First post in Italy

Hey guys! Sorry this took me SO long to post, but I’ve just been SO busy with school and life and just everything. Unfortunately this is rather short as well. (Compared to my diary that holds 30-some typed pages for 21 days) But I will give you a brief look into My Great Italian Adventure.

So lets start with the beginning. After a long and tiring flight we arrived in Rome on the 12^th of September and went with AFS Italy to the hotel where all the exchange students were. 450 exchange students going to Italy this year! The doors there are kind of tricky so I immediately locked my self out of the room and had to go ask for help. If you have been an American in a foreign country, you probably understand the look I got from the hotel people and the AFS people who unlocked my door: dumb Americans. But really those doors are different. There is an old regular key so would think that after you unlock them they stay unlocked. They do from the inside but not the outside and how was I supposed to know? Anyways, after taking a quick shower and drying my hair I one of my roommates and I went out to mingle. At first there were only people there from Finland but as other groups were released we met more and more people and I distanced myself further and further from the American. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the Americans but I made and effort to always go up to random groups of people and talk to them since almost everyone spoke English. Only a few people from South America didn’t that I know of. It was so much fun. That night however was horrible as my buddy roommate switched with another girl because the other wanted to be with my third roommate and the brought out a bunch of hard vodka and invited another girl and some guys into our room. All of them were so loud and drunk, and puking and smelly and it was horrible.

The next morning we slowly said goodbye to everyone as they departed on their way across the country. I left at 12:30 in the smallest group with no Americans. We were taken to the bus depot where were sat on the sidewalk for about an hour before four of us were removed from the group and put on a bus. It was Sylvia from Austria, a boy from Turkey, a girl from South America and I. Sylvia and I really hit it off and because quick friends.

Meeting my host family was so awkward but easier than I thought. They were very friendly. We drove to my apartment and after dropping off my stuff went downstairs for dinner. I cannot begin to tell you how traumatizing the first few days were. I had no clue what I was doing or if I was doing it right. And I could remember nothing! They must have told me things a thousand times that I still didn’t understand. Everyone was so nice (there cannot possibly be more instantly friendly people on the planet than the Italian people) and I was really happy to be there, I just didn’t understand a thing! At all.

I think the hardest day was my first day of school. My host mom is not only one of my teachers but she was my very first teacher. She had me make some presentations to show the class about America and me. First she talked about me and then she called me up to the front. Normally I am a very good public speaker. I’m always a little nervous but I get by. I have no clue how I came off that morning. It was so horribly scary. I had no idea what to say or what they thought. After the presentation they instantly gave me such a warm welcome I felt worlds better. They asked me questions and I showed them my yearbook and I moved seats to sit next to Filomena and Illeana. Our second class was Latin and we started right away. Their Latin is so crazy hard! You wouldn’t believe it and they have been studying it for three years already. Even the Latin teacher at the end of the day asked if I spoke Latina and when I said no he said I hope you can find someone to help you. Then we had math class. My teacher and the students kept putting equations on the board and asking if I knew them. Well I wasn’t sure because they looked familiar but with different variables so I kept saying I don’t know. I was right, I did know them. But I didn’t know then. My last class of that day was Physics. I sat through the entire class without the slightest clue what class I was in. The teacher spent the whole lesson talking about me and AFS and its importance. I knew she was talking about me but that was it. It was someone else who told me more about it but even still I have no clue what she said at all. Not the slightest really. When she was reading off the attendance she got to my name, tried, swore, than in a frustrated voice and tone said, “Whose name is this and what kind of name is this?” Of course it was in Italian so I didn’t know. They explained it to her but even still NO ONE here can pronounce my name correctly. Ireland too. The entire class went to Ireland on a school trip and they still cant do it. Mamma Mia! I love the way they pronounce my name; they always roll their Rs and all but its just SO funny that they can’t say my name to save their life. The school day ended after four classes and then I went with some of my new friends to the little café nearby.

By the second day I had figured out who the smartest girl in class was, or at least the best in English and went to sit with her. This amazing girl is called Elettra and is the smartest girl in the class. She is so much fun and I just love her so much. She reminds me SO much of Pongey! Everyone in my class is amazing though. They are so funny and filled with life and just amazing. Everyday the boy who sits across the aisle from me shares his sandwich with me.

