something new!

I'm back to this blogging thing after popular demand, and a few tar and feather threats. I have quite a bit of catching up to do for you well because quite a bit has happened. About a month ago I changed into my second host family out of three in total. My new family is really nice and we seem to be off to a great start.That might be because my new house is HUGE! It has 4 floors,a movie theater screen,an elevator,two kitchens,tons of bathrooms,you get the drift.All are quite interested in art,music,movies,and photography which is a nice plus. The family consists of Fabio,Chiara,and three kids. One is doing rotary exchange in California

I have 2 older host sisters Valeria 21,and Sylvia 19 who both did rotary exhchange in America a few years back. Probably my favorite thing about this new house is that it is so close to my school. Anyone back home who has ever been given the dangerous challenge to try to wake me in the morning ,can imagine why this excites me so much because I get to sleep in just that much longer. I really don't know what else to write about so I'll just post some pics for now.

My bathroom

My bedroom

I keep my promises.. well sometimes

During new years, I was invited to go up to Lago Maggiore with about 8 of the exchange students to stay at one of the girls host parents lake house . It was a great way to kick off the new year

Outside view of the 4 floor,7 bathroom,2 kitchen,palace
One of my artistic shots
This is Mary,from California
Mary and I

PRETTY
The swimming pool behind the palace

That be Switzerland in the distance!
And a horse of course

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