Before leaving, I was told that my year on exchange would be the hardest thing I would ever do. However, I did not think that was the truth at the time. Now I can say that my year abroad was definitely one of the hardest years of my life. I missed my American family and friends more that I can describe with words. I felt like an outsider. I made huge mistakes, and I felt more lonely than I had ever felt before. But one of the hardest parts that not many people talk about is how hard it is to leave. Yes it was a hard year, but I also had some of the greatest moments of my life. The friends I made in Italy will always be my friends and my Italian family will always be my family. I had some of the happiest moments there and losing all of those things is not easy.

I can say that my year in Italy was the most challenging thing I have ever done, but also one of the most rewarding. I have grown in more ways than one. I learned a different language, many different cultures, and I have become more independent. Now this experience is over. I’m at home in Arizona. I’m speaking English all the time and adjusting to my familiar lifestyle I had before. I’m becoming American again. My house looks exactly the same, my city looks the same, and the weather seems the same as before. But even though I’m back to my normal American life, I feel different. I feel changed. I feel more grown-up. I don’t know exactly how I’ve changed, but maybe I’ll find out later in the future. Until then, goodbye and good luck to all of the soon-to-be exchange students. You’re about to embark upon one of the most exciting years of your life!

In questo momento ci sono solo 3 giorni fino alla fine del mio scambio. Soprattutto mi sento orgogliosa di me stessa cioè ho finito un anno da sola, lontano dalla mia famiglia, i miei amici, e tutti quelli che conosco. Prima di venire, non sapevo una parola d’italiano. Ma adesso, con l’aiuto e la pratica della mia famiglia ospitante e gli amici, sono stata in grado di imparare.

Il mio anno qui è stato incredibile, sfidante, divertente, avventuroso, e così tanto più! C’è non solo una parola per descrivere tutto quello che ho fatto quest’anno. Voglio ringraziare la mia famiglia qui, che mi hanno insegnato tantissimo della lingua e della cultura italiana. La mia mamma ospitante, Marisa, è un’insegnante d’italiano, quindi ho imparato tante parole nuove da lei. Ogni volta che non capivo qualche parola o frase in italiano, lei sarebbe sempre fermarsi e spiegare pazientemente la cosa che non mi stavo capendo. Anche quando era occupata ha sempre trovato la pazienza di spiegare queste cose. È per questo che ho imparato più italiano durante i miei ultimi 5 mesi.

I momenti che mi ricorderò di più di quest’anno sono i momenti in cui ho riso. Ho riso tantissimo con il mio papà italiano, Pigi, che fa battute spesso. Mi fa sempre ridere su come pochi “mi piace” ottiene su facebook, quanto piccolo è il suo telefonino, e come lui sembra sempre essere malato!

I momenti più belli del mio scambio sono stati quando ho viaggiato. I miei genitori ospitanti mi hanno portato in tutta Italia! Ho visto il Lago d’Orta, Brescia, Alba, Reggio Emilia, Firenze, Pisa, le Cinque Terre, Portovenere, Parma, Sabbioneta, Mantova, Modena, Portofino, Genova, Napoli, Torino, Milano, Lago d’Iseo, Lago di Mergozzo, Lago Maggiore, Isola di San Giulio, Isola dei Pescatori, Zurigo in Svizzera, e anche l’isola francese, la Corsica! Sono così grata verso i miei genitori ospitanti che mi hanno portata in tutti questi luoghi. È stato bello a vedere l’Italia. Ora so che ogni città è diversa, con un dialetto diverso, cibi diversi, e diversi tipi di persone. Ho imparato tantissimo da questi viaggi, anche se ho perso un po ‘di scuola.

Apprezzo tutto che la mia famiglia ha fatto per me. Dal primo giorno ero con loro mi sentivo così accettata. Loro sono sempre gentile, onesti, e non mi hanno mai criticato o mi lasciano sentirsi male o in colpa di qualcosa. Sempre parlano con me e mi chiedano come sto e come mi sento in quel momento. Con loro, mi sento un parte della famiglia.

Il momento più difficile per me in quest’anno è stato quando ho cambiato la famiglia. È stato duro perché in questo periodo del mese di dicembre mi sentivo da sola. Mi sentivo come se non avessi nessuno con cui poter parlare. Per fortuna avevo conosciuto altri ragazzi di Intercultura a Novara, così mi hanno aiutato in quel mese.

