The end is near!

The end of the harvest is so close! More like two days tops! We are at the top of the hill, where the terraces are getting deeper and deeper. Yesterday we were on the second to last terrace, which has three rows of about 20 trees each. The last one is a lot deeper, more rows, but it's the last one! It is very exciting to be able to finish already. We started on the 15th of November, and just might finish the 15th, maybe 16th of December. Our previous record was somewhere around 4700 kg, and as of last night we were at 5800 kg! We are definitely hitting the 6000 mark! And this is especially good since for the past week we only had one day of rain! And we weren't even working that day. Every day has been so nice and sunny. I missed the sun. During pausa, our break time, I always try to be in the sun. Oh, how good it feels to have sun on your face!

Other news. Raymond left, Drew came (back). Raymond left us on the 10th, also Friederike's birthday. He spent two night in Rome alone, and flew home on the 12th. He made it home safely and is happy to be home. We spoke to him via Skype when he was home, so everything is all right with him. A few days before he left, Drew came back. Drew was a volunteer here before I came (actually he left the day after I arrived here). His plans were to go to Germany, but things didn't work out there, so he came back here. He's from the States and wants to be a chef, which is awesome because we can talk food! And he eats meat! So I am looking forward to exploring dishes with him and making Hungarian food that I can share with someone! Yay! He also makes amazing fires which make the heaters super warm. (The heating in the Colonica works by making a fire in the fireplace which heats up water that is sent to our heaters. Unfortunately even the heaters are really hot, our rooms aren't. I mean, it's not freezing in there, but it's not super warm either. The hallway is always much warmer. How cruel.).

I only have one week left before I go home!! You have no idea how excited I am! It's the longest time I have ever spent without my parents, nearly 5 months! I have most of my gifts ready, now the problem is, will my things fit in my bag? Goodness.... The fact that Christmas Eve will be like when we were little, is very, VERY exciting! In addition to the seven of us, there will be two wives and one and a half grandchildren! For the rest of the holidays I have no idea how things will be, but I'm not really worried about it; I'll just go with the flow.

On Sunday we went into Florence. Rike and I went to church, the first in this Advent Season, and saw (well, heard. A column was blocking our view) the baptism of an adorable little baby. After church we met up with Kelly, Drew, and Clara (Rike's friend who is from the same organization as she is) and went to Santa Croce where there is a Christmas Market. There are many stands from around the world, but mostly European, two from Hungary! One of them sells these pillows that have some herbals in them that you can heat up or freeze and put on sore muscles, stomach aches, etc... But the other one is the BEST! It sells kürtöskalács!! Iris told me about them, so I just had to find them! People were crowding around this stand, so I stood in line as well. When it was finally my turn to order, I ordered in Hungarian. The guy was in shock for a moment, then made me my cinnamon and nut ones. When I paid, he said that he wanted to give me one as a gift, so I got one for free! It pays to Hungarian! :) I shared my sweets with the rest of my friends and they all enjoyed them, especially the cinnamon ones, which of course are the best ones. (For those of you who do not know what kürtöskalács is. It is a Hungarian delicacy that is usually sold at markets and bazaars. A yeast dough is rolled into about a finger's width of a roll and wrapped around a thick wooden log. This is then put into an oven which turns these logs and bakes them to a golden brown log. When it is done, the log is rolled in a mixture of either cinnamon sugar, ground walnuts, powdered sugar, cocoa, etc... and than eaten. Simple deliciousness. This might be a better explanation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%BCrt%C5%91skal%C3%A1cs)
After exploring the rest of the market and seeing German meat stands, Austrian strudels, a pig roasting, French foods, Dutch cheeses, French soaps, and many other things, we headed back to the center of the city and found Drew's favorite gelateria and had ice cream in the middle of December. How awesome is that? Very! Florence is very nicely decorated for Christmas. By the Duomo there is a huge Christmas tree that has the Florentine lilly in red hanging from the branches and lights. Simply decorated, but still beautiful. On some of the streets the Florentine symbols are also hung in the middle. I definitely do not miss the immense amount of Christmas decorations in the States! Simplicity is the best for me.
We took a risk and followed the schedule Paul made for coming back from Florence. It worked! A first. The trains are usually right, but somehow, the bus schedules never seem to match. But it did this time! We were very happy.

Thanksgiving in Italy, goodbyes, rain, Advent season!

The past few days have been quite eventful. We had an international Thanksgiving, said goodbye to many people, had lots of rain, and the Advent season started! (Duh, the title basically explains it all!)

