Aaaand it begins! And others

The new season began! Woohoo! Not really.

Well, we've had a few people here at Casa Cares this year already, but our first major group was a Swiss Confirmation group of 12 people. They were ok, nothing serious really. The next group we have is Old Dominion University. They come here several times every year for a seminar and they are currently here for about a week.

Previous to the arrivals, we cleaned the entire house. Deep cleaned. Which means dusting everywhere, cleaning in between the radiator parts, mopping the floors several times, very deep cleaning of bathrooms (as in cleaning out all the mold and dirt from in between the tiles), etc. We were working on this for weeks. Of course, we painted almost the entire Villa, which took about 5 weeks. It's good to have the house in its normal conditions again!

I bought my ticket to go back to Hungary from here. The return date is earlier than the original plan, so I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's such a bittersweet feeling. I leave this place that I really have learned to like with it's quirks and of course the people here, Rike and Drew especially, but I am going home. I will be there for the birth of my goddaughter and enjoy spring in Hungary, for the first time since 2002!

(The previous paragraphs were written a few weeks ago.)

Since I first wrote the above paragraphs, several things have happened. My birthday, the Casa Cares Meeting, and new group came.

Let's start backwards. Currently we have an elderly group here from mostly the NYC area. It's a group of 29, out of which 25 are women. It's an interesting dynamic, because the average age of the group is 65 and above (there is a boy here with them who is about 15 years old). They travel to a different city every day, so our workload is not that great. The house is quiet during the day and comes alive in the evening. The ladies get to enjoy the fire in the fireplace that Drew keeps for them or play cards in the piano room. It is very romantic, actually. I wish I could do that too!

The Casa Cares Meeting. This was a two and a half day event. Which meant cleaning the entire house again. Elisa made us to deep cleanings of all the rooms, so we had to vacuum, mop (NOT FUN!), and dust everywhere. The day most of the people arrived was very stressful. We were cleaning all day and it seemed like the list never ended. We were exhausted by the time we got home. The following day we barely had anything to do. It can be so frustrating when one day your list of things never ends and the following day you have nothing to do!
Anyways, the point of this meeting was to decide what is going to happen to Casa Cares. I don't know much of the results, only that there were many ideas, but one of the plans, that is already a few years old, is so great! There is a great space that is currently not use. The architect planned to use that space as a dining room with huge french doors and an outdoor terrace that looks over the valley. The chapel would be converted into a meeting room and Beppe's "lab" would be like a little reception hall. The plan looks absolutely fantastic!

My Birthday!! For days I could not decide what I wanted to do for my birthday. There were several ideas what we could possibly do (going to Naples for three days (we had three days off right around my birthday), going back to Cinque Terre on the day of, etc..), but all were dismissed due to weather. So, we decided that we would go into Florence the night before and go clubbing. I had to go in anyways to meet with someone so we just merged those together. We met up with Kati, who had a package for me from my family, and went to dinner. We went to an aperitivo bar (pay for a drink and get as much food as you want from the buffet), after which we planned to go to a Beatles Tribute concert. We did go to the place, but it was so crowded, we decided to come back later. We didn't. Why not? We went to another bar, where we ended up staying for the rest of the night. We rang in my birthday with a toast of champagne and the piano player played "Happy Birthday" for me. We didn't end up going to the club we looked at, but it is all fine with me. I enjoyed just sitting around and talking with friends. Rike and I got very tired, so we went back to Kati's apartment and took a nap. After waking up, Drew, Rike and I walked back to the train station and took the first train home at 5:33 am. After arriving and getting a call from my mom and sister, we all fell asleep.
That morning, when I woke up, I was very happy and content. Drew and Rike were very mysterious the days preceding my birthday, and at one point I was confined to my room. Something similar happened on my birthday. I was on;y allowed to come down when they told me so. When I did go down, the table was set with a birthday cake in the middle and a nice pot of flowers with elephants on them!! The cake was this very chocolately brownie cake with whipped cream frosting and strawberry ladybugs! (Note: I gave up sweets for Lent, but I made an exception on my birthday. I can't refuse my own birthday cake and the Pilóta keksz and Boci csoki that my mom sent me! NO WAY!) After finishing the meal, we sat down and the second part of my birthday present began. Drew and Rike spent days creating three videos for me. They took lots of pictures and set them to songs that all have very special meaning to all of us. I love them!! Every time I watch them, I end up with tears in my eyes from all the laughter.
The rest of the day was spent doing absolutely nothing and I loved it! Thank you, again, Drew and Rike for giving me an unforgettable 19th birthday!!

Other news: I am taking the érettségi (the Hungarian final exam for seniors). I am not exactly happy about it, but if I want to go to university in Hungary..... I will be taking it in English and Italian. Not worried about the English, for obvious reasons, but I really hope I will do well on the Italian one. Pray for me!