Quest’anno è stata un’avventura con momenti alti e momenti bassi. Ho imparato così tantissimo che posso portare a casa quando parto. Ho imparato non solo come sopravvivere da sola in un’altra paese, ma anche come crescere attraverso le difficoltà. Ho imparato che ogni giorno è speciale. Dopo ogni giorno trascorso, io mi sono trovata a riflettere su tutte le nuove cose che ho fatto che non ho mai fatto prima. In questo modo ho imparato che ogni giorno è speciale, anche i momenti piccoli sono indimenticabili. Ho imparato come essere empatica, ad avere una mentalità aperta, e come vedere il mondo in un modo diverso. Ho imparato come vivere in Italia.

In questo momento, alla fine del mio anno in Italia, mi sento triste, ma anche felice… Spero che non dimenticherò l’italiano e tutto quello che ho imparato. Spero di continuare a comunicare con la mia famiglia italiana, perché sembrano come una seconda famiglia per me. Spero di tornare in Italia in futuro.

Grazie a tutte le persone che ho conosciuto. Non vi dimenticherò mai così come non scorderò mai quest’esperienza.

___________________

Right now there are only three days until the end of my exchange. Above all, I feel proud of myself that I finished one year alone, away from my family, my friends, and everything I know. Before coming, I didn’t know a word of Italian. But now, with the help and the practice of my host family and friends, I can speak and understand almost everything in Italian.

My year here has been amazing, challenging, fun, adventurous, and so much more! There’s not just one word to describe everything I’ve done this year. I want to thank my host family here, who have taught me a lot about the Italian language and culture. My host mom, Marisa, is an Italian teacher, so I learned many new words from her. Every time I didn’t understand a word or phrase in Italian, she would always stop and patiently explain the thing that I wasn’t understanding. Even if she was busy she would always find the patience to explain these things. That’s why I think I learned more Italian during my last 5 months here.

The moments I will remember most from this year are the moments when I laughed. I laughed a lot with my Italian father, Pigi, who often makes jokes. I always laugh at how few “likes” get on Facebook, how small his phone is, and how he always seems to be sick!

The best moments of my exchange were when I traveled. My host parents took me all over Italy! I saw Lake Orta, Brescia, Alba, Reggio Emilia, Florence, Pisa, Cinque Terre, Portovenere, Parma, Sabbioneta, Mantova, Modena, Portofino, Genoa, Naples, Turin, Milan, Lake Iseo, Lake Mergozzo, Lake Maggiore, San Giulio Island, Island of the Fisherman, Zurich in Switzerland, and also the French island Corsica! I am so thankful for my host parents who took me to all of these places. It was amazing to see Italy. Now I know that every city is different, with a different dialect, different foods, and different types of people. I learned a lot from these trips even though I missed a bit of school.

I appreciate everything that my host family has done for me. From the first day I was with them I felt so accepted. They’re always friendly, honest, and they’ve never once criticized me or left me feeling bad or guilty about something. They always talk to me and ask me how I’m doing and how I feel at that moment. With them, I feel a part of the family.

The most difficult time for me this year was when I changed my host family. It was difficult because in this period of December I felt very alone. I felt like I had no one to talk to. Luckily I had met other AFS students in Novara, a close town, so they helped me through that month.

This year has been an adventure with both high and low moments. I learned so much that I can take home when I leave. I learned not only how to survive alone in another country, but also how to grow through difficulties in life. I learned that every day is special. After each passing day, I found myself thinking about all the new things I’d done that I had not ever done before. In this way I learned that every day is special, and that even the little moments are unforgettable. I learned how to be empathetic, how to have an open mind, and how to see the world in a different way. I learned how to live in Italy.

Right now at the end of my year in Italy, I feel sad, but also happy… I hope I don’t forget the Italian language and everything I’ve learned. I hope to continue to communicate with my Italian family, because to me, they are like a second family. I hope to return to Italy in the future.

Thank you to all of the people I met here. I will never forget you nor this experience.

Hallo! Last weekend I went outside of Italy and into the land of cheese and chocolate…Switzerland! My host family, two of their friends (including Elena, an english teacher that gave me an opportunity to give a presentation to her students), and I left on Friday afternoon and arrived 4 hours later in Zürich, Switzerland. My host parents have Swiss friends who live near the center, so we stayed at their house. Their house was beautiful!! It was full of antique furniture and little gadgets that they’ve collected over the years from family generations. They were very generous for inviting us to stay in their house. After we arrived, we went straight to dinner because it was already past 8! We ate at a nice hotel nearby. I ate a Thai curry with rice, but then had a stomach ache afterward. After finishing dinner around 11, we went back to the house and went to bed.

