share. I mentioned in my previous post that Nathan and I were going out for dinner in Trastevere Wednesday night. Well, that didn't happen. He likes to cook and when we met up in our usual spot in Campo, we agreed to just go back to his apartment, eat pasta, and watch a movie. One of the reasons I was excited to see Nathan is because he's leaving in a week now, so I don't have much time left to spend with him. It might seem selfish, but there was a bigger reason than that... Did I mention that he grew up in New York City? And that I kinda wanna sorta move there next...? He moved to Boston when he was around 13 years old, but he spent most of his life living there. 
I've been giving a lot of thought lately to what I want to do next year, and The Big Apple is looking more and more appetizing to me. I've never been there, except to the JFK airport where I connected flights on my way to sunny Florida. But seriously. When I close my eyes and ask myself, "Where do I see myself in one year?" I see me jogging in Central Park. I can see myself bustling through Queens, Brooklyn, and Chinatown. I can see myself drinking martinis and going to cool parties in Chelsea and admiring the beautiful townhouses in Greenwich Village. I've been doing a lot of research about the pros and cons, and the only cons I can find is "lot's of traffic, expensive, high unemployment rate, rude people..." 

Its still so much to think about, but can't you see me sticking my head out of a yellow taxi cab and being happy there? I can. But its still a lot to think about, just as I gave Italy a lot of thought before coming here. But talking to Nathan got me so hyped up, because really - how lucky am I to know someone who grew up there? My only true issue is that even though I turn 19 this July, I won't be of age in the U.S. You have to be 21. But luckily... I have my sister's old driving licence who is already 21. So really - I'm technically of age there. What do I have to lose?! The really nice thing is that I would be on the same time zone as my family, and the distance between my hometown and New York City is a mere one hour plane ride. That feels like practically nothing compared to being a nine hour flight from home as I am right now. I would definitely come home for Christmas, and the best part is that I already speak English. So I can go there already understanding everyone. In a city with a population of over 8 million, do you think they'd make room for me?

I know what some of you guys are probably thinking right now... I'm in Rome, and I should be enjoying myself here. I definitely am enjoying myself here, and I absolutely love Rome. But lately I've been having to think about my future, too, and what I'm going to do next fall. 

Italy, Ireland, Same Thing

I had the greatest few days of my life thanks to a little unexpected adventure. The family I'm working for took me to the countryside where they have a house just one hour outside of Rome. Its located in the Lazio region, and the mom's side of the family owns a small village perched comfortably atop a huge piece of land overlooking herds of sheep and mountains. It was literally like a small village, with houses only owned by those related to the grandparents. All of the houses were made of stone and covered in ivy and English roses. The family even owns their own Catholic church that sits proudly among the dozens of beautiful homes. I felt that I had left Italy for the weekend and landed in Ireland. When I I went for a walk through the countryside, I felt like I fell into a scene from PS I love you. 

I spent the entire time drinking homemade red wine, horseback riding through the mountains, and doing my best to stay on the good side of the strict grandparents. 
Clemi, the eldest daughter, took me aside later and assured me not to worry about them, because "nonna is impossible." This made me feel much better, and I could see it was true every time we sat down for a meal when the grandmother would boss everyone else at the table around. Get your elbows off the table. You cannot sit at the table with messy hair, you must tie it back with a pony tail. Sit up straight. Speak more clearly. 
I even got the chance to go to Bracciano, the town where Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes got married. As it turns out, the mom is close friends with the woman who owns the 15th century castle where they got married, and I got to go there! I was completely wonder struck and have never seen anything so extravagant in my life. I asked the woman how the wedding happened. My first question was how they approached her. She explained that Tom is a close friend of the Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani and they have connections and BAM - they had the wedding there. 
Now I'm back in Rome sweet Rome, and missed the city oh-so much during the past few days. The family is still in Bracciano and comes home tomorrow, giving me some time to do whatever my little heart desires. I drove home with the Filipino workers who sang country songs for over one hour.

Its A Wonderful Life

If I was at home right now, this is what I'd be doing... 
I'd be decorating the tree at home with my family, watching the delicate pearl coloured snow flakes fall, baking gingerbread cookies and buying an extra tub of vanilla icing for extra 

deliciousness, wrapping presents in every colour imaginable, stashing my purse with candy canes... I'd be making a snowman and donning her in my pink plaid scarf, and going beer boganning with my friends at H. H. Knoll park. I'd throw snow balls at the side of the house, sip hot chocolate inside by the fire, go Christmas shopping at the Pen Centre, and walk down West Street arm-in-arm with mom picking out new ornaments. I'd be buying candy cane scented soap from Harmony on West, listening to Christmas music and drive around the city appreciating everyone's lights display. 

My favourite part about this time of year is eating yummy holiday candies with my sister on the couch while having a marathon of all the classic Christmas movies. Our personal favourite is A Christmas Story.

