An Afternoon at the Pool!

This morning, the girls and I hung out and cleaned the house a bit. We worked on shapes and colors today. The girls are so smart! They catch on really quick and I think they are smarter than me with learning a second language! Their favorite thing to do lately is to say to me, "Addie, how do you say?" Then they show me something they want to know the name of in English. I am so proud of them and how curious they are of learning a new language. They are really wonderful girls and I am happy to be a part of their lives now. After doing our lesson for the day, I attempted to fry up hamburger patties. They did not look like regular patties from the States, more like turkey burger patties. Last night, Gianna asked me if I knew how to fry a patty and I said I haven't done it before but I can try....she looked at me like I was crazy. She just doesn't understand how I eat everyday back home! She keeps asking me what I eat, what I CAN cook, and how I manage to get by. I said that I eat out a lot and have great roommates who help me through those tough new recipes...or made up ones! Well, the patties were a success! Besides me getting burned a little from the oil in the pan, I did pretty good. I even made some "pink sauce" for me and the girls. After we ate lunch, Gianna came home and we went to the community pool for some fun in the sun! SUN in capital letters because I tell you, sunscreen here does not work for me. I have SPF 70 and my skin acts like I put some tanning lotion on. I am so burnt, it is not pretty. Once again, they think I am some sort of alien...a very red alien. While we were at the pool, I kept a running list of what differences there are from here and back home. #1.) You HAVE to wear a swimming cap at all times when you are in the pool. There are no signs saying that but it is just a known fact. You have to wear one because they think it keeps the water much cleaner, which I bet it does. The water was very clean and didn't have that much chlorine in it at all. #2.) Their toilettes are VERY different here...Gianna called the Turkish toilettes. There is pretty much a hole in the ground and you just have to squat over it and go! There is a flusher but it was not something I would want to do everyday. I am very glad they have a normal bathroom in their house! #3.) They have little pools of cold water that are at all the entrances of the pool so you can clean your feet before you go into the pool. They are also in the entrances and the exits of the dressing rooms so your feet stay clean. #4.) You have to wear different shoes into the dressing room and leave your "street shoes" outside the room on a shelf. It is very strange and not easy to remember that you have to change your shoes all the time. Like at home, Gianna has a pair of shoes for every level of the house: Ground floor is where most of the shoes are located for the family. Then, you walk upstairs with your house shoes on. I have never seen Angelo or Gianna in bare feet or socks on this floor, only house shoes on the 1st level. Then, to go outside, they have another pair of shoes that stay outside next to the back door. To go on the patio on the 2nd floor, there is a pair of slippers that you wear only on the patio. When you are on the 2nd and 3rd floors, you can be bare foot. I try to remember all these details but it is all very confusing...I don't quite understand why they do it but I think they are trying to keep the foot traffic down with all that gets brought in. Along with having some very naked people all over the dressing room, it was pretty much the same as our pools! Oh, also when you are at the pool, I couldn't tell if the kids were boys are girls because they wear all the same caps and the same swimsuits. Little girls wear just bottoms and little boys wear bottoms...but tiny bottoms! They all look the same! Well, after a fun day at the pool, it was time to eat dinner with Luca, Christina, and Pierre Georgio. It was a very "fishy" dinner because Christina is from South Italy, where they eat a lot more seafood than they do in the North. We had spaghetti with SARDINES...and then some sort of shrimp salad. I actually ate it all and very much looked forward to the gelato for dessert. They are such a nice family and I love when they come hang out with us. Off to bed I go because tomorrow we might be going on a LONG hike...I am hoping for rain because my sunburn hurts so bad to be out in the sun again all day tomorrow! Ciao for now and enjoy the pictures of my cute girls! And no, there are no pictures of me with a swimming cap on...I looked ridiculous!