Roma!

Sorry I'm so incredibly late in writing, but I've been quite busy and honestly, a bit lazy to fill you all in. Anyways, for the weekend of Immaculate Conception (we had a three day weekend) I went to Rome with my host family and some of their friends. Saturday, I left school early and we were off to Rome! It took about 5 or 6 hours to get there from my town. On the way, we stopped at a rest stop close to Naples and I got to eat a muffin (finally!!) and heard the Naples accent! For a while my host dad has been joking around about the Naples accent and when we entered the rest stop and heard a man talking he was like "Emily! Emily!! Naples accent! Listen!!!"

At the hotel we stayed in, everyone who worked there spoke English...it was so great! One night we were sitting at the hotel restaurant and I heard a group of college students all speaking English. Later, I got to talk to two of them and one was Dutch (who also had had a bit too much to drink hahah) and the other was from Oregon! Though the Dutch guy was a bit crazy, it was so great to speak some English, and with an American too! Everywhere I went I saw and heard some English and I was very pleasantly surprised. As for Rome I saw so many beautiful things.

The first night I had my first Roman pizza, we took a walk around the city, we passed by Termini Station, we saw Piazza della Rupublica, the "Wedding Cake," the Roman Forum, and the Colesseum. I was so amazed to be actually seeing these things in real life. It was all so beautiful, and definately like nothing I've ever seen before, and all these things were all lit up for the night.

The next day we first took the train straight to Vatican City and saw St Peter's Square. However, we were only able to stay for a bit because we were planning to see a lot of things that day and it was very crowded. After that we went walking to see all the sites. We went next to the Piazza del Popolo and to the Piazza di Spagna, saw the Parliament building, and the famous shopping street near there. Then, we saw the Trevi fountain, the Pantheon and after Piazza Navona. Apparently, when it rains, the rain doesn't enter through the hole of the Pantheon. I don't see how this is possible, but I'm curious to know if it's true! After all this walking we took the bus to the Colesseum and saw a bit more of that (however, we didn't go inside). We went back to the hotel to rest our feet for a while and then went out again to have some delicious Italian food. I got lasagna... yummm!!!

On Monday I got up early to go see the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel (fortunately, one of our friends offered to take me because my host family had forgotten to buy the tickets in advance). I saw so many beautiful things there. I walked around with my audio guide (in English!!!) so I could figure out what all the things I was looking at meant. The Sistine Chapel was amazing! There were just so many gorgeous things to see there. Before we went in, however, I saw the line for the people who hadn't made reservations and I felt so sorry for them: it was huge!

After that we went to St Peter's again and actually went inside the Basilica this time. Wow! There was so much fantastic artwork, it was so big, and very peaceful. I even got to help a women who only spoke hebrew and english to explain what something was. It was exciting to feel so bilingual :P We decided to climb to the top of the Cupola. The stairs were quite frightening seeing as the walls were slanted, though it was all worth it. When I reached the top, it was spectacular! I could see the piazza down below and a great deal of Rome. Truly awing. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from this day because my camera battery had died, but I hope all of you will be able to see it for yourself some day!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Yesterday I stayed home from school to make thanksgiving dinner (well, really lunch) with my host sister. It was also my host mom's birthday! I got the needed recipes offline, like how to cook turkey and apple pie. We went off to the supermarkets but I had forgotten to translate the ingredients before going! So, we were in the store trying to figure how to say cinnamon, nutmeg, and cheddar cheese in italian. We figured out how to say cinnamon and nutmeg using Silvia's cell phone, but cheddar cheese was much more difficult. So, I was looking through all the cheeses in the store and I saw one with a picture of a hamburger and a piece of cheese on it and I immediately thought that that must have been the right type of cheese! Also, turkey was so difficult to find. It's impossible to find a whole turkey here in italy so we had to settle for pieces (also it's dark meat). The first store we went to there was no turkey to be found. The second store and the turkey they had was a giant turkey wing. So we had the butcher cut it up because the wing was too big and she was really chopping that turkey wing! I was actually a bit scared and intimidated with her and that huge knife.