Missing out on Christmas this year makes me realise that I don't think I can miss out again next year. I think that this is my one year to really put myself out into the world and travel and experience Europe, but next year I would like to be able to be closer to my family so I don't have to miss out on things like this.
Niagara-On-The-Lake is, in my opinion, the world's most picturesque city - especially at 

Christmas. There's horse carriages you can ride around on, beautiful Victorian mansions that are dressed up in their Christmas best, and the most incredible Christmas store in the world. Its open all year round and sells everything you can imagine that has to do with Christmas. 
This week, they're putting a huge Christmas tree up at the Vatican, which I'm really excited about. Last night, Nathan and I were taking another nighttime walk around Rome and appreciating all the beautiful Christmas decorations and lights. He's leaving for Paris today and isn't coming back until Sunday, so we wanted to see each other before he headed off. He said, "Even though I love this city, I can't wait to go home for Christmas." Sigh... I told him that I'm not going home for Christmas. I expected him to say how terrible that was, and that I should be with my family, not in Europe. But I told him my plans, and he was really enthusiastic for me, which made me feel really good. I probably already mentioned this, but I'm going to travel with my Austrian friend Magda for Christmas. 
Actually, today is exactly 3 weeks until my trip, and I'm so excited. I'm flying to Munich first, where Magda is picking me up. Then we're driving back to Salzburg to spend Christmas, and we're travelling to a place called Upper Austria as well. Then we're going to spend a few days in Vienna, and then Prague for New Years. So even though I'm not going to be home for Christmas, I'm still so excited to see Magda and travel to so many new places.

Follow The Yellow Brick Road

When I arrived in Italy, my life became technicolour. And now, I never want to leave. I was talking to my friend Taylor about this, who's living on the border of France and Switzerland. I'm really proud of her, too, because she was supposed to go to the University of Toronto for law, and now she's learning French and having the time of her life. She says, "The only problem with coming over here is that I never want to leave." I couldn't possibly agree with her more.
Ever since I moved into my new house, I haven't had much time to update my blog because I'm literally in the heart of Rome. I no longer have to wait for anything or anyone - I can go wherever, whenever. And every single day, I'm out and about. I also have loads of free time, so I've been spending most of it out with friends, window shopping, touring around, eating more food... It is pure heaven over here.

One of my favourite people here is my good friend Kelsey, who I spent Sunday evening with. We met up at the monument in the centre of Campo dei Fiori and split a bottle of wine. I keep a wine opener in my purse at all times. We talked about her busy weekend, and my new house and I gave her the details of my new beau. We'll call him Nathan. 
Nathan is 20 years old and is studying here with my other American friends like Connor. I met him a few weeks ago at Scholar's but nothing really happened between us until last week. I went out with my au pair friends and the Americans on Friday, and Nathan was there. I've never been this attracted to a guy before. He's from Boston and has tanned skin, dark brown eyes, and a perfect smile. On top of his charming looks he's an actual gentlemen, and asked about how I grew up, what my family's like, and all that important stuff that's sometimes awkward but really wasn't at all. He's really easy to talk to, but its bittersweet because he's going home to the U.S in three weeks. I was talking to a friend about him and said how terrible it is that I just met him now, and that I wish we had met sooner. She reminded me that it could be worse, and that I could've met him three days before he left, or maybe not at all. This is true.
So, after Kelsey and I had some wine, she walked me to Scholar's where I went to meet with Nathan. His favourite football team, the New England Patriots were playing, and they won, so he was pretty happy about that. We hungout there for a bit and then decided to walk around the city. Rome at night is beyond any kind of beauty you can ever imagine, especially the Trevi Fountain, with its electric blue water and gold lights.

It still has tourists and romantic couples lounging about even at 1 am. We walked everywhere, and eventually ended up at Villa Borghese. We just hungout there and had a view of the whole city. The best part was St. Peter's Basilica, which was decorated with gold lights. It was definitely one of my favourite nights in Italy so far. I don't know how much I want to, or should reveal about my current romance going on here. I actually get the butterfly feeling with this guy, and so I want to respect his privacy as formally as I can. When he was walking me home, I saw my Swedish friend Ronja, who I've been running into spontaneously lately. She thought that maybe he was Italian or Greek or something, and said, "Who's the hottie? What country is he from?" He replied, in perfect English (and that irresistible Boston accent), "I'm from the U.S." She was really taken aback, but then laughed and said, "That's too bad, I was hoping we could talk bullshit about you behind your back right now." Oh, Ronja... 