I slept really well in the cool weather, and my stomach ache had healed the next morning! We ate a formal breakfast of bread, jam, and strawberries with tea and coffee, and headed out to see the beautiful city of Zürich. The city was absolutely beautiful! Even though it was windy, rainy, and cold for the majority of the day, I still enjoyed every second. It’s a big city, but all of the houses and streets are really small, making the city look even bigger! Pigi and I rode the small ferris wheel that was set up at the time, it was amazing because we could see the whole city from above! There was a festival going on at the time, so we got to see dancing, music, canoe races, and food from all over the world. For lunch we all ate at a small Swiss restaurant in the city. We ordered raclette, a famous Swiss cheese dish. We were each given a small, palm-sized, square tray with a portable stove for all of us in the middle of the table. To make raclette, we would place a piece of cheese on the tray and than heat it up on the stove for a minute or so. Than take it off, scoop it out with a small wooden spatula on your plate, and then eat it with potatoes, vegetables, or by itself! It was truly delicious! After walking around the city a bit more, we took a bus back to the house and prepared for the night.

That night we went out again to go to a party hosted by another Swiss friend. She was celebrating the new ecological pool that she just installed. Her pool is incredible! On the sides of the pool there are plants that help to clean the water. Everything is organic, and toxic free, no chemicals inside. It looks amazing too, kinda like a pond, but cleaner!! The party was fun, there was a lot of food, people, and talking. At the end of the night all of us Italians watched the soccer game between Italy and Germany. By around 11pm there were almost 20 people gathered around the television! Sadly in the end Italy lost, but it was fun watching anyway.

Sunday morning we ate breakfast at another Swiss friend’s house, and headed back on the road for Italy. It was a really fun weekend, and I’m so thankful that I got the opportunity to visit yet another place during my exchange.

Here’s my new video for June! <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChD2X4kHyRo&gt;

This past weekend has been full of adventures! Let’s start on Saturday morning when I took a train to Milan. I met up with my friend Cecilia, another exchange student from Brazil! She went to Sicily with me for the exchange week in March. It was really fun to see her again after 3 months. We walked around Milan, visited the Duomo, the Galleria, ate gelato, and even watched a movie at the movie theater! This was the second time I’ve been to a movie theater his year. Compared to the first time in September, I would say that I understood a lot more Italian this second time!! We watched “Mother’s Day” with Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson, and Julia Roberts! It was pretty good! After a couple more hours of walking around, dipping our feet into fountains, and talking about our mixed feeling of going home in 10 days, she left for the metro and I met up with Tiantian for the night. For dinner, Tiantian and two of her Chinese friends took me out to eat Chinese food! We went to this restaurant that serves Chinese, Japanese, and Italian. So I got to eat food from three different countries that night! Sunday was a relaxing day, Tiantian and I slept in, she studied for her exam for college, and I listened to more of my book on tape with my new audible.com app. Right now I’m listening to “Delirium” by Lauren Oliver. Sunday night we ate Chinese again. On Monday I took a train from Milan to Novara where I met my exchange friend from Alaska, Cameron! It was so exciting to see her again and it was a nice break to speak english! We walked around Novara, shopped in shops downtown, and ate dinner at a cute pizzeria in the center of the city. It was such a fun night talking to her about this year, dancing to music on the street without a care in the world of others seeing us, and watching “The Edge of Love” together for 10 minutes before her falling asleep on me. In the morning Cameron and I cooked a vegan Indian Curry with couscous for lunch which was delicious! Luckily I wrote down the recipe for my fam bam back home. We than walked around the city again, and then I took the train around 5:30 for Pettenasco.

The long weekend didn’t stop there though! 20 minutes after I got home, Pigi drove me to visit Lake Mergozzo! It’s a small lake above Lake Maggiore and it was so beautiful!! To me, the town next to the lake looked similar to the town near the lake I live next to, Orta. It had the same cobblestone streets, cute shops and restaurants by the lake, and the same, colored structure of the buildings. We ate at a nice restaurant by the lake. I ate cold fish salad and fish ravioli while Pigi ordered cold fish salad with fish risotto. As you can see we ate a lot of fish last night! We had an extraordinary view of the lake from the restaurant, and there was a nice sunset in the distance behind the mountains. Today is a more relaxing day. I’m at home in Pettenasco, writing my blog, working on making my next video for the month of June, and watercolor painting. I just started working on a new watercolor of Lake Orta with the island in the middle. Hopefully it turns out ok, I’m using canvas paper so I’m not sure how the watercolor paints will turn out.

