Making Italian Friends

Many people warned us that it would be very hard to make friends in Italy.  They said that Italians were standoffish and it was unlikely we would be invited into any one's home for a meal.  This has not been our experience.  My biggest problems with our Italian friends is that they are constantly trying to feed us, and as you can see from my photos, I am hardly underfed!

Antonietta has become my best friend.  She is so cute.  She is like a little bird, and she reminds me of my friend Lorraine.  So much so that whenever I see her, I grab her, and hug her, and kiss her.  Initially she seemed taken aback by my enthusiasm, but she seems to have gotten used to me.  Now her face lights up when I walk by her window, and she makes the constant gesture of "let's eat" as I pass by her window.

 When we go to town, she tucks my arm through the crook of her elbow and introduces me to all of her friends as the "americana." I have been introduced to her people at the market place, the shoe store, the butcher store and the "forno" or the bakery.  Everyone knows her, as her family has lived her for 300 years in the same house, if you can even imagine that!

She adores Gary because he rough houses with her grandsons, and because he is a good eater.  I told her Gary did all of the cooking so she made him come up to the kitchen to help her make "torta di testa" which is a type of bread that is made in this part of Umbria.  Gary had a ball, and Antonietta told me he was "bravo" to help.

When I look up at her window, I always hope that she is inside.