Mid November - Mid December

So it’s time for my monthly blog. This month marked some major transitions in my experience. Some are triumphs, and some are setbacks.

I last wrote on my trip back from Venice and since then I have no new traveling stories because I simply have not traveled. My life has been purely home life where I have had my ups and downs.

The day after I returned from Venice, I returned to school and that day was incredibly significant in my year. School that day was incredible. We had what was called a “Class Assembly,” which is basically two hours where we don’t have class and talk about whatever we want. The class decided that the topic would be New Mexican life. So I found a bunch of little videos about NM and it’s culture. We watched them but then the class wanted to see EVERYTHING in my computer. They wanted to see all my pictures and everything. Needless to say, I said no. But still, we had fun. That day was so much fun and we took tons of pictures and had a grand time. The last class of the day was Physics. I didn’t pay a lot of attention because I don’t study Physics and I was using my computer. When we got home my mom asked me why the physics teacher was so mad. Well I had trouble understanding the question and then since I hadn’t paid attention, I simply didn’t know the answer. This frustrated my mom and something just snapped between us that has yet to be repaired. She decided that I wasn’t good enough in Italian and needed to study a lot more and use less than one hour of the Internet per day because when I use the Internet, I use it in English. I can respect just fine her wanting me to do better and maybe I do use the Internet too much, but it hurt me deeply when she said that I wasn’t good in Italian yet. I had only been here for TWO months and I was a great deal ahead of the other exchange students. We have been fighting this battle now for almost a month. We smile and are pleasant with each other, but in the end, we still are having trouble. I am actually doing better than some of the students in my class who are ITALIAN, in grades. It’s true they have more classes to study for, but I have to do it in a different language. And in classes such as math, I have a real disadvantage being a year in high school behind them and this being a math and science school. So I have worked hard this past month in school to be the best I can. I got a six (one of the highest scores given) on my history test. I always seem to get a five on the math tests. I do incredibly well on the English tests. And I’m keeping up pretty well in Chemistry. I have also started learning the Latin language, had debates about religion and my standpoint, and done many more things.

However, I must say, my mom’s insistence that my Italian needs work has motivated me in a very different way. I now speak almost, if not completely, in Italian. But I do so with my friends at school. This is the first major triumph. Before I would speak in Italian if I had to, but didn’t practice very much. Now I always speak in Italian. And I’m starting to talk more and more. I have held conversations for over an hour with people. And I talk about a lot of things. Usually it has to do with America and New Mexico and aspects of my life there or aspects of my life here. But I really can do it. Though when I get going, I can’t conjugate AT all. I’m always saying things in the equivalent of “He are gone to there.” The verbs are horrible! Usually people understand alright but look at me odd and sometimes I just have to repeat it. When I don’t know the conjugation but I know the verb I will say the person and then leave the verb unconjugated. Or sometimes I know the conjugation but not the actual verb so it will come out something like, “I must I study,” Instead of the goal of, “I must study.” But I’m getting there.

And I’m really starting to BE one of the class. Like, they joke around with me just as much, if not more than everyone else and everyday is happy. In fact, I’m ALWAYS happy at school. One day, I was depressed because I hadn’t done too good on a math interrogation I had done that day and was actually more upset about taking it home to show my mom than anything. Well the lovely Adriana was like, “Ok, come with me.” She got permission for us to leave the class and we went and got hot chocolate! How cool is that? I swear, I CANNOT have a completely bad day there. I just can’t hold a straight face. It’s just not possible. MY Italians, as I now call them, are some of the world’s coolest people. If I could just bring my class to America and New Mexico forever, I would never leave because everything would be so perfect. Italian boys have developed personalities that are completely impossible in America. The girls are different too, but they would be just fine in America. I honestly don’t think most of my Italian boys could survive in America. Which is just fine because they have declared war on America. They say that Italy is better!?!?! They are also always talking about this Columbus guy who just HAD to be born in Italy. He WASN’T the first to find America and most American’s don’t think that highly of him but they won’t listen and keep saying if not for him, us American’s would still be hoeing the ground. The other day I was fighting it while wearing a pair of sweats my mom bought me for my birthday. I didn’t realize it until it was too late but I was saying America was better while wearing a pair of clothes the equivalent of an Italian version of a big bold “American Eagle” T-shirt. Learned that lesson. But they are so great. On the last Italian test, I had an easier test, but I did better than Salvatore. Well the other day Antonino said to me, “Brianna, on the next English test, you help me. And on the next Italian test, you help Salvatore.” And even though they are always teasing me, they are looking out for me too. One of the teachers really doesn’t like me because I choose not to study him subject because I simply didn’t have time and it’s really detail specific. Well he is always yelling at me for absolutely nothing. One time I was using my computer, with his permission, and Salvatore, who sits to my left, showed me the work he had just finished and I nodded and the teacher yelled at me to close my computer because I was disturbing the class. Well the whole class was like, don’t worry about it, he’s crazy, ect. And I wasn’t too worried but they decided to take it into their hands and worked on talking with other teachers about it. Not just one person, but like half the class went to talk with the teachers.