This Friday my host family’s generously taking me to Switzerland! They have friends who live near Zurich who are having a party, so we’re staying at their house for the weekend. I’m super excited and I’ll be sure to tell you guys all about it next week!

Good morning friends! It’s a beautiful sunny friday afternoon, and right now I’m laying on a lounge chair that looks out onto the sparkling blue lake of Orta. Today it is over 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) so it’s finally beginning to feel like summer. These past two weeks of summer have been pretty relaxing – sleeping in, spending time with my host family, meeting friends for lunch, and playing harp. Yesterday was especially nice because my host dad, Pigi, took me to see the beautiful “isola dei pescatori” (island of fisherman) on Lake Maggiore. We took a boat to the island and walked around for a while. Than we ate dinner at a cute restaurant on the island called “Hotel Ristorante Belvedere.” If you break up the word “belvedere” into “bel” and “vedere,” in english it literally translates to “beautiful” “to see.” I would say they got the name on point because the restaurant definitely had a good view of the lake!! For dinner we ordered salads and fish risotto. It was delicious! After dinner we walked around the island for a while and took pictures of the sunset. At about 9:30 we took the boat back to land and drove to a famous hotel in Stresa. There was a little party on the rooftop with music and tango dancing, so we witnessed that and ordered some gelato. Thanks Pigi, it was a night to remember!!

So yesterday was epic because I did something that I can only do in dreams…walking on water! Okay so maybe I didn’t literally walk “on” water, but it was pretty close. My host parents took me to an amazing exhibit made by the American, Christo Vladimirov Javacheff. He made the “Floating Piers” which are three long yellow piers that lead to an island on Lake Iseo. The exhibit is only there for 15 days, so I was lucky to see it! The adventure started on Saturday, when we went to Milan, picked up Tiantian, and drove to a hotel in Brescia. There was a music festival in Brescia that we saw, but than it started raining at the end. It rains SO MUCH here! We went to bed early that night because we planned to wake up at 6am the next morning. I was sooooo tired Sunday morning!! Luckily I got to sleep a little on the car ride to the floating piers. When we arrived at the lake it was already crowded, so we had to park a long way away and walk for 25 minutes. It woke me up though! Than we had to stand and wait in a really really long line for over 2 hours. It was worth it though!! When we started walking on the floating piers it felt like we were on a boat because we could feel it rocking back and forth on the waves. There were three piers, together making 3 kilometers long. We walked on all three of them, start to finish, and visited the island in between. The island was pretty big, and it was full of tourists when we went. For lunch we decided to eat up high on the mountain of the island to get a good view of the piers, so we climbed and climbed until we found the restaurant. Sadly, it was closed and didn’t take reservations. So we kept climbing because Pigi told us there would be a path nearby to get back down a different way. After another HOUR or so of walking, we finally found it. Thanks Pigi! For lunch we ate at the bottom of the mountain next to the lake. I ate a cold pasta with tomatoes and olives :)

It was a really fun weekend because I got to spend time with Tiantian and my host family and of course, thanks to Christo, I got to walk on water.

Good morning! This morning I slept in until 11am! I was super tired because last week I went to the end of the year AFS (intercultura) camp! Because I couldn’t make it to my region’s camp in Turin since I was in Naples, I went to this one in Reggio Emilia. It started on Wednesday when I went to Milan. Luckily one of my host mom’s friends, Nino, was able to drive me to the metro in Milan, where I met Tiantian! I got to stay at her apartment for the night because I had an early train in the morning. She was so nice because she took me to the restaurant Roadhouse to eat barbecue ribs and New York cheesecake! Thanks Tiantian!

Thursday morning was crazy! I woke up at 7:30, and Tiantain and I took the metro to the train station where I took a train to Reggio Emilia. When I arrived at the station, I was told to call the main AFS volunteer to come pick me up. However, she told me that I needed to take a “little train” to the main bigger station. So I walked around trying to find the “little train.” After asking two police men, a fellow who lived in the area, and two bus drivers, I finally found the “little train” which was actually just a normal bus. I got on and sat down and waited to be taken to the station. That’s when tragedy stuck. The bus went past the station! That’s when I realized I had gotten on the wrong bus. Thankfully when I got off at the next stop and asked an old lady where the bus to the station was, she knew the answer. Apparently I had gotten on bus #4 when I should have gotten on bus #5! Oops! Finally after taking the right bus I finally arrived at the big station where the AFS volunteer picked me up. She accompanied me to the even bigger bus with all of the other 70 exchange students. And that’s when the fun started!

