Hello!! Sorry it’s been so long since I last posted, this past week was totally packed and I couldn’t find the time to write. Last week was a normal week at school, waking up early, sitting in class, painting, sculpturing, studying italian. Then came Saturday, the best day EVER! After lunch, my Italian parents drove me to Portofino, a small town right next to the sea on the left side of Italy. It was one of the most beautiful towns I had ever seen in Italy! It looked very similar to Cinque Terre because it’s in the same region, so all of the houses were really colorful, tall, and narrow. And just as you guessed, there is a “port” in Portofino where fishing boats and taxi boats were parked. All of the buildings had lights on them (for the festival of San Giorgio) which made the night even more magical. We ate dinner at a cute restaurant called “Delfino” and had an amazing view of the port and sea from the window we sat next to. We all ordered octopus for an appetizer. It was delicious because it had lemon sauce covered all over it, but we all agreed that we prefer the octopus my host mom makes better. Then we ordered our main courses and I ordered spaghetti mixed with sea food. After eating we drank coffee, and then the waiter showed us his collection of pictures hanging in the restaurant. They were pictures of one of the staff members with celebrities who have eaten there. I even recognized Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez! So now I can say that I’ve been to the same restaurant as them!! We walked around town after that, saw the church with the lights of San Giorgio, and then got back in the car. We drove for about 30 minutes until we arrived at a hotel in Genova (A bigger city next to the sea)! I got my own hotel room which was super fun!

The next morning we woke up early, ate breakfast, and then took a bus from the hotel to the center of Genova to meet the other exchange students. There were a total of 62 of us – all of the exchange students in the North West regions of Italy. We visited the aquarium because it’s one of the “must sees” of Genova. It was absolutely beautiful! The aquarium was huge, and it was really nice inside. We were able to see all kinds of sea animals including penguins, dolphins, and seals. A couple students and I finished the tour early, so we walked around the center of Genova for a while and ordered “le focacce” (type of bread) that is famous there. When the other students finally finished their tour of the aquarium an hour later, we all took a walk in the center and visited the local church. After lunch we parted ways, and my host family drove me and two other exchange students home – Lucia from Cina and Pitch from Thailand. It was a really fun weekend and I hope I’ll get a chance to see all of the other exchange students again before we leave Italy in July. Only two months left before I leave this Italian life. For now though, I’ll try to make the best of these last couple months :)

Here is my new video on the month of April! <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=espCiBGAa30&gt;