hugs for hiati

SO, SO, SO much has happened since I last wrote! We got Monday, Tueday and Wednesday off for Saint Valentino (aka we got a vacation for the nation day of love …and for Mardi Gras). I had the cutest Valentines Day ever! I went to this symphony concert with all the music of the greatest composers. But, it wasn’t just plain boring dull symphony music it had a bass to it and drums to it, too. These violinists were SO good. Everyone in the orchestra was really good! Somebody said this orchestra that played was world renown and award winning. There was a fountain show to go along with it also. It was a giant fountain! It was doing all these awesome designs and there were lights inside the fountain that changed along with the water. Then for the finale there was fire in the fountain, it was so awesome! People with masks on on stiltz came out too and there were fireworks and everything! All I had was my clutch purse with me so I didn’t bring my camera.. I was so mad! They were SO good. There really is only two kinds of music Italians like. A type of jazz/blues music and the hip hop/house music. Well.. that’s how it is in the south anyways.
The next day I woke up really early and took the train to Caserta so stay the night with my friend Zoe, from Seattle and my friend Imogen, from New Zealand. Then I met their friend Stephan, from Australia. Zoe mom sent her a bunch of peanut butter so I had the first peanut butter and jelly sandwich ever in 6 months it was soooo good! Then we all pigged out American style and ate brownies and watched Dane Cook on the computer. Later that night we all got ready to go out for Carnevale! (Mardi Gras) Carnevale was EPIC. We went to a disco called Prince. Carnevale here is pretty much like our Halloween minus the trick-or-treating…the girls where skimpy costumes and everyone wears masks. The disco was loads of fun, plus there was free champagne all night. I spent the night there and then the next day I came back to Salerno.
Yesterday, I spent the entire day in Napoli! You don’t really here so much about Napoli in America.. but it’s actually one of the most famous cities in Italia. It was so amazing. We went to two museums. One was modern art and the other one was my favourite!
It was called ‘Madre,’ http://www.museomadre.it/index.cfm
Then we walked around a lot and went window shopping and had the BEST food ever. I bet you didn’t know that the pizza was originally created in Napoli did you? They have the BEST pizza in the world. No joke. It is soo fantastic! Although, I didn’t have the pizza when I was there we had a pasta that originated from Napoli. But I am going there again sometime this month and I WILL have the pizza! Napoli is so much bigger than Salerno it was so great. They have a part of Napoli that is more upper class with all the really nice stores, and a part with the thrift stores and the less expensive stores. It was really as dirty as I thought it was going to be though, because normally big cities are really dirty.. like New York. But Napoli was so nice! The up loader isn’t currently working on my computer though, so I’ll have to do that later!

It is OFFICIAL! I am going to Milan for my exchange week  I am soooo excited! In the actual city too! Woooohoo!

I am CONVINCED I live in London. Five minutes ago it was bright and sunny. I just said out loud.. “who’s blocking my light?!” and I looked out the window and the sky was this eerie blackish grey colour. I pretty positive I say this in every blog I write, oh well. I guess since I wrote all of that it didn’t really seem like all that much happened? ..whatever lol. There was also this huge landslide in Italia not to long ago.



Random Facts:
o Its unsanitary to walk around the house without socks on. You must always have slippers/socks on
o People with the fourth class (juniors) or lower generally don’t stay out as late and go out as much because they have to focus on school
o There is no such thing as privacy here
o Nothing is a secret here. Nothing.
o You MUST dry your hair with a blow dryer. MUST. Even even your inside your own house. They ‘say’ you will have neck and back problems if you don’t. they are serious about it too.. its one of those things that nobody dares to do.
o Italians are VERY superstitious. Very. They have a stupid little fear for things we consider normal in America.
o It is social suicide if your nail polish is chipped or you have a little hint of dirt under you finger nails.
o Most people only take showers twice a week here.
o Italians are VERY conservative when it comes to food and water.
o Its are also very, very green. Everyone here recycles.. literally everyone. If you don’t recycle right you get fined.
o They generally always buy products that are biodegradable and eco friendly and they always buy organic fruits and veggies.
o Everyone smoke here. Its just part of there culture. People from about 14 and up smoke.
o The real drinking/smoking age is ’18.’ But nobody respects this rule and police don’t really care about it anyways. You can walk into a bar and order however many drinks you want with a police officer sitting next to you.
o No one likes fake blonde hair here. They all think its really ugly. However if your naturally a blonde (which in the south of Italia is virtually no one) everyone thinks you’re a sex bomb.
o Everyone thinks people in America are al blondes.
o Girls talk about periods in front of guys and they don’t even care. And girl are ABSOLUTELY scared to death of tampons. No one uses them here.
o No dryers.
o It’s a perfectly normal excuse for school and work to be late or miss simply because you woke up late.
o People here are really bad at cheating in school.
o They have huge wardrobes instead of closets.
o The image people have of America: American Pie.

