Kayla’s italia exchange blog

     Heyy everyone,

     Well my year here in Italy is coming to an end. It's pretty strange to think about actually. I feel ready to come home at this point. I have had a bunch of disappointments this year but also many beautiful moments. I have met extroadinary people this year and seen a lot of things I wouldn't have been able to see if I had stayed the USA. I have learned a lot from this experience, even if i can see all of that yet. 

      We left for our end of stay orientation on Wed the 27th of May at about 8 in the morning. All of us from Lecce took a train to the camp in Castellaneta. We ended up getting there at about 12:30 (dont ask me why it took soooo long to get there because its probably an hour and a half max if you drive there).I shared a room with Ella and Lea!! At about 1:30 we had lunch (of pasta, meat, and potatoes, like always at these orientations). We had a quick welcome after lunch and then we had free time until 5, most people just went swimming in the pool. Now on to the orientation part, I have to say that this orientation was a lot more fun than the last one lol. At about 8 we went and had dinner (pasta, meat, and potatoes again) and then we had free time afterwards because some boys wanted to watch a soccer game. I went down to the pool deck for a little and then watched German MTV in the room with Ella.

 

                                                                     Orientation Sign

    

                                                                        Lea at dinner

    

                               Ker (Thailand), Ella (New Zealand), and Luigi (Columbia) during orientation

    

     The next day we had breakfast at about 8:30. I met up with Jess (from Hong Kong) and we ate together and talked a bit. Breakfast consisted of croissants (this time they gave each of us two because last we only had one and a bunch of people stole other people's croissants). Then at about 9:30 orientation activities started. Today we first played some tag game and afterwards we had to fill out an evaluation about school, AFS, and our host families. We also had to write down how we felt around 4 dates set throughout the year. Here is what I wrote:

    December 23, 2008: During this period I had problems with my host family, I still didn't feel like a part of the family. I felt a little confused and also alone. It was a little strange to spend Christmas in Italy. I liked learning about the traditions here but I also missed the holiday air that there is in the USA. During this time I started to really appreciate my American family a lot more.

      March 15, 2009:It was weird to think that my year in Italy was already half way over. During this time I started to reflect back on my year here. Around this time was also my exchange week. I lived with a northern italian family and met a ton of cool AFSer's. I really wanted to stay in the North because I really enjoyed my week there.. My birthday was also during this month and so I felt a little old. Also at this point I really felt like a part of my second host family.

     May 26, 2009: I was happy to see all of the AFSer's again and I was ready to reflect back on my year at this orientation. I want to go back to the USA in 6 weeks to see my family and friends again, but I will miss Italy, above all my host family and my AFS friends. I am waiting for school to finish and I cant wait for summer.

     September 20, 2009: Obviously I can't write about this date yet because it hasnt happened, so we'll see.  

 

                                                          The breakfast croissants

                                                          Me and Jess during orientation

                                                     Ella, me, and Lea during dinner one night

     After we had some freetime before lunch and then we had more orientation stuff. First we were split into 2 group and each group had to makea collage about Italian culture, but on purpose they made the group unequal, one group had "the artists", less, people, more tools to work with, and the help of the volunteers, while my group was given a bit less and it was hard to work because we had to many people. This was supposed to represent how things are in South Africa. After that one volunteer talked about his two month stay in South Africa and then we read a story about a girl's return to the USA after staying in Italy for a year. We had to read the story and then give our advice to her. Then after dinner we did an activity where everyone sat in a circle and was given a candle. After saying a positive memory from our year (or semester) we lit the candle. Once everyone had gone we put the candles in the shape of the letters AFS.

                                      

                                                               Group pic with the candles

    

     On Friday in the morning we had to do an activity where we were given a paper in the shape of a backpack and then we had to write what we will take home with us (objects, new abilities, interessents, and mentality). Then we had to write a letter to ourselves that AFS will send to us in September or October. After that we had some freetime before lunch and then we played a game where you had to pass a piece of plastic around the circle using our mouths, so basically to looked liked everyone was kissing. And then we played the game where everyone grabs the hands of two different people and then you have to untangle and form a circle. Then we had the afternoon to prepare for the talent show. I was in a group that was doing a play about the Italian family. Our play was about an exchange student's first night with her host family. We had a mom, dad, aunt, uncle, grandpa, grandma, a tiny host sister, a older host sister (me), and the boyfriend of the oldest host sis. So basically when the exchange student comes the mom, aunt, and grandma surround her and hug and kiss her, the grandpa (speaking in dialect) and uncle are playing cards and smoking, the women then cook, and I have to translate everything for the exchange student. Then everyone tries to keep feeding the exchange student, saying she needs to eat more. After dinner my boyfriend comes, so I get in a fight with the dad trying to ask if I can go to a disco. After I leave, everyone tries talking to the exchange student and she gets overwhelmed, gets up and shouts STOP and then leaves. Then the grandpa (who doesnt know any english) asks who stop is. Sorry for the complicated summary :) Anyways today we ate dinner a little bit early so we could have the talent show. After dinner we had a birthday cake for Erinn because it was her birthday. Before the talent show we all took like a ton of pictures! Then for the talent show we all had to wear our "attractive" way too big AFS shirts. Besides our skit there was  two others (one on Italian friends and one on school). Also all the south americans did some dancing (because they are like amazing, its really not fair lol) and Karlis from Latvia organized a group to do a traditional Latvian dance. Also Jess and Xin (a  boy from China) drew a really good poster about the Italian culture. At the end of the talent show we had to also say "Grazie Italia per..." (thanks Italy for...). Then we just danced for a while, there was a DJ who put on music, which was a ton of fun! At about 11 or 12 me, Ella, and some other Americans decided to take a swim, so we went up to our rooms and changed into our suits and went for midnight swim in the pool!

 

                                                              Erinn and her birthday cake

 

                                                    Me, Andreas, and Ella before the talent show

    

                                                     The drawing of Italia that Jess and Xin did

 

     Saturday, the last day of orientation, we played a few more games. We did one called the kissing game, where everyone forms a circle and then there is one person in the middle. They have to call out a number and a letter (each boy had a number and each girl a letter). If the person in the middle is a girl then the boy who is called has to try to  kiss the girl in the middle, but the girl called has to try to stop the boy and kiss him before he kisses the other girls. After we all laid on the floor and had to visualize our return to our native countries. After that we had freetime and basically everyone was signing books or shirts for other people. We had lunch a little early and then we had to leave. Us Lecce people took a bus to a tiny train station, where we then had to catch a tiny tiny train to Lecce. It was sad to leave everyone!

