A nice little update on my life here

Hello again all you lovelies. Since I've last talked about my adventures in Venice quite a bit has happened. I still really like school even though I'm starting to get more work everyday. I spend the majority of my time there following the English teachers(there are about 6) around and talking to their classes. This lets them put their feet up, and allows me to meet more kids in the school. They ask me all sorts of questions such as "What do you think about Italy", "Have you chosen a soccer team yet"(I did, and I've decided to go with Inter), "what do you usually do when you're not at school", stuff like that. I even get to help teach the classes sometimes. My greatest fear is that they will point out a grammatical or spelling error(You've probably noticed that mine isn't that fantastic anymore) because I'm a native speaker and NATIVE SPEAKERS SHOULDN'T MAKE MISTAKES!!

I still haven't been able to use the photo lab to develop my negatives but the teacher promised me that after xmas break its all mine. This past week leading up to xmas break has probably been the most eventful because well alot has happened..I've gone to the theater twice with my school (I've seen the Mandragola by Niccolò Machiavelli and Hamlet) Going to see hamlet was an interesting experience because it was a one man(or woman )show, it was narrated the whole time by one person. Poor thing must have been exhausted by the final curtain. She spoke at a speed that would make auctioneers jealous so naturally I didn't understand much apart from "Essere o non essere, questo è il problema". I guess she was quite the little comedian though because she had the audience was laughing 80% of the time.

I've also had several lavishly lovely lunches(ahah try saying that 10 times fast) at my friends houses after school. Their moms would spoil me with fresh foccocia,lasagna,roasted chicken and vegetables,the works. This weekend, I took the train up to Monza for a Rotary lunch at a lovely Rotarian villa that had a church inside! I don't think I've told you much about the other exchange students here. The majority of the kids here are American, but we come from all around the country. I now know kids from California,North Dakota, New York, Oklahoma, Colorado,Arizona, Virginia, and Hawaii. We also have a lovely girl from Mexico,2 awesome Aussies,a sweet girl from Germany, and an adorable Japanese boy named Ryoto. Before lunch we went to mass in a very cold church without doors or windows(It was freezing in there but it was still, a really nice service). Later we defrosted in front of a large and in charge space heater,and walked up a set of stairs to a very big room with quite lovely architecture and ceiling art where we would lunch.Yesterday I went out for Mexican food with John(Oklahoma),Mary(California),Cecilia(Mexico),and Kailie(Aussie). As delicious as all the pasta and homemade bread that I have been pretty much inhaling since I've gotten here, we all needed a break, and a taste of something familiar that we all miss dearly here..SPICY FOOD. It really hit the spot. Thats all the time I have for now.. Pictures are coming soon to a computer screen near you.

venice pictures

La Basilica di San Marco!

I Italian dryers

one of my favorites

A black and white version of a similar pic up above

Genova

This is out of order but this would be the sign for the farmacia.You can find one here just as easily as a Starbucks in Manhattan

The ceiling of the first building

First of all let me apologize/grovel on my knees for this despicable neglect of my blog.I have no decent excuse other than blog-upkeep is tedious. But like I said thats not really a good enough excuse .

I will try to be more punctilious and I have a lot of updating to do because well, a lot has happened

About two weeks ago I got to go on a field trip to a science convention with my physics class to Genova. Although this initially didnt sound like my cup of tea(besides the possible oppertunity to see/chat/sneakily photograph with a trekkie)o but I went with an open mind,smiling face,and a bookbag full of duplos. The train ride there was one of my favorite parts because it reminded me of the Hogwarts Express from the Harry Potter Books.They had the little compartments,the lady with the food cart, the works. Once we arrived we took the metro for about 5 mins and we hurried off to the first building.Once we had arrived, we waited outside where my nostrils quickly became quite happy. In front of the building where we were waiting there was what appeared to be just another innocent little bread bakery.Did I mention they INVENTED FOCOCCIA IN GENOVA? I figured inhaling this bread of the gods(for the measly price of one euro mind you) was safe at this early in the day because the first building seemed just like every other Italian church. To my dismay this was waiting for me inside.

They got this contraption from NASA, and I really really wanted to try it but I was more interested in eating focaccia.

The rest of the day we walked around to different buildings doing physics things and eating. Lots and lots of eating. This weekend I'm going to Venice so that will have to be for another blog entry. I'll keep you posted!

School and such

Sometimes its hard to believe that I've already been living here for a little less than 2 months.I've made really good progress with my Italian. I don't speak any english I'd say about 91% out of the day. School is going good if not a bit boring at times,but its realy the people that make it fun. This is how a typical day goes for me.

I share a room with my host sister which I don't really mind because it is quite big. I wake up at about 6:45 every morning and slowly zombie like stumble into the bathroom to try to make myself look like a human being. Mind you I have to share that bathroom with 2 other girls and a Minou that is constantly parched so as you can imagine there is never a dull moment. I get dressed, and then go into the kitchen to make myself some tea. I eat an apple and some nutella with toast, and I'm on my way. The family I'm staying with loves listening to the radio pretty much 24/7, and almost all of the songs they play on all of the stations are in english. While I'm eating my breakfast I usually get serenaded by Sir Elton John,ABBA, Cher, or Madonna . Lisa and I take that lovely tram that I've described in previous posts for about 10 minutes and then we arrive at school.

My classmates are really really nice,and are what makes school fun and worthwhile. Sometimes Luca brings me bilingual magazines so that I can both entertain myself ,and actually learn something!

Anyway I'd bet that you'd like to see some pics

Cecilia and I. She is from Mexico!

MATH CLASS! : /

The tram

The elevator of the apartment

some more pictures

Milano at night

My school

One of my favorites!

