Venezia & Verona

So I realize that I haven't told you guys much about my travels in Italy. I was fortunate enough to be placed pretty much smack between Venice (Venezia) and Verona. Which means for me depending on the train a one way ticket to either of the cities costs €5, €8 or €15 (Don't worry dad usually try to go for the €5 train). I have been once to Verona with some friends from school. It's very beautiful and very romantic. We visited 'Juliet's House' first. Everyone writes love wishes on the wall surrounding her house and also on every date near at her house there are hundreds of locks. I guess if you have a lover you go to Verona write both of your names on the lock, lock it and then throw away the key. It's very romantic. But don't worry travelers you do not have to bring lock's from home they sell them in the gift shop. Also there is a statue of Juliet and if you grap her boob you get good luck in love. So I did. And apparently it works (: Next we went to Il Pozzo Dell'Amore (the pit of love). Unfortunately, I don't have a very good picture of it from far away but it just looks like a well with bars covering it. Again you either put a lock on it or drop money inside of it and it will give you good luck in love. There is a sign on it that reads. "Getta nel pozzo un solo soldino, pensa un momento al tuo desitino, non ti distrarre, non far rumore, eccolo...eccolo...arriva l'amore" which translates to "Throw one coin into the well, think of a moment in your destiny, do not distract yourself, make no noise...here it comes...here it is...love".

Juliet's Balcony

love wishes.

Pozzo Dell'Amore

Notice how shiny he right breast is. Poor Juliet.

Then there's Venezia. Venezia is really unlike any other city in the world. It's absolutly beautiful. It's not the cleanest city, everything is very old and sometimes you walk by somewhere that smells like death but that's what makes is so beautiful. It's not a perfect, modern, well kept-up city. The colors are incredible. It's beautiful in sun, in rain, in wind, during the day and during the night (So far those are the condition's I've been able to experience it end). I'm sure if you lived there or visited SO much it might get a little old. But I think for me the only reason it would get old is because there are so many tourists and tourists like to walk really slow. I've actually been to Venezia three or four times because my best 'Interculura' friend (Solveig) and boyfriend (Nick) live there. Nick actually lives about 10 minutes from Venezia and Solveig lives right in the city.Each time has been fantastic. I've had fantastic food including sushi there. For those of you who don't know much about Venezia there are a couple major tourist attractions. The first is Piazza San Marco which is in the main piazza in Venice. You've probably seen it in a few movies and it's very beautiful. Especially at night because they have these really cute little lights and the whole square is lit up. During the day it's beautiful too. There are many orchestra's that play and all these little cafes. You really feel like you're in Italy. I would suggest however that you don't stop and eat from these cafes because they are super expensive. And for those of you who are willing to pay €10 for a cappuccino, go for it. I salute you. In Piazza San Marco there is the Basilica di San Marco which is pretty incredible from the outside (I haven't been inside yet). Then there is Ponte di Rialto which is the most famous bridge in Venezia. It looks out over the Gran Canal which is the biggest canal in Venezia. I've seen some other things but I don't remember the names. However one of these days I'm going to let my inner-tourist out and buy a bunch of guide-books and give myself a tour of the city. Perhaps I will make Nick and Solveig come along. I'm sure they would appreciate it. I think Venice is one of my favorite cities in the World.

From a water taxi heading down the Gran Canal.

Ponte di Rialto

Piazza San Marco

Piazza San Marco

Gotta hand it to the Seagulls of Venice. They're all the size of Jupiter.

Photo cred to my friend Wanda. This is Piazza San Marco at night and in the rain. Also this is Nick (:

As for Vicenza. Everything is wonderful. School is kinda stressful because I need to get credit for all my classes but my classmates make it better. We are doing Secret Santa next week, so I have to think about what I'll get for my person. Also next week there is a ski race for my school somewhere in the mountains and if everything works out with AFS I would like to participate in it. However yesterday was the first day the mountains got snow. So I'll pray for more snow and that I have all the proper forms needed by Intercultura to race. I'm so unbelievably happy with my family and my Italian is getting better so I've been able to explain a lotLasica Vivere' which is the same as our phrase 'Live and Let Live'. I miss my family alot with Christmas coming up but I know I will see them soon. Also I would like to give a shout out to my big Sister who has already been accepted to two universities (: Hannah I love you more than is humanly possible and I can't believe next year you won't be at home. But I'm so proud of you. xxx

Proud to be American.

