Io abito in una casa dei ragazzi.

I live in a house of boys.

Today at dinner Lorenzo stuck his hot dog with a LEGO sword and proceeded to dangle it in front of my face while burping rhythmically.

I love boys.

Praise the Lord for Mexican food!

I found it!
Mexican food in Venice.

On Sunday I had a girls day with my friends Solveig (Iceland) and Renata (Brazil) in Venice. It's hard to believe but we found a little Mexican restaurant in the middle of nowhere Venice. I think it was a Mexican food and sandwich place because in the middle of the menu there were a couple pages of club sandwich's (?). I had a burrito the size of Jupiter and I ate the entire thing. It was a pretty mean burrito, I mean not very authentic but it tasted very good so there's nothing to complain about. After 5 months without it, most Mexican food will taste good even if it's a little off. Warning: This theory does not apply in countries such as India or Austria. Do not eat Mexican food in India or Austria. But it's really nice to taste other food sometimes. I've had dinner once at a sushi restaurant, once at a Chinese place and once at a Mexican place since I've been here. Don't get me wrong I love Italian food and I love Paola's cooking but here let's do the math. I have pasta 2 times a day (Lunch and Dinner), there are 7 days in a week, about 4 weeks in a month, and I've been here almost 5 months. That's about 280 bowls of pasta. As for pizza I eat it once or twice a week so I'm going to do a little estimating and say that's about 24 pizzas. Also I've lost 5 kilo's since I've been here. Odd right? In conclusion, I think I'll be going to the little sandwich/Mexican place in Venice much more often.

As for what else is going on in Italy. This semester I get grades in all my classes (: yaay! Thankfully I understand math so far. But considering it's only the second week we'll have to wait and see. I have an exchange week coming up in February or March and I'll most likely be going to Sicily or somewhere in the way South of Italy. My Italian is getting much better. When I was waiting for my train on Sunday I ran into the two most important people in Intercultura Vicenza. I was at first very disappointed because I enjoy taking the train by myself and it was way to early in the morning to speak Italian properly. However, they were very impressed and told me I have gotten much better. We then proceeded to sit in first class with a second class ticket, later we got kicked out. I got the influenza last night. Which was really fun considering I had an appointment to get my residence permit today but was too sick to go the the appointment. Also my family probably thinks they got a very sickly daughter. We were talking at dinner last night and all my brothers think it's amazing I can spend 20 minutes in the bathroom (20 minutes is not a long time). I said It was because I have to dry my hair and Romeo told me I should cut it off so it takes less time to dry, he suggested I could then sport a wig. Sorry to the boys of the Salin family I will not be cutting my hair. Also we got a puppy, her name is Lilli. She's a very good girl. However I'm still on the cat side of life here. While I was getting sick in the bathroom last night a cat joined me and sat next to me until I was finished. What would I do without these cats.  I'm very jealous to know that Seattle is getting hammered with snow. We have no snow. No snow. Not even in the mountains. Grandma and Grandpa thank you for the package (: Grandma Lou I don't have your card but I wouldn't worry because the post is VERY slow here. I hope all is well xx

Solveig!

Italy we thank you your historical pasta.

Natale & Capodanno & La Befana

It's been another month! Sorry I don't update so much. I just always have alot to do and keep forgetting about the blog..sorry. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! (: For Christmas this year I had a lovely dinner of Burger King with the family. When then came home and opened the adult's and older children's presents. Babbo Natale (Santa Claus) brought me some clothes and a new pair of shoes. Then we went to Christmas Mass. Which was actually pretty cool because they sing all the same hymns we sing just with different lyrics. So I just sing along in English. Then we all went to bed and in the morning Lorenzo opened his gifts from Babbo Natale. Next we headed over to Romeo's parents house along with Romeo's 3 sisters and all their children and who guess who was there?..yes, that's right. Babbo Natale himself, or one of Nonno Salin's very close friends dressed up as Babbo Natale. So all the kids got more presents and then we went back home and started getting ready for lunch. For lunch Paola's brother, sister-in-law and their children came. Aswell as her sister-in-laws parents. We ate Tortillini, a castrated chicken (I'm not sure exactly what  was up with that but Nonna Vittoria made it very clear the day before the chicken or rooster was castrated and I wasn't really intereseted in asking anything else), sausage with all sorts of vegtables, and pig legs. Then we had this cake called Panetonne, which is basically just a really tall cake made with lots or butter and sometimes you can get chocolate or raisins in it. I don't really care for it. To me it tastes like dry cake. But italians really enjoy it and it's the 'main' christmas treat so I've had it quite a bit for the holidays; at school, at home, at friends houses, at parties etc.

