About My Host Family, The Zampis

My host family is the Zampi family, which consists of Marco, Tiziana, Matteo and Niccolo. Marco is 58 and works for the health department here in Siena. He is bald and is a very happy and content person. He walks around with a smile on his face and even when he is sitting alone in front of the fire or the computer, he is smiling. He has packed me some good sack lunches this past week, usually a juice box, prosciutto and green olive bologna sandwich with cheese and tomatoes, a piece of fruit, crackers and a little chocolate pie. Marco likes to wear a big fluffy sweater and his Adidas track pants around the house. Tiziana is my host mom and works for the post office here in Siena. She is very kind, an amazing cook and lets me feel welcome into the family when she yells something at Marco during dinner then winks at me to let me know it was a joke. We watch the news and a game show at dinner every night and the other night she started dancing to it while she was doing the dishes which was fun to see. Matteo is 30 and lives in Milan working as a computer engineer. He makes the two or three hour trip and comes home every weekend. He is the only one in the family who speaks English so I save up my complicated questions for him to answer for me when I see him. Niccolo is 23 and is still going to school and also works. He has a slight form of autism but it is hard for me to know about it because at dinner they are all speaking Italian so I don’t know what he says. The parents often calm him down when conversations get loud and heated though. Nico is very nice and cheerful and also looks like Waldo because he is tall, brunette and has the same glasses. Nico wants to learn English so Marco is having me teach him. I love the family I am with, however there are pros and cons, a con being they live outside of the city and it takes me 35 minutes to walk to school. There is also one bathroom with only a bathtub, and no shower curtain. There is also no hot water. So sitting in the bath spraying cold water on your self isn’t ideal, but I am slowly getting used to it. As far as my house and room goes, Marco’s dad built the house in 1960! My favorite part of the house is the tile because almost every room has a different pattern. The house is two stories so my family rents their first floor out to another family. We live on the second floor, which is probably about the same square footage of my house in Phoenix. There is a foray, living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, master bedroom, two bedrooms, an office and a laundry room. I am staying in Matteo’s old room so the décor definitely reflects the interests of a young boy. There is a Simpson’s dart board and lots of pictures of the boys growing up. There is also a car collection and the room is filled with pictures and souvenirs from where the family has visited. I have a twin bed with a Mickey Mouse comforter. The outside is blue stripes and I didn’t figure it out until a few nights ago that the inside was Mickey Mouse. I have lots of space for what I brought and a large window overlooking the neighborhood with bits of the Tuscan countryside seeping through. Even though the language barrier is extremely tough, I feel very welcomed by my family and comfortable in the house. I like getting to be in the city all day at school or with my friends and then leaving the city to experience Italian culture with my family at night.