Going to school on Saturday was so hard; it IS so hard. It’s not right! They just go without thinking about it, but it kills me. Everyone studies so hard all the time here. Everyday they study like crazy. Just imagine studying for finals everyday. And that’s it. But on the weekends (Saturday night and Sunday) they party and enjoy life.

So the food here is SO amazing. I can think of only one meal that there was a portion I swallowed with serious effort. My mom is SUCH an amazing chef! I think it would be really interesting her against my natural mom, they are both so good. Although my natural mom is mom eclectic while my host mom is specialized to American food. But everything is amazing. And the gelato, is, well words can’t describe it. If you like Tiramisu just wait until you try it as the perfect ice cream. I really am getting so crazy fat. Fast. I try and work out but I always have to study and do this and that. It seems the less I try to eat, the more I do! I just love it too much.

Even though everyone studies like there is no tomorrow they have such an innocence like I have never seen before for students in their fourth year of high school. I really love it. Today in class during break there was a boy and a girl dancing the tango in the back and in front of me there was another boy pulling a girls hair because she stole something of his. They act like middle schoolers! I love it. It is really the funniest thing. And it’s so odd to me. I have been to two big parties since I arrived that had DJs and dance floors and where people do dance and have yet to one really physical dance. It’s just wonderful! Who would have ever thought that parties that have drinking and smoking outside are so G-rated? Also, you know that point we all reach when we realize what all our music is really about, well Italian music isn’t about those things and they don’t really know most of the words to the American music but the sounds so no one has any idea what they are singing means. And on several occasions people have asked me the meaning of what they are singing and I’m like ummm….. yeah I can’t say.

Italians ask very direct questions directly too you. Normally, this is very easy for me; we tend to do the same, except on our opinions on people. Elettra introduced me to her boyfriend and then son after, in his presence asked what I thought about his body. I had no idea how to answer. I knew my thoughts but such a direct question was just so odd to me. Another time was when I was sitting with some friends waiting for the bus and one boy asked me, “Do you enjoy being with me?” I do, because he acts like an American boy far more than anyone else here and so I’m more comfortable with him but once again it was just so direct. I played the lost in translation card. =) I could give you so many examples of how they are just so direct. I just can’t answer those questions. At least not straightforward and directly. If we want to know what someone feels about us in America we might ask them but in a more subtle or private way.

So I had to address it sooner or later because I know it’s really the only reason most of you are reading this: Italian boys. While I think their average is higher than in America, they don’t exactly live up to the reputation the world has set. At least not in my small little town. There are a few, but not really. But the big thing is they act SO different. I’m not kidding. If they came to America I’m sure everyone would assume they are gay from the first day, but they are not, they are totally straight. And if they are, well Italians are very accepting of them anyways. They are so nice and helpful. I think a major difference between Americans and Italians is that in high school we date to love and be loved whereas they are dating to find a life match. Most of the girls in my class who are dating and dating men in their twenties, it’s no big deal here, and the boys are very open about how much they love their girlfriends. I don’t know (I don’t think) of any couples where both are the same age or in the same class. It’s definitely very different for me.

My school: talk about culture shock. Cleveland has smart boards in every classroom, microphones and laptops for every teacher, and four brand new computers in every classroom. My school here has transportable chalkboards and 10 computers older than I have ever seem before in my life in the entire school. My classroom has two large wholes in the walls about a square foot or so big. Around the desks the walls are covered in graffiti, as well as the chairs and tables too. When people want to explain something to me they just write on the desks without a second thought. If they want to throw something away they aim for the trashcan and if they miss o well. While I do love the people in my school very much, I miss both the Cleveland campus and the American way of teaching.

Last week on two occasions I went with people from my school on a “school field trip.” It was not sponsored or approved by the school but my parents said it was ok. I rode the regular bus to school and then got on a chartered school bus to the two different locations. Both were “cities” no bigger than in area than a small town. Theirs population was about the same as Rio but we walked across the entire town in less than an hour. They were SO beautiful I couldn’t believe it. All I did was stare at the buildings. It turns out that that was a good thing because in one of the towns the student group I was with got lost and it was me who was able to recognize when we chanced along the right path.

For now, thats all there is to it. Actually there is tons but there is not enough hours in the day to write them all.