Five Months Down

It will be officially the five month mark of my experience in Italy on Valentine's Day actually. I've got a lot I should probably think about and reflect on since that was my 'assignment' from my AFS volunteer.

I've grown up a lot since I've been here. I understand now that the only person you can rely on is yourself and no one else. Mum isn't here anymore to talk to teachers for you and get you out of trouble. I'm independent here and had to learn how to do things for myself quickly. It wasn't easy going from the rapid change of always having someone there with me to go to basketball games or go shopping with and then come to Italy and have to start all over with friends and realize you just have to do some things on your own. I think I've really grown into myself and and more of an idependent person now, I don't need someone else constantly on my side. That's what dogs are for.

I remember the fews days before I parted for New York and the Rome. I was so nervous about all the things that could happen. If I would fit in with the people here, if I would get along with my family, if the language would be too hard for me, if I would not be able to last. There were countless thoughts that ran through my mind in the days before I left America. Now, since I have been here for five months I suppose I can put answers to my questions. My experience has gone better than I thought it would be. I think I was so nervous when I first came that I only expected it to be a disater. But it's been a lot better than I hoped. I had to switch families of course..that was a bit of a road block. But I overcame that situation and have been trying to be optimistic with every thing that comes my way. It's not easy to give up everything in your everyday life and go to an entirely different coutry. Not easy at all.

If I could change one thing about my experience so far ..that's a hard one actually. I think I probably would have studied more italian before I came here. It would have made my first couple of months A LOT easier. Also, I wish I wouldn't have been so shy the first couple of weeks. Because the first couple of weeks when your in a new school is really when people stereo-type you as being shy or funny or ect..but now I think my personality has really shown. It was very hard because when I was with my first family I was always so sad and almost depressed looking when I was at school because I was so unhappy with my home life. But right as I switched I perked right up and people started to really notice the change and the real me finally came out. I happy though with how far I've come with this experience so I don't think I would really change anything else.

A lot of people say that the next five months will be the easier months. Your italian will get better, you friendship with your friends and family with grow stronger and closer and you will really feel like your living the enitial italian life you wanted. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!

With how my first month here went I had to learn how to control my emtionals and not expect the absolute fantasic top of the line outcome out of everything or i will just end up getting dissapointed. In the AFS orientation in New York they said this experience would be an emotional rollercoaster with more downs thans ups. Then they repeated that in the Rome orientation. And we all were so annoyed at this and gung-ho that we were going to be to happy and hcipper all the time. ...yeah. There are lots of days where I feel down and like a zombie. But the good days def make up for the bad ones, and it all evens out in the end.

Italian winter in Salerno is seriously a tyropical rainforest. THe weather here is like it is in London. It's rainging the really sunny then filled with black clouds. It isn't to terribly cold however. There are some days though where it feels like I live in Antartica minus the snow. But not far as bad as Pekin I here. Stay warm!

Here's my sceduele for the upcoming months:

March:
Praga, Czech Republic- 1 week
Sicilia- 1 week
Tuscany- 1week

April:
London, England

Lots and lots of traveling! The trips in March are all with my classmates from school. I still don't know dates for them though. And the trip to London will be with my host family because Fred used to live there for ten years and wants to see his friends again! I'm so excited I get to explore Europe!