I met so many new people on the bus ride it was overwhelming. But I gotta say, I did learn something very important from that 1 1/2 hour bus ride: Exchange students are some of the most amazing, open-minded, friendly, fun, and sweetest people you will ever meet. I’m not going to lie, I made so many new friends this camp I can’t even begin to say how blessed I am. I made friends from all different countries – China, Thailand, Mexico, Argentina, Croatia, Germany, and the list goes on and on. Thank you for everyone who made my time fun this past weekend.

When we arrived to the campsite I felt like I was back home in Arizona at our deserted cabin in the middle of nowhere. The campsite was two log cabin structures on the top of a deserted mountain far far away from any habitation! We all got settled in our rooms. I was placed in the smaller cabin. There were three rooms – two for students and one for volunteers. Each room with four bunk beds. What the craziest part was – there was only 1 bathroom for all 24 of us!!! WHAT IS THIS PLACE??? Luckily the volunteers agreed to use the bathroom next to the kitchen in the other cabin, so that reduced the amount of people. I as well decided to use the other bathroom because it was WAY to long of a wait in the morning to use the one in our cabin!! Another thing, I hadn’t brought my sleeping bag because no one ever told me!! Thankfully my friend Nicole let me use hers because she had blankets to use. To top it off, the food was horrible! Well, maybe that’s going too far, but it just didn’t taste like the real Italian food that I’ve been eating for 9 months. Hmm, now I’m scared to taste Italian food when I get back to the USA because I know it’s not “real” Italian. What if I ruined my love for Italian food when I came here? Oh god WHAT HAVE I DONE!?!?

Every day of the camp was long, but productive. We would wake up, eat breakfast, separate into groups of 15, do group activities, eat lunch, do activities with everyone, separate into groups again, do group activities, have dinner all together, do activities with everyone, and then go to bed. Now you’re probably wondering about the activities. Well, they were activities to prepare us for when we leave Italy on July 10. For example we would talk about our experiences as exchange students, how we overcame fears, how we adjusted into school, our Italian families, Italian culture, and what lessons we can bring back to our home countries when we return. Some of the activities were emotional, like the night we all sat in a circle in the dark with candles in the middle, and we each had to light a candle for every good memory from our exchange, and blow out a candle for every bad memory. Or the other night when we all had to lie on the floor in our sleeping bags and listen to calm piano music while one of the volunteers told us a story pretending to be us, narrating the emotions we will feel when we go to the airport the last day and leave our Italian families. Overall though I think all of the activities were very beneficial.

Than there was one day after lunch where we went on a long walk up the mountain to find “the lake.” No one knew where “the lake” was but we trusted the volunteers to take us there. We were all expecting this walk to be short and sweet, but we were wrong. We got lost twice, were bitten by mosquitos, and had to walk up the mountain over slippery muddy rocks and a long long road that seemed like would never end. It was a journey, but in the end we made it to the lake where we got a reward of cookies and apples. I calculated with my phone that we had walked a total of 6.5 miles with 15,306 steps to the lake and back. I think that’s something to be proud of!!

At the end of the camp on Sunday we all parted our ways at the train station. It was a desolate moment for me because after all of my friends took the same train back together, I was left alone having to take a bus and two trains by myself. What was even more annoying was that my first train was 20 minutes late, and then the second train had a technical problem. I ended up arriving in Verbania 4 hours later after leaving my new friends. And than I was late to my AFS departure dinner with Isabelle, but luckily I arrived just in time for dessert :)

Yes this past week did have it’s ups and it’s downs, but mostly ups! Although the location of the camp was crummy, I still had an AMAZING time! I met some of the most incredible people, I got to hear stories of their own experiences as exchange students, I learned so much about myself and my strengths, I learned how much I’ve grown this past year, and I met so many new people from different countries, some of whom I can call “life long” friends. Grazie per questo campo, è stato un piacere a conoscere tutti voi. È stato veramente una esperienza fantastica e indimenticabile con persone meravigliose. Vi voglio tantissimo bene.