Thanksgiving
Here at CC there are quite a number of Americans, or at least, there were when it was Thanksgiving. Zack and I have talked about having a Thanksgiving meal for quite some time. When Tony came back from the States in the beginning of November, he brought back a whole bunch of typical Thanksgiving stuff, like pumpkin pie filling, cranberries, craisins, etc.. It made everything seem possible, since I have not seen those things around here. There is a tradition to have a big meal at the end of the harvest, but since 1. we don't know when that day will arrive 2. it was almost Thanksgiving 3. there were a lot of people around from all over the world, we decided to have Thanksgiving dinner! We had a day before, since the appointment to take the olives was on the actual night. It was such a fun night! The tables were decorated with nice napkins and fancy glasses that are usually reserved for the guests. The people who were making all the food were feverishly cooking and baking all day. Tony took charge of the main meals, with the help of Elisa and Zack. Since Tony is a vegetarian and is lactose intolerant, the foods were altered a bit, but everything still tasted delicious. I don't think I have eaten that much since I got here. I was barely able to finish my plate. We had turkey, tofurkey, cranberries, potatoes, a delicious soup with chestnut pieces in it (how brilliant!!), roasted vegetables, and dessert thanks to Rike, Kelly, our South African volunteer, and myself. Rike made a German Apple Crumble, Kelly a Malva pudding (similar to a sponge cake, but it has apricot jam in it and some sort of sauce with cream in it) and for the first time ever, I made aranygaluska (which happened to turn out to be one of the best ones I have ever eaten. I am so proud of myself!)!
After doing all those dishes (we had about 25 people eating here), and cleaning up, Antoinette presented us with a game. Two teams, each player with a number. A asked questions about CC related things and then called out a number. The people with those numbers had to run to the "yes" or "no" chairs, and whoever sat down first, their team got a point. It was 'The Best' vs. 'Pink Olives.' Unfortunately, I was on the loosing team, but I think it was because Zack had the same number, and I am afraid that Zack might hurt me (things got pretty intense while fighting for the chair!). Zack used to play football and is quite bigger than me. I would rather loose to him than loose an arm.
There is a game called "Sardines" that we have been wanting to play for months now. We never got around to it, so we decided that that night would be perfect! The object of the game is the one person hides and everyone else searches for him/her. If you found that person, you hide in the same place with them. It's best to play with a lot of people, so you really do end up like sardines in a can! Paul hid first, and of course he knows every crook in this house, he found a pretty good place (I am still not saying where...); I found him first, than Ethan and Raymond. The four of us were in that little place for some time, and than we tricked the others are came out. Zack hid next, finding possibly the dustiest place in the house. There is a loft in one of the rooms and he climbed up there. Ethan and Raymond did too, so I was like, what the heck, why not! It definitely wasn't easy getting up or down! But so much fun! The night finished around this time, and we probably ended up watching a few episodes of 24 afterward (we have Season 3-7 here in the Colonica, and we all got hooked on it. Watched it every chance we got.).


Rain
There really isn't an update on this, but the fact that it has been raining almost nonstop. Well, today it was a better day; it didn't rain for the most of the day!

Advent Season
As you all know, Advent began last Sunday. This is exciting, because that means Christmas is a bit over 4 weeks away! We have a wreath, but no candles in it, haven't gotten around to it yet... On the first of December, when I stepped out of the hallway from my room, I saw that a little Angel, called Rike, dropped a few presents for me. She left me an Advent calendar and some delicious German cookies. Rike and I also made Cecilia an Advent calendar, with 24 little packages in a shoebox. She was so happy, and so were we when we saw her reaction.

Goodbyes
This is the saddest part of the blog for me. During the harvest we had several people come and go. We had the Swiss family with two little boys who seemed to make everyone's days a little bit brighter, Steven, the Dutch man, who went crazy with the chain saw and made pretty amazing tortillas (I rolled, he flipped), and several others. We still have Michael from San Diego and Kelly from South Africa, who are staying almost until Christmas. But the worst goodbye was Zack and Ethan. Their time here at CC expired and they flew back to Kentucky. It was not easy to say bye because we became such a tight-knit group and they felt like brothers to us. We became very close, so seeing the first part of our group leave was quite upsetting. Raymond leaves in 8 days, Dennis in 16. I even had a dream that Rike is also leaving, which made me sad, since it's only going to be the two of us after Christmas (though, there might a British guy named Adam coming!).
The last night The Klemme Boys were here was fun. We played a round of our favorite game, Apples to Apples, with Iris-o and Kelly. Took some pictures, remembered all the good times we had and said our goodbyes. Our group is missing a piece now, but glad that they home happily with their family.

By the way, bought some awesome Twinnings Infusion teas. Amazing! Currently I am sipping on a Raspberry-Echinacea cup. And, 19 more days!

That is all for now!

Where in the world does olive oil come from???