Not much new news has happened since i just wrote yesterday. I'm going to meet a bunch of guys from Liverpool tomorrow. (Beatles homewotwn :D) They're staying with one of my friends and they speak zero Italian so I can def relate! They're only here for vacation though. But none the less it's a good opportunity to meet people from other countries! Plus I LOVE english accents.

I can't remember if i posted this in my last post, but so far 3 Americans have been sent home. One chose to go home, one wasn't attending enough school, and I have no idea about the other. And now that I just wrote that I think I did say that in my other post. Oh well..ill write soon!

Baci!

long time no write

I seriously need to start updating thing blog a lot more. But it is awfully hard because writting English has gotten so hard for be because i never write it anymore. Plus I always just forget what I want to say anyways. I've decided I should PROBABLY just start writting things down from now on.

I suppose this time I want to talk about Italy in general and the things I have found out. Although, right as i wrote that i realized thats really all i normally talk about. But, since I'm sick and it's a Saturday night and I have nothing to do I'll probably put a little more thought into this blog.

SCHOOL:
o As far as I know, there are really only two different types of schools. Public and private. Although, in your public school you can pick which type of high school you would like to go to. (ex: scientific school, mechanic school, law school, linguistic school, and art school) A scientific school is the most like an American high school.
o I don’t really know much about the private schools in Italy because I live in the south, and most people here can’t afford a school like that. However I am an expert of public schools here. And let me tell you first hand, they are HARSH
o They have a grading scale of not A-F but from 10-1. 10 being the best. Which is like a 110% I suppose although I have only witnessed one person receive a 10. It is nearly impossible.
o Teachers are very, very harsh when they grade you. They can tell you that you did excellent, “Brava, brava …6.”
o That brings me to the next point, students study in italy ALL THE TIME. Non-stop. Before they go out on Saturdays, all day Sunday. It’s is a bit ridiculous if you ask me.
o They have things called interrogations here, too. They call you up in front of the entire class at any given time and just ask you question after question on such a broad subject. You also never know when/what you will be interrogated on so Italians always study very hard every day after school just in case the next day they get called on by the teacher
o School is Monday through Saturday, 830-110. Although, most of the time teachers come in late, so it generally doesn’t actually start until around 9.
o People would never dare act out in front of a teacher, that’s just how much they respect teachers here.
o No one ever gets sent to the principals office or gets detentions or suspensions.
o People never really go out of the classroom except for the few who don’t care about school. And even then, they would never dare gout of the classroom for more than 3 minutes. However if you have a laid back teacher they normally let you go wander around in different classes when you want during the hour.
o Teachers change classrooms, not students. And teachers are always late, not students.
o They also have no form of substitute teachers here, so when a teacher is sick or they get called out of the classroom you literally have no supervision.
o They don’t call teacher’s by their last names, they just say Prof.
o No lockers
o Same seat. All day, everyday.
o Students are CONSTANTLY going out to the vending machines and buying little snacks to eat.
o No lunch at school so you are always hungry. Hence to why they are always buying snacks.
o 5 years of highschool
o No such thing as an ACT or SAT. Just a bug test at the end of your fifth year.
o Virtually every students takes a smoke break before and after school and between classes. That’s just normal. Most of the time teachers will join you, too.
o No school spirit
o No school sports team
o No extra curricular programs
o The sole purpose of school in Italy is to learn.
o You get about 2 janitors for your whole school
o I will not even start about the literal lack of adequate anything. That will take me another two pages
o You also buy all your books for school. You aren’t given them
o You only have gym once a week for an hour. Twice a week if you got lucky.


I'm in school right now however, so I have to hurry up and end this blog shortly! Although, it IS a resolution to update this thing more! So, more later. That's a PROMISE!

Baci!

Natale!