 

On Saturday I returned from yet another amazing trip! This time I went to Naples!! Starting the journey on Thursday, my wonderful host parents and I woke up bright and early and drove to Stresa where we took our first train to Milan. After about a two hour wait of drinking coffee and shopping at the various shops scattered around the station, we took our next train to Naples. This ride was 4 hours long. Luckily the seats were pretty comfy so I was able to sleep and listen to music. When we finally arrived in Naples we got off the train and walked outside. It was crazy!! There were tourists everywhere trying to get taxis!! And everyone was yelling at each other, fighting over taxis, and speaking in “Napolitano”- the language of Naples. It’s still considered Italian, but they use a whole different accent and a lot of the words are in dialect. It was very hard to understand our taxi guy hahah his name is Franko. When we arrived at our hotel, we checked in, dropped off our stuff, and headed out to visit the beautiful city of Naples. We walked on the sidewalk by the sea and through the big city with small roads and small houses and small everything. It’s not a spacious city like Phoenix; all of the roads are very narrow, only fit for one car. There was graffiti EVERYWHERE and there were little shops and restaurants along the roads; to me it felt like an outside mall! There were tons of people! Mostly tourists, but now and again you’d hear a loud, over-exaggerated, weird-accent-italian voice in the distance and know they’re from Naples. We walked through the Gallery that looked like a small replica of the one in Milan, we visited several churches, we saw strange-african looking street dancing, and we ate the most delicious pizza I’ve EVER tasted!

The next day we woke up around 9, ate a breakfast of coffee, yogurt, fruit, and chocolate croissants, and headed off to see the rest of Naples. We saw the beautiful castle by the sea, and visited the mini art gallery inside with paintings of Vesuvius. Than we strolled along the sidewalk by the sea again and found a shop that rents those kind of family, 4 wheeled bikes where two people peddle. So we decided to rent one for one hour! It was so much fun!! There were two steering wheels but only mine worked, so I got to drive! Don’t worry AFS no need to panic there wasn’t a real engine so I wasn’t breaking any rules I wouldn’t even consider it driving don’t kick me out please I have my licence!!!!! Whoo I’m out of breath! Anyway….. we drove along the bike lane along the street, but a couple times we had some obstacles in the way so we had to get out, pull the bike on the sidewalk, and try not to run over any people! It was pretty fun :) After that Pigi and I got some gelato, and then we headed back to the hotel where our taxi man picked us up. He drove us to see the great volcano Vesuvius! However, after the long, and curvy journey up the volcano, we realized that there was nothing to see because it was so foggy and cold! Plus my host mom felt a little sick from the drive up. So we got back in the car and drove back down. I can still say I’ve been on a volcano though! We were hoping to see Pompeii after that, but everyone felt a little sleepy, so we headed back to the hotel to rest. First Pigi and I went on a walk around the city and ate a snake of mozzarella and tomato salad because we hadn’t had lunch that day, and then we all relaxed at the hotel. For dinner we ate at a restaurant by the bay. I ordered spaghetti with seafood which was delicious! The table beside us was two American tourists from Chicago, so I talked to them a bit in english.

Saturday morning my host mom and I walked around the city, looking at clothing stores and watching magicians on the street. Than we packed up our bags, hopped in our taxi, and went back to the train station for our first 4 hour trip back to Milan. Than another train back to Stresa, where we ate dinner at a nice restaurant with a stunning view of Lake Maggiore.

Today was my last day of school. I finished my year of Italian school!!! Woot woot! Be proud of me! Tomorrow and the next 4 days will be full of activities and adventures. I’ll give you sneak peak: Milan, Tiantian, Reggio Emilia, Camp

And with those four hints, be ready to read the whole story next week!

Also, if you haven’t already seen it, here’s my video for May: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-PvoVCUBWs&gt;

This week has been so exciting and full of fun opportunities! The day after I returned from Corsica, I was given the opportunity to teach Italian kids about the USA. I had already done it a week prior to Corsica at the school where my host mom teaches, so luckily I was prepared to do it again even after the long journey from Corsica. I gave my presentation twice to two classes, and I was able to speak english because it was for the english class! I also did a similar thing today but at a different school. Yesterday, however, I gave the same presentation 6 times for 6 different classes!! I felt like a movie star each time I entered the classrooms because all of the little kids would gasp, stare at me, stand up and say “Good morning!!” I guess the english teacher told them I was coming. It was definitely a good opportunity for me because I had never actually experienced teaching before, nonetheless teaching my own language to a whole bunch of 13 year old Italian kids!! I enjoyed it tremendously. Here’s a copy of my presentation in english: Welcome to the USA. I also made one in Italian when I went to Sicily: Benvenuti negli Stati Uniti