I have a cool story. It actually may not be to cool for you guys but for me it was very exciting. Last night I had a friend over to spend the night. Her name is Solveig (she's Icelandic) and she is also on foriegn exchange but she lives in Venice. We met at the camp that was held for everyone in my region about a month ago. Anyway she came to stay the night last night and we went to the disco/club, called People in Vicenza. It was a very fun evening but we were dancing and Solveig heard some boys speaking in English and she asked them if they were American and they were! I was so excited and I hugged all of them and then we went outside and talked for a little bit. It's really nice to speak American English with American people, the English I speak with post people here is very different than my regular English. They are the new group of military boys at Caserma Ederle (the American military base in Vicenza). I was then able to thank them for their service. I thanked one of them and he looked at me and looked around the club and said 'It's really my pleasure'. We then joined their group and danced with them until it was time to go home. It was very sad to leave them; we all said goodbye with hugs. But I got their names and phone numbers so hopefully we will be able to meet up and maybe I can go visit the military base. Vicenza is definitly a good place to be posted if you're in the military (: Anyway it just reminded me how proud I am of my country and of the men and woman who serve us. Thank you guys.

A te che sei il mio grande amore, ed il mio amore grande

I'm sorry I haven't written in so long! November has been a very busy month. My italian is improving and now understand almost everything that people say but speaking is still taking alot of work. People tell me I will improve with speaking as time goes on and I hope that is true. My host family is very good. On Thanksgiving I cleaned and cooked my first Turkey (: It was very delicious. Overall November has been a very good month and it's hard to believe I'll have been here for almost 3 months soon. I've thought of some things to share with you about the italian language that I didn't know or things I would just like to share. First, in Italy, depending on where you live, you not only speak italian but also dialect. Each dialect is extremely different from eachother. So much so that people from the south would not be able to understand anything if they listened to a northern person speak dialect. I am in the region of Veneto and thus we speak a Venetian dialect. However, the venetian dialect differs from city to city within Veneto. A funny story about dialect. My math teacher is from Puglia (the heel of the boot in Italy) and the other day we had a geometry test. My classmates wrote all of the theorems in dialect on the lavagna (blackboard) and she had no clue what was written on the board. Here are some example of how venetian dialect differs from Italian. The first is english (clearly), the second italian and the third dialect.

Monday, Lunedi, Luni

Tuesday, Martedi, Marti

 Wednesday, Mercoledi, Mercore

 Thursday, Giovedi, Sobia

 Friday, Venerdi, Venere

 Saturday, Sabato, Sabo

 Sunday, Domenica, Domenega

 Shut up, Zitto, Tasi

 As you can see some words are very similar and some are very different. So as for dialect goes, I'm going to learn Italian first and then I'll work on my dialect.

            Something I don’t think you know about Italian is that is consists mostly of verbs. No joke Italian has a verb for everything. Some of the best and funniest examples include:

            Abbagliare – to dazzle

            Acciuffare – to grab by the hair

            Disinibire – to free someone from inhibitions

            Ficcare – to stick something somewhere

            Impazzare – to be wild with excitement

            Indiziare – to cast suspicion on

            Schiaffeggiare – to slap someone in the face

            Timbrare- to put a stamp on a document

            Zittire – to shut someone up

Everything has a verb. And because Italian couldn’t get any better all the verbs decided they would be irregular! YAAY! We love irregular verbs.

            Now to switch the subject I would like to share with you my new favourite song. The name of it is ‘A te’ and it is by a very famous singer Jovanotti. It is quite honestly one of the sweetest love songs I have ever heard. You can look the song up as well as the translation into English but I will share with you my favourite lines along with their English translation.

            A te che sei                                            (To you, because you are)

            Semplicemente sei                                (You simply are)

            Sostanza dei giorni miei                       (The substance of my days)

            Sostanza dei giorni miei                       (The substance of my days)

            A te che sei il mio grande amore          (To you my great love)

            Ed il mio amore grande                        (And my biggest love)

            A te che hai preso le mia vita               (To you, because you’ve taken my life)

            E ne hai fatto molto du più                   (And you’ve done a lot more with it)

            A te che hai dato senso al tempo          (To you, because you gave time some sense)

            Senza misurarlo                                    (Without measuring it)

            A te che sei il mio amore grande          (To you my great love)

