Ciao, Amice (girlfriends)! Well, things are getting interesting here in Piemonte…not that they weren’t before, but let’s just say things on the social scene have escalated quite a bit of late. I’ve been to a couple of discotece (nightclubs) with Cristiana and Luciano (the chicken farmers I talk about all the time), another couple who are friends of theirs, and this group of guys who are about our age…well 28ish. I can’t wait till you come visit, b/c we seriously are going to be professional level dancers here. I don’t know how to explain it without making broad generalizations, but you’ll see (when you come) that our style of dancing is in an entirely different league!

So, I’m developing a group of guy friends that are a hell of a lot closer to my age than anyone else I’ve met thus far, so that’s very exciting–as you can imagine. And, Carmela, the woman who runs the circolo and who I’ve been volunteering my Sundays to as a waitress/pastry chef, bought me a cell phone yesterday. So, between the friends and the phone I feel a little more human now.

In other news, I rode a motorcycle for the first time on Sunday and had my first date with a full-blooded Italian! Whoa, Nelly. And that’s both at the same time. So, the date. His name is Luca, he’s an electrician, about the same height as me with dark hair, tan from working outside a lot (that part kind of sucks–lol—joking!!), and (surprise, surprise!) he’s older than me, though I’m not exactly sure exactly how old b/c I didn’t understand every word of that conversation, and his birthday was May 6th, so he may have just turned 31 or 32, but I’m not really sure.

He’s been working on the castello with his dad, who is the master electrician for the castle (family trade). That’s how we met. Then one day we were talking about the weather (one of the few topics my limited vocabulary allows me to converse about), and he mentioned he had gone for a giro on his moto the day before. (In Italian, when you go for a drive, or go somewhere to do something they say literally that “you make a turn” or fai un giro). I mentioned that I had never ridden a motorcycle before and he was astounded! Baffled! Just could not believe it, so he invited me to go for a ride (on his custom, silvery-green Harley Davidson).

Now, I’m not sure how many of you have ridden motorcycles before, but having never ridden one myself, you can imagine I was a little anxious. Especially considering the fact that traffic laws in Italy seem to be optional and speed limits don’t really pertain. Then Denise gave me some pointers on how not to fall off. I’ll share these with you now in case you have an opportunity to ride sometime in the near future:

1. Scoot up as close to the driver as possible and hang on.
2. Use your legs to hang on too–riding on the back of a moto doubles as your inner thigh workout for the day–ding!
3. Perhaps the most important rule is to relax and try to be one with the bike’s motor.
4. Lean INTO the turns, not away from them. It’s difficult for the driver to steer with the added weight on the back, but you can help by leaning and copying the driver’s movements.
5. Put vaseline on your lips before you go, drink a glass of water, and wear goggles or glasses underneath your helmet. P.S. Make sure your helmet is on tight. (Be prepared to swallow at least 5 bugs). Buon Divertamento!

Anyways, the ride was incredibly fun!! And hardly scary at all! Luca made a point of driving carefully and not passing too many people. He showed me a beautiful park on the top of a hillside and took me out for gelato.

We’re going out again on Friday–this time to Saluzzo for dinner. I’m not sure if we’re taking the moto or not…