 

                                                       People signing tshirts and books

 

                                      Ker, me, Ella, Luigi, Xiaoyue, Goody, and Lea with the italian flag

   

                                                         Ashley, Yi, and I on the last day

                                        Ella and Paul finally making peace on the last day of orientation

    For now I'll stop here, but soon I'll post about the week I spent in the North!

    un bacio,

    Kayla

     Heyy everyone,

     So it's probably been a good month since I last posted on here. On the 15th of April I met Ella in the center for a day of shopping for the last day of Easter break. We walked around for a bit and I looked for a pair of sunglasses. After looking in a bunch of shops with no luck, I finally found a really cool pair in a store near Piazza Mazzini. After I bought them Ella and I bought lemon slushies to cool off and tried to figure out what countries all the tourists come from. After we took random pictures of Lecce before coming back to the school and then home at like 3.

                                                                me with my new sunglasses!

                                                            

                                                                      Ella pretending to be a tourist

                                                                  Me near a car with Salento written on it

      From the 16th until the 23th of April was exchange week here at Lecce. The exchangers at my school got to participate in the whole week (but we had to go to school on the 16th and the 23th because those are the days when the exchangers coming here were travelling). We were a huge group for the week because 30 hungarians and also two classes from my school particiaped (because the 3rd and 4th L did an exchange week to Hungary and so now the Hungarian came to Lecce), plus we had about 9 exchangers from AFS here for the week and then those of us who live in Lecce. In total we were a group of almost 90 people. The AFSer's here were Oddmund (from Norway), Revive (Canada), Xin (China), Keyne (USA), Ana Caroline (USA), Laura (Germany), David (Brazil), Sara (Sweden), and Cristina (Columbia). On the first friday of exchange week there was a welcome at my school. IT was basically like an assembly. The viceprincipal and the AFS president talked to us for a little, then our school chorus sang (to be honest I didnt even know we had a school chorus until then). After that they called all us AFSer's on stage (the ones here for the week and the ones who live in Lecce for the year). They made us dance the pizzica (a dance typical of Salento- the peninsula where lecce is located) and also sing a song with the chorus. It was pretty embarassing, but luckily I didnt have to dance because i am so uncoordinated. After that we all went to the market and looked around for a few hours. The market isnt that big, so after about an hour I went and got some strawberries with Ella, Keyne, Laura, and a few others and we talked in front of the school until 12. Dani came back to my house for lunch because we had to all meet in the center at like 4 and it would have been to hard for her host mom to bring her back in. After lunch we watched a few episodes of House and then at 4 my host mom drove us into the center. We waited around for a while for everyone to show up and then we started the tour of Lecce. They were moving really slow (basically we stayed at the Duomo for like an hour), so most of the AFS kids ended up leaving and going around on our own. Then at about 8:30 my host mom came and picked me up.

                                                      Ella and Revive with their matching cameras

     On Saturday we started of the day by going to the cinema, where we watched a film called "East is East" in english (with italian subtitles). It was about a family in the 1970's where the dad was Pakistani and the mom was English. It talked about how the dad really wanted his kids to be religious like him and he tried to arrange a marriage for two of his sons. After that we discussed the film a little before returning to the school. The Hungarians had to do an hour of lessons. Us AFSer's were supposed to do an activity to but AFS hadn't planned anything, so we ended up playing soccer instead. I went home for lunch and then in the afternoon tried to figure out what was going on for tonight. Now it's alot harder for me to get a ride into the center, so i had to figure out times and such because my host sis usually comes in really early. I ended up going in at 7:30 and coming home at 10:15. I met up with Ella, Andreas, Emmett, Dani, Erinn, Revive, and Oddmund. We went and got kebabs for dinner, then they went to Andreas' house but Ella and I couldnt go because there wasnt enough time (thanks to our curfew). Instead we got a gelato and sat near the Duomo. Also before meeting the others we were walking our Lecce and some guys heard us speaking English and so to be funny tried asking us something in English. When we responded in Italian they were so shocked. Then at 10:15 my host dad came to pick us up and we brought Ella back to my house because its easier for her host mom to pick her up there than in the center.

                                                     Me with some gelato on Saturday night

 

    Sunday was basically just a day with the host families (for the exchangers here for the week). I went to the beach with my host family and studied a little bit of precalculus.

     On Monday with AFS we went to Otranto, Gallipoli, Leuca, and Castro. We were slit up into two buses. First we went to Otranto, were we saw teh Cathedral, the castle, and then we went down on the beach for a little. The water at Otranto is absolutely gorgeous!!! Then we went Castro (or a town near by). We ate lunch there and then a few of us climbed down on the rocks to get a better view of the ocean. Then we stopped a Leuca, were we just looked at the sea and took a group photo of the AFS kids. After that we went to Gallipoli. First we went to see the Cathedral as a group and then we had an hour of freetime. We went to get gelato. (Oddmund got a huge cone with like 4 flavors). At about 6:30 we got back to Lecce.  

                                                                 The cathedral at Otranto

                                                          Keyne and I near the sea in Otranto

 

                                                               The town where we ate lunch

 

                                                                     Santa Maria di Leuca

                                                               AFS group photo at Leuca

   On Tuesday we took another day trip. This time we went north of Lecce. Today was a bit rainy, so it was a good thing my host mom told me to bring an umbrella. First we stopped by a wine factory for a little. Then we drove up to a town called Ostuni. We went to see a little musuem and then ate lunch standing up because we all got hungry. After that we went to see a church and then a view of the valley. After that we got back on the bus and went to a town called Alberobello, where there are tiny little houses called trulli. We had some freetime there, so we went to get gelato and then just walked around for a little bit.

 

                                                                      The cathedral in Ostuni

 

                                                                      The trulli in Alberobello

    Wednesday was the last day we got to spent with the AFS people here for the week. We met up at the school at 8:30, we had a half hour discussion about the differences between the north and south of Italy and then we walked into the center. We were split up into two group (because 90 people is too big). First we went to a museum in Lecce, which is a really old house in Lecce. We took a tour, the tour guide explained how under the house there are underground room and also under the city of Lecce there are roads, which is so cool, but this one was blocked off. After that we went to a shop that makes cartapesta (basically paper mache) and the shopkeeper shopped us how is it done. After that we had freetime. Some people went to chinese food for lunch, but I didnt bring a lot of money with me and I was tired, so instead I walked back to my house with Revive (because his host family for the week lives near where my house is). After lunch I met back up with him again and we walked in to the center for a conference at the castle. It was supposed to start at 4 but it didnt end up starting until 5. It was pretty boring because a bunch of people just talked for a while about Identity. Infact my host mom sadi i could call if it got too boring and she would come and get me (but i didnt want to be rude and i was sitting in the middle, so i didnt have a chance to call her). At about 7:30 it finally ended and I went home a little. But then at 8:30 there was the final dinner at a restaurant. My host sister all came. I sat at a table with Dani, her host sister, Laura, Ella, Sara, Serena (the host sister of Cristina), Cristina, Maddie (Lea's host sis), Lea, David, Luz, and Xin. For dinner we had an antipasta of fish, then we had pasta with fish, and then meat. Afterwards there was the cake and then dancing. It ended at about 11 or 12, so my assistant drove Giulia and I home. Luckily the next day we got to stay home from school because we got home so late.