            Ed il mio grande amore                        (And my biggest love)

            A te che io                                            (To you)

            Ti ho visto piangere nella mia mano   (Whom I have seen crying in my hand)

            Fragile che potevo ucciderti       (So fragile I could have killed you just by squeezing)

            Stringendoti un po’                             (You are a little stronger)

            E poi ti ho visto                                (Than I have seen you)

            Con la forza di un aeroplano            (Having the strength of an airplane)

            Prendere in mano la tua vita             (Taking life in your hands)

            E trascinarla in salvo                        (And dragging it into the safe zone)

            A te che mi hai insegnato i sogni     (To you, because you’ve taught be how to dream)

            E l’arte dell’avventura                      (And the art of the adventure)

            te che credi nel coraggio               (To you, because you believe in courage)

            E anche nella paura                           (And also in fear)

            A te che sei la miglior cosa               (To you, the best thing)

            Che mi sia successa                          (That happened to me)

            A te che cambi tutti i giorni              (To you, because you change all days)

            E resti sempre la stessa                     (And stay the same)

            A te che sei                                        (To you, because you are)

            Semplicemente sei                            (You simply are)

            Sostanza dei giorni miei….               (The substance of my days)

The whole song is wonderful (: But I would take a long time to write all of it down so that is my favourite part. Xxx

Letters!

This post is for Lisa & Dale and Grandma and Grandpa Shively (:

I got your letter's today in the mail! Thank you so much. It was really fun to open them up at lunch. I have the halloween card's hanging on my wall now and Paolo told me I should take the magazine to school tomorrow. Lisa it came out very nicely (: Thank you for giving me the chance to take the cover.
Also thank you mom and dad for all of the package's. It's really fun to get things in the mail!

Generaly thing's have been going really good. My Italian has slowly been getting better. I'm not good at all but it's getting better. School is very fun. I have a 7 1/2 in Storia d. Arte which is a good grade for an Italian student so I'm very content with it. Also my Arte teacher is very nice and today I even took part in a class discussion about which sculpture I prefered on the door's of the Battistero Romano in Firenze (: Last Saturday I went into Venice for the evening with my friends (one of which lives there and all the others nearby). While I was there I met up with a really good friend from India named Olga. She moved to France this year and was Venice on a school trip (: See we met in Piazza San Marco and hung out for a little bit. How cool is that? Anway it was a very good evening.

And now I need to get back to studying for my spanish test.

Camp!

This Thursday through Sunday I had an Intercultura camp in Trento, Italy. Honestly, I wasn't so excited to go because I was missing three days of school and a Saturday night. But I can say now that I love Intercultura camps.

Everyone from Vicenza took the train to Venezia where we met up with all the kids who are living in and around Venezia (Venice) then we all boarded a bus and drove to Trento. It's about a 4 1/2 hour drive but that included stops to pick up all the other Veneto (my region) kids at various train stations. All together there were 55 kids with 30 countries being represented including Italy. Pretty amazing right? The whole thing was volunteer run too. We have 7 or 8 volunteers there and they were all very young. We stayed at a hostel/hotel that had a very big gym space. There were three girls in my room, Alma from Iceland, Shiori from Japan and myself. It was very fun because before we went to bed each night we talked about everything. It's like a sleepover (: The first night was pretty laid-back. Friday morning they split us up into groups and we talked about our first months in Italy- problems, fun things, sad things etc. My groups was fantastic (: And then for the rest of the day we had free time, we played alot of games too. I can't describe all of them but I think it's safe to say that playing quite a few of them would get you sent home for Bear Creek icebreaker. Here's an example of one of the funnest. We all sat in a circle and each girl was given a number and each boy a letter. Then you send a girl into the middle and one of the volunteer's would call a letter and a number. The boy who's number was choosen had to run to the girl in the middle and kiss her on the cheek and the girl who's number was chosen had to run to the boy and kiss him on the cheek before he kissed the girl in the middle and vice versa with a boy in the middle. As you can imagine people end up rolling around with eachother on the floor and on top of eachother etc. But it kept all of us teenagers very entertained so it was a very good game. Also the German's surprised us on Saturday nights talent show with a game in which you postition people into kama sutra positions. It was very....strange. Anyway for most of the camp we just talked about our first months in Italy, played games and talked with everyone. I made alot of new friends (: and I can safely say that if I had to choose another nationality other than American I would choose any country in South America, Icelandic or Thai. Iceland is really cool. Alma enjoyed telling me about it. Did you know that there are 320,000 people in all of Iceland and that 60% of them live in the capital city? Also they have candy made out of chocolate and black liquirice and there phone numbers are 7 digits long. It's a really cool country. Thai people are really cute and sweet and South American's are always smiling and know how to dance. Anyway I was very sad to leave everyone this morning and I'm even sadder to know that our next camp is in June and it's the last time we will see eachother until we leave Italy. Everyone is so interesting and wonderful.

