Random Blurb.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Watched Glee Season 3 episode 1 today. The show has changed SO MUCH, but I'm still oddly enough in love with it. :)

My favorite scene, Blaine Anderson's audition to New Directions. (The sync is a bit off, but it's still good.)

Ofcourse there is drama this season BUT

 Kurt and Blaine are just so perfect and hilarious. <3

Forget everybody else.

Anyways, I'll stop spamming about Glee, let's move on.

---

I've noticed there are a great amount of old people out and about, active in Treviso. I'm so used to old people in the States being in nursing homes and not much in public (or they have walkers and move very slowly). Old people in Treviso ride the bus, walk all around town, and ride bikes, even if they have walkers or move as slow as turtles.

I'm not use to that. Maybe it's because Italy is a much more healthier place than the US, so older people have more energy...?

---

Italy doesn't have squirrels. I haven't seen these furry little creatures around and asked to confirm my suspicion. I wonder how tree seeds are spread around then...

---

I always learn lessons the hard way. Today, I finally figured out vending machines don't give out change. In America I was so used to just getting my extra coins back I would stare at the machine and wait for the money to come out. I do that here and everyone thinks I'm having a staring contest with the vending machine.

---

Before a teacher walks into the classroom, you have to stand up for them, like you would in a courtroom for a judge. Then the teacher tells you to sit down and the lesson begins. Haha it feels like musical chairs sometimes, just without all the music and moving...

---

I've been observing, and I've also noticed, Italians talk really loud (and fast!!). Especially on the phone. If you're 20 feet away from a person, you can still hear their conversation.

When I pick up my cellphone for my mom, I always have to hold it about 5 inches away from my ear cause it hurts. And people raise their voices at me if I don't understand something. As if yelling will get your point across even better....

Sometimes my brother speaks Italian so fast, he has to take a breath in the middle of his sentence, and I'm like: "Calm down, we're not going anywhere." O_O

---

And life moves one. Ciao!~ *wave*

Overkill

Ok, we get it Canova, you're better than everybody else. You don't have to continue to rub it in.

Canova is a high school where many kids of doctors and lawyers go, so of course their school is going to be a little more endowed than a school like mine. I go to "Duca Degli Abruzzi" and basically my school is hobo central compared to Canova. Haha

Many Canova kids I've talked to  have a supercilious attitude about them. I nearly slapped my brother upside the head when he lifted his nose in the air and said "Ha! Next year, I'm going to Canova, and my sister Sara didn't. I'm better!" Pssh, boy please.

Sure they have a moat and a fancy garden and beautiful architecture, but my school has uh... something they don't! I just haven't completely figured it out yet!

Anyways, the differences continue on with Italy:

Trash

Someone with OCD created the Italian trash system. There are five different ways you can throw away your trash and it's so easy for the Italians. Here's the classifications I've seen:

• Paper
• Bending Plastic Recyclables
• Non-Bending Plastic Recyclables
• Non-Edible Non- Recyclables
• Edible Non-Recyclables

And there is probably more I don't know about. But one thing is true: I don't know how to throw away trash anymore. I'm hoarding my junk next to my bed until I ask my mom, "How do I throw this away?" I feel like I've been starting from square one as a child in Italy all over again.

It's also the same trash system at school. There are directions on what goes where, but it's in Italian of course. Good thing there are pictures, although I still can't tell what goes on in them...
I have to  look both ways down the hallway to see if no one is there before I lift up the trash can lids to see what's inside them. It's  kind of embarassing to not know how to throw trash away. One time, some girls at school saw me looking in the trash and I bet they thought I was some poor teenager that snuck in. Haha aaaaaaawkwaaaard.

One day I'll learn how to throw away trash again.

Language (Of course!)

Last week, my mother was showing me around town, encouraging me it was very easy to navigate. She said, "Dai, Zakiyya! Dai!" which is the equivalent to "Come on, Zakiyya! You can do it!"

To me, it sounds like "Die Zakiyya, die!" And she had such a happy face when she said it, I'm just staring at her in horror like "Why, Mom?! Why do you want me to die?!"

I translated it for her and told her what it means in the States, and she was like "Oh, hahahaha, woops."
We had a good laugh afterwards. :)

Now I'm hearing "Dai!" everywhere. I have to get used to it.

