Last Few Days in Carpi

My last few days in Carpi were a little sad. I was sick from all the weather change going from Carpi to Venice, back to Carpi, to Florence, back to Carpi; and I has really started to miss my family. Even with all of that, I was sad to leave Paolo, Nellina and Giulia. They have been so welcoming and amazing this whole trip, it made me sad to think that I would be leaving and probably never see them in person again. I am so glad that we are able to connect through facebook and email, but I will miss having lunch with Nellina and dinner with the whole family. Not only did they take me into their home, but they also helped me become immersed in the Italian culture. They answered all of my questions about Italian way of life, food, travel, music, movies, family dynamic, etc. They also asked me many questions about American culture and my own family and friends and life in South Carolina.

During my last few days, because I was sick, I stayed in the apartment a lot and just hung out with the family in the evenings. Paolo and I had a good conversation about or favorite music and guitar players--we like many of the same musicians and even introduced a few new favorites. On my last day with the family, Paolo took me to a Caseificio, or a cheese shop, and bought a block of parmesian cheese for my parents because he said after hearing me talk about my family, he figured they would love it! Later we had gnoccho fritto for dinner with prosciutto cruddo and crutto, salami and stracchino cheese. Then they took me to a lake near the house and we all walked around for a while. It was really nice to spend some quite time with the family like that before I left. After coming back to the apartment, Nell helped me pack some last minute stuff and the Paolo drove me to the bus station. I definitely cried a little on the way yo the bus station thinking about how amazing my last few weeks had been and how lucky I am to have been placed with the Verziagis. I will never forget them or my time spent in Italy.