For anyone considering exchange (high school or college) I would say do both. The experiance I'm getting as a high school is completely different than the experiance I will get in college. Also you have to know that you're going to be pushed completely out of your comfort zone; not only with language and culture but in meeting and talking to people. 4 months ago I would have been really nervous to know that I was sharing a room with 2 strangers but now I find it really exciting to see who I will learn about. And four months ago I don't think I would have had the courage to walk up to a group of people who were already friends and introduce myself and start talking to them.

Akward Moments & Rough Days

Many days I'll wake up feeling really down. It's probably because I'm tired, cold and hungry. But whatever it is I don't want to go to school or talk to anyone. I would rather just crawl into bed and go back to sleep. When you have days like this it's very important to get yourself up and you have to make a decision about whether your going to make it a good day or bad day. And whenever you decide to make it a good day, everything turns out pretty good. And when you decide your going to go into it with a bad attidude you end up having a pretty crappy day. Funny how that works right? (:

As for akward moments. Subjecting yourself to this experience brings with it an unending supply of akward moments. The best akward moment of today was in Storia. Storia (history) had started and Greta and Ilaria came in the classroom and informed me that the English professor wanted to see me in class three A. Here's the thing, in classical school (you study greek, latin, philosophy etc), they use roman numeral instead of actual numbers for the class name and for some odd reason class 5 is actually class III. So I was taken to class IIIA instead of class 3A and I got to sit in a greek lesson with an entire class of 19 year-olds I have never seen before. It was pretty akward. I just sat there in class and stared at the wall while everyone else stared at me. At the end of class I turned to a girl who had been smiling at me and asked "Do you have any idea what I'm doing here?" and she said "No idea". We figured, which was true, that I had been taken to the wrong class. Fortunatly because they were class 5 students they knew English very well. Also it wasn't so bad because I made a new friend. But Greta and Ilaria were very concerned when I came back to class because a girl from 3A had come up to our room looking for me and said she couldn't find me. Oh well. And once again it's times like those were you get to choose if you want to be upset and embarassed or make the best of the moment. I just laughed it off with my friends who that it was pretty hysterical I just sat there.

Sciopero!

These past few days have been not very exciting. I came home from school on Wednesday not feeling very well so Paola and Romeo let me stay home Thursday. I ended up getting a fever and now my stomache is all out of wack. Flu bug? I think so. But I did learn about something pretty cool yesterday. I guess this is very common in Italy but today we having a sciopero. A sciopero is basically a strike with some sort or protest going on in town. So we don't have school today because as part of the strike teachers and students don't go to school. I'm not sure why we are having this? Paola was explaining it has something to do with one of Berlusconi's politcal friends but I'm not 100 percent sure. Romeo said they happen all the time and it is a completely normal thing. Many times the strike will invlove all public transport like trains and buses, today just all the schools in Vicenza. However Poala and I looked up other sciopero's coming up recently and on the 20th and 21st of October there is a public transport strike. No bus for me that day (: Anyway I like this whole sciopero thing. I'm just a bit bummed out it couldn't be next week or something. Because I would've stayed home from school today even if the strike wasn't happening. Also I would have liked to go into town and see the protest or hang out with friends. The other fun thing that's happening today is that it's raining and there's a thunder and lightening storm. It's very beautiful (:

Ragu.

Last night Paola taught me how to make ragu. It's really very simple but oh my goodness does it taste so much better than that store bought 'Ragu' brand ragu. Really. Mom, we are never buying ragu or any other pasta sauce, for that matter, at the store again. Wow. I've become a ragu junkie. I had it for lunch and ate to much and had to go take a nap.

There's a whole lot to talk about other than Ragu so here is a list I made (I actually made it in storia today) of things that are different in Italy.