Mmmmm, so delicious on garlic bread, or with mozzarella and tomatoes, or salad, or anything (I really do mean anything. Italians put olive oil on everything!).... Mmmm, olive oil... This deliciousness is so wonderful. It all starts with a little tiny olive, and ends up being liquid gold. But really, how does that happen? Now let me try to explain this whole process a little bit. (Warning: it will not be perfect. You can ask Paul for a super detailed explanation)

It all starts with the olive trees. There are hundreds of different kinds of olive trees, but we only grow a few types (sadly, I'm not sure which ones). In the late fall, around November, the fruit of the olive trees ripen, turning black from the bright green they were previously. (See pic) In older times, picking the olives was simple. Like with any other fruit, you wait for it to fall on it's own. Thank goodness for gravity! But now in modern times, it's totally different. Large parachutes, some reminding me of the ponyvak we use in taborok, are laid underneath the trees. The pickers then go up in the trees, stand under, etc. to get down the olives. (We at CC don't wait for all of the olives to turn black. We pick all stages at once; green, green-black, and black) There are several methods to get the olives. 1. Use your hand. (Duh.) 2. Use a little hand-sized rake to 'comb' them off. Looks like you are trying to brush someone's hair. 3. Use a power tool which vibrates and shakes off the olives in the places you can't reach. We use the first two methods. I'm not sure if we own the power tool (I'm pretty sure we don't. We are waaay to ecological for power tools or modern things.). So after the olives fall onto the parachutes, they are put in crates and stored for a few days (in reality, they should be taken to the press within hours of picking to ensure the best oil. Yeah, ok!). When you've got enough olives, you take it to the press to make the oil! Yay!





At The Press AKA Bonsi Fattoria

So apparently, this Bonsi Factory, where we take our olives to make the oil, was some sort of farm house that belonged to a rich family, blahblah, ended up being an olive press and has some sort of castle-like building where rich people have their weddings and get horrible pictures taken of themselves (Some of them were really cheesy. A heart-shaped arch where you say your vows with the castle in the background. I mean, Come on!). Anyways, this place makes both wines and olive oils. Since we are in the Chianti area, lots of red wine made, but currently they were drying the white grapes to make delicious Vin Santo, a dessert wine (reminds me of a Tokaji bor, kesoiszuret/harslevelu, my faves! The Chianti wines, are too acidic for me. We have a house wine, that is absolutely horrible, but we do sell a wine that is pretty decent). They used to have a big cellar where they have barrels that hold up to 5200 liters (!!!) of wine. They were HUGE!

Back to olives. The olives are put in gigantic crates that are stored floor to ceiling. Don't know the exact amount they can hold, but oh boy, they sure do have a lot of olives in them! From the crates the olives are dumped into this huge box (can't think of a better description) with a hole on the bottom of it from where they go onto an assembly line to be washed. After being washed, the olives get crushed into this ugly brown looking paste (everything is included, the pits, the meat, and some leaves as well). From that paste the oil is extracted and deliciousness pours from a fossit into your choice of container. The oil is not clear at first since the fruit particles are still in it, but if it's left alone for a few months, the particles will sink to the bottom of the container and on the top is the clear oil. Back in the day, they used to have these giant pots with the insides glazed. The shape was perfect because the top and bottom were narrower than the middle, so it was easy to get the oil when it was finally ready.


Quick sum of the week. Rain, fog, rain, fog, rain, hail, rain, fog, sunshine, rain, fog, cold. This was the weather, meaning not a lot of olive picking. Currently there are around 20 volunteers, plus us, so we have a good number, but it is such a shame that during the time when we had the most people is when it rained. Though, Paul's goal was to pick a 1000 kg's of olives this week. The volunteers were outside for about three days in total and picked close to 1700 kg! Go them! I haven't been outside yet since Friederike and I take turns being in the kitchen and house. If there is not a lot to do in the house, that person would go out, that is if there is no rain. But of course with all this bad weather, we were both stuck in the house, though she did get to go out one of the afternoons.
We have many volunteers from all over the world. Spain, UK, South Africa, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Romania, and USA. And of course us, but we don't count. :P We have all ages, from age 2(?) and up to who knows what. There is a family here with two little boys, one about 4, the other 2. They are so adorable, most of the time all we hear is 'Mama!' but it's refreshing to see another age group of kids here, other than Pietro and Alberto.

Today was a nice day. In the morning it was foggy, so the volunteers didn't go out, but in the afternoon it cleared up nicely. I needed some air after cleaning the dishwasher (the worst.) so F and I decided to take a walk and visit the workers. It was nice to be outside in decent weather and see how the olive harvest goes (I hope this is not the only time I get to be near the olive trees!). After the visit, I sat down and gazed at the valley. I can never be thankful enough of being here. The valley shows me something new every day. Today is was especially beautiful because the sun was shining through some clouds and I could see the rays, which were shining on to a little village, as if they were spotlights. Such serenity came over me and I started talking to God. It felt so good. My heart was filled and I was totally refreshed afterward. I still can't believe how perfectly God created everything in this world, with such harmony.

Anything else? I don't think so. 31 days until I go home! YAAY!

The Moods of the Valley and Others

I can be considered incredibly lucky. I am spending one year in Italy in possibly the most beautiful place. When I look out my window, I see many things. Our garden, with many delicious things in it (zucchini, cucumbers, tons of tomatoes, salads of many kinds, cabbage, fennel, pumpkins, etc..), the laundry drying, cypress trees (two of which symbolize Aron and Ancsa), our fig tree, which had many delicious figs on it in September and beginning of October, part of the Villa, and behind the Villa, the Valley. It is absolutely incredible.