Clothes

Ok so I already told you alot about clothes and how girls don't wear anything but pants. Todaaaaay, I saw a girl wearing shorts! I'm seriously about to turn this into a game, like the "How-many-Justin-Bieber-haircuts-can-you-count-in-one-day?" game I play in the States.

This is going to be entertaining. :)

Oh and another thing about Italy, is that you can totally wear the same shirt for 3 days and no one will say anything. I've been wearing the same pants for 5 days. Haha Oh normal.

Maybe later I'll go deeper into fashion...?

Cinema

So the Cinema in my town is pretty nice. (I'm the closest Intercultura Student to it! :)) I went to see i Puffi (The Smurfs) on Saturday with my litttle sister but I didn't understand anything, so I fell asleep.

That tends to happen a lot nowadays. I don't understand anything, so the solution is sleep.

But this Cinema has a book store inside. O_O Interesting. Oh and there are assigned seats in a theater. You choose whether you want to be closer to the screen or far away. I guess there is a computer system that chooses wisely because we weren't too crowded in the cinmea next to other people.

In the middle of the movie the screen went blank and I was like, "Oh my gosh, Italy has bootleg movies like America! Haha!" But turns out it was just a 4 minute break so people can go to the bathroom, throw away trash, etc. Very clever. Never thought of that. They don't want you to miss your movie. How nice. :)
---

Yesterday I woke up and my dad comes in my room and says "Hey, Zakiyya, we're going to the mountains!" Yeah, please tell me in advanced next time so I don't have to be surprised. Haha

(I am so used to planning out my schedules and days, but in Italy that has completely gone out of the window. I still bought an agenda anyways.)

So, I went off to the mountains (2 hour drive, me sitting in the middle between two cranky children, on swervy roads FML) but it was worth it. The mountains were fun! I met more friends of my parents and their children. One of them really likes America, especially Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch.
She wants to go to New York. (I'm definitely not one to crush dreams but, why is this so normal now?)

These ducks were evil. They yapped at us so much and we weren't even that close to them. And they bite, too!

Creepy tree face in forest

It was also Davide's birthday so we had frosted brownies.

I don't exactly know the name, but it's basically Spinach Pie. Don't judge it by looks, it's delicious. *u*

I felt like I was in Switzerland all over again (♫ It's a small world after all~♫). The houses were so cute and the mountains so green. Everything inside was decorated red though, because apparently red is the color for mountains in Italy.

Mountains are cold. And it's only Fall right now. I can only imagine Winter! I'm going back in the Winter with my family for fun. The hillsides will turn into something resembling Perfect North Slopes in Indiana (YESSSSSSS!!), and I'm going skiing. Wish me luck and hope I don't break a leg. :D

---

I went to a Catholic Festival for my church on Friday and it was very fun. I met some of my older sister's friends and they were very friendly.

My mom and dad say I have a quality that allows me to get along with anyone I meet. Haha, so they
think. Truth is, I am very socially awkward, even in English. So me trying to speak Italian = 100 times more socially awkward. *sigh* Hopefully I will grow out of it one day. I share great a great sense of humor with many, but in Italy no one really gets my jokes except the Intercultura kids. Oh well, I'll
try a new method of funny.

Plus tasty food is always a bonus! I had pasta, and I was supposed to have fries but the waiters forgot all about the table we were sitting at. I was really looking forward to those french fries since I haven't had any leaving America. :( We didn't even get our money back. >_>

---

Why the heck are there tanning salons in Italy?!

---

Some good and important qoutes I would like to share:

"The worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with yourself." -Mark Twain

“I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not.”- Kurt Cobain

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” -Dr.Suess

---

Ciao, A presto! :) <3

diversi e lo stesso

I tried to avoid blogging by holding off on updating for a few days. I kind of feel like I am spamming you guys with a bunch of Zakiyya's crazy thoughts. haha///

It's been about 10 days of me in Silea and I'm just now feeling the culture shock. Odd.
On the surface, at first, there seemed to be nothing really different about Italy from Cincinnati apart from the traffic and architecture influence. Though it seems I'm starting to notice the differences...

warning: sarcasm ahead.


