First days!

So here goes my first post!  Saturday afternoon I arrived! .  Thankfully, there were no problems with my flights, but unfortunately my luggage didn't make it!  But I was just so happy to have arrived and to meet my host family, that the missing luggage didn't phase me.  My host family is very nice and after I arrived they took me back to their house.  The house and the surroundings are very nice!  I think I was most surprised by the garden in the center of the house surrounded by glass (I had never seen this before, but I like it because it lets a lot of light into the house.)  After a tour of the house, I had my first meal here.  A meal here consist of multiple plates, literally, you get a new clean plate with each new serving.  The first plate was pasta (and I've realized that at most meals, the first plate is usually pasta)!  The second was some type of fried meat (kind of like hamburger).  Bread and cheese are always on the table.  The bread is in the form of little loaves.  At anytime during the meal, anyone can pick up the bread and just tear a chunk off to eat! It fits my eating habits perfectly ;)   I also like to take little pieces of bread and wipe up any sauces left on my plate, here, that is very common and it actually has a name, scarpetta (i think), which means little shoe.  Pretty cool! Oh and I've also learned that Italian dressing is not commonly used in Italy :p  It is more common to mix oil and vinegar for a dressing.  Then of course there is, GELLATO!!!! love it :)

My italian is very poor, so it has been interesting listening to people speak it here!  It all sounds sooo fast to me!  My most commonly used words/phrases so far have been si (yes), va bene (its ok), mi dispiace (I’m sorry),  mi piace (I like) and grazie (thank you)....I start school tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be expanding my vocabulary soon! :p

My 1^st full day here was great!  In the morning I had my first Italian coffee.  It was made in this little container on the stove and served in a tiny cup because it is very strong!  I think I had as much sugar in it as I had coffee, haha, but I like it!  On the first day, my host family and I went to the sea (the Mediterranean).  Che bella!!!   It was so pretty!  Rocks lined the shore line, and metal steps led you right down into the water.   Later that night, since it was Sunday, my host father took me to the local mass.  It was a small church, but it was full of people.  The mass was in Italian, so I didn’t understand much, but it was very similar to an American Catholic service, so I got the jist!  
In the past couple of days my host family has also taken me to see many other places.  We went to a place called "love fruit", a shop that only sells fresh fruits and veggies! Ughh, it was heavenly!! I know my sister would have loved it!!!   I've also been to a kioska (i think it is called)...they are little stands (kiosk) on many city corners that sell beverages (all kinds!!!)  It's pretty cool!  I also saw a little bit of the town center, it was gorgeous…fountains, old historic building, lots of people, it looked like something straight out of the movies! 

My luggage finally arrived Monday night, and I now have everything unpacked.  It feels good to be settled in! 
I think that is about all I have for my first post..but I'm sure there will be lots more to come! :)