I LOVE christmas spirit with my ENTIRE life. It is my favorite holiday by far. Nothing compares to it. Italy really knows how to celebrate Christmas. It is literally perfection here right now. Everytime I go out at night, on the corsa (which is the same as the mile walk in Chicago..or 5th ave in New York) every block there are stands roast chesnuts and it makes the whole town smell SO unbelievably delicious..and there are accordian players playing christmas music..and then every night bands switch off playing while walking up and down the corsa. (last night was Pink Floyd ..which was totally awesome I must say) They also just put up the HUGE white light up christmas tree in the middle of the corsa. Which is impressive because it's taller than the Christmas tree in New York. It's so insanely beautiful. ITS ALSO DOESN'T SNOW HERE! :D Which is better than the awful coldnees in Pekin from what I here..almost seven inches of snow..oh my. Although I am kind of sad there is NO snow..a Christmas without snow is such a downer.

I went to my first discoteca a couple of weeks ago! It was soo much fun! Way better than homecoming..by like 430927402742930908. Its exactly like a club in the states except you don't have to be twenty-one. Except the music is really different it's more of a technopop mixed in with a little bit of the top songs that are in a the moment. It's more of house music actually.

I went to a city near Pompeii with one of my classes the other week to go see a museo. It was all done with 3D technology though so I couldn't really take pictures. Its amazing how advanced we are in technology these days. I'm going to Rome the week before Christmas! I'm SO excited..it's the city I want to see the most!

Also, the kids here al secretly organize when not to come to school if they have a big text the next day or just don't feel like coming. since the dont change classes..if everyone in the whole class doesn't come..the teachers can't really do anything about it. ..which iskind of sweet in my opinoin. and if teachers dont feel like coming in early in the morning..the day before they tell their students at what time to come to school. Teachers here are still going on strike almost every friday. Students even went on strike a couple of weeks ago, too. The head of schools in Campangia is trying to make them go to school all the way until August and THEN have summer break. I dont think that was a smart idea because ticked off italians is just kind of scary actually. So the head studetns off all the little highschools in Salerno organized a day where we all marched down the main street and screamed not so nice things about the lady that is head of the schools..hahaha. It's so funny to see how the students here just coloborate together in their little secret society and organize things like this. The strike was actually kind of scary with teenae ticked off italians..with wistles. hahahah.


The ecomony is so awful here. Salerno is a huge city..so there are a lot of homeless people here. Hope everyone has a good Christmas and New Years!

due mesi

IT HAS BEEN OFFICIALLY TWO MONTHS THAT I HAVE BEEN IN ITALY AS OF TODAY<3

SORRY I HAVEN'T WRITTEN IN SO LONG! old habbits die hard. haha, I officially switched host families last week. Things are SO great here. They have a gorgeous seventeen year old daughter named Maria Sole, and the mom Annarosa and then Federico, who lived in England for ten years and Costa Rica for one. So he helps me out so much when i don't understand something in italian. We live in the center of Salerno, so it's way easier for me to go ut with my friends now. And I only live a two minute walk from my school so everything is SO much more easier for me.
I've gotten 29847938274982374 times better at italian since I've been living with my new family since I now have the help of two people who speak fluent english.

Salerno put their Christmas lights up the first week of November. It is BEAUTIFUL here! Beyond beautiful. They have al different lights down every street and all the trees are lined with lights. It's SO pretty, espcially when you walk down the beach at night when the lights are on. Christmas is HUGE here since almost everyone here is catholic. I love the spirit of Christmas though, its my favorite♥ THANK GOD is doesn't snow here! I HATED Illinois snow, it was awful! It gets cold here, but when the sun comes out it makes it hotter.

Sitting in italian classrooms is so boring. All classroom literally have white walls, strange colored floors, chalkboard, chalk, chalk, and chalk. no posters. no color. no switching classes (except for me). same people. all. day. long. I've mastered the art of playing tic tac toe with the person next to me, and amercanizing my math; so it therefore does not count. hahahahaha.