After a while of cooking, we had made turkey, mashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes, gravy, and apple pie. With the turkey I really had no idea what I was doing when I was cooking it. I was also too grossed out to touch the raw meant so my sister did. :P The turkey turned out actually pretty nasty, it was very rough and chewy, though it did at least taste like normal turkey a bit. The mashed potatoes tasted pretty good thankfully and so did the gravy. However, turns out what I picked out was not actually cheddar cheese, so the scallowed potatoes were quite strange. And finally, the apple pie was a bit misshapen, but soooooo delicious!! I ate about a quarter of the pie last night, eating apple pie was so wonderful and I'm sure it will be gone by tomorrow thanks to me. :)

Hope you all had a good holiday and my thoughts are with you!

Sick Last Week.

So, the swine flu (possibly, we are not sure) has been going around Southern Italy... and last week, I caught it! I woke up Wednesday morning with a terrible sore throat and when I got home from school I realized I had a fever. Some things about being sick in Italy: 1) when they measure your temperature, they put the thermometer under your armpit! 2) The temperature was in celcius! So they were like "oooo!! 37.6 :O :O" and I'm like "What does that mean?!" Turns out that's about 100 degrees. 3) I got one day to be sick, one day to be half sick, and one day to be healthy :)
I'm all better now, but the sore throat is still present a small bit. They gave me some medicine for it, it was minty!
As for Italian life, things are becoming much more normal around here. Saturdays we usually go to eat some pizza, watch a movie or other things like that (last saturday we went bowling). At this point, everything is becoming very familiar to me as I adjust.

PS I added some photos of us with the swine flu masks on :P

Some more Stories

Ok, so, a couple weeks ago there was a fair in my town. There they were selling lots of different things, like clothes, animals, food, everything! So we're walking along and pretty much everyone in town is there, so it was very crowded. The next thing I know Silvia and her friend are like Emily!! You want to ride a horse!!?? So I was like ehhh what the heck? So Im about to get on this horse and the guy in charge of it only speaks italian! So Im trying to clammer onto this horse as the guy shouts directions at me in italian and I had no idea what was going on! Finally Im on the horse, and the next thing I know not only am I on the horse, but this random little boy is too! It was quite a laugh, and also pretty embarassing seeing as a quarter of the town probably witnessed this. :P

At this point, I've adjusted to this different place pretty well, and usually I just follow the saying "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" and that seems to work pretty well.

I've also been trying dance and I'm absolutely terrible, but I find it pretty funny, so it's ok... plus that'll be my way of burning off all the pasta! :P

Speaking of food, I ate the strangest thing the other day (besides this all the food is delicious):

When it was placed in front of me I thought it was some chicken parm. However, when I cut into it it was really slimy and gooey. On the top of it was what seemed like wet bread crumbs and some cheese. Then, at the bottom, it seemed like there was this thick skin (like of squash or something of that sort) and it was dark and also moist and squishy. The taste was kind of like watered down chicken. I have no clue what I ate!! :O

Italy Stories

Hey Everyone, I just thought I'd share the highlights of being in Italy so far.

Well, this sunday I woke up and it was absolutely gorgeous outside. I then decided to take a walk around town to explore and take some pictures. As I was walking I heard the churchbells ringing for 11 o'clock... I followed the sounds up the street and arrived at the back of the church where I could hear the chior warming up. It was totally beautiful! I walked into the church and ended up staying for the whole mass. When the chior sang I was just completely awestruck. The church was also amazing, everywear there was beautiful artwork and statues. It was amazing! However, I couldn't understand much in church even though I'm catholic myself. I figured: oh! I got this, I know when to stand up, when to sit, when to kneel, and when to go up to the front to get communion. Man, I was wrong! Sometimes, some people would stand, others kneel, and others sit. I was so confused! Then, when it came time for communion I was waiting patiently for my row's turn to go up, except the people just went up whenever they pleased and some not at all. Finally, when I thought mass had ended they started saying this prayer which was extremely long and I had no clue what was going on. It was a bit of a confusing experience, but one I'll treasure none-the-less. :)

Italy Update!