On Sunday my host parents took me to visit Alba, beautiful city in Piemonte, Italy. We had already gone there in February, but we decided to again because it’s so beautiful! After a 2 hour drive we finally arrived, and the first thing we did was deliver “tartufi” (truffles) to a shop where Pigi sells his products that he makes at the factory. We stayed there for a while, tasting wine and different truffle jams, spreads, and butters. I even helped make a sale because some english speakers from Australia came in wanting to buy truffles, so I acted as a translator! Than more english speakers came, this time from Texas! It felt good to be able to help them communicate. For lunch we drove to a nearby wine cellar and tasted different types of red wines, white wines, and a dessert wine that I loved. For food I ordered a selection of various bruschetta, salamis, and focaccias. After lunch we got a tour of the wine cellar. It was raining a little, and I saw a cute little puppy with a sad face in the courtyard. I felt so bad for him, so I gave him some love and took a picture with him. I really wanted to take him home he was so adorable!!! After the tour we drove around the area, looking at the beautiful surrounding vineyards and roses everywhere. We stopped at a couple small towns and walked around. This part of Italy really looked like the typical Italy that you would see in movies – rolling green hills full of vineyards, old churches and castles, wine tastings, tiny shops along the cobblestone streets. I really enjoyed Sunday.

Some good news, I’m going to Naples on Thursday for two nights! I’m so excited ahhhhh!!! So my next post will be sometime this weekend about my trip to Naples. Until then!

Bonjour à tous! This past week I got the opportunity to visit Corsica, France! It was a 7-day trip with my host mom’s school. Last month a school from Corsica came to Italy for a week of exchange. So this month this Italian school went to Corsica for a week of exchange. There were 42 of us total, including teachers. I feel so lucky to have been able to join them for this incredible adventure.

Tuesday, May 17: My journey started with waking up bright and early at 5:45am and taking 5 hour bus ride to Nice, France. We than hopped on a huge yellow ferry boat. Finally after 5 more hours of travelling, we arrived at the port of Bastia, Corsica, where our host families picked us up. I stayed with the same teacher we hosted last month when the French came to Italy. Her name is Gracieuse. So I stayed with her and her boyfriend, Floronce (I don’t know how to spell that sorry!! I just remember it sounded like the name of the city Florence with a French accent hahah!) at her house in the center of Bastia. They were both very generous to me last week, I was lucky to have stayed with them. Their house was really nice too! One thing I found interesting in the house was the bathroom. The bathroom consisted of only a shower and a sink. The toilette was placed in a whole different tiny room next to the kitchen! It was a little strange for me! For dinner we ate filet mignon, rice, and pancake things with cheese in them…they were pretty tasty actually!

Wednesday: All of the Italians got to sit in and watch two hours of french school. I got to see Gracieuse teach math, and Marie Ange teach french. It was interesting to see some of the differences between French and Italian and American school. We ate lunch at a little restaurant next to the coast and I ordered an octopus salad. Then all of the teachers (French and Italian) and I visited the tip of Corsica in the mountains. It was so beautiful and so green. I found that most of Corsica is very wild and vegetated. For dinner I ate at Gracieuse’s house and we ate leftovers from the night before.

Thursday: We woke up bright and early and hopped on a boat to visit Calvi, a town on the north western part of Corsica. The 3 boat ride was fine on the way over, no one got sick or anything. It was extremely windy in Calvi, I thought I would blow away!! We ate our packed lunches on the top of a mountain with a beautiful view of the sea. That’s where I took that picture with my arms out to my sides (on Facebook and Instagram). The boat ride back was brutal. Almost everyone felt sick, and some people physically became sick. There were huge waves which made the boat rock back and forth for 3 hours. At one point I thought the boat would tip over! I’ll put a video of it in my next video. When we finally approached land, we went shopping in the little shops around town. Sneak peak I got some presents for you all in the USA…You’re welcome! For dinner I ate tortellini that Gracieuse made, it was delicious!

