Oct. 21, 2004 Busca

11:30 a.m.

take a walk into town with Vera. Walk...beautiful day. She says "ciao" and knows everyone and introduces me to all these old people we meet on the way. I have no clue what we are doing! I thought we were going to Saluzzo to the school!

12:45 p.m.

Enter into local grocery store. She picks out fruit and vegetables for me because I am a vegetario. After we picked produce we left without the bag. I found out they keep it for you if you want to walk and pick it up later!


1:00 p.m.

Walk down cobblestone street Via di Umbria and go to a Cafè already! I just had a coffe at breakfast! I get my first cappuccino. She gets some digestive drink. We eat more chips/pretzels at the table and Andrea (her son who lives a block away) visits us. He is so nice... invites me out with his friends, this is when we all become good friends and are laughing a lot. My personality is coming out more now I think... I try to speak more Italian at this point.


1:30 p.m.

After talking, eating and drinking we remember to pick up the fruit because they close at 1:30. Got it just in time and then went to lunch at a restaurant. Busca is small. No menus, just give us a few choices of what to have- they order for me only what I can eat. Minestrone, salad, bread and 4 huge honkin pieces of local cheese! I am full even before we eat lunch! NO MORE! BASTA! I ask if it is disrespectful to not eat everything and laugh and say no and I give the rest of my cheese to Andrea. Then Vera orders me dessert. Baked Pears with glaze, Delicioso! They make fun of me alot but it's in a nice way that I think it's funny too. They make me drink more wine and can not believe I have never had chestnuts. I told them in California we don't eat them but she said her other son lives on Chestnut St. in SF! How is that possible!


2:00 PM

Say goodbye to cook and restaurant staff and go back home.