Its now October and Ive been here for quite a while! Today it's raining a lot :(
However, generally the weather here is beautiful. I've noticed a consistent pattern of beautiful things in Italy: the food, the people, the buildings, the weather, how when the teacher is absent there's no substitute.... it's so great!
Things are very different here, but I'm enjoying myself. Here's some examples of the differences:
-In the morning, we have to take public transportation to get to school. Every day when the bus comes all the kids crowd around the door to the bus and you have to fight your way onto the bus and it's totally chaotic! One day, in the midst of this mosh pit my backpack got stuck between a group of people but I kept going... Then that caused the strap to burn my arm from all the pulling and rubbing! The bus is crazy and I was pretty overwhelmed at first, but since then I've gotten used to it and I may ever be getting stronger! :P
-There is smoking everywhere and I find it quite gross.
-They only use their doors when they are going to the bathroom or taking a shower. Meaning: sometimes if they want they change out in the open :O Everyone around me in the family seems cool with it so I just go along with it and try not to act like it shocks me.
-Bare feet is not accepted... I think they think its smelly and gross. The other day I was showing my sister pictures of my birthday party, she saw all the bare feet, and she said Che puzza! (which means something about smelling bad)
-At the movies you have to wait until the movie actually starts until you can go into the teatre, and once you are allowed to it's a bit similar to when the bus arrives in the morning. (instead of butter on popcorn, there is an option of chocolate!)
-They don't wear seatbelts in the backseat. It shocks me every time.
-They eat soooooooo much! I'm stuffed after every meal and I'm still asked once I'm finished if I want more. However, the food is great!
-Vending machines are loads cheaper. You can buy a water bottle for €0.30 (thats about $0.50) and in the states it's $1.25
-I have no clue whats going on with clothes. I not sure how to dress or what is good-looking enough to wear. If you go to school in your pajamas you will get shot

Since Ive Been in Italy...

I have a lot to say about being in Italy too. The family is very friendly and they help me A LOT. Silvia speaks a little english, so if i dont understand she translates. The family has two houses, because the one in the town (Cutrofiano) gets too hot in the summer, so they go to the other house in the countryside. Both houses are beautiful! In the summer house, they have the most amazing backyard. There is a pool, and a large patio, with a bunch of olive trees growing there too. THEY ALSO HAVE PALM TREES HERE! I have plenty of pictures of the house and my trip, just give me some time to remember to bring it to this house (they only have internet in the winter house). The brother and the dad here dont speak English so its harder to communicate with them, but we make it work. The other day, the dads asked me where I lived and him and Silvia failed at saying "Massachusetts." It made me laugh :P

Today was my first day of school! I couldnt understand anything teachers said, but the students in my class are very friendly, so I hope that I will have friends soon. The problem is I have issues remembering the names. Even though school is on Saturday.. that day I have 2 hours of english! Che facile! :) When I first got to school I was standing around in the little square thing of the school with another exchange student from hong kong. Eventually, all the freshman were standing there as the teacher called them into whichever class they would be in. Then, the english teacher gets up and takes the microphone and says EMILYYY! to the ENTIRE freshman class. I think she said something to introduce me, but I was absolutely mortified. I had already felt like my stomach was going to leap out my mouth at any second and/or barf from nerves, and that moment of course didnt help. I got to go with the freshman to their english class and it was the most boring/easiest thing ever. After that I went to my real class. It started out with Spanish and the teacher speaking spanish to me confused me out of my mind.... I was just sitting in the class like WHAT LANGUAGE DO I SPEAK???? Eventually I got my head on straight and was understanding more until the Italian teacher comes in and then nothing from there.
Today is the dads birthday so I am going to give him a Red Sox shirt. :) Hopefully he will like it.
I hope everything is well at home and I love you all!

Finally in Italia!

