VILLORBA, TREVISO

Before you read any further, I'd like to make it so transparently clear that I have never written a blog and definitely do not see myself as the new Alexa Chung, let alone J.K Rowling... This is an insight on my year abroad as we all know how hard it is to stay in contact with absolutely.every.single.person, it may be seen as an easy way out of copious amounts of skype calls, but it really isn't. (PLEASE keep the skyping coming...don't know what I'd do without you.)

Despite having told everyone that I was going on my year abroad to Venice, I actually meant the town I  would be living in was near Venice... This was because no one (not even my second year Italian Oral Examiner) had heard of Treviso, let alone Villorba . 

Once arriving, I had a bit of a shock, the weather was that of the South of France. 34 degrees at its peak. I had packed for -0 temperatures. 

Anyway, the Lovat family of whom I work for, are probably one of the most generous Italian families I have ever met. Even though they are not paying me to work, they have given me my own apartment 'gratis' and invite me round for dinner at least twice a week. 

In brief: 

The mother, Carlotta, is, as Sandra (Nicolo's(the son), Dutch girlfriend) would say,an Octopus, cooking while she cleans, as well as sparking conversation meanwhile playing with the dogs. It is something that just amazes me.  The rest of the family are lovely, Lorris, the husband, Nicolo, 26, and Tomasso, who is 14. 

Sandra moved out here to live with Nicolo about a year ago and to be honest, I wouldn't have been able to manage the first two weeks here, had she not been around. She understood exactly how I was feeling, especially as I was isolated in my apartment, and as sad as it sounds, gave me the friendship I needed. This started with our joint love for the Twilight series...yes, I'm being serious. By the end of the first week we had watch the first film and were planning the next movie night (to Nicolo's disgust).

Centro Biblioteche, Libreria Lovat is where I work. Making coffee, serving customers, getting free lunch (big plus), stuttering over the pronunciation of apricot in Italian 'AL-BI-CO-CA' and, of course, speaking Italian. It's a fun atmosphere when it is busy, and it also helps that I work with a girl my age called Lorena

 and a lovely lady called Cinzia, both of whom constantly repeat, 'Stai tranquilla'... in translation, 'Don't panic', which as you all know is my key in life.

So you could say that I've settled in, however the word 'lonely' never escapes my mind.... but I've still got four months to go, so I'm just going to man up and take it with a pinch of salt.