For starters, traveling went we didn't really have any issues besides Mack not having a seat until an hour before our first flight. The flight from Detroit to Rome took forever and had pros and cons. Some pros of the flight were the built in movies and games, as well as being able to sit next to Mack (we changed seats and got pushed farther back to do so but it was worth it). The cons were I never slept and the food was pretty bad.
After landing in Rome we were kind of nervous for customs but it turned out to be just going through security again in addition to someone looking at and stamping the passport. The lines were pretty non existent so we walked right through but it also helped that the passport checker person was playing his iPhone and didn't actually look at the passports, just stamped them so that was funny. From Rome it was a quick hour and a half flight to Catania which I slept the whole way. But did manage to take a picture of Sicily from the plane!
As for the first day with Ciccio and his family, he and his mom were waiting right outside the door from the baggage claim along with Marco's family (Mack's counterpart). We greeted eachother and took a picture of all four of us. Then took the little car back to Ciccio's house and when we arrived at his house they ended up giving me the entire basement (living room, bathroom, 2nd kitchen) as my room. While I unpacked Valeria made lunch which was a tuna salad (I kind of skipped that part) then some breaded meat which was good. An hour or so later Ciccio and I headed out to go to some island/rock with his friends and Mack and Marco. We run into a lot of people and somehow they know at least one of our counterparts if not both. Mack and I also learned that cliff diving is pretty big here, although I haven't gone yet because I forgot my swimsuit at his house. After the island we walked around the coast line a little ran into more people, then went home. I fell asleep for 2ish hours then dinner was served which was some type of sausage pasta, a salad and fruit, and sausage (lunch and dinner are always 3 course meals). Well that's today's recap, sorry for it being extra long but I had to fulfill two days of blogging in one 😜. Ciao from Italy!