During this wonderful, hot day of June 8 (Happy Birthday Baby Sis!) I have finally arrived to the train station in Lecce. From there Francesca and Tonino picked me up. Or more like they found me. I have never met or even seen a picture of either Francesca (my dad’s cousin) or her husband. Francesca pretty much found me immediately – I guess its easy to spot the lost American in a sea of Italians. haha  Then we drove the 40 minutes to Alezio – their small town of 5,000 people.

Francesca, Tonino and Luigi (their son) welcomed me into their house as if I have always lived there. I know that technically I am family but since it’s not exactly like I have ever met them or even talked to them it was a happy surprise. Besides the whole minor language barrior issue – I fit in completely. Although, anybody could fit in with them; they are beyond sweet.

Francesca:

Francesca is my dad’s cousin on Nonna’s side of the family. She is a beautiful lady with a heart of gold. Francesca has good out of her way to mae my stay as pleasant as possible and she is the perfect host. On top of that, Francesca is an amazing italian cook. I’m talking we eat restraunt style every single night. She was the first one to reach out to my dad via facebook and has consistently been interested in keeping in touch with all her relatives: a true family person.

Tonino:

The first thing Tonino said to me when I arrived was, “For as long as you stay with us, our house is your house.” It was not only a kind statement but he truly meant it. Tonino is an intelligent and opinionated man. Sometimes we will read the newspaper together and after explaining parts of it to me, we dicuss Italian lifestyle. (Sidenote: For all those out there who thought the American economic situation was bad you should come to Italy. Here, people kill themselves when they can’t handle it anymore. Since the start of the year there has been one suicide for every four days. Now thats a little cray cray if you ask me.) 

Luigi:

Ohhh Luigi. Although Luigi is 33 years old and has an important job as a lawyer he is definitely stuck in Never Never Land. This boy might age but he will never grow up. haha Luigi has treated me like a sister since I arrived. He lets me use his room while he sleeps on a twin side pull-out chair in the kitche,  he always takes me out and introduces me to his friends and he has no problem joking around with me. Oh, and one more thing, did I mention Luigi is quasi famous? Check out the video below of his band. (He was the drummer)

Here are some pictures of their beautiful house! As you can see, I am enjoyed my stay, and my Alezio Family, very much!