School

Yeah, I think I'm done complaining about the School for the Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA), now. School here is the epitome of boring. And most schools in my town are BROKE. I thought SCPA in Cincinnati was broke before, but woo, I had to see it for myself in Italy. Goodnesss gracious.

This probably isn't true for all schools in Italy, but here's the deal with mine:

90% of my school smokes. It's really cool to do so apparently. I hope I don't die from second hand smoke.

There is no such thing as air conditioning and heating in my school. You wear the proper clothes you need to be comfortable in. (Which puzzles me immensely because EVERY teenage girl in my town wears scarves and pants to school when it's freaking 85 degress outside. No joke. I was the only one wearing shorts today, too.) Obviously they aren't burning up in them.

No projectors. There is like one projector in the school if  the teachers really need it, it's old, and you have to roll it around the school to get it to your class. But other than that, we use bootleg chalk and a chalkboard.

Teachers are the ones with lockers, not the students. Also, teachers are the ones who move from class to class. Unlike in Cincinnati there is no exercising fun for me to go to other classes, unless I don't have to stay in a certain subject in my room. You're stuck in the same room for about 5 to 6 hours a day.

Classrooms aren't decorated  with anything. Maybe a boring map or a list of school rules, but other than that, you're in a jail cell.

It's just the student-to-teacher relationship. No, "Hey, how's your life going?" "Trouble at home?""My son/daughter did this, it was so funny, I'll tell you guys the story..." The teacher just comes in and talks, writes on the chalkboard a couple of times, and continues to talk about the lesson and leaves. All while expecting you to just write down what they say. Sure, they say something funny from time to time (Well, I can't understand it, but the other students laugh, so it has to be something funny.) but it's still boring.
SCPA is literally a happy fun town compared to the school here. It's so hard not to fall asleep in class.

No books, you buy your own. No library either.

One chemistry/physics and computer lab for the whole school.

You eat breakfast and lunch at home. You bring a snack for the 15 minute break time if you want.

Some teachers just don't show up to class, and you have to do another lesson.
School goes from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM for now. Italian schools are more disorganized than Cincinnati Public Schools at the moment, so everyone goes home early. Schedules change erratically and everyone in my class rushes to jot down the new times or places to go. But when things calm down, we will be stuck in school til 2:00 PM. Don't be angry though, I go to school on Saturdays and church on Sunday so NO MORE WEEKEND. Haha Yay!

Girl to boy ratio  is 5:1 at my school. So many girls in a Linguistic (language) school, because let's face it, girls are much better at talking than boys. All the boys are located next door at the Technico school because it's a more of a hands on type of school. Ratio is pretty much the other way around. Plus that school has a cafe. Jealooooooussssssyyyyyy.

My class is really nice though. They're very friendly and even  though we can barely understand each other we still all really get along. I had everyone give me their birthday, so when it comes around I'm prepared to draw something for them. They really appreciate it. I have to make an effort somehow...

I also have class buddies. Two different people every week have to take care of me (haha I'm such a child here.) and they tell me about Italy or what's just going on in class. This week is exciting because the two people I'm with have a lot of the same interests as  I do.

Oh and many kids are obsessed with or want to go to America. O_O It's insane! There's so much American flag print clothing it's ridiculous. There are a lot of kids who "dress like" Americans, too.

Buses/Transportation

Yeah, I'm done complaining about the buses in Cincinnati, too.

The buses here are so crowded. Like Tokyo train crowded. But even here that isn't normal.

Lately many people have been losing their jobs in Italy due to our wonderful economy, and there has been a huge amount of budget cuts, hence fewer buses for more teenagers. We all run for the buses and try to be the first people on so we don't get left behind and become late for school. I would've taken a picture of how packed we're in the bus, but my hands are always crushed at my sides or holding on to a bus rail to steady myself from the bus driver's pericoloso (dangerous) driving.
It's an adventure every morning getting to and from school alright.

There's going to be a protest coming in October to try and get things settled out, so haha we'll see how that goes. I can't go cause it's apart of AFS rules and I prefer not to be sent home early. :)
Also, on the express way, there seems to be no speedlimit. And there are barely any cars on the express way. Scary.

