Today is Sunday in Milano. The weather finally felt like fall a couple of days ago. The family keeps telling me that October is usually FFFRRREEDDDDDO (freddo-cold) but this october has been down right hot at times. the trees have turned their beautiful colors and makes me miss the colors of the Omaha fall. Well, i told you all that Halloween had arrived in Italy. well kind of. It has become a reason for the young people to have a party. they dress up in goofy costumes and parade around, get their picture taken and thats about it. the children as far as Ive seen are not involved. so no cute costumes on the kids. I am virtually packed and ready to go. Ernesto didnt want me to leave today and be gone all day as ... read more

Today was my last language lesson and as a person might expect, I felt like I understood a concept that had been stumping me over and over. Oh well, Lydia (Leeedeeeeah) was a great maestra, teacher, and I will maybe ask for her again next time I come into Milano. I have made it my job to see the things in Milano that people talk about. I went to the chiesa (church) where the original Last Supper by Michealangelo Da Vinci . It is a mural basically painted on a large wall of the church. I have seen this picture a jillion times in books etc. (et-chet-air-ah hee hee) but it really was an interesting experience. I was able to get a viewing time right about the time I needed just by accident. A tour guide ... read more

Today is rainy in Milano. Kind of humid even though my aunt holds herself and says, "....freddddo".ccllld It's not really. I think some of it is, that it isn't usual weather for here in the autumn. They don't use air conditioning. they like it warm. They acclimate to the warm seasons more than I think the average American does. I guess it would be better for the bank account if we weren't addicted to the warmish coolish temps when we are indoors.....but anyway, it's ok with me either way. I don't dislike cloudy days either. when I told her I liked the cloudy days, the rainy days and the warm sunny days and even snowy days she just looked at me... I taught her the English word "cozy" and it translates to "cosy" in Italiano...cool. she ... read more

ok, what a couple of days. wish i could say itàs been all great but its not. my uncle and aunt have been dealing with their health checkups, and i learned that they both have struggled with cancer and still worry about relapses....wow. they are not treating me like a tourist which of course is a good thing when its good but i want to see the tourist things too. the leonardo da vinci last supper is here and i want to see it. hmmm, so how to ask or at least find out which church its in without interet!!!! as you can see that is one of the big downsides. no internet available to me. to get online is a great big deal. today i am at the public library and had one hour. 45 ... read more

ok, well this is continuing to surprise me that Northern Italy doesn't have internet and WIFI everywhere. I tried to get online yesterday at McDonalds and couldn't. Man, that place was jumping with the giovani (young people) of Milano. Wow. My cuginos (cousins) were explaining to me that the young here are interested in most things American. Hmmmm, ok, I guess that makes sense. We, as Americans, are interested in foreign people too. Of course it makes sense when you think about it. Today was my first class. I woke up at 6 and my uncle made me a caffe. He is concerned about me and wanted to be sure I'd be back by lunch:) (pranza). I'll be back by 1:00, but I'll need to not get lost today:) The class was fun. At first I ... read more