Friday: In the morning the French and Italian students played volleyball together. I, however, with many other students, sat and watched because I absolutely cannot play volleyball and even when I try to play I don’t enjoy it. For lunch all of the teachers and I went to a little caffe where we ate crepes. They weren’t dessert crepes though, they were filled with vegetables and ham and cheese. Mine consisted of eggplant, tomatoes, and ham. I didn’t know what to expect from these crepes because I had never heard of non-dessert crepes. But I was pleasantly surprised when I put the first bite in my mouth. After lunch we met up the students and did a scavenger hunt around the town of Bastia. We were divided into groups of 4 or 5 students; I was with a group with 2 Italians and 2 French. Than we were given images of various sculptures or objects in the town, and we had to find each one and take a group selfie in front of them. It was exciting the first hour, but then got really tiring after constantly walking and climbing up stairs. They have SO MANY STAIRS!! For dinner we ate a buffet made by all of the host families.

Saturday: After sleeping in, some of the teachers and I went for a walk along the coast of Bastia where we saw 2 lighthouses. For lunch we ate spaghetti with tomatoes at one of the French teacher’s houses, and fruit for dessert. After lunch we went shopping in Bastia and then got ready for the long night ahead. We had a plan to eat dinner of typical Corsican food and then watch live Corsican music. So at about 7 o’clock Gracieuse and I left the house and drove 2 hours outside of town…I had no idea where ahaha. We ended up at a church somewhere, where we met the other Italian and French teachers. It was 8 o’clock, so we were expecting to eat dinner, but we were unpleasantly surprised when we were given a tour of the tiny town around the church first. The tour guide spoke Corsican, which isn’t the same as French. It’s more like a mixture of French, Italian, and Sicilian, so I basically didn’t understand anything he said ahah…only a couple words. Than we went back to the church an hour later when everyone was starving and wanting to eat. But again we were unpleasantly surprised when the Corsicans exclaimed that we would watch the live music first, and then eat dinner. I tried to ignore my growing hunger as we watched. Luckily I really enjoyed the music. There were 8 men who sang a cappella Corsican music. I had never heard anything like it before, it was very beautiful and unique. Finally at 10 pm we ate dinner. My starvation had diminished a little my then, but I still ate a ton of pasta and stew. We left the town at midnight and started heading back to Bastia to get some rest. Unfortunately it became blindly dark, and no one could remember the way back home. After experimenting with a few dirt roads, getting stuck in a dead-end, and asking Corsicans for directions, we finally made it back to Bastia at 2 am. It was definitely a long day!!

Sunday: I slept in till 11:45 because of the tiring day we had the night before. Than all of the teachers and I went to the beach!! We found a shaded, foresty area next to the beach where we had a picnic. Than we laid our towels out on the beach and sun-tanned. The sea was a beautiful, rich blue color and it wasn’t horribly freezing…only a little. As I walked though the ripples next to the sand I came across 3 purple jellyfish and 2 hand-sized crabs! It was a surprise for me because I had never seen jellyfish or crabs on the beach before, only in aquariums!! After the lovely day at the beach I ate dinner of pasta with chicken and curry sauce, made by Floronce. I then found the movie “White House Down” in english on TV, so I watched that before going to bed.

Monday: We woke up bright and early and took a 3 hour bus ride to Bonifacio, a town in the very south part of Corsica. It was organized to take a boat from there to visit an island nearby, but that plan was cancelled because it was so windy. OMG THE WIND!!! I’m not going to lie but the wind kinda ruined my day. It was so strong it was difficult to stand still, see with your eyes open, or hear anything happening around you. Good thing I had my phone to take pictures! Now I can look at them in normal whether and enjoy the view ;) We ate lunch on top of the mountain in the wind, and then visited the town of Bonifacio. I went around with some of the Italian students, and they showed me how many songs they knew in english. They know tons! I was impressed. I also taught some of them the english tongue twister: “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.” This one student named Alex actually succeeded at saying it by the end of the trip!! Than he taught me an Italian tongue twister: “Sotto la panca la capra campa sopra la panca la capra crepa.” I can say it, but not as quickly as them hahaha! After the bus ride back to Bastia, I ate a wonderful dinner of a mixed salad make by Gracieuse, and then went to bed.

Tuesday, May 24: We woke up early once again and hopped on the ferry back to Nice, France, leaving the beautiful Corsica behind. Than another 5 hour bus back to Lake Orta. After 12 hours of travelling we finally went back home. This trip was an amazing experience and it was organized very well. I’m so grateful that I was invited to tag along with the rest of the school. I had a wonderful time and learned a lot. Thank you for everyone who made it possible. It was a little exchange within a big exchange!