Church

Pssh, it's only been a little over a week and I've already been to a baptism for a family I didn't even know. Apparently it was for a friend of my parents, but it sure was cool.

I had no clue what went on when I used to go to church in the States with English, so you can imagine me helpless in a Italian church. It's pretty much the same type of ceremony just in Italian language.
You also don't have to dress up in my town. Well, I'm sure as long as you don't look like a bum, you're permitted to go, but casual is fine. :)

Children



Many Italian children are the champions of whining. ಠ_ಠ
My little brother and sister are on the verge of tears EVERY. DAY. I KID YOU NOT. At first I thought it was just them, but it turns out a lot of AFSers have younger siblings who cry to get whatever they want. There are the very few exceptional mature or shy kids who don't cry at all though.

My mom in the United States would've slapped me silly if  I cried for something I wanted. Kids here cry and Moms are like "Sssshhhh, ssshhhh, it's okay, I'll get you your favorite toy later."or "Instead of this you can have this.""Oh we'll get ice cream later, everything's fine."

All I can do is stare, mouth agape.
Anger in Italian is hilarious. Whining in Italian is the most annoying thing I've ever heard next to loud gum chewing. Harsh but true. I'll just deal with it for now. =\

Fun Facts

1. The English songs on my iPod sound different to me now. I have just been hearing Italian and broken English and there might be something wrong with my brain. All I know is the English just sounds really odd to me now.

2. I have an Italian accent when I speak broken English now. I guess I just picked it up around my friends. But when I'm with people who speak normal English, I have no accent...? What...?

3. Italian house streets are very similar to Japan's.

4. There are many pet chickens and cats walking around alleys.

5. Many cars here run on Natural Gas.

6. There is no such thing as CHEEZ-ITZ and no one has ever heard of them. :(

7. If you're 16 years and older you may drink alcohol. (Oh I wonder how many AFSers will abuse this...? =\)

8. Wearing jackets is a cool trend, especially when it's scalding hot outside. Atleast you'll look fabulous while having a heat stroke.

9. Many shops opening very early, close around noon, open again at 4 PM, and close again at like 8 PM. CAN YOU SAY USELESS?!

10. Boys can walk down the street with their arms around each other's waist or hold hands because they're best friends. Haha can't do that in America without being called something vulgar.

11. Public affection is intense. I'll just leave it at that.

12. There is one McDonald's in my town and teenagers are obsessed with it because it's so "American".

13.There is a manga/japanese cafe! And there's Hetalia merchandise. I'm good to go.:)

Heh, Italy sure is different. xP Still awesome though. :) Goodness, I'll have a more optimistic post later.

If you love someone...

set them free to let them almost get hit by a bus.

Ah, yes this little birdie was set to travel into the town of Treviso today. Bus style. My mom wanted to test my skills getting to where I need to go without parental guidance. Anyone who knows me in Cincinnati can guarantee I can't give directions to save my life. On a scale of 1 to 10 with me trying to figure out where I need to go I am -6.

But the solution to Zakiyya's problem is a map. Go figure. Still got lost, but I wasn't totally helpless.

Of course in the previous post I told you I am not particularly good with Italian traffic, so checking a map and walking at the same time is a bad idea. Especially when the map is specifically constructed for tourists, you could definitely tell I blended in so well. Oh and hence the part where I almost got hit by a bus. I tried to blend in by not giving a crap about how and where and when I cross the street because that seems to be the way the Italians do it downtown. O_O OMG EPIC FAIL. NEVER AGAIN. I'm going to try and be more street smart.

When I asked one lady what street we were on, she said "Non so." I don't know. I was kind of surprised. Even some people here aren't officially sure where they're going I guess. Haha but I'm back and later tonight I have to do the same thing except find the AFS group I'm supposed to meet up with in a Sqaure. Sort of like downtown where I live, it's called Fountain Square, but here in Italy they have like seven or more of those.

Oh and does anyone know how to upload a .WMV video file on to YouTube that is over 100MB? Because NoobTube really doesn't want to cooperate with me, and I've been trying to upload this video for days. I want to show you guys some of what I've been doing and I didn't edit these videos for nothing. lol

Oh and boys seem to be gentlemen in Silea. Cause when I went out with my neighbor/friend to get some ice cream (he brought his friends along with him too, [Or they were coincidentally just hanging out there, who knows?]) and he bought my ice cream for me. I was like "Uh what are you doing? Don't I pay for this?!" His response,"Tranquille! Tranquille!" Literally means "quiet", but here it is used as, No Problem! No Problem!
Whaaaaaaat? Definitely does not happen in America unless you are going out with said person. I'm going to just take it a kindly gesture.