Each part of the day the Valley has different 'mood' to it. In the morning, if the weather is nice, the bottom is covered in clouds. It looks like a big, white, fluffy blanket covering the bottom. As the clouds start to clear away, little island appear. First, I see a little house, or another villa, or a hill. It is breathtaking. Sometimes, like the other day for example, it was a new experience. When I was making breakfast in the wee hours of the day, we were out of the fog, but as the morning continued, we were in the fog! It was so incredible to see the weather outside change so quickly! On a clear day, like today, you are able to see so, so, so far away! You can see the mountains behind the mountains that are on the other side of the valley, and the mountains behind those, and the mountains behind those! Some have snow of them already!!

Lately, the weather has been very typical fall weather. Rain, fog, cool temperatures, the whole nine yards. But today, it was incredible. It was a bit foggy in the morning, but the rest of the day was beautiful. Sunshine and warm temperatures were such a refreshment after days of rain; little bit heart- and soul warming too, since I've been sick for a couple of days now. But back to the valley. It wasn't perfectly clear, there was still a little mist in the air, but still so breathtaking as the sun shone through the air, and it gave the entire valley this heavenly glow. I really wish I could share the amazingness of this place. My camera is not capable of capturing such natural beauty, so you guys have to use your imagination for this.

I can't wait to see it in the winter when everything is covered by snow, but before that, we have to endure the olive harvest which starts Monday! yikes! I hope I get better by then and be able to put 110% effort into it. Paul says that he wants to take a 1000 kg (aka a TON!) of olives to the press on Friday evening. I hope we can do this. We have several volunteers coming, literally from all around the world. Spain, Britain, USA, South Africa (!), and some other places. In total, I think there are about 20 extra set of helping hands. Of course, the amount we take to the press also depends on the weather. If it's rainy, we can't work outside, so the harvest gets delayed. I really hope we can get everything done in 3-4 weeks. I want to be done with the whole harvest ordeal before I go home for Christmas! Yes, I am going home for Christmas!! Before those of you in the States get your hopes up, home=Hungary. This is such a special occasion because this is the first time since 2000 that the entire family will be together on Christmas Eve. Plus, the two wives, the nephew, and the baby on the way!! Yep, going to be an aunt again! Aron and Ancsa are expecting their baby, due at the end of May, beginning of June. So super-duper excited for it!!! The only thing I'm sad about is that I won't be there for the birth. I want to be there so baaaad when the wiiiiittle baby is born. But I have to wait a month after the birth to see him/her. But it will all be worth it. :DD

Other news. Hmm.. Life is interesting. The 'crew' here is becoming closer and closer. We spend a lot of time together, even if it's just sitting in the living room reading, or watching a movie together, or doing dishes, listening to the Dishwashing Song (aka Katy Perry's Teenage Dream. I got Zack, a manly man, to like it. I've caught him humming/singing it. He's not proud of himself. I am!), or spending an hour-two hours deciding on what to eat for dinner when Iris is not around to cook something. Sometimes, they can get on my nerves, but I love them so much. Ethan and Zack leave in little over two weeks, and I'm getting very sad about it, so I try to spend as much time with them as possible. Like last night, Ethan and I decided to stay up all night! We had no particular reason, but we just started talking about everything and it turned out pretty well. It wasn't the whole night, because I got tired so I went to bed around quarter past 3, only to wake up 3 and a half hours later to make breakfast. Totally worth it. Well, at first I wasn't tired, but after lunch it started to hit me. Plus I was left alone because the boys left to go to a Fiorentina (Florence's soccer team) game. So tonight, it's only me and F, experiencing yet again, what the next couple of months are going to be like (Raymond leaves December 10 (Friederike's birthday!) and Dennis somewhere around right before Christmas). Paul is trying to get other volunteers to come, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens. Anyone wanna come and join the awesome team at Casa Cares??? write to info@casacares.it Totally worth it.

Lately, I've been reading a lot of cooking and baking blogs. They are so mouthwatering, but maybe I shouldn't be reading them when I'm hungry.... Speaking of good reads, "The Book Thief" by Marcus Zuzak. Wow!

That's all for right now!

The Adventures at Casa Cares

During these two months that I've been here, many interesting things have happened that can (and will be) considered as adventures. Here are some:

