My first week in Italy has gone by so quickly! I use my meals to tell the time instead of a watch because I eat so damn much here. Italians seriously know how to eat. I can’t even count the different amounts of cheese I’ve had since I’ve been here. It’s a lot.

When I’m not eating, I’m usually in or near some body of water. We alternate between the pool and the sea everyday, so I’ve gotten all the color back the England sucked out of me. I am living in a little village outside of La Spezia. It’s mostly quiet and only a short bike ride to the sea. It’s also close by train to Florence, Cinque Terre, Pisa, Tusacany, and Lucca.

On Tuesday, I met up with another au pair who is from Scotland, and also lucky enough to live in Cinque Terre! I spent the day with her swimming in the gorgeous blue waters and drooling over the colorful town.

Once she was done watching her girls, we took a short train ride over to Vernazza to celebrate the Fourth of July with some spritz and mojitos. Not very American, but it was still fantastic. We ate a delicious dinner of : _____. You guessed it. Pasta.

Vernazza is one of the five beautiful fishing villages in Cinque Terre. I am looking forward to getting some hikes in between these towns during the summer.

After dinner we were lucky enough to sit by the sea with some more drinks and watch the breathtaking pastel sky.

The next morning was also spent at the beach in my town. I wasn’t feeling to great and by the afternoon I had a 101 fever :(. I chalked it up to too much sun and not enough water. I sweated the night away and woke up feeling like new on Thursday. Because of this episode my host mom didn’t want me out swimming in the sun so soon. Instead we played UNO and monopoly under an olive tree and ate ice cream. Not a bag way to recover.

The younger girl hasn’t seen too many American films, so we’ve watched She’s the Man, Mean Girls, and the Parent Trap this week. To practice English of course! Let me know if anyone out there has any suggestions of what other educational films we should watch next!

One of the girls I am watching this summer is away in England for a couple of weeks, so for now it’s just me and the youngest. We spent all day Friday at the sea. We kicked around on the floaty, played volleyball, and attempted to catch sun bathing crabs. I feel like I will have many days like Friday and I am definitely not complaining.