il sette di ottobre

Holy shnikies! Sorry I'm so bad at updating my blog lately! Pops scolded me for it on Sunday night (Monday morning?) Either way, I actually have things to say this time! Well, sorta.
I moved on Friday night. I know that I previously raved about how much I loved Maria Pia and how her food made up for everything, but I started to feel zuper uncomfortable in her house. I'm 97% sure that it's just me being incredibly sensitive to awkwardness (or maybe just awkward myself) but I wasn't feeling the living situation. And the people in charge of our language school were AWESOME about finding a new one. So now I will introduce you to the Rizzi family, la mia nuova famiglia italiana:
Liliana: la mamma. Stands about 5 foot nuthin' and doesn't speak a word of English. When I say doesn't speak a word I mean last night at dinner she was trying to explain what "roast beef" meant. Liiiike she didn't know that was English. It's awesome. I get to speak a lot of Italian in the house because there are three other people eating dinner, so we have some solid conversations. More on that later. But she's a super sweet lady-- but just how I want her. Not too nice. Not making me feel weird or like I'm her actual daughter nice. Like on Sunday night when I went out I told her I thought I might be back kind of late and she responded "Non mi importa." ("I don't care.") Yeah, Liliana. Tha's what I'm talkin' 'bout.
Mario: is the freakin' man--the babbo (the Florentine word for dad. I love it.) He works at the record/stereo store that he and Francesco (the son) own. He's got a serious unibrow and looks SO ITALIAN. He's a pretty gruff guy, but you can tell he's really nice. The first few days I was afraid he didn't like me because all he talks about at the dinner table is politics (surprisingly enough I do not have an abundance of opinions on Italian politics), but last night he and I were the last ones eating dinner and we started watching a movie on TV and we got to talkin'. (In my mildly retarded Italian.) And we ended up watching a whole movie together in the family room just us and Chica. I'd make stupid comments without conjugating my verbs and he would explain the plot to me. It was pretty adorable. haha. So I think maybe he and I can be friends. Or I hope, at least. Last night when Leonardo (description to follow) came over for dinner he introduced me as "nostra carina americanina"--our cute little American. He also cuts the gross part of the cheese off for me. If that's not love, I don't know what is.
Francesco: mio fratello. And when I say brother I mean, he's 37 and lives at home. Yep. SO ITALIAN. And I mean, he's really 37. He's balding. He's a DJ. He wears track suits. He has a Russian girlfriend that he talks to on Skype every night. (By "girlfriend" do I mean "mail order bride"? I don't actually know...) But he's also super nice, and is very helpful during dinner conversation because he's interested in the US and speaks some English. So he can dig me out of holes when I clearly have NO IDEA what I'm talking about. But yes, please return to the fact that he's 37 and his mom does his laundry. And he's not even a social outcast because of it. But, siamo in Italia, I guess.
Leonardo: doesn't live at home. But he lives close by apparently. He's 41, and I live in his old bedroom. I know that he's 41 because his diploma from pharmacy school is hanging on my wall. You know what else hangs on the wall? This more than life-size Brady Bunch style portrait. I'm still trying to figure out who it is. But he and I spend a lot of time together.. I don't know much about Leonardo other than the fact that he has an adorable 11-month-old baby named Simone. P.S. that's a boy's name here...and from what I gathered from the dinner conversation, which wasn't much, Leo also has VERY different political views than the rest of the Rizzi family. Yes, awkward, you're right.
...AND CHICA! (or that's how I've chosen to spell it) THE DOG! I can't tell you all how much I miss having a dog around. For some reason, I don't miss Jemmy this much at school, but living in a house and not having a dog around was KILLING ME. So much so that my friend Jenna and I creep on dogs on the street. Or squeal at and proceed to chase dogs on the street, I guess. But now I have a dog right here in the house! Well, she's more of a polar bear, actually. But she's SO fluffy. I love petting her; she's really sweet. I can't wait until I feel comfortable enough to take her for walks! There's a dog park right by our house. I actually wandered into it (sans dog..) on Saturday when I was going for a run, and I consequently received some strange looks from the Italian dog owners in the park. Sorta made me feel like a sex offender on a playground at recess. It's a feeling I hope to never experience again. I'll bring Chica next time, I swear.
I hope I have an opportunity to share pictures of everyone at some point, but for now I guess pics of the house are going to have to do :)
Vi voglio bene, e mi mancate molto!