"Every Au Pair We've Had Has Gone Home Fatter.."

Saturday 2 March

Giorgio had a saxophone lesson today, so I went with Clari and Dominga to Stradella. This weekend is Carnevale but Stradella is a small town so it's not as good as the one in Venice (in fact Dominga said it was dead). Clarissa went on a ride, and she went on it 15 times. Yes, 15. It was €10 for 12 goes and everytime you caught the tail the man tickled in front of your nose you got a free go. Eventually Dominga came and found us and we went to the park. She told me about Clarissa's fascination with small stones. When we were walking back to the car park I could see Clari's little eyes scanning the ground for good looking pebbles and every time she found one she would stop, pick it up, inspect it and put it in her pocket.

We went to a pizzeria for lunch and I had a huge, fantastic pizza (for €4.50.. ridiculous!). At home, I studied some more Italian; looking at the gender of nouns and rules for their articles. A friend of Clari came over, Camilla, and I showed them both how to make an origami crane (or 'swan' as Clarissa calls them). She colours their beaks orange and then gives them to me to draw on the eyes. I am now called the 'Girl of Eyes'. Clarissa wanted more origami animals so we looked up how to make a rabbit, and I made her one - just about!

Dominga gave me the number of Mirko, the boy from judo I apparently 'KO'd'. I didn't know (and still don't...) which instructor he was. Hah whoops. She spoke to him on the phone and asked me if I wanted to join him and some of his friends this evening as they were going out in Broni. But he doesn't speak (much) English and I don't speak any Italian (dead awkward) so I told her I'd do it another time (when I at least knew a few conversational phrases).

After dinner I joined the family in watching a Star Trek episode.. in English, for me, with subtitles. It was so nerdy weird. And so old fashioned! They started another episode in Italian and I snuck away to my room. Nerdy, I can do. Nerdy weird, well.. just about. But old nerdy weird, that's just too much for me.

At the pizzeria Giorgio was talking about their old au pairs (they've had a lot).

"When Feli arrived, she was pretty and skinny. When she left, she was pretty... and not so thin.

Every au pair we have had, has got fatter since they have stayed with us."

It made me smile when he said it and I thought of Matt's horror if he'd heard those words.

So when I returned to my room, I devised a fitness routine with two objectives: 1) to not get fat and 2) to be the first au pair to arrive skinny & go home skinny. After 10 burpees I realised how unfit I am... oh deary!

In between burpees, crunches and planking I had a quick Skype swag with Matt (which ended rather abruptly thanks to the crappy internet strength in my room), a facebook conversation with Mum, or rather the Spanish Inquistion (what's the family/the food/the house/the town/Italy like?) and a wassywig with Nick, who is attending a party near Sutton Poyntz and 'is feeling rather squiffy'. Ahaha I do miss you Nicholas.