-One of our guests got lost in the woods and spent the night there. After the incident, we got to know him a little better and he really is a lost soul...
-We had no water for a day. That day Friederike (will be referred to as F) and I were supposed to clean all the bathrooms. Not easy doing that, or washing dishes after meals when the entire house is full of guests. So we ironed all day.
- Getting soaked on my way to Italian class. It's only a 1km walk!
-Power outage several times.
- The Chamber of Mysteries, where sheets are counted every week.
- Emptying the rooms after a group leaves and finding 'nice' surprises.
-Spedning 7 hours cleaning the Colonica kitchen. No one knows the actual time when it was last cleaned.
-Driving to Iris's house in her car.
-Playing Apples to Apples with Iris.
-Being driven by Antoinette.
-Raymond Stew and Raymond Cake.
-Attempting to get a kitten out a wall.
-Brio. The dog that keeps on whining.
-Giving Ethan a haircut with a buzzer.
-Going to a Reggae concert with Iris, where we met her 'boyfriend' and had Raymond throw up several times on the way home from the moving vehicle.
- Going to Venice with a very loud American group and spending the day wondering around the city.
-Cleaning in the Villa kitchen: scrubbing kettles, copper wires, dishwashers, etc...
-Sweet tea and gumbo.
-Watching movies that took forever to download.
-The Romanian family that stayed with us for about 3 weeks.
-Being dragged into the bathroom by 3 boys under the age of 11 and having my face painted upon. And my ears too. The inside of my ears.
-Going to Florence with Zack, Ethan, Raymond and Friederike. The going and being there was ok, minus R's obnoxious ways. Nothing new.... But the coming back! oh boy. Deciding to take one train, than deciding the take another one and grabbing a Chinese lunch, getting off at a different train station and realizing that the bus we needed left right before us and the next one coming is two and half hours later. Exploring the town we were in and having a peaceful cup of tea with F in a little bar. Going back to the bus stop. Bus not coming, next one not coming, the one we were taking going in the valley, instead of up. Panicking on the bus, calling Paul and Dennis to pick us up. Getting off the bus at the last stop and seeing the right bus pull into the bus stop. God's grace.
-Vallambrosa on a very cold day with Z, E, R, and F. Absolutely breathtaking views of the valley fromm 1000m elevation. Having hot tea and nut rolls (ala F) and playing with a ball on the side of the hill. Being tackled by Ethan after several tries. Going to the supermarket and making an amazing lemon pepper chicken with Zacko!

*This is not in chronological order, but hey! they are most definitely adventures!
**More to come, undoubtedly.

Casa Cares

Just to explain a bit about Casa Cares for future reference. (Does anyone even read this blog?)

CC used to a children's home in Florence. It closed in the 60s and the Waldensian church got it. They didn't know what to do with it, and asked Paul and Antoinette, who were volunteers at CC when it operated as a children's home, to come back and do something. So they did and CC now operates as a guest hous. (This is a very basic intro. Paul can give you a very detailed background. Or the website: www.casacares.it)

CC accepts volunteers every year for how ever long period of time they want to stay. The volunteers are housed in the Colonica, where there is a kitchen and living room on the first floor and sleeping quarters upstairs with a common bathroom. In the same building live Paul and Antoinette and below them is The Apartment,which is for guests. (Basically imagine an 'L' shaped building. One wing for the volunteers, both levels, other wing for P+A upstairs, guests downstairs.)

The main building is called the Villa. This is where the office, the kitchen, library, guest rooms, etc... are. This where I spend most of my day. We have about 20 rooms, able to house 55 people. Each room is unique and there are no two that are the same. Some of the rooms have an incredible view of the valley down below. The rooms that have no special view (except the wonderful Colonica) are painted to make it nicer looking. (One of the rooms was painted by a Hungarian!) Some rooms have their own bathrooms, but most share a common one. The common areas are the eating room, where all three meals take place (duh), the soggiorno (which I called the sitting room, before learning it's proper name. Others call it the fireplace room), the piano room, where the conferences/meetings/seminars/etc take place (we had a piano concert here back in September!), the library, with many religious themed books, the downstairs piano room, and the downstairs eating room, aka the room with the triangle table in it! This house has many other rooms that are for staff only, but I don't want to let you all in on those secrets! ;) Though, my favorite 'staff only' room is the infamous Chamber of Mysteries. This room has everything in it; sheets to be taken by the laundry service, extra mattresses, art supplies, costumes, papers, toys, LEGO!, candles, and every other thing you can imagine.

Currently, there are 6 of us volunteers. Our jobs include a variety of things. Work in the garden, fixing the olive trees for the olive harvest in November ( we are all so excited about it!), kitchen work (including, but not limited to: making salad for meals, making yoghurt, cleaning dishes, helping make meals, etc...), house chores, like cleaning bathrooms, making beds, sweeping and mopping, laundry, ironing, etc... We have come up with the things we do like to do, and other, well, not so much.

Like
- Ironing
- Towels
-Laundry
-Being in the kitchen
-Being in the Chamber of Mysteries
-Doing dishes


Dislike
-Bathrooms
-Dusting
-Making beds alone
-Deep cleaning
-Cleaning things that have not been done in who knows how long

Of course, this list in reality is much longer, but it gives you a glimpse of our lives.