 

                                                     One of the underground rooms in the museum

 

                                                      Me, Ella, and Sara at the last dinner

  

                                                  Me, Cristina, and Sara at the last dinner

                                                               The cutting of the cake

                                                         Last group photo for the week

   On Friday I had a movie night with Lea and Ella. Last minute I decided to make Apple Crumble so we had to make a quick run to the grocery store, but there were so many people there because the next day there was a holiday. At about 8:45 I got home and rushed to make the Apple Crumble because Ella had to leave at 10. We watched a little bit of Twilight and after ate bruscette for dinner and then the Apple Crumble.   

 

                                                                  My Apple Crumble

     On the 30th I went into the center because there wasnt school on Friday for Labor Day. I wanted to meet up with Dani, Emmett, and Andreas to get some waffles (Emmett found a creperia that sells waffles). Dani couldnt end up getting a ride until 9. I met up with Andreas and Emmett at 8:30 and had to eat a waffle really quick because then Giulia called me and said our ride was here, I am starting to get sick of having to come home at 9 every time we going into Lecce, because most people go into the center when we are going home.

    The next day there wasnt school so i chilled out at home. That night my host family and I (and also Stefano, a friend of Giulia) went to a pizzeria in San Cataldo, where we have a beach house. I got a pizze with hot dogs and french fries on it. I felt bad for Stefano because my host dad was grilling him with all these questions about school and stuff, when Giulia when to take Elisabetta to the bathroom. In the car on the way there Riccardo was having fun sending me texts with random English words (for example one said "help me...a monster...the true is for and believe fru fru el dorado and what is for me and i are milk and nutella").

                                                             My pizza with hot dogs and french fries

    Sorry this post is getting pretty long, I guess at lot of things happen in only a month. Now moving onto to May. On the 9th there was an assembly at the school so I didnt have to go. Instead I met up with Ella in the center for a little bit of shopping. Right now all the roads are being redone in the center (like a first lol) because the G8 is going to Lecce in June. Ella looked ofr some sunglasses but with no luck, instead she found a really pretty beach dress. I bought some gifts for people. Then at 12:30 we went back to my house. Ella came for lunch, along with a friend of Giulia. We had pasta, then french fries. I watched some funny House episodes with Ella. Then at 5 we had to go to a meeting at the school for International European day. The principal called us AFSer's on stage to shake our hands (except Dani was "sick" and couldnt come and Lea had dance). After about an hour we slipped out and then Roberta (Lea's assistant) drove Ella and I into the center and we went to see some bands performing for the Art Day at Lecce. Then at 8 when my host mom came to drop Giulia off she picked up Ella and I. Ella sayed for dinner (we had pizza)  and we walked a movie before her host mom came to get her. The next day my host family invited her to come to the beach with us. We brought panini to the beach for lunch. I finally went swimming in the sea here, it was a little cold but felt good. We played around with Riccardo and had a splash fight and then we took a long walk on the beach. At about 4 we went back to the beach house, we played basketball with Riccardo for a little and then watched a movie. Then later on we ate barbequed meat for dinner along with pittule and after i pasticciotti.

                                                    Me with my little host sister at our beach house

 

                                                         Me and Ella at the beach

 

    On the 14th I decided to make Apple Pie for something to do. The next day I brought some to school for Dani, Lea, and Ella. Except like three classes asked if I had brought it for them. The crust got a little burnt (maybe becuase we bought it and so it was a really thin crust) but the apple part still tasted good. Maybe one of these day I will make chocolate chip cookies with Dani or carrot cake.

                                                          The Apple Pie(s) I made

 

    I only have 3 more days of school left but these last days have been filled with tests and interrogations. I had an interrogation in math the other day and I will have one in English soon. I also have a math test tuesday and I was supposed to have a chemistry test last monday but I didnt go to school then or this monday so maybe I will have it next week. It is starting to get really hot here, which makes school even more boring. I almost fell asleep in math the other day (but maybe that was because I had already done the same lesson the hour before, basically on saturday I have one hour of math with one class and then another hour right after with a different class. so i end up doing the same lesson twice). At least saturday was my last saturday with school!!!

    On the 16th of May (a saturday) I went into the center at like 7 and came back at like 10 or 11 (we got to come back later because Giulia went to a concert in S. Oronzo). I met up with Ella. We did a little bit of shopping, I bought an awesome pair of shoes and also some gifts. Then we went to a restaurant for dinner. We sat at a table outside. The waitress kept giving us weird looks when we spoke in English and took photos. We ordered a salad and after a crepe with ice cream on the side. After that we took some videos of Lecce and then went to sit down in Piazza Mazzini. We took more photos and then two weird guys bought us roses so we ran away, except they follwed us and tried to ask for our numbers. Luckily Ella saw her host bro so we got away. I ended throwing away my rose before I got home in order to avoid an intense interrogation from my host dad.

                                                      The outdoor restaurant I ate at with Ella

 

                                                          Me and Ella in Piazza Mazzini

   Then on Sunday I chilled at home in the morning and tried to study Chemistry, but then at 8:30 I went to the party of a girl from 1L. It was a little awkward because I didnt really know anyone. There was dancing and flashing lights. AT one point three guys started dancing on table without their shirts (and no they werent drunk). At about 10 we ate and a little after I left because I didnt want to make my host family stay up late. Then tuesday afternoon I went into the center again with Ella because she needed to buy shoes, but she didnt find anything so we just walked around for a while.

     Then on Wednesday I had school as usual, after school I helped my host mom make stuffed eggplant. At about 6 I went with my host sis and her friend to the track to "run", we ran a little but walked for the most part. After while we were waiting for my host dad to finish talking these boys walked past and wanted to talk to us, and my host dad came over. They went to change and said they would talk to us after. But luckily I saw Emmett and talked to him for a little before we finally went home.