Boys: Whenever anyone talks about Italian boys they make it sound like all Italian boys have the looks of gods. Not true. There is just about the same ratio of goodlooking boys to strange looking boys. The thing that makes the better looking boys look much better than American boys is that they just dress SO classy. It's nice that they like to be classy.

Juice Boxes: Everyone and I mean EVERYONE drinks from juice boxes. Usually with flavored tea in it. My favourite is peach.

Oral Tests: Once a month in school the teachers give the students oral and written tests. I thought that an oral test was going to be a little question they ask you and if you answer right you get all your points. Wrong. It's a 15 or 20 minute long interrigation peroid. I saw my first one yesterday and I was blown away. It was in Spanish and basically the teacher called 2 people up to the black board and threw continious questions at them for 20 minutes. It was crazy. I'm pretty sure that if a teacher did this to any child at Bear Creek all hell would break loose and also that if any Bear Creek child witnessed this they would shutup about the homework load and be thankful they don't have oral tests. Also I asked my classmates if it was hard and they said it was very easy; philosophy and latin are the hardest oral tests.

Showers: No one in my family takes a shower everyday, except me. They told me I could use the shower as much as I wanted to I don't feel bad about it. But it's not normal for people to take showers once a day.

Alarms In Showers: In every shower I have been in in Italy there has been an alarm in it. You pull the string and the alarm goes off (I haven't done it, thats just what I hear). I asked the boys about it the other day and they said they used it when the needed something in the shower when they were little.

Last Names: Many teachers call there students by there surnames. My math teacher does, but she calls me Isabelle because she doesn't want to pronounce Shively. It's actually pretty funny because barely anyone can pronounce Shively, alot of times they ask me. So all of my classmates and I sit there and are like SHI-V-ELY. But many times I don't even hear my name in roll-call because I don't understand it was my name they called. My friends have taken to answering for me in roll call.

Bikes: Biking isn't really a sport. It's a way to get somewhere. Also the bikes are all very cute with baskets (:

Fashion: Italians are known for being very fashionable people. Again I see the same ratio of fashionable to not fashionable people in Italy. Something i've noticed is that many of the 'fashionable' people ride bikes. Pretty cool. However there is a definite 'cool' style for Italian teenagers. Here is what you need if you want to be a 'cool' girl:

1. a Hard-Rock Cafe shirt or Abercrombie & Fitch shirt
2. a pair of converse tennis shoes (doesn't matter which colour) but white goes with everything
3. a pair of skinny-jeans, preferably with some funky bleaching going on
4. some sort of jumper, Abercrombie & Fitch is perfect
5. atleast one bracelet and if you like, a watch
6. eastpak backpack (any colour)

There you go. You're cool now. It's actually a pretty cute style; it's just not my sort of style. Though I do have an eastpak backpack.

Lunch: Is always pasta. Yum (:

Christ in Schools: Though schools in Italy aren't christian schools. There is a rule that there must be a cross in the room. My classmates get very worked up about it when we talk about it. They think that church and school should be seperate. I think thats fair.

Pizza: Is thin and much more delicious. That's it.

Sparkling Water: Most water is sparkling. The other day we had a pretty heafty run in PE and on the way to the bus stop I decided I would stop at the grocrey store and get a bottle of water. I got it and hopped on the bus and took a giant drink. It was sparkling. My bad. I didn't even think to check to see if the little bottled water was sparkling or not

Cakes: Both of the cakes I have had have had no frosting.

Calculators: No one uses calculators in math. You can they just choose not to. I don't know how they do it.

Bugs: The bugs here are creepy. I had an intense battle with some sort of stinky beatle last night and today I saw what I think was a praying mantis. I got a picture. So i'll upload it later.

Music: 95% of the music I have heard is American. Francesco likes 50 cent.

Mother: The mother is the head of the house, not the father.

Smoking: Everyone here smokes. I just don't think that someone who's wearing braces and is 13 years old should be smoking. But it's their decision.

Done with differnce's. Now here are my cravings:
1. Ixtapa Salsa and chips
2. Target salted pretzel with cheese
3. Chocolate and Oat fiber plus bars
4. Cream Cheese Frosting
Good stuff right?

Something I don't miss: Ice.

Something I miss: My family and Tula.