Haha his friends weren't half bad either. They had the stereotypical Italian personalities in a interesting way. Not like the boys at the airport in Zurich. =/ They made fun of each other ("Haha, you're gay! No, you're gay!"), and I'll just take their word for it. I can't use my gaydar much here because the way the boys dress, I can't even tell sometimes, though some do dress like American boys.

some boys like korean boy bands over here. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHAHHA

I'm seeing A LOT of American Flag prints on designer shirts, helmets, bikes and everything. And I'm hearing American music randomly blasted in cars, too. It's crazy, the influence America has on culture.

Oh also studying abroad you are "well-known" and people really want to know you. And on the risk of sounding like a totally cocky douchebag, if you say you're American people really really really want to know you, in most cases. I've gotten a couple dirty looks already, but oh well, gotta keep on rolling. That's their problem if they think all Americans are what the see on TV and other media  (THANKS JERSEY SHORE. People keep asking me if I know Pauly D and the Situation, wtf >_>) and they don't want to get to know me.

Well good luck to me for the rest of the year! :) <3 Italy is beautiful!

Daily Fun

Well I wouldn't say daily just yet. But I've been on a record of hanging out with my siblings. They are so fun! I keep my bedroom door open to let my family know it's okay to come in and talk to me (well, except when I'm asleep.) or my siblings can play, even when I am typing and editing on the computer.

My little sister Marta is an artist genius. She has her own drawing sketch book with everything from watercolors to cool markers. Marta is pretty much doing stuff I wouldn't even be doing at her age, I believe. She knows how to lay down colors for her art and when we work on art together she has the most specific plans in mind! Plus she has a unique technique. My art teacher in the US would be very happy to have Marta as a pupil. I haven't run into many children like her. Very funny and helpful to be around.

Marta even teaches  me about animals through her cute books.

While we work on sketches and paintings, we listen to playlists one of friends made me. Much music I wouldn't listen to on a daily basis, but it's awesome, from Lady Gaga to Vampire Weekend. lol

I also went biking with my father today. Surprisingly the town is simpler and smaller than I thought. I guess it was just overwhelming at first. But yeah, biking is one of the main transportations around here in Italy!  HUGE difference from where I live in the US. Haha no wonder everyone here is quite skinny and fit. Besides the fact that the Italians here eat many vegetables and fruits.Whenever I would try to lock up my dad's and my bike with those metal chords and keys, I would have so much trouble trying to tie it around the bikes because it wasn't long enough. Everyone who passed me on the streets would have a look like "Wow, how pitiful." Lol it was bad. I got used to the locks but it took a few embarrassments first. I haven't rode a bike in over a year- neither with a lock- give me a break.

Traffic with cars here is weird! Seriously, I'm not used to cars that actually wait and let you cross when you are standing at the side walk. They let you and your bike pass into oncoming traffic and just hope to fate you don't get hit by a car. I'm usually the only one freaking out about this though, cause it's still confusing! I'm playing FROGGER with my life everyday. O_O My parents just gave me the privilege to walk Marta to school ("P-P-Pauroso..." S-S-Scary...) which is only right down the street, but traffic freaks me out man.

Walking is also another form of transportation widely used. And the BUS especially! I went into downtown with my mom today on the bus, and it's just about as downtown you can get with a GREAT Italian influence. Pretty much the pictures you see anywhere on the web in Italy, is basically what my town looks like. I didn't take any pictures today but there is a whole year ahead to do that later. So many alley like streets! As I was walking with my mom with the map to go to school today (not technically for school, but for preparing my classes like meeting teachers, filling out questionnaires, and meeting my tutor from England.) we went through so many alleys and I had to look at my mom like "Are-you-crazy-we-can't-go-down-that-street-looks-shady" type of expression.

But apparently walking down suspicious alleys is normal in Italy so whatever.

