Without the language barrier, I could easily blend right in. Unlike my sister Jaclyn who is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, pale-skinned exotic girl). Also, my body seems to respond so well to this culture. I haven't gained weight, my hair has been growing so much faster, my skin tans so quickly without getting burn, and I feel more comfortable with the way I look. In America, I would have had to shave every day because my hair grows so quickly. But here, everyone's does. I felt so cleanly shaven compared to most of the people on the beach - it was great.
I went to Calabria to visit my cousin Rosario and his family for the first time (Nuccia, Marilena, and Giosy). We had talked to him for years on Facebook, and I had to plan a trip to see him before my return to the US. Jaclyn decided to come as well, and she was there when Rosario and Nuccia picked me up from the bus station (12 hours from North to South - longer than my plane ride from Rome to Philadelphia). When Rosario first saw me, his eyes watered up and I was smothered with kisses. He immediately asked a random person to take a photo and he grabbed me into the shot, but I had to get my luggage off the bus since the driver was already closing the doors. It took a lot of arm yanking before he could understand.
All together for the first time
Next day we visited more family in Rogliano. We met so many people that day that I have trouble naming them all. But all of the young cousins were around my age, and I would have loved to spend more time with them.
Old Cosenza
Rogliano - the door of the house where Mom-mom George used to stay
Lunch with the family at Rogliano
Every day was pretty much the same routine. Wake up at 10, eat breakfast of caffe' and Nutella, go to the beach, back home for lunch made my Marilena, nap, shower, dinner, discotecca, granita (shaved ice topped in flavoring of your choice), walk a bit, yogurt, home, card games, bed at 4am. It was exhausting!
Crazy Tarzan child jumping from the dock
Rosario took us to this spring where you could rub sulfur mud all over your body as an exfoliator. We only did our faces.
Drinking Fountain
The whole week Jaclyn and I hung out with Giosy and Giuseppe. They were so funny with their exaggerated hand gestures and attempts at pronunciation of English words (marmelada = mermaid, scraft = scratch, and English "bad speak"). They had crazy dance moves and were endless pits when it came to food. One time Marilena made too much pasta, and they ended up eating the entire pan in one sitting (about the size of a normal sized pizza, and the depth of a double-decker cake). One time they took us back to the beach after lunch, and we had a massive sand fight. Sand flew everywhere, and I swear we hit some of the people around us.
Group dinner with family and friends
Picturesque photo of the sand fight
The Aftermath
The last night Rosario took us to a procession at the ocean for St. Rocco. On the way back to his home in Cosenza, we stopped by his bakery to print off our pland tickets, grab some bread to take home, and take photos. That night Jaclyn and I had to reorganize all of our luggage so that the weight would be under 50 lbs each. We ate dinner at midnight, and Rosario filled our wine glasses to the brim a couple of times. We chatted for a few hours before Rosario went to bed. Got 2 hours of sleep - woke up at 4 to head to the airport.
Not happy at all about my departure. As exciting as America is, it's nothing compared to the beautiful Italia.
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