Ciao (:

Everything (:

Sorry it's been so long! Whenever I wake up and decide I will blog today something always goes wrong with the internet on my computer. Thankfully right now it's working. The name of the post is pretty lame but there is really no one thing I could write about. I'll start with school and we'll see where it goes from there. I have eleven classes. Depending on the day I will have 5 or 6 classes. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday (thats right Saturday) I have 5 classes and Tuesday, Thursday and Friday I have 6 classes. Each class is 50 minutes long and after the 3rd class we have a 15 minute break. Break is pretty fun. We have pretty nifty vending machine's as well as a coffee vending machine with at least 25 different kinds of coffee to choose from. Here are all my classes:

Spangnolo- The teacher is wonderful (she speaks English so she's very helpful) but she's pregnant and she'll leave in March to have her baby.

Francese- I don't take anymore (: So thankful I don't too.

Italiano e Latino- Different classes but taught by the same teacher. She is very funny. I have no clue what she is saying but she makes me laugh so that's good.

Inglese- My favourite class by far! I enjoy helping out all the other kids english. Though last class I failed them because we were talking about 'Extreme Sports' and they were asking me to name, in english, the parts of a sail boat. I don't know?

Ed. Fisica- Is not so bad. We just run around in a park by school. The best part is that the park is beautiful so it's not so much of a chore to run. Though it has been very hot lately so that's the only downer.

Storia del Arte- The teacher is so sweet and she really wants me to learn so she has assigned girls to explain to me whats going on. The first class was about gothic churches and I was surprised about how much I already knew because of Pillars of Earth. Oh I love you Jack.

Storia e filosophia- Again same teacher, different class. My teacher thinks I understand Italian, when we've told her I don't. So there are many akward moments were she sits there talking to you and then asks you a question and you have no idea what just happened.

Religione- Is not religion. We talk about important issues in life today. Things like sex before marriage, religion in schools, abortion, homosexuality etc. The teacher is very nice and funny but only have the class once a week. Also he got married this weekend and is on his honeymoon so we don't havve class tomorrow.

Scienze- Is just Chemistry and so far I understand everything (:

Matematica- Is my hardest class. I understand none of the math. It's safe to say I should have payed more attention in 9th grade to Algebra 1. My classmates have told me that even I don't understand I can pass the class because the teacher is very sweet. But I really want to understand what we are doing.

Another thing about school that's very different. When the teacher can't come to class you don't have a sub. You just don't have class. For example my religion teacher is on his honeymoon so tomorrow morning I come to school an hour late. It's a good difference (: Here is a picture of my class room with my friends Benedetta, Micol, Sara and Beatrice (left to right)

Saturday's are super fun I mean I've only had two so far but they were great. We have school in the morning and then usually after school people hang out. My first Saturday I went shopping with a friend Francesca but right after school. She was disapointed because I didn't want to hang out later, which is when people really hang out in the centre. But last Saturday my friends Laura and Maria invited me to have dinner with them (McDonalds hahaa) and then walk around. At 11 we decided to go back to Maria's house and Maria and Laura had both ridden their bikes. So I got to ride on the back of Maria's bike home. I've never done that before (: Giancarlo then came and picked me up he had invited me to go to the discoteca with him and his friends but they weren't getting back until early morning and I had an AFS meeting in the morning. The centre of Vicenza is completely full on Saturday nights; it's crazy. Something I learned about Saturday that I think is pretty funny is what you do instead of a bachelor party in Italy. Basically there was this guy wandering around in trashbags and all taped together. It was pretty obvious he was wasted and he was doing pretty idiotic things so I asked about it. Apparently before you get married your friends take you out into town and have you read this poster. It's a poster all about your life and friends and fiancee etc. Also it is a very LONG poster, we are talking 7 or 8 typed pages worth of words to read. So the guy has to read it and every time he stumbles on a word he has to drink. You can see how that would turn into a vicious circle right? Then his friends make him wander the streets of his hometown and do embarassing stupid things. It's pretty funny to watch.This Saturday I was invited to go out for lunch with Micol and Sara and it's also Maria's birthday and she invited me to her party. She really likes Mexican food so her and I and a few other people are going to buy all the food and then go back to her place and cook it for everyone. I'm very excited (: Also I might go to  the disco afterwards with Giancarlo. It could turn out to be a very late night (: The picture is of the main stree in Vicenza, it doesn't look so cool because it was 7am and I was on my way to school. It's blurry because I was walking while I took it.

There are 3 other exchange students in Vicenza. Yada (thailand), Hernan (peru) and Camilla (colombia). Tomorrow is Yada's birthday so after Italian class (which turns out is going to be held at my house) we will head to the centre and hang out a bit.