I met my two neighborhood boys who go to my school today. They aren't in my class but they are really friendly. Atleast I know in person who goes to my school now. One of them even offered to get some Gelato (Italian Ice Cream) with me tomorrow. How kind. :)

Now off to watch football with Davide. xD  He is in love with the Milan team.

Frittata FTW.

-sigh- I hope the good times will be here to stay. ;)

Finally.

I met my Host Family today after traveling by train for 3 hours and 42 minutes. It was ridiculously hot outside but that didn't stop me from being nervous as I suddenly remember earlier that morning I would be meeting the people I have only seen on the internet for months.

On the main train from Rome to Florence it was crowded and we being rushed by a guard telling us to get on the train faster by yelling in Italian and being just plain noisy. BECAUSE BLOWING  A WHISTLE IN SOMEONE'S FACE ALWAYS GETS THE POINT ACROSS, NUFF' SAID. ಠ_ಠ An AFS Assistant who was with another group had to rush over, ("No! No! Non Capisco L'Italiano!" No! No! (They) don't understand Italian! ) for us. And he still kept blowing the whistle, so we all ran to help each other jump on the train and threw our luggage in fire hazard like places and proceeded to a complicated train ride of fun. Atleast it was air conditioned... but along the way, many of us were displaced and had to run along the train compartments to find different seats because we apparently had the wrong ones.

All in all I quite frankly think it was a good first experience on a train. The beauty of the passing scenery definitely made up for it.

But as we dropped AFS students you could see many Italian families swarming them when they got off the train to greet them for the first time and it almost brought tears to my eyes to see how excited everyone was to meet their student. I think it made me start contemplating how my family would greet me. The remaining students who had to transfer to another train, such as myself, had to run up and down stairs repeatedly until we got to the correct boarding station. It was so hot and I started shaking because I  didn't eat any of my lunch. I thought I would have passed out from heat before meeting my family! :(

But we had to run to the trains before they left us, and it was another event of throwing luggage in fire hazard like zones. Haa I have video of that, too.

Finally, the Treviso people were at the last 20 minutes of their destination to meet their families. I truthfully didn't know what to think. Actually, I thought this day would never come. 5 days or traveling from Cincinnati, OH and I was finally in Treviso, Italy. Omg.

Before the people even started letting us off of the train me and Facundo from Paraguay started screaming with excitement together. I think we annoyed about half the people in the train, but we were too high on exhilaration to even give a hoot.

Millie from California screamed, "There they are!", it turned into one of those fairy tale moments I didn't believe in stories until now, when my heart was literally about to beat out of my chest or I was going to pass out.

The doors open and along with many other people screaming with the AFS students in jubilation I see my "little" brother Davide with a camera in his hand screaming "Zakiyya!" (Surprisingly pronounced correctly!) with the happiest expression ever. I put "little" in parentheses because I was expecting a little brother who was the typical sibling and short. Davide is just as/or shoot, maybe even more taller than me! And he is only 12. LOL I bet he's popular at school with the ladies cause he's cute. :3

And then I saw Momma Bruna and ditched the luggage to tackle hug her. She is a sweet heart! Then I see Papa Carlos with little Marta on his shoulders with a sign she made saying "Benvenuti Zakiyya!" in colorful letters! I looked around saw everyone also doing doublecheek kisses with their families and screaming and smiling so much while laughing. The Italian families cared so much I started crying because I did some Happy Math. Exhaustion + Hard Work + Happiness = Tears of Joy. Yeah I tried to stop crying but I just couldn't. lol I think I realized my friends, family, and I worked so hard to get to where I was that day and it was so worth it. And it was only just the first 5 minutes of my 10 month journey with my family.

All the Italian families kept coming up to the kids saying "Ciao!" more double kisses and talking about what they wanted to do later. The AFSers had to avoid me ("Zakiyya, you're going to make me start crying!"). We took our pictures in the train station, had a mini cool ceremony across the street in the park, then went our separate ways with our host families. We're definitely going to be seeing each other though again in a month for an orientation. :)

My neighborhood is beautiful! And so is my house, I feel like I'm living in IKEA, yeah it's that swanky. And the sign on the front door Marta and Davide made was so cute! I get my host sister Sara's room while she is away in Costa Rica for a year. Her room is bigger than mine at home and it's might as well be part office. Haha, there's even a scanner so I scan my sketches.