     The next day nothing exciting happened. At school I had to write a paper for Italian (about youth and the crisis of values) and therefore missed my chemistry test once again. Then Giulia and I went home early on the way home we stopped but a bar to get a snack. At night we watched the Guiness World records show and laughed about all the stupid records they have. On friday we went running again. Those boys came back again and asked our names. Giulia said she was Geswalda and when I said my name they got all confused. Giulia told them I was American and so they thought I couldnt speak Italian, so it was pretty funny when I started speaking in Italian. Giulia and I didnt go into the center tonight, but instead we watched the Da Vinci code on TV and I talked with my parents on skype.

     Then yesterday we went to the beach. We left at about 12 and took some panini to eat there. At first the water was cold but it felt really nice. I went swimming for a while and then sat out to dry. We ate lunch and then went swimming again. After that I buried myself in the sand and played catch with Riccardo and also played with Elisabetta in the little "pool". At about 6 we went back to the beach house. Giulia and I went to buy pasitcciotti and then we hung out at the house. For dinner we had barbequed meat, mozzarella, and bruscette. At about 11 we came back to Lecce.

                                                      Me buried in sand at the beach

                                                    Me playing with my little host sister in the sand

                    My host mom, me, and my host brothers and sisters in front of the fire at the beach house

 

    Hum... lately I have been reading lots of books in Italian. I have read the first three Harry Potter books already and I am about half way through the 4th one. On Wednesday I have my last orientation. I cant believe its almost June and I go home in lass than 6 weeks. I have a feeling time will fly. A week after my orientation I'm going near Milan to visit a family I know there. (AFS FINALLY gave me permission to go and I am soooooo excited). I am a little sad that this year is almost over but I am also really excited to see my friends and family again after not seeing them for almost 9 months.)

    That's all for now, I'll write again after orientation!

     Un bacio

      Ciao!

      Happy Easter (a few days late) or Buona Pasqua! Here in Italy Easter is pretty important. Italian students get about a week off of school for Easter (for my school from last Wednesday to this Wednesday). In the period up until Easter there are processions throughout the town (or in Lecce atleast) that act out certain scenes from the Bible. I only saw two of them. One was right near my house and I watched it with my host mom from out the kitchen window. The other one I saw in Lecce with my friend. We had gone out for walk and saw that the main street was blocked off for a little while, there are a band and also a crowd of people following after. Also before easter the altars in all the churches are decorated with flowers. One afternoon I went into the center with my host mom and sister to see a few of them. There was a really pretty one near my old house that had a lot of white roses and candles. Afterwards we stopped for some gelato. For actual Easter day my host family and I went to the house of my host mom's sister. We left the house at about 12:30 or so and then stopped by the park so my little host sister could play. Then at about 1:30 we got to her house. We hung out for a little bit before eating, there weren't a ton of people there, only a grandpa, the family of my host mom's sister, and another person. For lunch we ate a lot (like usual), parmegiano (baked eggplant with sauce and meat, kinda of like lasagna but with eggplant instead of pasta), pasta fatto a casa (homemade pasta), agnello (lamb, which is the main dish for Easter), and then also pasta di mandorle (pasta made of almound) in the shape of a lamb (a type of sweet, typical of Easter and also Christmas), Columbo (a type of cake in the shape of a bird). Also at Easter all the kids get an Easter egg, but the eggs here are a lot different from the ones in the USA. Here each kid gets only one egg, but it is a big hollow chocolate egg, with a surprise in the middle (like a toy or something of that sort). After lunch we all opened our eggs. I got one with a pencilcase in it. The first photo is of me and my host mom on Easter, the second is me and my host siblings and a host cousin on easter, and the third is my easter egg.

 

  

     

    

      At about 5 or so we finally went home. I hung out for like an hour or two and then I went to the "Amici" concert with my host sister and her friend. Amci is a really popular show in Italy (although I didnt really watch it), that is a singing concest. The winner of the show holds a concert in their home town, this year a girl from Lecce won, named Alessandra and therefore the concert was in Italy (it was free). There were sooo many people there. It was a little drizzely so at some points everyone had their umbrellas up. First we were able to make our way to a good spot kinda near the front, and we were able to see the stage really well. But then we moved to go find another friends and ended up in the middle where we couldnt see anything, which kinda stunk but oh well. The concert started at about 8:30 and we left at about 10. We got to hear Alessandra sing, and also the winner of last year's season of Amici, Marco Carta. On this one occasion I'm glad that the italian are pretty short because it meant I could see a lot better. After we left, I went into the center of Lecce with Guilia and Giorgia (her friend), we just walked around for like an hour before going home.

     The day after Easter is also celebrated in Italy and is called Pasquetta. For this day I went with my host family to the house of family friends in the country. At about 2 we ate lunch of these fried rice balls, bread, potatoes, another type of rice, and more lamb. Afterwards I went for a walk in the rain with my host sister Giulia, because we didn't know what else to do. Despite the cold and wetness that was pretty fun. We joked around a lot and just walked for a while in the countryside. We came back soaking wet, only to see that there was actually an umbrella in the car. Then we had the sweets (more columba and pasta di mandorle). Then we just sat down for a long time because my host dad wanted to talk about politics. At about 6 (yea, 5 hours after we got there) Giulia and I went and sat in the car. We just waited there and then took some funny pictures. After about 45 minutes of watching my host dad talk about trees with the other guys we finally went home. The first photo is a picture from the car of my host dad talking and the second is Giulia and I soaking wet after our walk

      So this part isn't exactly about Easter, but I find it pretty funny. My host host brother sometimes pretends to give us English lessons. So after dinner the other night he told Giulia and I to sit down for a lesson. He pretends to walk and for a greeting says, "hello little pieces" with this really funny accent. Then he just tries to put random words together and makes them seem like a sentence (like, "what is you to be doing today" or something like that). He also memorizes random definitions, for example he say "love is to give ones self to the other without asking anything in exchange". I was laughing so hard, one day I will try to put it on video. I also find it funny when he makes fun of my pronunciation of english words (yes ENGLISH words), he says I eat my words, so i guess its hard for the italians to understand me when i speak english.

     Anyways that's all for now.

    Ciao

     Ciao!

     First I would like to address the recent tragedy that happened in Italy. At about 3 am yesterday there was a big earthquake in Abruzzo (a region in central Italy). There have been a lot of deaths and destruction. It was all over the news. I just wanted to let everyone that I am OK, I am in southern Italy way south of the earthquake and therefore I wasnt affected by it.