My family is fantastic. I feel like a fit in very well. I was talking with Romeo about how I hate exercise the other day and he told me I was the daughter he never had. This made me smile alot but Giorgio (who turned 11 on Tuesday) had to write a story about his family and he put me in it (: I think I'm doing good here. Giancarlo and Francesco, well all the boys really, like Call of Duty. Giancarlo told me the new one comes out on the 8th of November and he is very excited for it. But all Italians use playstation, sorry microsoft. I also really enjoy having my family all around me all the time. My host cousin is Giada is hysterical. Poala, her and I often have conversations about breast size, Grandma Pasquelina joined in last time too. I have three cats Mia, Cleo and Mary- they are very sweet and a dog Bach ( I don't know if thats how you spell it). But he's VERY sweet except when you walk by him and he's eating a bone. He does not like that. I will post more pictures on facebook but I think this is good for now. Also please excuse my spelling and gramatical errors. I swear despite having english class most days, my english has gotten much worse. xxx

First Couple Days.

They really aren't kidding when they say you understand nothing. The only striaght up English I've heard in the past 5 days is american music. I don't mind this at all because it will make me learn Italian fast but at some points it's very frustrating because you feel you are frustrating other people. My family is fantastic. Everyone is very nice and has tons of patience. The food is fantastic and I like that for all meals we sit down all together and eat. We did this with dinner at home in America but Lunch isn't considered a big meal. Whereas here when I get home from school the table is set and we all sit down and eat.  The 2 youngest boys Giorgio and Lorenzo (who the family calls Lore) are very sweet. One of the first days here I laid out all the coins in my wallet and we would take turns designing things with them and then guess what the others had designed in Italian. We played for a bit and I am proud do say that I know the word boat (barca) very well. The 2 older boys Giancarlo and Francesco know some english so we try and talk, mostly about music and teenage stuff. Giancarlo told me he thought it was very strange people in America say "This is the shit" to say something is cool. It's true it's very weird. Francesco likes pancakes alot, so I think I will make them Sunday morning.  Also I watched a movie the other night with Francesco, Giancarlo and Romeo. It was an American film, but in Italian, and Romeo commented multiple times about how much Americans like fire and explosions. He then said that if I was ever to use the Barbeque they would watch me very carefuly. I take the bus to school with Francesco in the morning and depending on the day I take it home, take it with Lucia ( a family friend), or Romeo or Giancarlo pick us up. Most of Romeo's family lives right next to us so I have met many cousins and aunts and uncles, and the grandparents- all very nice. Also they have many friends nearby who come for lunch and to hang out for a bit. I also enjoy helping people with English, I know that is not my purpose here but I like it. Yesterday I helped Vittoria, Poala's niece, with her English homework and she helped me study Italian. It was a good trade off. The house is beautiful. There are many large windows that open all the way and they have bars in front of them. They keep them open during the day and then you can close them window at night. It feels like your living inside and outside at the same time. It's awesome. They have 1 dog Baca (I'm not sure if that's how you spell it) and 3 cats. The cats are my new bestfriends (:

School is alright. I understand close to nothing. Except English class and Spanish class. I thought I was going to be in the classico school but instead I am in the Linguistico class. Which means I take french, the french teacher does not like that I am in his class and told the principle he didn't want to teach me so they said it was possible I would have to leave the class I was in 3E and go to a different one. Yesterday they said I would stay in 3E but I'm not sure if that still is the case because today in class he tried to talk to me and I had no clue what he was saying. He told me that the school has a certificate saying I am intermediate french so he didn't understand why I couldn't speak. I'm not quite sure where that certificate came from? But anyway I can't imagine had frustrating it would be for a teacher to have a student that has no clue what was going on and can't communicate with them in a language they know. So I understand a bit why he is upset. My Spanish teacher is very nice, as is the English teacher so I'm glad to know I can talk with them if I need anything. The kids at school are very nice. They ask many questions, like what does 'cheesy' mean and things like that. I sit next to Laura and Francesca who are both very helpful with the school work. Also I think it's interesting to learn about Italian teenage slang. Figo translates literally to cool in English but I think it means more sexy or hot than cool in English. Thus when you see a hot guy you say Che Figo! Francesca really likes to explain things about  dating and boys to me, I guess there is not a direct translation for the Italian word for dating to English. The closest translation is engaged. So I have had many people think Roberto is my boyfriend because they see we are 'engaged' on facebook. I have trouble explaining that it is a completely platonic thing and that we aren't really dating. Please excuse the spelling and grammer errors, I'm not particualy good at either of those things and I've noticed I've become worse since I arrived here. It's not joke when they say you are tired. I am tired all the time and would love to take a nap at any point in the day, but don't. I do sleep very well at night. So far Italy has been wonderful and I'm very excited for the next 10 months (:

Less than twenty-four hours!

