No Ramen Noodles here

So I met this guy, Frederico, at that English speaking meeting I mentioned earlier. He invited me over to learn how to cook Italian pasta Thursday. He lives at home right outside of Padova, but we ended up going to his friends apartment in the city to cook for him and his three roommates. I was a bit dubious when the ingredient list included tuna. Tuna in pasta? Schifo! (Disgusting!) But it turned out to be amazing. Again I have to compliment the cooking of these Italian students. My two favorite meals in Italy have been the ones prepared by guys not much older than me in their apartments. The next time we get together I have promised to make an American meal. Everyone always asks this but its so hard to do cause you can never find the ingredients that you need. For example cheddar cheese. I cant make my host family grits and eggs with cheddar cheese. No cheddar exists on this continent. It’s a problem. I have no idea what I’ll fix. Please give suggestions.
Afterwards we all played Monopoly. It was hard at first to play in Italian, but the other girls looked out for me and made sure I didn’t get cheated. I ended up winning. I joked that it was because I was the American… I mean Monopoly is a game about money.
I love my Italian friends. Everyone is so nice. This is at least the third time basic strangers have invited me to their home to cook for me. Everyone is always so patient and really willing to help you learn their language. I have never felt like an outsider. You’d think I would. I mean I don’t even know most of the people in the room and I barely speak the language. Yet, I’ve have more instances in the US where I’ve arrived at parties or gatherings and have felt like nobody was trying to include me than while in Italy.