     It's been a while since I last wrote but with good reason. For the last three weeks or so my host family's computer had a virus and therefore we didn't have internet at the house. It finally came back yesterday and I can't even describe how happy I am to have it back! And now to fill you all in on what has happened in the last month or so. First I guess I should start with my exchange week that happened in the beginning of March. Now i'll explain exactly what exchange week is. All the AFSer's here in Italy get the option to spend a week in another part of Italy. It is organized by the local chapters, therefore some people choose where to go and others don't. The people in Lecce didn't get a choice but I got lucky where I was placed in Trento. It's a city in northern Italy. (You can click the link to read more about the city if you want). Basically for a week we live with a host family, but during the day we do things with AFS.

     La mia settimana di scambio è stata bellissima (my exchange week was beautiful). Last saturday (the 7th of march and also my six month mark here in Lecce) I took a train with Lea (another girl in my local chapter who also went to Trento) to Trento. The journey was a total of about twelve hours. We had to switch trains at Bologna. The day went by pretty slowly but overall not bad. I read a little, wrote in my journal and talked with Lea. We also watched two movies on the way up. Finally at about eight at night we reached the station. There my new host family for the week was waiting for me. I had a mom, dad, and two sisters. One sister was 17 and is called Chiara. The other sister, Marta, is 19 for the most part I hung out with her. Last year she did an exchange to Russia for the year with AFS. So we drove back to the house and then we had dinner of lasagna and meat. After that I went with Marta to borrow some gear for the snow and then we went to her friend's house. There we played cards with her friend's sisters and just hung out until about midnight.

 

     The next day I had to wake up early because I went up to Monte Bondone (a ski place) with Marta and two of her friends. Today was il giorno delle donne (the day of women), so there was a snowboarding camp at the ski place. I was in level one because I haven't ever snowboarded before, while Marta and her friends were in level 4 maybe. At first I was pretty scared, but the instructors were nice and we took it very slow. There were about 15 of us beginners and two instructors. We worked on turning a lot. I fell quite a bit but overall it was fun and I want to keep learning. In the afternoon I mainly watched Marta doing jumps, she wanted me to try them to, but the instructor (and I) both thought that that probably wasn't the best idea, seeing as I cant even go down a slope yet. We stayed at the ski place all day and returned just in time for the AFS dinner. First there was a little meeting and we all introduced ourselves. There for the week was Kendra (one of my best exchange friends, from the states living in Sardinia for the year), Ashley (an American girl in Italy for a semester near Bari), Rodolfo (from Paraguay, living in Bari), Yi (China, Bari), Nina (Germany, Reggio Emilia), Dear (Thailand, Calabria), Amalia (Brazil, Campania), Pin Pin (Thailand), Daniela (Chile), Lilla (Hungary, Sardinia), Adolfo (Argentina), and there were many others living in Trento that we got to meet as well, like Manuel from Mexico, Baolong from China, and Laura from the USA. After the meeting we all got together and made our dinner. We got to make canederli (a typical trentino dish), which basically tasted like stuffing (which i am not a huge fan of btw). We also ate beans with onions, really good meat, and after sweets. After words we stayed around talking for a  bit before going home. It was sooo much fun seeing people (like Kendra) who I havent seen for months and getting meet new people! The first picture is a view of the mountains from Monte Bondone. The second is Kendra, me, Laura, and Lilla getting ready to make dinner.

 

     The next day (Monday), I spend another day in the snow. (By the end of this day my face was bright red from being sunburnt). First we all went sledding. It was a lot of fun and the view from where we were was absolutely gorgeous. I also made snow angels with Kendra, Amalia, Lilla, and Lea (I havent done that in over a year!) Then we has a snow fight with Manuel. After about an hour or two we got some snow shoes and went snow shoeing. We hiked up to the top of a mountains. It was a little bit of work but the view was worth it. From the top you could see gorgeous mountains and a valley with little towns. We ate lunch up there and hung out before heading back. Once we got back to the snow shoeing place we rested for a while and ate the left overs sweets from the night before. On the way back we stopped in a little town called Sardagna, where there was a nice view of the town of Trento. We took pictures and then headed back. Once we got back we took a walk around the city, We saw la Piazza Duomo, then on the way back I met up with Marta and her friend. We went back to the house and watched Friends for a little bit before eating dinner (lasagna and a different type of meat, plus really good salami).

     Tuesday was probably the most boring day out of the week. First we took a bus to a little town called Povo, very close to Trento, where we took a tour of a research place called l'IRST, the people there talked to us about research and also microbiology, to be honest I am not exactly sure what they did talk about because the italian just went in one ear and out the other because for me it was very boring. At about 11:30 we finally left and then walked back to Trento. We ate lunch and then went to see a castle (il Castello di Buonconsiglio). Our tourguide started out by telling us, he didn't want to be boring and just give random facts about the castle, but guess what after about 5 minutes that exactly what he started doing. After the castle we went to some "city" under Trento, that was really just a bunch of ruins. Basically a long time ago when buildings would collapse, the people would just build on top of the ruins, which formed this "city" under Trento. After a little while we finally got some free time and walked around Trento and then sat down at a cafe.

     Wednesday morning we first went to a school, that was soo nice. All of us from southern Italy had our mouths hanging open and wishing we could go to school there. This school has several computer rooms, a drawing room, and a workout room. After we were given a tour of the school we met with a thrid year class and played some games with them dealing with communicating between different cultures. We finished at about lunch time and ate at a unviersity cafe and then later met some adults and talked about the differences between the Italian culture and the cultures of our home countries. Then we went to a place called Villaggio SOS, which is sort of like an orphange for kids that have toubled homes. This one is different though because all the kids live in houses (about 5 or 6 to  house) with an adult woman that acts sort of like their mom. It was cool to see this place because it's very different from how you would picture an orphange. At night I went with my host family to the restuarant owned by my host mom's family. We ate pizza and also fried seafood.

