Cheater Cheater Strawberry Eater, yum

It seems foreign exchanging wants to stay in mind a little longer. I love Italy and all, but my original destination was Japan. Haha so after college, my next stop should be a gap year in that country!

But I've opened up a new options for college since I've been here with AFS. My list so far: England, Canada, New Zealand; California, anywhere with nice weather, good animation (or in general good educational) colleges, away from Cincinnati.

There we go. I have a plan to get me somewhere.

I can't wait for college. It sounds nice. :) When you have full scholarships and other cool stuff that won't put you in debt after your education. O_O;;

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Recently I had to say goodbye to my good friend Claire from Canada. She was only here for 3 months! And I think she regretted it just a bit knowing her time was a bit limited. She had so much to see. I don't know how she did it, but she's seen more than me already! As a parting gift she gave me some REAL maple syrup. I was so happy! I just need some pancakes...

My family is too busy take me anywhere to view museums and architecture. They say "We'll go don't worry!" but then we don't.  Here we are close to month 8 and I've gone to the mountains more so than to neighboring cities. I know AFS isn't a tourist vacation but it would be so nice to visit the places your family only shows you in books.

My History of Art teacher thought it was a pity I wasn't going anywhere so she invited me to go with her family to  view some cool places in the Veneto Region. It was hilarious since most of the students who have her think she's a witch, but she was actually really nice and I had fun.

The museum of Antonio Canova. Amazing sculptor!

Her two daughters and me. It was bright outside.

One of my new favorite plants.

We went to a cafe and I had the delicious strawberry sweets! <3

She even had chickens in her backyard! They were so cute! But they were kind of scary and I got to pet one.

I went to Verona  with the hang-out-as-much-as-possible-with-Claire-before- she-has-to-leave plan. It was cute! I saw the House of Juliet.

Some AFS students visited the wall weeks before and I wanted to see if I could find their names. Yeah... impossible.

Juliet's Balcony!

The entry walls where people would right the names of their lovers (or loved ones in general) displayed in many brilliant barely readable letters.

Plus the locks people would hook to the gates with their lover's name on it along with theirs. I guess it was a symbol as long as the lock stood there on the gate their love would last forever, just like Romeo and Juliet! who definitely died How cute. XD

It's so funny I have to hike with other families when I want to go around and view Italy. I wish mine had more time.
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I arrived back from the mountains and I hate the roads. They always swerve and make me sick. Now that my family has a home there, they're insisting we go every weekend and sadly I'm not a big fan of that. The mountains are fun as a teenager only when you have friends there. The only thing I can find when there are no other teenagers around are old people and random old century looking shops.

I sleep on the couch every time we go and there's a TV in the living room that turns on by itself, without the images and only sound and then cuts off after 30 seconds. I don't know why it happens but when you're sleeping at 3 AM and you hear that, that's some scary stuff and then you can't go back to sleep. I'm hoping it's not a case of ghosts and just a bad electrical circuit. I unhooked the TV one night and I didn't have the problem but if I did, THAT would be beyond freaky.

The mountains aren't really scary at night except the silence of it but other than that it's good. EXCEPT THE GIANT SPIDERS OH GOODNESS.

One night, my brother Davide and I returned to the apartment early with our little sister Marta  to get ready for bed. Our parents decided to go and talk to the neighbors so we decided to chill and watch TV. The program we chose was an entertaining one trying to figure out if a human bite was more powerful than an animal's. They discussed Mike Tyson ripping off part of  the ear of one of his opponents in a match and it freaked Marta out. She was terrified Mike Tyson was going to come to North Italy in the mountains/ middle of nowhere to bite off her ear. I couldn't even wrap my head around the silliness of the situation  but I really had to put myself in her shoes after guiltily laughing for about 20 minutes.

In the end my brother and I managed to convince her Mike Tyson was definitely not in Italy  so she could calm down but I think she really does have a fear of him now...

She's such a strange girl. More like a teenager in a 8 year old's body. Marta thinks about many things teenager girls think about that I never would have at her age. She even asks me if she's fat or if she's pretty... what in the world has happened to the self-esteem of young girls?! She spends many minutes in the bathroom staring at her reflection and she looks absolutely fine. I keep trying to tell her she's fine the way she is but I don't know if I have much of an effect. Even her parents give her constant compliments but I don't know if they're sinking in...


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The Hunger Games is out in Italy and I'm going to go see it this Saturday! Finally! I really hope I understand most of it. :)

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 My class is going to the annual Peace Project in Padova Monday and I can't wait! I won't be going with them exactly since AFS always has their own section at the ceremony but I'll see my class buddies there! We have to wear our hideously notorious yellow Intercultura shirt with the drawings made by a three year old. Well it looks like that to me. There's a design that looks like it's supposed to be a fish but it resembles of butchered lips...anyways quella  maglietta fa schifo. But I'm bringing the American flag to represent! :) This should be cool. Beats sitting in a boring classroom all day!

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I swear some people in Italy have serious staring problems. When I walk past on the bus or on the streets, people do not hesitate to crook their necks just to look at me. I feel like I'm doing something wrong. And even when I stare at the with the "What the freak are you looking at?" stare, they still stare! Some people just have issues.

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Italian students cheat.

The students study so hard for the tests yet everyone cheats. I don't get it. As soon as the teacher leaves the room if they're doing a test, you'll see everyone turn to their neighbors asking for help. Teamwork.

Or people make professional cheating notes and hide them in different parts of their bodies. It's hilarious how seriously everyone cheats. One time my friend showed me all of his past cheating notes in front of his mom and she just laughed. It's very normal...

Haha oh Italy you're weird.