Casa Dolce Casa

I have moved into my new house in Rome. Finally, I am here. I'm living in Campo dei Fiori, which is in the heart of Rome. Everything is in walking distance, and I'm nestled right in between the Vatican and Piazza Navona. Piazza Navona is a beautiful square filled with outdoor café's and has several large, marble fountains situated right in the middle. In my opinion, I am living in the ultimate location in Rome, for day and night. How lucky am I? 
Speaking of luck, I've had a lot of it lately. What I mean is that before I moved here and took the bus, I would show up at the stop and it would magically arrive within the first five minutes of my being there, when it usually takes between 10 - 15 minutes of waiting. Then, when I was out for dinner with my friend the other night, the waiter came over and apologized because he actually sat us at someones reserved seat. No big deal, right? We'd just move. Well, I guess they felt pretty terrible about it, because we scored a free bottle of wine. Also, I went to the grocery store the other day because I wanted to pick up a box of tea for myself. I didn't know that there was a huge sale on the vanilla tea that I love, but even better than that, I got the last box.
So - my new living situation. Its a beautiful yellow house filled with lots of art and interesting details. For example, there's a spiral staircase, wooden beams, and archways here and there. My bedroom is painted a light cream and I have those Japanese cherry blossom flower pattern on my curtains. I have a chandelier and wooden beams across the top of my million foot high ceilings, and a picture of an angel hanging over my bed. I like to think this will make me have only good dreams. I have my own private bathroom right across the room from me that is painted this amazing shade of bright orange. 
Not only do they own a beautiful house in the centre of Rome, but they also have their own castle in Tuscany as well as their own private island. I swear, someone could make a movie about these people. But oh, wait - someone already did! A couple weeks ago there was a film crew taping part of a movie at their house.

There are 10 of us living in the house: the parents and their four children (Clemintina, Manfredi, Lodovica, Desideria), not one, but three Filipino workers, and now me. So its a busy household. Actually, the one Filipino worker is currently home in the Philippines for a little while, but he's coming back sometime after the holidays.
Clemintina, the oldest, spends most of her time out with friends or in the upstairs loft painting. Manfredi is rarely home, because he's always playing sports. Which he could do perfectly at home, since they have their own basketball and volleyball court. I'm really only responsible for the two little ones, Lodo and Daisy. Lodo is curious about everything I do, and tries her best to ask me questions in English. Her and Daisy follow me everywhere, and have become my two little Italian shadows. 
The kids all go to the private, super exclusive French school in the heart of Villa Borghese that was a palace designed by Michelangelo. Man, if only I could've had the education these kids are getting... Its really tempting to speak French since we all know it fluently and their English isn't so good. But Lodo really does try hard, and I can't imagine trying to be trilingual at the age of 8. Daisy has created her own personal language called Frenglian. French, English and Italian all rolled into one. 
Anyway, the house is literally sitting on top of pure Roman ruins. There is a pathway under the house where there were old shops, and they keep their wine and ping pong table down there. So, I can play ping pong in Roman ruins without having to leave the property. Another interesting fact about the house is that during the medieval century it housed a madwoman. 

During this time, my bedroom and the parents bedroom were connected, and she was imprisoned for chopping off her father's head. She eventually died here, which is a nice thing to know about the room I'm going to be sleeping in for the next 6 and a half months.

Friendsgiving Part II: Jewish Ghetto Style

On Saturday, I surprised my family by calling them at my grandparents house. Its my grandparents 56th anniversary and my nana just turned 79 this past month, and so all the family on my mom's side had a party. I was in touch with my cousin Graeme who knew I was going to call, and he picked up the phone right away when I called. 
Last night, Kelsey and I went out for dinner to celebrate Thanksgiving. I know Thanksgiving was a month ago, but Kelsey is American, and so this is her day to celebrate. We kept giving it formal names like, "The day in which we give thanks to God." We went to this little restaurant in the Jewish ghetto of Rome. It was my first time going to that neighborhood and it was a nice change in scenery. There were amazing little kosher restaurants and we had such a delicious dinner. Fresh bread, to start, and then I had gnocchi. It was steaming hot, smothered in tomato sauce, and had melting mozzarella cheese dripping through it. I have never tasted anything so perfect in my life. Kelsey had couscous and vegetables, and we shared a bit of each others meal. After our fancy dinner we walked over to Scholar's to visit my friend Connor who goes there every Sunday to watch the American football games. Connor is the guy from Atlanta who saved me from that French guy. Connor was there with a few of his other American friends and he hit me with some tragic news. They're all going home in a month. What? I thought they were at least staying until spring. It was so sad, but we had a really great night together and I loved celebrating 'Friendsgiving' twice. I think I will make it a tradition once I come home to celebrate both Thanksgivings. Why should the best holiday known to humankind be celebrated once a year, if you can celebrate it twice? I don't know why I didn't come up with this idea sooner.

Kelsey and I also flipped through my thick book on Rome. The book was published by National Geographic and has hidden maps, cool ideas for what to do and where to go, off-the-path excursions, and interesting facts about the city. We found so many things that we want to do together.
My current host mom is in Poland for the week, which means I am solely responsible for Giulia until I move out on Wednesday. My bags are almost entirely packed, except for this load of laundry I'm going to do before I go. Giulia went to her viola lesson after school and did some studying at home. After we got that out of the way, we made popcorn and watched A Bug's Life. I haven't seen that movie in about a decade, and I forgot how adorable it was. I love watching old Disney movies. I also walked around my neighborhood and took cool pictures of displays and found this really funky furniture shop. It was a great way to kick off the new week.