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