Family Views

As always, my mom thinks that this will be an "educational experience of a lifetime." But we all know she really has a not-so-hidden fantasy of meeting "our neighbor" George Clooney who lives only about an hour away in Laglio. My sister, on the other hand, is sure that she'll be scuba divng in the Mediterranian Sea for she has just recently gotten certified. I am planning on purchasing a pair of Italian Boots--tres chic. In my dad's humble opinion, all he is excited for is to have us there. As for the animals... well I am pretty sure that we'll have absolutely no trouble with Storm (the family dog), because we have already had three families who are generously willing to take her in. We are already making arrangements for Bonnie with a Guide Dog "Puppy Sitter." One of my friends has already jumped on the ball for my rabbit, Mason.

While my dad is away he has been e-mailing me A LOT. Though my favorite e-mail by far was one titled, "Things I've learned in Italy." I found them so hilarious that with each post I'll be sharing at least one with you! So:

"Things I've Learned in Italy" #1:
Ciao is a very important word. It must be like "aloha" in Hawaiian. You should endeavor to say Ciao as many times as you can in a day. Ciao. Mornings are especially important times for Ciao. But you really should say Ciao at many different points of the day. Ciao. Say it over and over, Ciao Ciao. Say it when coming or going. Say it like you were saying Hi or Bye. Ciao. If you want to say ciao three times in a row say it like ciao, ciao .... ciao. (don't say it like Ciao, Ciao, Ciao ... sounds too much like a cat food commercial) You cannot say Ciao too much. Ciao.

The Start

For the slim chance that anyone has not already heard about how we got into this whole thing, I will repeat the story. One day my dad got a phone call from a friend he knew through his old job in the semi-conductor industry. His friend told my dad about this "great opportunity" for a job in Italy. Located in the quaint Northern Italian area of Lake Como, the company makes things such as high-tech mirrors that go into satellites. After that call, things seemed to move in a blur and what do you know? only a short week later my dad was on a plane to Europe. Thus I decided upon titling this adventure, "The Italian Job" after one of my all-time favorite movies. So now we have T-minus 42 days to go before the "Italian Job" officially starts for us Tryba Girls: my mom, my sister (Jamie), and me. Two months in a Northern Italian villa may sound like a dream come true for my sister, but I, on the other hand, think that it's two months with hardly any contact with my friends nor the American life-style I have come to know and love. I really don't know what to expect or even what I want to expect but I suppose the element of suspense has always been my preference. Now I have scarcely over one month to complete May Fair (our small towns' county fair), figure out whats going to happen to our animals (e.i. the family dog, Storm, Jamie's Guide Dog, Bonnie, Jamie and my four rabbits, and last but definitely not least our cat, Lily), pack up (and unfortionetely clean) the house, end my 4-H year early, momentarily stop playing sports, and say "ciao" to my friends. Since Jamie and I are home-schooled we get the "joy" of taking schoolwork with us, though I am pretty sure that Culinary (tasting the countries oh-so famous meals), Geography (naming and finding Italian towns), and PE (walking to and from everywhere) are going to be my newest electives. For the days leading up of flight over and the entire two months of our "extended stay" I will blogging to all of my fellow readers on my journey to one of the world's most magnificent country. As the Italians say "ciao for now".