It was the 3 day weekend of Carnivale (thank goodness) and I had a lot of fun! Even though Carnivale is much bigger and cooler in Venice, it was still good in Treviso. :D There were colorful parade floats mainly having to do with the history of Italy or random themes such as Betty Boop with popular party music.
A lot of the dancers were in high school and I guess they choreographed and made everything in their free time.
My family and I stood on the side of the streets to let the floats pass. It was awesome seeing everyone in costumes! (Well except me, I didn't have a costume. :( ) There were so many boys dressed as girls, haha. I even saw Snow White as a man, complimented with bright highlight yellow heels of course. He worked it.
The dancers were fantastic, too! I just wished I could've dressed up as Waldo like I do the United States...
One of the things that actually surprised me about festivals in Italy is the confetti. Ok you're probably thinking duh there was confetti, but everyone throws it at each other. Like in your face throwing. I didn't have confetti so I was just running through the streets being pelted. At first it was all fun and games until I found out it was hard to brush off! I was finding it in my clothes for days and in uncomfortable places! *awkward cough* Yeah...
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My study habits are becoming ridiculous. My brother found me sleeping face first in my Italian notebook because I was exhausted from studying. Look at that dedication! I work so hard. :)
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I decree AFS USA should show this video at all parting orientations from now on.
It's already February 19th! I'm over halfway through my exchange.
I'm so happy I've made it this far! :)
I've had good and bad days. I'm really going to find it hard to leave Italy in the end.
I remember being depressed for three days. That's actually a really long time for me because I'm never depressed! I didn't want to get out of bed, I wasn't happy, it just seemed like Italy had caught up with me. I didn't want to speak in the different language anymore because everything just seemed so tough. I didn't want to go to school and always miss out on jokes, I didn't want to do the homework I didn't understand, I didn't want another day of studying only to feel stupid again. I was feeling impatient with everyone around me, and blaming everyone because they wouldn't know exactly what it's like to be a foreign exchange student unless they've experienced it themselves. I didn't even want to talk to my AFS tutor.
Then my feelings passed. It's either my silly teenage brain or just a down slope of the AFS roller coaster. I feel better now but if it happens again I'll snap myself back up. Maybe part of the reason I was depressed was because I wasn't drawing. I usually draw a lot but I noticed a long time ago, if I don't draw I become really angry.
I'm also starting to forget some of my old habits that I did in the United States. I couldn't believe it! The other day something in my brain reminded me of my weird old house activities (Such as wearing stockings on my head, etc.) and I asked my self "I really use to do that?!" Italy is really changing me. O_O
Such as turning me into a fashionista. I never used to care if something looked good on me and I would walk out the house looking like a bum. But when I go out I make sure I look orderly. Unfortunately, Italians do judge appearances which is annoying. Many people don't hesitate to stare with googly eyes if you look different. Me walking around town as a Gryffindor with an Afro doesn't help my situation much. Haha
I'm also starting to get over my fear of germs. It's just inevitable in Italy. It really is. Everyone coughing in their hands, sqauty potties, etc. I'm just done.
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On the language.
I'm doing really well! My AFS whatever-they-are-I-don't-care-anymore/the old ladies in charge of my Treviso group aren't so happy with us. They said we're the year of disappointment and that our Italian isn't good.
I can only sit and laugh at them. Really. I'm not seeing the problem no matter how hard I try to look at it from their perspective. I feel my Italian is awesome. I can speak with people, I can read, and listen sufficiently. My only problem is when people speak to me really fast which is absolutely normal. (Come on, it's the same in the English language, too. Someone speaks way too fast you're not going to hear what they say. ¬_¬;;)
But for some reason these volunteers are always angry.
I'm done with them for now. I've received many compliments from Italians saying my Italian is great and there has been much improvement since I arrived. And I always make an effort to improve everyday! :) So I'm happy with what I'm doing, I'll take it they're just being cranky.
I've forgotten so much English. It's actually an effort to sit here and type these blogs. When I speak English Italian words slip out in every other sentence! I'm going to have reverse culture shock back in America! :D
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I'm so proud of myself. I have officially reached a third grade reading level in Italian!
This book is difficult! haha
Once you know all the rules and tons of vocabulary, read a book. The magic just unfolds and you learn SO MUCH.
I find the Italian language similar to some other languages. I'm beginning to understand Spanish and French, too! I read some Spanish and I'm able to comprehend a bit of it. One of my friends was speaking in French to me, which I've never studied a day in my life, but I understood every word she said! So I guess you can learn one romance language learn em' all right?
Also I received my school Pagella (Report Card) for the first half of the school year. I actually did well! :)
I'm judged on a different format than the other students at my school. I'm kind of confused why AFS would rate me on how much slang I know though...? Makes me wonder about them sometimes. Graded on a scale of 1 to 5, I'm mainly average, but they should go up in the future.
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At the beginning of February Italy experienced a Siberian Wind with temperatures below normal. It was so cold! Everyone said I was lucky to come to Italy and experience something so unusual. Haaa no. I would've been happy if it was snowing, but Treviso just received fast winds that made it difficult to walk to school.
I was so mad when I went on Facebook and saw a lot of my AFS friends' statuses saying "One inch of snow, yeah, School Closed!!!!" And some of these kids were in SICILY. :( Which is definitely in the South. But in the North where I live, closer to the mountains, its barely snowed enough to stick!
I had to go further north in Conegliano to experience the beauty of Italian snow.
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Many AFS students of my Veneto region met up in Venice exactly a week ago. Coincidentally it was also the opening day for the oh so famous Carnival! Many people dressed up in fancy gowns and masks. So beautiful. *sniffle*
Smurfs!
It was so fun! Something like a nerdy anime convention except in a whole city. Many of us hadn't seen each other since the October camp, so you can only imagine how loud we were screaming in joy. I was so unbelievably happy to see everyone again! And I learned some interesting things about everyone else and how their experiences are going.
Heh, in this is only one of the small groups of us! We raided Venice!
We even had a "Let me see your funky chicken" (anyone affiliated with AFS should know this) dance flash-mob in Piazza San Marco. It was hilarious. Everyone thought we were crazy.
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I recently had to cancel my video blog. I was just too busy for it. I'm still managing to keep up with this blog, I don't plane to give it up, but documenting in this way is good enough for me.
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I've been trying to get into Italian music for more learning and here are some of my faves. It's actually hard to find Italian music. American music is way too popular over here!
(You'll have to watch these on YouTube. This website is weird. =| )
Celeste -Laura Pausini
Dentro Ad Ogni Brivido -Marco Carta
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In all Italy is still expensive even with the prices "on sale". Which is basically the equivalent to buying something at a normal price in America. I want to do some shopping while the sales are still here but I always have empty pockets!
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Yesterday I had my first show! For skating. :) It was cute. I was so nervous! My parents took pictures but they weren't so good. I'll just show you the decent ones.
Since it is the weekend of Carnival, we had a party after and everyone dressed up in costumes to dance. I got a picture of Minnie mouse!
Time for the weekend. We're finally staying in the house for once on vacation! :D Ressssst!