Progress

It's getting harder and harder to remember english since Italian is all I ever hear. I don't ever write english anymoe except for when I get on the computer so it's really hard for me to think of what I want to say and write it the correct way and spell everything right, so I am sorry if half of this makes no sense and is spelled wrong. *cough Mrs Black

I officiallt got to go out on my own with my friends for the first time last week. It was by far the most fun I've had since I've been here. We walked along the beach and went shopping on the street and would be equvilant to Michegan Ave. in Chicago or 5th Ave. in New York. The teachers are on strike like no other here..we don't go to school on Fridays because that is there day to march around town and do their protests. Protests are really scary if you have ever been to one :p.

AFS camp was so much fun. It took the train ride home for it to finally click into everyones head that Naples isn't a specific city it's and area. We were actually in Sorrento. It was so beautiful! Our hotel had the most magnificant view of the sea! It wasn't a stupid orientation where all they did was talk though. We played tons of games..actually fun games. Like the 'Baby, if you love me won't you smile?' Where everyone is in a circle and someone says that to you and can do whatever they want to you to make you laugh, and you have to say back 'Baby I love you, but i just can't smile.' The object is to never laugh or else your it..and you have to say that to someone else. Of couse we played it in italian, so it was even funnier. There was only one other American at this orentation though. We just laughed at how easy American school is compared to Italian school. At the end of the stay we did a talent show. You could be with whoever you wanted with however many people. Most people just flocked to whoever was from their country though. So we decided we just had to do something that represented our country. But, the result of two uncoordinated, untalented American's trying to come up wtih a talent was just sad hahahaha. So being Americans..what better way to represent the USA..then to rap :D :) Since everybody listens to American music we knew the perfect song :) I'd say that our rendition of 'Baby Got Back' was a sucess :) :) hahahahhahaha it was so much fun. You can watch it on my facebook :D

I also found out that all schools in Italy go on school trips. The class you are in gets to pick wherever they want to go and they plan it all. We get to go to Barcelona, Spain. And then to Sicilia, Italia towards the end of the school year. I'm so excited! I don't knwo why American school don't do that.

I also now have to officially switch host families. My AFS volunteer said that my family wasn't compatible with INTERCULTURA because they don't communicate with them..so instead of living ten minutes away from Salerno I will live in the center of Salerno. I don't know exactly where though. I don't actually change host families until next week. As far as I know they have just one daughter who is 16 years old. It's the chance to get to know more people I suppose so I'll look on the bright side of things.

The weather here is even more unpredictable than the weather in Illinois. One day it feels like I have frost bite, and the next its warm enough to go swimming. Odd.

P.S.-according to everyone else in the world..there are 6 continents not seven. 'apparently' there is just one America. And there is no Australia..it's Austrilasia. Because New Zealand is appart of 'Austrilasia.'

Lesson Number 1

Lesson number 1:

do NOT fall asleep on a bus. I though I missed my stop when I went on the bus and I'm pretty sure the feeling I had was equivalent to cardiac arrest hahahaha

Sorry I haven't written in so long. I've been really busy with barely a minute to sit down.


New things I have discovered:
Italians are probably the worst drivers I have ever seen. Scary actually. They all drive on the dash in the middle of the road..and when it is supposed to be a one lane road they manage to fit like three. They also don't use stop signs..I think they see that as more of a suggestion hahaha. They are very courteous drivers though. There is a fast lane, and a slow lane on highways. They also drive in the lane that is supposed to be used for pulling over haha.

No matter how you are feeling, every Saturday night you go out. No matter what. Its fun though to get dressed up go out! Italians have parties..a lot. Birthday parties are probably more extravagant than homecoming. But teenagers here contain themselves with the drinking since it's of legal age for us. They don't drink to get drunk, it's more of a social thing that they do.

With the new fall lines out in Italia it makes me realize what a big difference there is in fashion here verses fashion in America. It's kind of sad actually. Everybody takes so much pride in how they look here and the boys dress soooo nice compared to what I'm used to seeing everyday. They even tie sweaters around their shoulders!

I go to Naples on Monday for an AFS camp. It's the first orientation since we got off the train to meet our host families. Everybody around my area is going to be there. There will probably be thirty of us, maybe. But, that is a big difference compared to the 450 of us that were at the incoming orientation!