AFS Welcome Camp

Well, I guess it's time for another post. The big thing that happened this past weekend Thursday 18th-Sunday the 21st of October I had the orientation camp with everyone in the North East region. The "feelings circles" got old after a while, we went over the same things again and again. But when we had free time, that was the best! We hung out, played Foosball, cards, and sometimes volleyball. The people who have guitars played them, I love the sound!!! :D We sung a lot. Danced at night, Saturday was the talent show. Besides the super cold, it was a really really fun weekend. I stole some pictures of other AFSers from FB because I forgot to bring my camera to the camp...smart...oh well, hope you enjoy them!

Aren't we attractive??? hahaha Trine and me. 

Thailand, USA, Germany, and Paraguay (I think?) are all here :D 

The boy's danced to Gangnam Style for the talent show. They are posing afterword. 

South Americans...and Gokalp (with the glasses). 

Singing a Spanish/Portuguese song...I don't remember.

Foto

Here are some pictures from our trip to Venice with AFS yesterday and then there is one from Enrico (my host brother)'s birthday. It is hard to imagine that I have been here for a full month. I am very proud of how far I have come with the language. I am still usually confused in class, but when I am with my host family, and they talk a little slower, I understand most of what they are saying. 

It's not just in movies...ahh so beautiful!

Piazza San Marco

Piazza San Marco

One of my close AFS friends. Flora. She is from Brazil. <3

Mangia Pane!

So, I was going to wait until Friday to post (because that will be exactly one month since I arrived in Rome), but I have had many requests for updates, and I did want to tell you about some really really weird stuff I ate today.

I had lunch at Nonna Carmen's house like usual, I was basically done, and then they told me to try this stuff called "mustarda". It looked like apple sauce  and they told me it was like marmalade but very spicy  I assumed they used the wrong word, and were describing the cinnamon in the apple sauce being a spice. So I took a normal sized spoon full and WOAHHHH MAMMA! That was like eating a chunk of wassabi (that green stuff you get with sushi)!!! Geez. Nonna Carmen, Nonno Loris, and Alessia were all laughing at me. Apparently my face was really red, and they said that I probably felt the spice coming out my ears. Then they pointed to bread and were like "pane! Sara, mangia pane!" So I frantically ripped the piece of bread in front of me trying to get the darn taste out of my mouth. After a few minutes of "mangia pane" my mouth was mine again. It's so weird how when you eat something like that all your brain can register is what you are feeling/tasting. It takes deep thought to figure out how to get rid of the taste. Anyway, I am fine now, but that was an intresting experience to say the least.

Other than that, I did not do much this week.Let's see, what did I do last weekend? Saturday the 29th I went to Anna's (a girl in my class) birthday party at BBQ in Tribano. That was fun!  Last Sunday the 30th, I spent the day with the host family at Enrico's rugby tournament in Treviso, then later arround 5:30, I went to the piazza (center of town) with Michela (another girl in my class) and we got gelatto and walked arround.

As far as the language goes, I am still really struggling, but every day gets better. I randomly can pick up what people are talking about, but usually I just stand there in the circle of friends looking at everyone, trying to find words I know. I still don't understand much in school. I always look forward to english class, listening to everyone's english, smiling when they struggle with a word or use the wrong one (no, I'm not being mean, I just think it's cool how people learn a language. I do/will do the same thing many times these first few months). I also taught my class that there is a BIG difference between ice hockey and laccrosse. I love how you have to explain things like this to them, things that everyone knows in the USA, they don't always know but they want to know. It's cool :) My math teacher is really helpful. She offered to work with me one period that she did not have a class because she noticed that the way she teaches math, is different from what I am used to and she wanted to help me.

Well I think I will go get some gelato now. :) Ciao!

Italia: Day 18

Wow, I can't believe I have been here 18 days! Next Friday will be 1 month! A lot has happened. I guess I left off on the first day of school! Wow, what an adventure! The first day was only 2 hours, then the rest of that week school  was 3 hours. Then Monday the 18th started with the normal days of school. It was kind of funny because only my English teacher actually knew that I was an exchange student. Diletta had to say "Lei  e americana, non capito italiano." Haha :) Well, since then, I have been mostly doodling in class. I enjoy (well, sort of) math and physics class. English is defiantly a breath of fresh air. The teacher is constantly wanting me to talk more because everyone wants to hear my perfect English. That stresses me out, I am like "Just talk, try not to make any grammatical errors, you will be fine." But I have come to realize that no one really cares if I make mistakes in Italian (or English I guess). Every morning I walk into class and hear multiple "Ciao Sara!" it feels wonderful! Italians are so friendly, my new friends want to include me in everything. This past Saturday night my friends and I went to down town Monselice. We got ice cream, and hung out. Then the Sunday before that, there was the Medieval festival. In the morning there was a parade. Diletta, Elisa, 3 of the 4 other Sara's, Samuele, and many of my other friends were in it.  Then in the afternoon there was this horse race where the rider carries a pole and tries to catch a giant ring. The horse/rider that gets all 3 rings, and finishes first, wins! Hmm would you like to see some pictures?? They are on FB, for those of you who know me personally, but if not, here you go!