As for New Year's eve. I went with my friend Sara to a party at her friends house. There were some boys and girls from school but the rest were all new people. I thought it was funny because the boy who was hosting it parents weren't home and so this boy and his friends made 30 people a full course italian meal. Pasta, Meat, Vegtables and Desert. It might have been easier to order pizza or have the party start at 11 so you didn't have to cook for 30 people. But no the party started at 8 and he had to make dinner for us all. It was very good though. Niccolo I applaud your cooking. Then we danced and hung out until midnight you go around to every person and kiss them and say 'Auguri' which doesn't have a literal translation but I think pretty much means 'Blessings'. Romeo and Paola picked me up at about 2:30 and then we all went home and slept (:

There is another holiday here that we don't have in America. It's called La Befana (which means the Witch) and it takes place on the night of January 5/ the morning of January 6. This is the suppossed day when the wise men reached Bethleham. Very relgious people go to church on this day. But it's called La Befana because on the night of January la befana visits your house and put candy or coal in your sock. Depending on wether you've been good or bad. This year the witch didn't come to our house Romeo, Giorgio and Lorenzo went to Centro (the center of town) where the witches had set up a candy market. Romeo bought me a T-Shirt that says "baciarmi prima il mio ragazzo arriva" (kiss me before my boyfriend arrives) and all the older boys got t-shirst with witty things written on them too. And the next morning Lorenzo had ate so much candy he started getting allergic reaction so he had to stop eating it.

Other things I did on break? I went a few times to Venice (Mestre really) to visit Nick. And Nick came to Vicenza aswell. I also went to Asiago with some friends from my school to go skiing. If you've ever heard of Asiago cheese. Yes, that's where it comes from and it's a very cute town. Other than that just alot of hanging out and sleeping.

Right now things are going really well. I speak completely in Italian at home and the other day I actually spoke in venetian dialect without knowing it and Paola corrected me so that I know not to say in outside of this region. Otherwise people won't be able to understand me. Words are so funny! In Italian we have words with double meanings. The best example is the word for bird (uccello). Uccello also happens to be a word for penis. Sooo you can imagine that living in a house full of boys I've gotten quite used to jokes with the word uccello. Funny story: Nick and I broke up just because it wasn't working and he lives a ways away but anyway Paola was concerned about me and asked if I was okay after it happened and I said "Il mare è pieno di pesci." (the sea is full of fish) and she said "Sì, il mundo è pieno di ragazzi, il mare è pieno di pesci e il cielo è pieno di uccelli."(Yes, the world is full of boys, the sea is full or fish and the sky is full of birds/penis'). We both decided that saying 'il cielo è pieno di uccelli' is a much more fitting proverb for this situation (: Romeo was a bit disturbed when we told him after he arrived home.

Quick thing about what I did this morning. I didn't go to school and instead I went to Immigration Office. I would like to tell you that the Immigration Office in Italy wins compared to the Immigration Office in Delhi but now by much. But we only had to wait for about an 1 hour and 15 minutes and then we asked a guy about it because we had an appointment at 9:58 and they still hadn't called us and he was like "Okay yeah" and then he did our paperwork. So apparently if we had never asked we would have stayed there all afternoon. Then I went to the post office and got a package from Grandma Doe and Grandpa Milt. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I loved it. And after I picked it up I met Paola at the bank and the ladies in the bank we so excited about it they made me open it in the Post Office. So now Grandma and Grandpa the Italian Post Office in Vicenza know's who you are and also what you look like (They loved the picture, as did I). And Dad I have a message from Nonno Giancarlo. He wanted me to tell you that "Tutti gli avvocati sono baditi" (All lawyers are bandits). Paola and I aren't sure what he means by that; he's a little crazy. Sorry but I'm not spellchecking this because I must go to italian class so I apologize for the errors. My English is getting pretty bad. Last week I completely forgot the word Oven and could only things of the italian word for it (Forno). I think that's a good thing though (: I hope everyone had wonderful holidays and I'll try to update again soon.

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.