The Volunteers
Zachary- From Kentucky along with his brother. We have a very similar sense of humor, our sarcasm is alike. Aka Zack, Zack-o, Zacky.
Ethan-(Variations of pronounciation: normal, Eeeee-thaaaaan, E-tan) Also from Kentucky, Zack's younger brother. We've come to the conclusion that he has several sides to him. 1. The Ethan-Ethan, the one I first became familiar with; very quiet, keeping to himself. 2. The Passagero-Ethan. This term came from us observing him on the way back from Il Passagero, the local pizzeria, about 1 km from us. He is extremely hyper and crazy in this state of mind. 3. The Raymond-Ethan. This is when Raymond and Ethan are together being extremely stupid. Thank goodness, we see the least amount of this.
Raymond- (Pronounced: Rhy-mond!) From Norway. He speaks excellent English and is incredibly obnoxious (he even admits to it). He has black hair, and I have yet to see him with his original hair color, which I guess is blond. Though, he gets annoying at times, we all love him.
Dennis- The oldest of the group, from Denmark. His Italian impeccable. He keeps to himself a lot, but he's a pretty good guy.
Friederike- Well, I can say a lot about this girl, but I'll keep it short. She is from Germany, and speaks incredibly English and Italian (after only having it for two years), makes amazing food and baked goods, draws beautifully, plays the piano really well, and there is so much more to her! The two of us are very similar in many things and I feel like she is my sister. :)

I don't really know what else to say about CC, so if you have any Qs, just go ahead and ask!

August

Alone time
So my parents left and Anna and I were left alone. It was interesting to be away from my parents and be responsible for everything, but I got used to it after a while.

Budapest
Miklos finally arrived in Magyarorszag!! :D I went up to Budapest to see him and spend time with him. Those two days were so good! We did nothing, yet it felt so good. His apartment is very nice, not too far from the city centre

Family Reunion!
The best part of August when I get to go! I love my family! I went to this family reunion that happens every summer in the same place. It's been a tradition on my mom's mom's side of the family since like the 60s for years, but it stopped in the 70s. In '92 tradition was resurrected! Yay! So every year since than, the same weekend in August, the family gets together for about a week, staying for as long as they want to. This is the time when I get to see relatives that I normally don't and spend time with my awesome cousins! Though I am one of the younger ones, we get along so well, and I always feel so comfortable with them. We go walking around the fields, play many ping-pong battles, go down to the stream, laugh at meals, try to get away from the mandatory catch-ups our uncle makes us do, etc. It's just so great to be around my family. This summer my great aunt brought out old albums and we spent hours looking at the photos of my aancestors. It makes me so proud to be part of such a noble family! One of the nights we went on the traditional wine tasting. Mmmm such good wines!

Anna's Birthday
So Anna, and her boyfriend Zoli turned 23 this summer, the day after each other, so there was a double birthday party for them. There was a big pot of delicious gulyas leves for everyone and it was a good night in general, since Miklos came down and surprised Anna totally. My other Anna also came by after her dance practice and we sat down and talked for a while. It was a good night.

August 20th, St. Stephen's Birthday
One day I sent Csontos Anna an IM to see if she wanted to hang, and to get to the point, I ended up going to dance practice with her. At that practice they were putting together the choreography for the parade on the 20th and asked me if I wanted to join or not. How can I refuse such an offer? Of course I said yes, though I've never learned the dance before. I must say I am quite proud of myself for learning an choreography in just a few hours. On the day, we marched from the train station in Debrecen to the Nagyerdei Stadion, a 4 (?) km walk in the sun. It wasn't bad, especially because I made new friends and it turns out, that I got married the previous Saturday and no one at the wedding remembers it! (inside joke) After we got pack to their practicing place, there was a giant pot of paprikas krumpli waiting for us. We devoured it and spent the afternoon laying in the sun.

Grandparents'
I decided to be a good granddaughter and visit my grandparents for a few days. I did absolutely nothing. I think the biggest thing was cleaning their bathroom and going to church where all the elderly women could not believe it was me....

Last days
The last days I spent in Hungary this summer consisted of getting ready for Italy. I took care of some things, like shopping for personal items so I don't have to pay a ridiculous amount in Italy for them, saying my goodbyes, going to a very dull tanchaz, speding time with Anna and Zsofi (which always ends up being HOURS).

Italy
Aron, Ancsa, and myself left for Italy a little after midnight on the 27th. The ride is still ridiculously long. We spent our time by playing typical car games and sleeping. When we finally got there, we ate lunch at the same restaurant at the same table where I ate with Mom, Dad, and Anna back in July. It was nice. :) After, we went to Casa Cares. We were sent to our lodging, which was at a different place, since there was full pension and every room was taken. We stayed one night at Casa Pagni, about half km from Casa Cares. It's a fairly new place (?) and owners are super nice. They invited us for a glass of wine outside on their porch after dinner. We tasted three wines, but my favorite was this delicous Vin Santo, which tastes a lot like kesoi szuret Tokaji bor. Our hostesseven gaves us these cookies called cantucci, which you are supposed to dunk in your Vin Santo, but I personally don't like it that way; too much alcohol taste. A and A left the next morning, after breakfast and I was left alone in Italy. I went in the Colonica, our house, and kind of got settled. I moved in to my nice little, cozy room and my life in Italy began....

