Che bella

So my first day in Siena was good. My nonna (signora Lusini) is really nice. She came and picked me up from Palazzo Gramsci when I arrived in Siena with her red care. Thanks goodness it was easy to recognize. Before we left the square, she took me to meet her son who works at the nearby market, his name is Stephano. He is the one that gave me my Italian name. I told nonna that I wanted an Italian name because Ashley is just to American. So nonna told her son this and he said that Luccia is the closest thing to Ashley in Italian so now I am Lucia. SONO LUCCIA! Haha. This is good because nonna has a hard time saying my name as well as other Italians.

Only speaking and hearing Italian is not as hard as I thought it would be. It’s hard, don’t get me wrong but I speak in better than I thought I did. Still though its hard for me to understand what everyone is saying to me, especially nonna so far because she has an accent haha. I hope my Italian will improve during my stay here, I know it will!

My new house and family: So I live in the countryside and it is so beautiful, right out of a postcard. Bellissima! The house is super cute and surrounded by a garden. It smells so good. Haha. So nonna is a beekeeper which is awesome. There are bee boxes all over the property, its great. The other day I saw the biggest swarm of bees I have seen in my life, well I heard them before I saw them. Bzzzzz. Nonna is so nice. She makes the best dinners for us every night. Oh my goodness im going to get so fat, ahah. She has also taken it upon herself to make our beds after we leave, she is such an Italian grandma. She takes really good care of us. Her sixteen year-old grandson, Tommas lives with her. He is so funny and says things like madonna and mama mia, it’s the greatest thing every. He is so adorable.

Today is Easter and the other girls are arriving today. My room is really nice, I share it with Katharine. I have a beautiful view of the countryside (well someone else backyard, but it’s still beautiful). My bed is nice, I slept really well last night. Yesterday after dinner I watched Dancing with the Stars with my nonna. I liked it but it was different that the American version. There wasn’t as many commercials which was awesome, but it was way more cheesy. Also the announcer had a horrible American accent. I sounded better than he did. I wonder if Italians like that? I don’t know, but it was bad.

I think I will have an amazing experience this summer. Ciao.

This was taken as i was walking back to the house from the bus stop. it is truly beautiful here. LO AMO.