Where in the world do I live?!

So this is a short blog to show you where I live.

We are moving soon so I don't have to sleep on the pull out couch anymore... can you say

YAHOO! 

Hopefully we can find a place in this same area just a little outside of Treviso. 

I seriously love living in the country, but still close to all the little shops.

It takes approx. 15 min to drive to the heart of Treviso.

If you are reading this and know me well, you know that I am a social butterfly

BUT

I also love my alone time:)

I have been taking these bike rides with my iPod in to not only enjoy the scenery, but to talk to God and help me get through my homesickness.  I cherish this alone time very very much.

I know I know, I have only been here a couple weeks, but I miss my family, my Oscar, my friends, and the convenience of America. I embrace this new culture as much as I can, but my first reaction to some things is to compare it to MY home.

Please pray that I can continue to open my mind to a new lifestyle.

Here are a couple videos to show you how beautiful Italy truly is.

I hope you enjoyed.  I almost fell like a hundred time haha

I will be blogging 

about my trip to Amsterdam this week!!

I love and miss you all my dear family and friends.

Ciao,

Meliss

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Carbs, Meat, Carbs, Carbs and more Meat.

I am trying to listen to my stomach when it tells me, “MISSI YOU ARE FULL!!” …. but I can’t!  Like I said before, people go grocery shopping EVERYDAY for fresh food to cook for their daily lunch and dinners.  Breakfast isn’t very big here.  Usually you eat a croissant or as Italian’s call it, a brioche con marmalade, con crème, or con chocolate with a café.  Italian’s eat a pasta dish for lunch, and some kind of meat for dinner.  They eat pork, steak, ginny foul, or even rabbit.   I on the other hand have to eat little meals every couple hours so I still eat my cereal with soy milk and bread with jam in the morning.  Coffee just doesn’t cut it :)

Marco has cooked me two pasta dishes that have actually been my favorite meals here in Italy thus far.  Fresh clams, muscles, shrimp, and scallops.  Ahhhhhh I was in heaven. 

See how much pasta is on this plate?  Yep I ate it all.  No guilt.

We buy fresh cut prosciutto and sopressa (salami) every couple of days for snacks.  This is my favorite with cheese:)

So we went to downtown Treviso to the Farmer’s Market.  Reminded me of Mexico, but a little different.  It sells fresh fruit, cheese, and clothes.  I also am including some pictures of downtown Treviso.  I seriously love this area…. so much small town culture.

First Gelato!!

Here is a huge steak I got that was freshly killed. Just Kidding but it is very fresh meat.  They don’t add very much spice to their food because they say it loses its natural flavor.  We went to this restaurant that is up in the mountains owned by this cute little Italian man.  Him and his family own this winery and cook all this delicious food themselves.  He let me go around the cantina and take pictures.  I want to ship those old barrels home with me!  He said I can have them if I can get them to America. They actually just throw them away after their picking season… can you believe it? Also, the son might come get English lessons from Emily and I.  His son is in charge of the wine and he said we can go help pick the grapes and learn the Presecco making process in a couple weeks. Very exciting for us.  

  

Oh and something so funny.  Italian’s think that if you are directly in front of a fan or use the air conditioning you will get sick.  Today we were driving and the air conditioning was on Marco and he got mad Emily wouldn’t turn it down.  It was 90 degrees outside with 65% humidity, so you could say we were a little hot, ANYWAY, Marco put a scarf over his belly saying that he was getting a stomach ache from the air being too cold on him. Hahahahaha Needless to say me and Emily were cracking up.  Marco’s mom wears a scarf around her neck when she goes to the grocery store because she said the cool air gave her bronchitis.  Oh man that seriously makes me laugh.  I guess all older Italian’s swear by this.

I am so thankful God is allowing me to experience this.  I am being tested in several ways, but pray I am here in Italy for a reason.  If only to meet great people and equally teach English and learn Italian.

Ciao,
Meliss

Birthday Gal

25^th Birthday!!!!

Who can say they spent their 25^th birthday in Venice…. Oh yeah this girl.