Summer 2010

I failed to write this summer in my blog, so here is a quick sum of it:

July

Graduation
As I was actually at graduation, it didn't feel like I was graduating. I was with the same people for the past four years and it felt like just another day. I sang with the choir, listened to speeches, got my diploma, listened to a long list of names, screamed for my friends, sang again, walked out. When I got out of the stadium, that's when it felt real. I had my diploma (with nothing inside) in my hands, and I was an alumni at PAHS. I searched for my friends to hug and congratulate them. It finally happened!! We graduated! After snapping a few pics with friends and teachers, I found my family. It was so great to have my parents, my godfather and his son, Miklos and Piroska neni there to represent everyone important to me. After we took a million and one pictures, we ran home to have a little feast, to which Hansi bacsi came as well. I got many wonderful presents and after opening them, I ran to change and went back to school for Project Graduation. PG was awesome! I wasn't expecting myself to really stay up all night, but I was so hyped that I did. Ice skating, arcade games, dancing, and all sorts of child games were waiting for us, so of course I took advantage of it! I had many great talks and I will definitely cherish that night. We got home around 6 a.m. and as soon as I got to bed, I fell into deep sleep mode.

Last days in US
I had many interesting days while I was saying good-bye to everyone. I saw Toy Story 3 with Miklos and Borcsa (very good I must say!!), went canoing with the Kertesz csalad, went to the beach, had a total surprise farewell party thanks to Julie with collaboration from Amy and Miklos (Wilson and Diego were also there). The party was very good; we played games, including who knows me best, manhunt, hide and go seek in the dark, went to Shop Rite and Taco Bell. The Taco Bell part is my favorite. Since the dining hall closes at 11 pm and it was past that time, we decided to go to the drive thru. Since we were on foot, no one answered. So we went to Shop Rite. When we came out of Shop Rite, we got the great idea to have me sit in a shopping cart and try the drive thru like that. We weren't expecting much out of it, but when the speaker spoke to us, were in shock.
"Hello, how can I help you?"
"....."
"Hello?"
"Uhh, hi. Can I have a, uhhhh, umm, *the cheapest thing on the menu*."
"And a small Sprite!"
"Ok, is that all?"
"Yes."
"Ok, that will be $2.64."
"Alright, thank you."
We were all in shock and laugying at the same time. When they pushed me up to the window, the guy could not believe us. He laughed and gave us some free food as well. It was quite an experience!

Departure and flight
I was packing all the way up the last minute. Amy came over by surprise and we spent a couple more minutes together. It was not easy leaving my best friend behind, but I know our friendship will not change. Miklos came to the airport to say goodbye and I was with him up to the last second when I had to check in. It wasn't hard saying goodbye, since we knew we would see each other soon.
Flight to Roma was alright. Nothing interesting, except for the fact that a guy went into cardiac arrest half way through the flight. He was under a lot of stress, hasn't been sleeping enough, etc, but he turned out ok. The guy sitting on the other side of my mom is an EMT, or knows CPR (something along the lines of health care) went to the back and helped him. Turns out he is half Puerto Rican, half Italian. He tried to speak Italian to me, but I understood little, but he was very nice. We had to wait a few hours at the airport for our transfer flight. When I was getting our boarding passes, something happened to the system and I had to wait at least 45 minutes to get our passes. I was rather impatient. We finally got our passes and boarded the plane. We were inside the plane already and on the runway. Captain: "We are sorry, but there are planes ahead of us, and we have to wait a while." Well, this "while" took us an hour and a half, the time of the flight. We left when we were supposed to arrive in Budapest. I wasn't feeling well, so I slept for almost all of the three hours until we got there. At the airport we quickly got our luggage and went out. My sister Reka was waiting for us along with my godfather and his son (we traveled the same day, different flights. The planes left about the same times, and were supposed to arrive at nearly the same time) and the guy who drove us. We packed in the car and left to Debrecen. Finally! We stopped for coffee and snacks on the way home to re-energize. When we got off the strada, I was getting anxious. I was so happy to be home again! Anna, Aron, Ancsa, and Imola came downstairs to greet us and help with our luggages. When we settled, we ate delicous csaszar szalonna and fresh bread. Food has never tasted so good.

Fast forward a few days.

The Wedding
My brother Aron got married this summer to Anita. The wedding was in Sarospatak, Anita's hometown. I spent the night at her house, because I helped prepare some things in advance (like the flowers and the deserts). The following morning we woke up happy that it was the day of the wedding! Ate, got ready for the beautifaction process, I went to get a few things, etc. While Ancsa got her hair and makeup done, I was at the hotel with my family to help my brother get dressed, finish decorations and others there for the dinner, etc... The wedding came and it was beautiful. The service was very nice and right after came the state wedding. Now, that was something interesting. The lady said all sorts of things. "I give you the blue of the sky, the green of the grass, etc..." It was quite peculiar. We were laughing so hard in our seats. Oops!
The reception was also nice. The food was good, the wine was good (of course it was, Ancsa's dad has an amazing winery!!), music was not so good, the mood was awesome!, and in general, everything was very good! I danced with my grandfather, my godfather, my uncle, my sister's boyfriend, Ancsa's boyfriend, and a whole lot of other people. Everyone had such a good time!
The next morning we went to church, after which we had lunch with the leftovers (both leftover food and left over people). In the afternoon we went home and attempted to rest.