     Thursday we had to get up a little earlier in order to catch the train to Venice! We were on the train for about 3 hours, which was kind of boring, but not too bad. Once we arrived in Venice we first went to the ghetto where we spent most of the morning before stopping at a church and eating lunch outside. I liked Venice but I can't say it was my favorite, maybe because we didnt get to see a lot of it. After that we slowly made our way to St. Mark's Basilica and on the way we got yummy gelato. We also got to ride on a gondola across one of the channels!!!! Then we had some free time, but only like an hour. I went shopping and bought some souveigners. After we had to make our way back to the train but we missed it and had to wait an hour. Because we were late leaving Venice, I was late coming back to my host family for dinner. They had made a typical dinner from Trento, of polenta, meat, and also i got to eat strawberries!!! The first pic is me and kendra in front of St. Marks, the second is me with the gondola man and the thrid is me and ashley with gelato

 

     Friday was more free and not so full of things to do. First we went to a museum for futurism. We took a short tour and then headed to another house with futursim paintings. After we ate lunch in a garden before returning to Trento. We had the whole afternoon free, so we walked around Trento and went shopping. I bought a recipe book for the host family in Lecce. Then at about 8 we all got together a a pizzeria for last dinner together. It was a lot of fun but also sad because we all had to say goodbye. I had sooo much fun that week, it was sad to leave all the new friends I had made (and also old friends I had seen again). I really like the north a lot. I could definitely pick out some differences between the north and south of Italy, though most of them are sutle and hard to describe. Then on Saturday Lea and I went home, we had a long time on the train, but it wasn't too bad. At the end we started dancing in the aisles of the train because we were like the only one left onboard. The first pic is my pizza with french fries and mozzerella di bufala, the second is us at dinner, and the thrid is kendra, amalia, and i with amalia's brazilian flag

 

     And now onto what has been going on recently, but to be honest that's not much. School is still very boring, but the end is in sight! School technically gets out the 10th of June, but I heard that not many people go in June, so we'll see. Also in April I only have like a week of school because this week I have off for Easter and the week after the AFSer's are coming to Lecce for their exchange week, so I dont have to go to school. The past two weeks or so have been kind of interesting because it was my host sister's birthday, my birthday, and the birthday of my host brother. On the actual day of my birthday I went shopping in the morning with Dani and then I chilled out at home, I talked to my parents a little on the phone. At night my host family got me a cake and also a shirt and earrings. The next night I had a little party at a pizzeria with my close friends. It was a lot of fun, we ate pizza, and then my host parents got me a really good cake and they had an american flag put on it! I cant believe I am 17 and also that I have less than 3 months left in Italy. I guess time really flies by. The first pictures is me with my birthday cake at my party. The second is Lea, Ella, and I at my bday party.

 

     Anyways, I dont have much else to say about life here, the weather is finally get nice! If you want you can check out my pictures at www.kaylasitalianphotos.shutterfly.com it pretty much updated.

     Un bacio

     Kayla

     Ciao ciao,

     So nothing too exciting has been happening lately. Life is starting to settle into a normal pattern again. However this week has been kinda relaxing because I havent had school. No it's not exactly a school vacation because instead of normal classes there are recouperation classes for people who need help in certain subjects and failed. Actually a lot of students do go and the school day is shorter (from like 8:30 to 12:30, i think).

     The first day of this (monday), I stayed home alone and just chilled. I reasearched tons of college, which got really annoying after a while. There are sooo many and choosing will be tough. I slept in until about 9:30ish. My host mom was soo surprised that I didnt sleep until til like 11 or 12. In the afternoon I did some homework and chilled out more. Also lately I have been watching an Italian show that's on at 8:40 (yea the shows have different timings). Its basically like a soap opera (most italian shows are), but my host mom found english subtitles for me and has been explaining to me what has happened. Now on to the second day of "vacation." This day my host sister also stayed home. She slept until 2 but I got up way early and continued my college search and also finished the three translations I had to do for latin (and hopefully the last, if i am allowed to switch out of that class). That night/afternoon I met my exchange friend Lea and we went into the center. Usually she walks there from her house (about 25 mintues) but my host mom wouldn't let me because she was worried it wasn't safe. (I walked the same street every day to and from school for the first week and I also walked home on it at 11 one night after the circus and nothing happened but i guess she didnt want anything to happen to me). Siamo andate in giro (we walked around) in Lecce. I also finally bought some more italian clothes at a store called Zara. Basically I have spend no money since I switched families (because I cant go in the center whenever I want), so I figured that I needed a little shopping spree. When we finished we were going to walk home but my host mom said no way and so she came to get me. Then for dinner we had homemade polpette (meatballs), yummi yummi.The third day was a little more exciting. I woke up early and had my host mom drop me of at school. There I met my two exchange friends, Ella and Dani. We walked into Lecce. I got a yummi donuty thing with creme in the center, that was covered in sugar (so healthy, right...). We talked a lot and walked around. Then we all went to Zara and tried on clothes. I bought leggings and skirt today (shopping can be addicting but hopefully I'm set for now). At 12 they had to go back to the school, so I walked back with them and then had to walk to my host brother's school, where my host mom would pick me up. I waited around for a while for his school to get out. Then we went home and had lunch. That afternoon at 4 I met Lea and Federica (a girl in our class) and we studied spanish together. It was a lot of fun and its amazing how many spanish words are similiar to those in italian. The day ended in the usual fashion: watching italian soap operas, then dinner, and then bed (or in this case computer before bed).

     Another exciting thing that happened today was that my liason called my host family while I was at spanish lessons to say that they found me a spot for exchange week. Most other regions let the students choose where they go but in lecce we didnt have a say. Despite this I am really happy with where I will be going. I will be going to Trento from the 7 to the 14 or 15 of march. I am pretty sure that I will get to see the alps and also Venice!!!! Also I found out that Kendra (my USA exchange friend in Sardinia) will be going to Trento as well. Today was exciting and now I just cant wait for exchange week!!!!

     Un bacione (a kiss),

     Kayla

     Ciao a tutti!

     So I am finally getting around to rewriting the blog entry, I guess I will start where I left off last time, that is what happened after new years' and Christmas. In Italia the students and teachers have two weeks of vacation for Christmas (from about December 23 to January 6th). The first part of my break was pretty boring, I mostly hung out at the house, but two day I went to spend the day with friends. One day I had lunch with Dani, and another day I spent the night at Ella's house and her host family made pizza in their pizza oven (it was soo good!). The second half of my break was a lot more exciting because I went on a trip to Sicily with the AFSer's of Puglia and Basilicata. At about 6:30 on the night of the 2nd of January all the Lecce people who went to Sicily met at the station for taking a train to Bari. The train ride was about one or two hours long. Then in Bari we met up with more AFSer's and took a bus to another town, there we switched to a bigger bus which we took to Sicily. The bus ride was about 8 hours or so, let's just say it was a long night (seeing as I got like no sleep). For a little while I talked with other exchanger and at other times I tried to sleep but with no success. Once we got to the tip of the toe, the bus drove onto a ferry that took us across to Sicily. Then we drove for a little longer until we reached a town called Cefalu'. Here we visited the duomo (church) of that town and then we had some free time. I walked around with Ella, we took a walk along the beach (even though the day was rainy and overcast) and also walked around the town. We bought some yummi small pizza looking things and then sat down near the duomo for a bit. At about 12:30 or 1 we all walked to a restaurant in the town. We got fed soo much food, but none of us really enjoyed it a lot because we were about ready to fall asleep in our food. After this we got back on the bus and drove to another town, closer to Palermo (the capital and major city of Sicily). At this town we went in a church and sat there for what seemed like the longest time. Finally after and hour or so we went to the hotel (in Palermo). The hotel was in a weird neighborhood and the front looked not that great, but we walked in and it had a nice lobby. However, the rooms turned out to be really sucky. I shared a room with Ella and a girl named Olivia (from China). After chilling for a bit and settling in we went down for dinner at about 8. It was pretty uneventful, and the food was nothing special.

