I haven't written for some time, because, quite simply, there isn't really anything to say. I am staying with an Italian family with two boys, in the countryside, close to Milano. My life here couldn't be more different from the life in Turkey. In Turkey, quite frankly, the family I was staying with, inhabited a different world, a world I didn't know and had no desire to get to know. A world where, sad to say, humans didn't seem to count for much, and material possessions had to make up for that. This is the closest I have come to know the life of rich people and it certainly taught me, that I have no desire whatsoever to ever be rich.
Here, it is all different: I exchanged the shiny flat on the 17th floor of a high-rise building with sea-view in the most expensive area of Izmir with an old farm-house in the hills outside Milano. The neatly manicured parks with irrigation and transplanted grass have made space for our garden, that doesn't look all that well, seeing that we play football on there every day, so the grass isn't given much chance to grow. The children who knew only one form of happiness, which was, when they could play with their respective iPads, have been replaced by two happy, energetic boys who like to play board games and football, who read books and draw pictures. I feel like the movie-life from Turkey has been replaced with real life again, which is nice. Of course, I now don't have the sea with the bird sanctuary in walking distance, so this is sad, but for the rest, I couldn't be happier here. The hills are beautiful to take walks, now that spring has finally arrived, and by bike I can go to a nice river and several lakes. Manu, the mother of the children I am supposed to take care of, is an incredible person, I enjoy talking to her a lot and we learn a lot from each other, which, of course, is basically the point of the whole thing.
My football team in Turkey (where I was not allowed to play matches) is dearly missed, but I found a good replacement here. Again, I am not allowed to play matches, due to some ridiculous Italian transfer rules for foreign players (while the transfer period starts on Jan 1st, you are only allowed to sign up foreign players until Dec 31st). But, again, the team is happy to have me train with them and much as I would like to play matches, the trainings are a good consolation. To be honest, I probably never had trainings of this quality before - ever. I really enjoy them. I also came to understand that, contrary to every other place I got to know, trainings in Italy are 2 hours long (rather than 1 ½). Which means that you get a lot of time for the match in the end. Also, both teams that I trained with (before deciding to stay with one of them), had close to 20 players at every practice - which is about twice as many as what I was used to before. They also seem so much better organized than teams I had known before: even in the 4th league, they have two coaches and a keepers-trainer. The coaches set up the field before the training starts and everything seems very professional, really, to me. I was quite amazed when I first saw that and still am, a little bit. It is funny, how different football can be in different countries. I think, regarding trainings, most countries could learn a lot from Italy. Mind you, I also discovered that literally every little village, or part of a village, has to things at its centre: a church and a football field, next to it. These two seem to be the most basic ingredients of a village. Then you can build houses around them, but church and football field have to be there first. So, basically, there is so many football fields there, that, probably, they never have to deal with the problems of teams in other countries, that you just don't get enough training time because the fields are occupied all afternoon and evening.

There is not really much I can say about Italy, that might come as a big surprise to anyone. The only thing I find quite disturbing is the large number of homeless people there seem to be everywhere. Taking the train to Milano feels like a tour of homeless quarters - they set up their beds next to the railway line. The good thing is: obviously they are allowed to stay there. The bad thing is: in the winter it is really quite cold at night, and I don't think anybody should have to sleep under these conditions. Other than that, really, Italy is just like any other European country, I guess, in many ways. Apart from, maybe, the fact that they tend to take rules and laws in a more relaxed way, which I find very charming.
Oh, and maybe one more complaint: there is a severe lack of sidewalks in this country. Walking after dark can therefore be quite a scary activity. Overall, the countryside here looks very old. The streets are very narrow and often you get the feeling that you are inside a medieval castle. Which is nice, but it is not very helpful for pedestrians and cyclists. But if you get over your fear of cycling on the road (which, of course, I have had to get over some time ago) this place is really beautiful and has some nice treasures to discover!

I am currently busy making plans for the next months but I can't say have come all that far, so not ready to report on them just yet. Stay tuned to find out, where I will be heading next. Austria is on my list, for sure, the rest is still pending confirmation. I will stay here until mid April, it seems, and then we will see where life takes me.
Oh, one final remark: I still haven't bought a new camera, so no pictures for now. Sorry. Instead, imagine hills with old buildings and stone walls, terraces, olive trees and chestnut trees, some little streams around. Birds singing, by now. And when you climb to the top of the hills, you can see to the other side, where there are mountains and lakes, and more hills and some fields, and some houses, and the city of Lecco, which also has some newer buildings and some industry, but not too much. And more lakes, and of course, the river Adda, which runs from Lecco south towards Milano, on the way forming some bigger pools and lakes, which are great places for birds, and where you also get to see one or another rarity. On the other side, towards Milano, there are also hills, although much lower in elevation and not so wide, so it's easier to go around them. One of them, however has a pretty church on the very top, and you have a very nice view from there, so it's worth going up there anyway. From there you see more agricultural fields and flat lands before, all the way to the south, you find the city of Monza, more or less attached to the city of Milano, which is a different world, really, from where we live here. Hope this helps :)