Grandfather's Birthday
My dad's dad celebrated his 80th birthday this year. We decided to throw him a surprise birthday party, because we knew that he would not allow us to throw him a party that he knew about. The closest family members were there and we all had a good time. It was nice to be with family.

Italy
After Nagypapa's birthday, we went to Italy. It was to both check out where I will be, and to have a family vacation. We stopped in Fonyod to visit family, and also in Slovenia. During our drive, we saw some absolutely breathtaking scenery. The place where I will be, Casa Cares, is amazing. It is such a simple place, yet so nice! No luxuries, but it is perfectly enough.
Day I.
We got a tour of the house. In short: very old, very nice, many doors, many labyrinths, lot of history. After the tour we went to Florence. We saw almost all of the main sights. Ponte Vecchio, the Duomo, (fake) David, Palazzo Vecchio, the Uffizi, etc. Very nice city, but very tiring, especially in the heat.
After coming back from Firenze, we ate at a little restaurant. Family style and very nice.
Day II
Lucca and Pisa. Lucca is a nice medieval town surrounded by a wall. Many little streets to get lost on. Pisa: we only saw the main point, the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Nothing else. Too. Hot. The piazza where it is has no shade what so ever. None! Do not go there on a hot day!!
After Pisa we decided to take a dip in the sea. About a half an hour drive from Pisa is a beach to which we went. It felt so good to cool off in the water! The scenery was so beautiful! If you look back to the land from the water, you saw the beach and huge mountains. I've never been to a beach like that. So amazing.

This was too much to write, so part II will be soon.

Zsofi

June 17th, 2010

I'm scared. I have thirteen days left to pack up and move. It's actually terrifying now that I think about it. Put 8 years in a few suitcases. Try doing that. I have not started packing yet and I don't know what I'm gonna do. I have a few ideas as to what to take with me and what to leave, but I think it's going to be one of the toughest things to do.

I am spending 6 more days in high school. Now that is scary. Reading the end of the year paper and seeing the reflections of other seniors it makes me realize that I really will miss PAHS. It's been my "home" for the past four years.
I will miss going to choir practices. Though Mr. Baltimore's style was completely different from Mr. J's, I liked them. Baltimore expanded my knowledge of producing sound and definitely improved my (not-so-great) voice. But I think I owe more to Mr. J. (I can't help but cry as I am writing this) He was one of the greatest teacher at PAHS. He made me realize I can do more. I always thought I had a deep voice and he decided to put me as a soprano. Now I can (almost) hit the high notes and I truly reach further. He never gave up. Even with his disability, he was perfectly normal. It's almost impossible for me to not smile when I think of him. He is such an inspiration.
I will also miss other teachers like Lake, Fratch, and Mastropierro. These men never failed to make me smile and they were always there. Lake has to have the corniest jokes (from "I'm on a roll and it's not buttered!" to "Mooooo-ving along. Cow are you?") but he is a great teacher. He makes you work and does not let you give up. Fraraccio is the most laid back teacher I have had. Though when he was my teacher junior year, I didn't talk to him too much, he was such an impact. I looked forward to going to first period (though I hate waking up early) just to listen to his lectures on different aspects of Sociology. Now that I don't have him as a teacher, he is more like a friend. It seems odd to text a teacher, but I can do that with him. Mastropierro (aka Chef) taught me so much. He pushed us at all times to keep moving because that would not be acceptable in a real restaurant. He was always very generous and fed us hungry students almost every day. The cookies, the cakes, the demos, the ice cream, the frozen drinks, they were all made with love. I love the fact that I can be myself with him. I can get very sarcastic with him and he'd understand me. Love you Chef!
The most important thing that I will miss are the friendships I made. Some friends will be with me forever, others maybe until I graduate. 'Out of sight, out of mind.' Sad but true. But even those friends will always have a special place in my heart. Love you all!
There are things that I will definitely not miss. The lack of AC, the crowded hallways, a few teachers and students.

Now that I poured my heart out to no one, off to study for Lago's exam!

:)

June 9th, 2010

Having the Debrecen Nepi Egyuttes here for a week was absolutely amazing. I made many new friends and it feels so good to have people that share my interest. I really hope that when I go home, I can join them and improve my skills. I felt such a beginner compared to them. :( But this gave me an inspiration to better myself!

Magyar Nap will forever be the best day of the year in my eyes. I love that everything is magyar that day. It was my last, for now, and it definitely left memories. Spending all day with my friends was indescribable. Especially tanchaz. I got to dance one of my favorite dances with my boyfriend and the other favorite with someone new. I really enjoyed myself.

Hello! :)

Hi world!

I decided that I should try this blogging thing. Hopefully I'll have enough energy in me to actually keep writing.
I created this blog so you could see what's going on with me in Italy. Well, I am super excited for that year coming up. I recently exchanged an email with the director and he said that there is a girl coming from Germany, and there will be three guys from the US there, so hopefully I'll get along with them and make lifelong friends with them.