I now understand why many of the foreign exchange blogs I've been reading have only around 20 posts. I haven't even left yet and it's difficult to find the time to sit down and write! Please know that I will try my hardest to right as much as possible. I leave tomorrow at 7 am and I'm pretty nervous. Actually more sad than nervous; I don't want to leave my family. Honestly that's all I'm sad about leaving, my family and dog. I've never been away from them for so long and it makes me extremely nervous to know they won't be there in person with me. I'm not worried about 'losing' a year with them. It's definitely not a lost year. I think my family and I are so close to a point that nothing could break the bond. That sounds pretty cheesy but it's true. I love them all the way around the universe and back and I know, that if not in person, they will always be there for me.

I have so many reasons to thank my family. Last fall and winter was a tough time and I'm amazed they stuck through it and even helped me through it. Had I been them I don't think I would have had the patience. Not only I am thankful for my parents and siblings but also for my Grandparent's and Uncle Dale and Aunt Lisa. Everyone has been so supportive and shown me so much love. I am sad to leave you all.

On the other hand I'm excited to start this adventure. In fact I'm not sure words could even describe how excited and happy I am. It's a very bittersweet thing. Right now the adventure is packing bags below the wait limit and figuring out how to unlock my blackberry so I can take it with me. Next time I post I'll be in Italy (: So until then, Ciao!

.....and Dad, Mom, Hannah and Emmett I love you so much. (Tula too)

Vicenza!

First Post!

So I'm just getting the hang of this blogging thing and considering I leave in just about 6 weeks I would have liked to start earlier but that's okay. For those of you who don't know what I'm about to embark on, here is the basic gist and for those who do know, here's more details.

This January I submitted my application to the American Field Service (AFS) to study abroad on their high school year program. Shortly after I sent my application in I was accepted and a few months later I got the news I was going to Italy! I can't really explain how exciting it was but I don't think much can beat the excitement of opening up email on your phone and the headline in your email says " You've been accepted to AFS-Italy". It was awesome. In May I got my family and city placement. It's a funny story actually because the day I got the information I had to go to drivers ed from right after school to 7. So I got to sit in class for four hours and look at their names. I was so happy to get home and and research my town and in a totally non-creepy way my family as well. I've been placed in Vicenza, Italy which is about 50 minutes from Venice and half-way between Venice and Verona. My family is wonderful. My host parents names are Romeo and Paola and the I have five brothers Giancarlo (20) Giovanni (17) Francesco (14) Giorgio (10) and Lorenzo (5). However Giovanni will be in Germany for the year but I'm sure we will get to know each other a bit. My host-dad speaks English but he told me when I get to Italy in September it will only be Italian, my host-mom doesn't speak English and the two youngest boys don't either. But that's all good because I'm working on my Italian (:  My family and I went on a trip for my Grandparents 60th anniversary and we were in Rome for a bit. So my host family said they wanted to come and meet my parents and I so that they would feel good about who I was going to live with. They are really the sweetest people and I couldn't be happier with who I've been placed with, I'm so blessed. It was really a wonderful evening. Romeo, my host dad is in the family business, they make gold watch bands for Swiss watches and Paola is a mom. I'm going to the classical school there so my class course will basically be Greek, Latin, English, Lit, History, and Philosophy. Francesco will be going to the same school so I'll get to ride the bus with him which is really nice. Another cool thing is that Paola graduated from the same school I'll be going to.

I leave the 7th of September and fly from Seattle to New York. In New York I'll have orientation and then we go to Rome on the 9th. After orientation there I will probably take a train to Vicenza and my family will be waiting for me (:

I'm getting more and more excited everyday- also a tad nervous. I'm sure that's normal though. For now I'm thinking about how I will fit a years worth of things into one bag that ways 44 pounds. I can't wait (:

Isabelle