Hey everyone!
I have a lot to share since I last wrote. Im here finally after a long journey. The american AFS students had an orientation in New York for a day and then we left for Italy on Thursday. Our flight went from NYC (JFK airport) to Zurich (a 8 hour flight), we were in Zurich for 4 hours and then from Zurich we went to Roma! I dont think any of us Americans slept on the first flight... and of course on the next one I fell asleep, hoping to wake up in time to see us fly over the alps but I slept too long! :( In Rome things went smoothly, my bags were all there, and I didnt have to wait in any long lines. It was great!
Turns out we weren't staying in a hotel in Rome at all. We took a 2 hour bus ride to our hostel, but since the hostel was on a hill you could see Rome from the top (I think it was Rome) and it was beauutiful! The americans were a day late for the supposed to be 2 day orientation because of travel problems, but I'd have to say that day that we were actually was one of the most amazing days of my life. When I walked outside of my room I could find people of every kind. I met people from Chile, Argentina, Swedan, Denmark, Finland, Alaska, India, Germany, and many more! It was so great because most of them spoke english (better than Italian). Events like this really make you realize everyone is the same... except, of course, for their customs.
The next day we took the train from Rome to Lecce, and I got to practice a little Italian with a lady sitting nearby. I sat near an American girl, and a Danish and Swedish guy who were all also going to Lecce. We talked a lot, the guys watched southpark, and it was a very interesting ride learning about all the differences and similarites between the countries. They taught me and the other american girl the "Scandanavian Pose." :P
When the train pulled into Lecce (where my host family met me), I was probably the most nervous Ive ever been in my entire life. The family is great though! :D

Tomorrow's the Day!

It's my last day here in Marshfield and I've just finished packing! I spent about 30 minutes taking stuff out of my bag/moving things between bags to fit the weight requirement. I'm allowed one checked back (up to 44 pounds) and one carry on bag (up to 22 pounds). I think I've managed to have exactly those weights for both bags :\ Hopefully I weighed correctly. Now I'm just sitting around enjoying some oreos and later some friends are coming by to say goodbye. Today was a lot more relaxing than I had thought since I finished most of the major packing last night... Now I wait... Just one more day! :D

La mia scuola (my school)

Here's some information about the school I'll be going to. It's in Maglie (the neighboring city to Cutrofiano) and it has students and thats about all I know about it! =P The way they do school there is that there are "tracks" as I think they call them, so you pick a track that focuses on what one's interests are (arts, languages, math and science, etc). I have no clue yet which track I'm going to be put on, but all the tracks as I have seen offer the courses that I need to graduate here in the U.S. Here's the website for the school (if you can read Italian) and if you need you can use Google translator, enter the URL, and it translate the site for you :) http://www.liceocapece.it/

Waiting...

I'm finally getting close to getting my visa! Last week my dad and I went to the Italian consulate in Boston only to find out we've done everything right, but I couldn't get my visa yet. We had all the papers and documents needed, but my name was not on "the list." We got all the documents checked and signed and what not but we still have to wait for my name to be on this "list." Hopefully I will be able to get it soon.
I'm due to leave in just about three and a half weeks. On September 9th I have to be in New York City for my one day orientation and then on the 10th is my red-eye flight to Zurich (where I'm connecting) and then finally to Rome on the 11th (creepy and sad day to be on a plane, huh?). After that the students going to Italy and I have a two night orientation in Rome before going to Cutrofiano on that Sunday (school starts the next day on Monday! :O ) I'm extremely excited to go and the waiting is obnoxious! But, at the same time now's my time to relax before I have to start thinking and going to school in another language. It's pretty crazy to think that in about a little less than a month's time I'll be meeting my host family and I can't wait! :)
For those of you who don't know, Cutrofiano is a small town of about 10,000 people in Puglia (which is a region of Italy on the spike of Italy's boot across the Adriatic Sea from Albania and Greece). The closest well known city is Naples which is probably a day's drive to get to. The beach isn't too far away but not too close either. I have no clue yet how I'm getting to Cutrofiano from Rome... but I guess it'll keep me in suspense =P
Ciao a tutti! (Goodbye everyone)

Hey! 

I just found out my host family recently. They live in Cutrofiano, which is a small town in the southern part of the country. They are very friendly and I have a host brother and host sister! I'm really excited and I'm starting Rosetta Stone very soon!