 

Before I went to sleep from exhaustion I was offered Gelato (Oh, I simply could not decline!) and then had a nice nap. After I woke up, I played with Marta and Davide. They are so kind, I enjoy their presence cause they talk to me and have their sibling rivalry in mostly Italian. I understand partly what they are saying, too and I have been communicating with my family really well! And then later that night we had Italian pizza around the corner. IT WAS REAL PIZZA. Haaaaa you eat it with a fork and knife. O_O And it was delicious. I even kept a Sprite can in Italian. The pizzeria seems to be a nice hang out spot for Italian teens, too... Hmmm... ;)

New York and Rome :)

OKAY  I LEARNED MY LESSON BLOGSPOT. After typing up a post for 1 hour, save drafts freaking repeatedly or Firefox will randomly crash on you and leave you NO HAPPINESS. GAH FOOKING COMPUTERS IT'S NOT THE TIME FOR THIS. ಠ_ಠ
SO, to calm my anger I will make a shorter version to what I did before. Ugh. I am angry now with technology.

We prepared mainly mentally with talks and encouragement at the New York Orientation with the American kids before they leave to Italy. Signing contracts, raising our glasses to a toast for fun and simply chilling around to get to know each other. There were also quizzes about the world and AFS and my team almost won! Unofficial question in the end, and someone from the other team shouted out the answer so they won while we were still properly thinking, wtf. xD

The notorious AFS American ver. shirt

Getting Ready to leave Hotel

An Ice Breaker Game

Through Security

On Bus

Taking Pledge

Toast to pledge

Team "WIN" for AFS Global Quiz

Page in "Wreck this Journal", my favorite one :)

"Wreck this Journal", a book that tells you how to destroy it. I swear it's anger management. I would like one for Christmas. :)

Me and Annie :)

Jake, Malcolm, and Zakiyya :)

Me and Renee :)

After having a New York Orientation, the AFS Group flew off to Zurich, Switzerland aka Heaven (Well, it might as well have been that!) in 8 hours. The houses were so tiny and cute and the grass very green. It was something off the back of a postcard. I was seriously expecting Disney Characters to pop out of nowhere and start singing "It's a Small World". The Airport may as well have been a cute green farm, too. Looking out of the window at night on a airplane, I saw the most stars I have ever seen ever in the sky and it was so pretty! Some of us stayed up all night (Basically, a sleepover on the plane since we left at 9PM and arrived in Zurich the next day at 10AM).

Oh and at the Switzerland airport we met the very stereotypical Italian teenagers. Well they were football players and around or older than our AFS group's age. We saw them through customs pointing and smiling at us and coincidentally again when we discovered they were going to be on the same flight as us to Italy. They were really cute but they acted like the were 14. Making kissy noises, cussing for the girls, dramatic hand movements, and complimenting dramatically.

They sat down right next to me in the handicap section cause all the other seats were taken  up by luggage. And the AFS girls were trying to get my attention to talk to them and so were the Italian boys because they kept pointing at me and saying "Italia?! Italia?!" But the outside of the airport was too beautiful and I had to reluctantly tear myself away from staring. So they discovered we were part of an foreign program, I got them talking even though they didn't speak English well, and the many of the girls swarmed for pictures. The AFS boys had the "O" shaped mouth and the look of uninterest that said "Wow-_-". Haha I don't blame them though. It got really old and annoying after awhile.

But we flew to Rome, Italy (took an hour) to ride a bus for another hour and stayed in a Youth Hostel. (I've only read about them, it was so cool to finally stay in one!) From there we met many AFS International kids for the Orientation. Many Ice Breakers were played such as "Let Me See Your Funky Chicken" and "Big Fat Pony". I have them recorded but those will be put together in a video some other time.

I met so many people it was fun! At first the other American kids weren't mingling but they came around. :) It's so much cooler to meet people from different countries cause  you realize how cool some are. Many are down to earth and you learn some cool stuff! <--- Obviously someone is good with vocabulary//// XD fail

It was a fun Orientation and we only got to spend so few days together. The next day, Sept. 11th  we would be traveling to see our Host Families. :)