We live right outside Treviso, Italy, which is only a 30 min train ride to Venice.  It is absolutely beautiful to say the least. I only took SOME photos because I wanted to actually look and take it all in.  Plus I knew that I am able to go there in only 30 min if I want to again!

I am guilty of not reading up on the history of Venice so do not know much about the buildings, but when I go again I am for sure going to have a good idea of certain buildings I will want to see.  It is HUGE so we only walked for three hours, but still there is so much more to see.

There are people there from all over the world and definitely very touristy.  Luckily, we have Marco who speaks Italian and Dialect so we were able to find a little place to eat for cheap.  Dialect in similar to what we call slang in the states.  Dialect is very hard to understand and there is different Dialect in almost every different town. 

The pictures don’t do Venice justice, but I tried!

After walking so much we took a water taxi back to the train station. I recommend this to anyone going to Venice because it gives you a different view from the water.  Make sure you get a good spot on the taxi because you are all crammed and you can be stuck in the middle with no view.

Once we got back to Treviso area where I live we went to a local BBQ place.  There are picnic tables where we sit and a waitress comes to take our order.  We ordered wine and a platter of different local BBQ food.  It is so funny; they just drop a huge bottle of wine and glasses and walk away.  I could write a whole blog about the different wines I have tasted here. Yum yum yum.  They have French fries here, but cook their sausage, ribs, and chicken with only olive oil and spices.  No BBQ sauce.

Some food I have tasted I LOVE and some ehhhhh not so much.  I am open to try everything though.

I will write again tomorrow all about the food Marco has cooked for me.  Also I want to share my adventures grocery shopping. It is common for people to go grocery shopping for fresh food almost every other day.  We are also going to the Farmers Market tomorrow in downtown Treviso, so that should be fun.  I also need to buy a new book.  Cross your fingers I can find a book in English:)   

Ciao,

Meliss

Start to a New Adventure

 I wrote this awhile ago, but still going to post it :)

Well here I am in Dusseldorf, Germany waiting for my connecting flight to Italy.  I have so much to write already!  Traveling to another country is crazy!!  Let’s just say International Airlines are VERY different than I am used to.  I sat on a plane yesterday for three and half hours while waiting to take off in Vegas when they said we needed more fuel, and then canceled the flight!  We all got off the plane and were directed to get our luggage, which took another 3 hours to get from the plane.  Organization is not Air Berlin’s forte to say the least.  Thank goodness for my best friend Jillian picking me up in the middle of the night, taking me home, and taking me back to the airport at 7 in the morning to start the whole process over again.  Thank you Jillian!!  I LOVE you so much.

Now lets get to the positive aspects of my trip so far.  I had an open seat next to me during my 10 1/2 hour flight so I was able to sleep comfortably for about 7 hours haha.  I will say Air Berlin at least gives out great gifts such as socks, sleeping masks, earphones, and toothbrushes!  Very nice of them :)

I think I am one of 5 other American’s on the flight so needless to say everyone was speaking German, which is seriously the HARDEST language to understand in my opinion.  Everyone has been very polite and tries to speak a little English, which is nice.  I just can’t wait to get to Italy and be with Emily and Marco (the couple I am going to be living with for awhile).

Oh and Emily told me Marco is going to cook me Linguine and Clam Sauce (my favorite meal of all time) tomorrow night for dinner.  Emily says Marco is an amazing chef and loves cooking pastas with their fresh local seafood…. ummm can you say heaven for this girl! 

I will update you after I celebrate my birthday Italian style with wine, wine, and more wine :)

Oh and just if you were wondering… little German kids are just as loud and annoying as American kids!  Sorry there is a kid next to me yelling as loud as he can while the parents just watch.  I think I need coffee lol

Thank you all for your support on this once in a lifetime adventure I am taking.  God has truly blessed me to be able to meet new friends and learn a whole new culture.  I am not taking any of this for granted that’s for sure.

Excuse my grammar errors.  I am not the best writer.

Love

-Meliss