     The next day we had to wake up for breakfast at 8:30. This day we toured around Palermo. We saw a lot of churches, a really pretty fountain (where there was creepy hoboes who told us to go away and even threw an orange at one girl), and another big but open stone building. One of the churches we went in was the main cathedral, it was soo pretty and it had a school right next to it. After we went in one little church with painting all over the ceilings, the AFS volunteers decided to give us all a number to count off. We had to practice until we got it perfect, which took forever because everytime someone messed us we had to start over. MY number was 33, which is kinda hard to pronounce in italian because I cant roll my R's really well.(trenta-tre) and therefore Dani laughed at me everytime I had to say my number. Anways, we did a little more walking around before going to lunch. This day we ate at a nice restaurant in Palermo, we had rice, fish (we ate soooo much fish in Sicily), and the tiniest piece of pistaccio ice cream. After lunch we walked around some more and then had free time. I went around with Ella and also Rebekah. We finally found some cannolis (which were sooooo good) and then looked in some shops (because it was the time for sales) and then after Ella and I got some more sicilian sweets. At about 7 or 8 we went back to the hotel and ate dinner. Then we all went to a weird restaurant thing for dancing and drinks. When we got there, there was a really weird act going on, we had to wait so long for the dancing to start. When it finally did we had little time left because we had to leave at about 1ish.

     The next day was by far my favorite one in Sicily. We had to wake up early because we had to drive a little farther today. First we went to a town called Segesta. At this town there was a beautiful old temple. It was at the top of the hill and therefore the view was absolutely amazing. We stayed for a little and took tons of pictures. Then we drove to a town called Erice. It was a town on the top of a mountain. The drive up to it was a little scary but the view was again amazing because you could see other mountains, the sea, and the valley with little towns. In this town we climbed a little bell tower and then looked in more churches. Finally we had a little free time. I walked around with Claire and we bought a sweet typical of that town. After that we went to lunch, we ate more fish and then a really good brownie. AFter we had more free time. I walked around and then bought really awesome cannoli earrings!!! Then we drove around for a while before going back to the hotel. We ate dinner at the usual 8 and then we walked into the center of Palermo. We all stopped to get cannoli's or other things and then we went to a weird pub where they had latin dancing. Finally at 3 we reutrned to the hotel. The next day was uneventful because we drove home. We had to get up at 7. On the bus ride home Jess taught me some chinese and we talked. We stopped once for sweets before getting on the ferry and then we stopped again for lunch. We finally arrived at Bari around 10 at night. While we waited for the 11 train back to Lecce we got some McDonalds for dinner. We got a little screwed because we were in a hurry, Andreas was so mad because he didnt get his french fries, and emmett didnt get his milkshake. At 1 we finally got back to Lecce, and we were all dead tired.

     The day that we returned was the 6th of January, which is Epiphany. In Italia, kids get their stocking filled with candy by an old ugly lady to celebrate. Since we were travelling that day, my host mom gave me a stocking the following day.

 

     Now on to other exciting news, that is that I switched host families almost three weeks ago. It's hard to say what went wrong because there wasnt exactly a concrete problem with my old host family (meaning they didnt beat me up or anything). It was more that I still didnt feel apart of the family after 4 months and also they themselves were more of three people living under one roof than a close knit family. This isnt necessarily a bad thing, but in doing an exchange I really wanted to be close to and have a great family. It a bit of convincing on my part ot let AFS let me switch, at first they just didnt understand (because it wasnt a concrete problem). I wont go into details but I was a little bit disappointed with AFS after this. Anyways, so on the day that I left my old host mom cooked my favorite meal so far in italia (pasta in the oven, french fries, and mozerella with basil and tomatoes). We left on a pretty good note, they wished me luck in my new family. Then at about 4 my liason and the host coordinator of Lecce came to get me. We put all my stuff (a suitcase, a duffel bad, a big box, and a small box) in my liason's car and then drove to my new family. My new family lives on the outskirts of Lecce, in a 5th floor appartment near the school. (which is a huge change from before, when i lived right in the center of Lecce, now I have to drive to get into the center or walk 40 minutes). The apparment is pretty small but it doesnt really feel like it. There are three bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, a eating/sitting room, a dining room, and another little area with the computer. My new family consists of a mom (Roberta), a dad (Rafaelle), two host sister (Elisabetta-7 and Giulia-14, who is in my 1L class), and a host brother (Riccardo-11). This family is sooo much more of a family and soo opposite of my old host family. I am always joking around with Riccardo and Giulia and my little host sister always wants to play with me (which equals little peace and quiet, but i like it most of the time). My host mom is always trying to help me out and feel more at home (and freaks out if I dont blow dry my hair- because if i dont i WILL catch a cold lol).

     Now a typical day for me consists of being woken up at about 7:15. My two younger host siblings are already up buthalf asleep on the couch. My oldest host sister used ot take forever to get up. I am the only one who actually eats breakfast, also we all have to share one bathroom, which can be kinda hard when we all need to get ready for school. Then at about 8 we all file into the car. My host mom drops off first Giulia and I and then we drops of the other two before going to work. Once school is over my host mom picks us all up again and we go to the house. Then we chill out until 2:45 or 3 when we eat lunch. Here it is sooo much less informal than at my old house. After that we chill out some more and do homework. (Some days my host sis and I go to the gym). At bout 6 or 7 we have tea and biscotti. Then at about 9 or 9:30 we eat dinner. By this time I am wiped out, so I usually go to bed right after eating.

