Pasqua!

This Easter was a little different from my past Easters. The last two were spent at UCLA, stealing hard boiled eggs from the dining halls and buying chocolate eggs for myself from Ackerman. And the 18 Easters before that were spent with the family (either in San Carlos, Chico, or Alamo), eating a wonderful meal that someone had cooked up and hunting for chocolate Easter eggs around the house or yard.

This year, no one hid Easter eggs for me or cooked me lasagna. Instead, my wonderful cousin Matteo bought me a HUGE chocolate egg (a typical Italian Easter treat for kids) and we cooked hamburgers and french fries together at my apartment. Yes, you read that right: we made hamburgers with lettuce/cheese/tomato/bacon/onions and french fries (and salad!) for Easter lunch in Italy. And as Matteo would tell you (and it's true), I have never made a hamburger before. So not only was it my first time cooking hamburgers (I apologize for not upholding my American heritage properly), but I was doing it in Italy. And just for clarification, we bought the hamburger patties pre-formed and it's not that I didn't know HOW to cook them (because it seemed pretty simple), I just had never DONE it before.... Maybe some day I'll actually buy the meat and make the patties myself.

Cooking our hamburgers.

Preparing our table for our feast!

Matteo with our french fries.

But anyway, we spent a lovely Easter weekend together stuffing ourselves full of food and chocolate, we took a "passeggiata" (a little walk) after our Easter lunch, we watched a couple episodes of the Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother, and we took a naps. It was so much fun to have some one-on-one time with Matteo and he is a huge reason why this whole year has been an amazing experience. From the moment Allison and I stepped off the plane and had to deal with our lost luggage (yeah, remember that story from 8 months ago?), to all the times he has suggested dinners together and has invited us to meet his friends, Matteo and all the other Italian cousins have welcomed me into their lives. As my study abroad experience is starting to come to a close, I find myself thinking back on all the wonderful opportunities I've had, people I've met, and friends I've made. And I'm going to miss all of it so much. I've created a new little life over here for myself, and it will be strange to leave the people who have played such prominent roles in shaping my experiences. Of course I will miss Italy and miss speaking in Italian, but I've learned that it's really the people (both here and back home) who contribute the most to the best memories that are made in life.

:)