Thanksgiving was far from traditional, but still spectacular. The night before I made a few short notes about the first Thanksgiving and then when the English teacher walked in, I asked if instead of doing the regular lesson, I could please talk about Thanksgiving. So he let me and helped me with translating the parts that not everyone understood. I then talked about how it is celebrated today and what it means and what not. Then during the final hour I was supposed to have an interrogation in Latin, but my English teacher got permission to take me out and have me present to the other year four class. So I presented to the other year four class. They understood more than my class but they were shy to talk to me in English so they always asked the teacher in Italian not knowing I understood. (Actually the next day I was with some friends and there was some guys from my class and from the other class together and one from my class called me over and asked me something and when I responded accurately the ones from the other class turned to the ones from my class and were like, YOU MEAN SHE UNDERSTANDS???) But after I presented to the other class I told them they could ask me questions about American life and what not since I hadn’t talked to them before. The first guy to ask me a question caught me totally off guard. “What about Louisiana?” I had no idea how to even start to respond so I gave a brief response about it and moved to the next question. I found out later that he is really into New Orleans and Jazz, so I get it now. But I had no idea then. Then I came home and watched the Macy’s Day Parade through the Internet.

Today, in fact, marked another significant event. Yesterday I bought last weeks Saturday Night Live Episode because I heard it was especially funny and because the host was Taylor Lautner. Well it was pretty dang funny and I was telling on of my friends here who also loves him about it and she wanted to see it. So on the bus ride home we watched it. Only it was in English so she didn’t get it. After each phrase, I would pause it, and then I translated it. That is pretty hard stuff because I have to explain the meaning behind the jokes and whatnot, in ITALIAN. That’s pretty significant.

The funniest event of the month had to be at a party I went to. The eighteenth birthday is a hugely significant birthday in Europe and there is usually a big party. Well I went with Adriana and Rossi. It took a while, but eventually, people started dancing. My last dance of the night was by far, the most interesting. I was dancing with Tania and some other girls with Luigi nearby when two guys come up, one kinda pushing the other. A few minutes later I figured out that I was now dancing with an Italian boy. Another few minutes later, my friends all walked off and I was the only girl left on the dance floor, and I was dancing with a boy I didn’t know and have never met before. Then another two minutes later I notice people talking and looking at me. When the song ended I just walked off because I had no idea what the heck to do. Within five minutes, Luigi and Antonino were talking to me about my new Italian boyfriend. It wasn’t until then that I knew officially that I had been dancing with him, because he never asked me to dance or anything and it’s not like I knew. A little later I was talking with Adriana when Luigi comes up and tells her about my new “boyfriend,” not only did she knew, but also it turns out he’s a friend of her boyfriend. But I know nothing else. And I have had numerous people ask me about him. I can’t even tell you his name. Hehe.

The final thing I want to talk about is my Italian maybe coming to NM. I want to organize a two-week program where they come to NM and possibly go to Cleveland. It won’t be easy to organize, but if I have help, the school said it’s possible. I would love to share my world with them, but it won’t be easy and I will need some help.

I’m pretty sure that’s all for this month. This is completely unedited because I don’t have time so I hope it’s not too horrible. My English has certainly lost quite a bit of quality in these recent months.