     Lately school has also been a little interesting because all my teachers decided to interogate me (yes, orally). I hd to study a lot for history, latin, italian (on Dante), and mathematic. For the most part I did well (I managed to remeber most of the things and in italian too), except. I knew all the material (I mean come on I did it 2 years ago) but my teacher gave me a 6 (our of ten but 10 is impossible, 9 amazing, 8 really good, 7 good, 6 passing, 5 and below are failing) because I didnt know the theorum for geometry (which I am not a fan of and not happy that I have to be doing geometry) well enough in italian. Anyways I hope that now my teacher will let up a little but we'll see    

     That's about it for now. Let me know if you have an specific questions :)

     Un bacio - Kayla-

Hey all

sorry, i was going to update my blog today and was hlaf way through writing a long one when the light turned off and so my host sister turned off the compouter. IN other words my whole entry was lost and now she wants to use the computer. so an update is coming, hopefully soon, whenever i can get to the computer again

just a quick update is that i changed families almost two weeks ago. i will talk about it when i can acutally update

     Ok so I have quite I bit to update and probably wont do it all today, so please bear with me, also I will probably have to wait to add photos later because I havent had much time. I guess I should start by talking about Natale (Christmas) in Italia. The night before my host family and I went to the house of my host mom's sister. There we had a dinner, spanish style because the husband of my host mom's sister is spanish (i think). For dinner we had tortellini (non spanish), bread (like always), something like apple sauce, and a meat that people usually eat on Christmas eve in Spain. After that we had some spanish sweets and then went over to their Christmas tree. At about midnight everyone in her family opened their gifts. It is crazy because everyone just opens their gifts all at the same time. At times is was kinda weird just standing there and watching while everyone opened their gifts, but at the same time it was cooled to see italian and spanish traditions for Christmas.
     The next day, for actual Christmas, everyone slept in. At noon we walked to a nearby church for service. It was about an hour long and then afterwards we went to look at the presepe (nativity scene), there is one in every church an also a huge one in the center of the ampitheatro in Lecce. After that the family of my host mom's sister came back to our house. First we did a procession of candles, where everyone lit a candle and then we all walked around to every room in the house. After that we opened presents. It was crazy because once again everyone just gets their presents and opens them, which makes seeing what everyone got hard. I was slow at opening, in part because I had a lot from back home. My host family gave me a scarf from Pakistan, a jar of nutella, and a sweater. From my parents in the USA I recieved a lot, two boxes, that sat in my room for the longest time. We only put the presents until the tree two days before christmas, so I had a ton of things sitting on my table for what felt like forever. After opening the gifts we all sat down for lunch. We had lamb, and lots of food. And or course sweets too. This was such a weird Christmas though. It didnt feel like Christmas because there werent any songs on the radio since Halloween, and there wasnt snow. All the same it was cool to experience Christmas with different traditions in a different culture.
     Here in Italy the break for Christmas is two weeks. For the most part I just chilled out but at the end I went on a four day trip to Sicily organized by AFS (more about that in the next post). Now I am back in school and it is pretty boring as usual. Not to mention I will be changing host families soon. I wont go into a lot of detail but things just didnt work out. I cant say it was anyone's fault, I think we just didnt mesh well together. 

Anyways I will update more when I have more info and also to write about Sicily

Ciao a tutti!!!

I know I have gone too long without writing, once again so this time I will have lots to say. Things have been kinda crazy here lately, I have had a few problems that I am still trying to work out, not to mention Christmas and then New Years' flew by. I can't believe that it is 2009 already, this past year seem to flew by. I am hoping that the new year brings more happiness and greater change for the better to everyone!!!

     So I guess I will start with a month again, when I went on two class trips, one was to Caserta for the day and the other was to Valsinni and Padula for the day. For the first trip two fifth year class went along with three other exchange students besides myself (Ella, Dani, e Andreas). We had to get up super early to be at the school at 6. We all got on to the Pullman (a coach bus) to drive the five hours or so to Caserta (in the region of Campania, near Naples). We made one stop, where I had to buy lunch because I only had time to brag some tarallini (typical snack of lecce) before leaving. On the long bus ride I read a little bit, talked with the other exchangers, and took some pictures. Finally at about 11 or 12 we arrived. First we went to the Reggia, which is this huge palace that is found in Caserta. We took a tour and had to follow the tour guide around. Basically us exchange students stopped listening to the tour guide after two minutes and took tons of pictures instead. It was sooo big and also bellissimo (beautiful). The ceiling all had elaborate paintings on them, and were so cool to look at but after seeing a lot of rooms they started to look simmilar. After we finished the tour we went to the back and sat down on the lawn for lunch. After that the four of us (exchangers) decided to take a horse carraige tour around the grounds, we got to see a lake and also a mini castle. After that we wandered around a little bit before we got back on the bus to go to another place. We had to do another tour of a silk factory, because Caserta was a big producer (i think). That one was a little more boring because we were so tired. After that we got to explore the town a little, but there wasnt a lot there. All in all it was a fun day but by the end I was soo tired and we didn't get home until like 11 at night.

 

      Ciao,
     
     Sorry about the long time without posting, the internet has been down and I havent has a ton of time. I can't say a ton has happened lately but I can say my italian is getting better and I can understand almost everything now. I have also been making more friends in school as time passes. I cannot believe that I have been in Lecce for over three months. It seems like time has flown by so far but I still have seven months here. Everyday life now has pretty much settled into a basic pattern but it is still exciting. It has been cold lately and also a bit rainy. I usually go to school with my bike, it is about 10 minutes or so. So the other night it had been a huge thunderstorm but in the morning right before I had to leave it stopped raining, so I decided I would just go to school with my bike and hope that the rain wouldnt start again. I said my usual ciao and Bianca responded with a ciao Kayla. I started off and the weather was doing ok but about half way there I heard some thunder and then it started to pour. I had a raincoat on but even so I came into school soaking wet (bagnata). My jeans were totally wet, but luckily I had my gym clothes. My classmates helped me ring out my scarf and gloves and while we were doing that Lea (AFSer from Germany) walked by and bursted out laughing, I am sure I looked pretty ridiculous. For the rest of the day I had to wear my obnoxious (totally unitalian) flannel pants around. Then after school I was going to take the bus home but it didnt come for a while, so i decided riding my bike would be faster, only I got wet again because my bike has no splash guard. It wound up being an interesting day.
     In the last two weeks I have gone on two trips with the school but I will post more later when i upload pics.

     I cannot believe its almost Christmas, it will be a little weird not having Christmas in the USA but I look forward to celebrating it in a different way.

Sorry the post is short but next time I will write more