Friends of my host parents have a BEAUTIFUL house right on the Lecco side of Lake Como.

What it looked like in the daytime

Italian school

I haven't written on this thing on awhile and I'm terribly sorry, but you must understand that I've been a bit busy.

I started school roughly two weeks ago. Let me just say that it is nothing that I expected, its better. The first day my host dad was nice enough to drive Lisa and I in instead of our usual routine of waiting for that lovely tram. As we approached the front gate I quickly realized that this year is going to be very different.All the kids wait outside until the bell. It was interesting to me that 80% of this city smokes even 14 year olds!! My school here is quite big, about 900 kids. We then went inside and met up with the headmaster who put the three happy little exchange students into their classes. There is me ,a girl from California, and a really sweet girl from Mexico. He was kind enough to escort me into my class,bring me to the front of the room sort of like a show and tell project, and introduce me to my fellow classmates and teacher in what I thought was very very fast Italian.

I'm taking all sorts of "interesting" classes here, Italian literature,philosophy,English language,English literature,latin grammar,architectural drawing,chemistry,gym,physics. I must admit that this is not my favorite lineup of classes to have to sit through and entertain myself for 5 hours but its all worth it because.......I FINALLY GET TO TAKE A PHOTOGRAPHY CLASS IN HIGH SCHOOL!!! I can't emphasize how much this excites me and I wouldn't trade this class for all of the duplos in the world. It starts on tuesday so I'll have to let you know how it goes.

When the class was over my desk was sort of ambushed/surrounded if you will by questions/and body heat from my fellow happy students. They were kind enough to speak to me in english as the Italians here speak very very fast. Some of the things that they were interested to know were "What are you doing here", "What do you think of Italy so far", "If you're from America why aren't you fat?" haha that sort of thing.

In Italy, the teachers move instead of the students so you get very tired of sitting in the same chair for about 5 hours.. You do get one 10 minute break though!

Most of my classmates are very nice. Last saturday we all went to see Hancock at the movies and lunch at Mcdonalds. Would you like to see some pictures? I'll write more later..

Valid proof that ITALIANS EAT MCDONALDS!!!!

Some of my Italian friends

My Lovely friend Sheila

week one

This has been quite a first week here. I'm sorry that I haven't posted sooner but you must understand that the days here are just packed. Because I start Italian high school tomorrow things are bound to get even nuttier,please understand that that is how I like it : )

So I've officially been living here a week now and so far I've loved every minute of it. My school doesn't start until tomorrow or sept 15. My host sister has kept me busy with a personal tour of her beautiful city. Although everyday was different, the morning usually went the same way every day. We would wake up around 9 or 10 depending on how long we stayed up the previous night. We would wake up, eat breakfast,and venture out the door into Milano.

I guess you could say Milan is a lot like Manhattan, except I think it's better. The architecture is nicer,the people are friendlier(although everyone smokes : / ),and its much cleaner. My first day here we took the tram which I don't have a picture of it yet ,but just visualize it for now. Its brown and wooden and very much a european version of the San Francisco trolleys. We got off and walked about a block from the tram stop and arrived at the famous Piazza dell Duomo. In it you can find the wonderful Duomo cathedral and Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. We also saw Castello Sforzesco which is this huuuge castle that I will load pics of later. It was built around the 14th century but it looks pretty good for its age . Around this time our feet were getting quite tired so we decided to find our way on home.

The next day we walked around a lovely little park about 3 blocks from our house and spent most of the morning walking around there. Italians love walking around which I guess is how they stay so slim and trim after consuming just about their weight in pasta and gelato.

The rest of the week we either spent the morning lying about in the house and then going out into the world or the other way around.

This morning we went to this really cool mall. Everything was outdoors which would have been lovely if only it hadn't been raining. But I still liked it. I got all my school things and hopefully am all ready to embark on another adventure within an adventure.

I love italy!!..some pics from my first week here

This is out of order but I'm still figuring out how to use this silly site.. Anyway this is the Duomo

My "window seat" on the plane.. It was alright though because I got to sit next to a really nice lady who told me lots of stories about  Milano

                                                                                   

                                                               

This would me Minou (say it like "me-new). haha He's quite the comical one as he daily guards "his" bathroom in this location from what he thinks are intruders. He also LOVES drinking out of the bidet which is quite strange in my book but really.. whatever floats his boat

 This is what I wake up to everyday!!! :)

This is one of the many pictures of the inside of the Duomo cathedral                               

Arrivo in Italia

Welcome to clares blog

This is what I will be using to update everyone on what I'm up to in my Italian adventures.

For those of you that don't already know I will be a Rotary exchange student for roughly 10-11 months in Milano Italia!! Since I graduated from high school last june I guess this is what you would call a "gap year" or an extra year squeezed in between high school and college.

Anyway, I arrived yesterday and after a short amount of confusion because of the language barrier I managed to go through customs find my bags and eventually find my host parents.

About an hour later I arrived at the house where I would be staying. I attempted to start unpacking my two huge suitcases but then my body quickly realized that it was 9 AM Italy time but twas 4 AM AMERICAN TIME!!.. After about a 3 hour nap my batteries were all recharged and I was able to take on la dolce vita full force.My host family here is very very nice and although we have a slight language barrier we somehow manage to communicate almost flawlessly with the help of my best friend il mio diccionario. They love listening to the radio and they even have it on during dinner. Speaking of dolces(or sweets) they have these amazing little cookies called duplo here,that almost entirely made out of nutella!! My stomach is in heaaven here and I never can seem to walk out of the kitchen without a smile on my face.. Thats all the time I have for now I'll write more later : )