First Week as an Immigrant!

Well, I have just had my first week as a full-fledged occupant of a foreign country. The first picture is the view from the house that I live in in Italy! Awesome! I have to be honest. It's definitely not as glamorous as it sounds. I didn't realize the culture shock that would ensue after that horrible airport situation(s)...First I need to mention the plane ride!! I flew standby and was scheduled to fly to Venice on a Sunday. My flight had already been delayed one day and then it was delayed again! So on Monday, September 5th, I was supposed to be spending it in Italy. Instead, I spent it in a smelly hotel room. Thankfully, the guy in front of me at the check in desk asked me to dinner and I had some delicious pancakes seasoned with intelligent conversation. I finally flew into Rome the next day. They had to re-route my flight and my luggage was supposed to re-route with me. Of course, you can imagine it did not. (Have I mentioned how much luggage I have for the next year out of the U.S.!?) So I spent an hour in the Rome airport trying to track down my suitcases. I then took a train to Verona where a very sweet non-English speaking man picked me up from the airport. He drove me to Venice to pick up my bags. Upon retrieval, I noticed that the large front pocket was broken and torn. Now inside that pocket happened to hold most of my shoes (some of which I have just recently purchased) along with a few outfits. The people in Venice did not seem to care (and they also closed early) so off I go back towards"home". After all my emails and phone calls I still don't have a resolution for the lost items.
I arrive at the house where I will be staying and I am there for a few days at first by myself. That was definetly needed because all I did was sleep. Then Tatiana (the mom) came home from her business trip and drove me around and showed me some different places in Verona. We took a trip to the fish market as well as the grocery store. That was definitely an adventure! I have never seen so much fish in my life! The next day was a Sunday and Alessandro came home from spending the weekend with his father. That little boy is precious. He just looks up at you with his blonde hair and big eyes and starts speaking in another language. It is seriously the cutest thing ever! I have spent the last week running errands and getting situated. I still have not unpacked all my things. I have been so busy! I had to take driving lessons this week because I do not know how to drive a stick shift. That in itself was shameful! I am soo glad that I have taken them though because this traffic is unreal! They are so so aggressive and they have different rules than they do in the states. I can honestly say that I can drive a manual car really good now! They are so much fun! Today was the first day I went to the grocery store by myself. I needed some items. One of the things that I needed was lotion. I picked up the lotion and other items and then ate at this little ristorante and ate some pizza! When I got home I put the lotion all over my body and then realized that if felt a little thicker than normal! I decided to get my italian dictionary out and realized I had just put shower gel all over me!! What a disaster! It sucks not knowing the language!! haha
They do so many things differently...even just in the way they recycle and pick up garbage. I have had to put a lot in this brain over the last week. I have so much to say but I suppose I can wait till the next post! I have had a long first week so I am sure once I get the hang of everything that it will be beyond amazing!!!!