Also some things I have noticed:

-no one uses mechanical pencils (besides me) in school. 

-you can buy bread at the store that is soft (like normal) or super hard...I think its dehydrated or something.

-place settings (fork, spoon, knife) are put on the right side rather than the left. I learned this the hard way, having my fork stolen a few days in a row. Then I figured it out!

-normal binders have 4 rings, not 3.

-drive super fast! (and, it may just be my family, but if you sit in the back you don't need a seat belt...I wear one, but the boys don't.) 

- you drink coffee in super small cups, with lots of sugar.

I shall add more later! 

Ciao! 

Italia!

Well, after 5 days of travel and various orientation, I arrived in Padova at about 2pm on Sunday. Ever since I arrived in NY I go through phases of reality and dream. Every time I go to sleep I am surprised to wake up and not be in my room at home. I constantly have to remind myself that I AM in Italy, and I will be here for 10 months.

I will tell you what each day has been like so far. Let's start with Wednesday, travel and first day (well more like afternoon) in New York.  

Wednesday was full of fun, I met all of the people I have been talking to on Facebook from the USA for the past few months. They were all so nice! I also met a ton of new people going to Italy, Spain, Portugal, Egypt, Ghana, France, South Africa, and Turkey. Talking was not awkward at all, it was so easy, and we were all going through similar emotions (which is why the volunteers had to calm us down a couple times haha!) The group of 30 Spain students was by far the loudest, but Italy was up there too. Later in the evening we played "people BINGO" which is where you have a bingo sheet with different things like "has gone to Disney world" "can stand on his/her head" "is on a soccer team" "will dance in front of a large group for 1 minute" you sign in the box that is true about you on other peoples sheets, you try to get BINGO with other peoples names. Then we watched a AFS video, had a few different talks about safety, and other information like that.

Thursday morning we had a few more random instructions and then the afternoon was just chill time. In the evening we left for Switzerland from the Newark Airport. Dinner and breakfast on the plane was not awful, but I like the food here better. (hehe) Most of us only got an hour of actual sleep, but about 4 hours of shut eye time.

Friday we arrived in Switzerland, and had to rush to get through security, the place where they stamp your passport, (because we had a little less than an hour before our plane left) and we all fast walked to the airplane. We made there on time! We arrived in Rome around 2 pm, but we had to wait like an hour and a half to get on the bus because one of the girls lost her cello and another her suitcase. It was funny because we saw AFS Thailand, Poland, and some other country in the airport when waiting. Finally when we figured out the bag was in Switzerland and would be mailed home we organized ourselves and walked to the bus. At some point we arrived in Rome. I recognized right away Mikael, Anni, Neea, and Jòn. The rest of Friday was kind of just a party, we all talked. Bedtime was scheduled for 11 but was not enforced at all. I went to bed around 11:30 because I was so exhausted!

Saturday was a day of actual orientation. We were given information, but we also sang songs and played games. Most of the games had an objective to either  have us practice talking louder, or get used to touching and being close to people. It was really awkward at first, but then we just kind of went with it. For example, in one of the games the volunteer would say a statement (like,"who has more than 3 siblings" or "who likes fashion")  and if you were answering yes, you would move to the next chair. If there was someone in the chair next to you, you had to sit on their lap. haha

Sunday I woke up at 6 AM to be on the bus to Roma Termini (the Rome train station) by 7:15. Well...that was the plan, but we left 20 minutes late. haha Italian time...no, more like disorganized people. The train took about 3 hours to get to Padova Train Station. I gathered my bags, and was not completely off the train before I was greeted with "Ciao Sara! Mi chiama (fill in the blank)" and hugs and kisses. Finally I found my way to my host family, people I actually recognized! A few minutes later i found out that there was not only my host family there to greet me, but also my tutor (liaison) her daughter, and my host uncle Manuele. When I got home, there was a sign "Benvenuti" (Welcome) on the stairs. I went upstairs to put my stuff away, and a few minutes after I came back down, I was greeted my more people! My other host uncle whos name is Fabio (No mom, I am not joking) and mia Nonna e Nonno who were Alessia's parents. Later came Fabio's girlfriend.

Monday Daniele, Enrico, Nicola, and I went to the Posta to get some AFS paperwork exchanged, then we went to the police office to hand in another paper, and then we went to tour the market!!!! :D Mi piace (I like) the market!!! It went on and on. They sold fruit and veggies, cheese, fish, and clothes. Later that afternoon we checked out my school. It is old, but in a charming way.

Today I spent the whole day at my tutor's house. Before i go on explaining their names, I shall tell you that she has 5 children. I met her daughter Diletta (who will be in my class), her son Samuele (a senior in high school who went to the USA last year), and I also met the two younger siblings...names are not sticking right now. I also met Diletta's friend Sara (apparently, including me, there are 5 Saras in the class this year...quite confusing.) They were all sooooo nice! I had so much fun!

Well that is it for now, tomorrow's adventure is the first day of school. Only 2 hours!!!!!!! Very amazing! The rest of the days will be about 5 hours.

Ciao!