This should be the last post I make while in Italy. There's not much time to do anything else since I've been preparing to go home. I'm going to be busy for the next few days, so yeah, this should be the last one...

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What better way to end the year with a few tips or of things I've learned this year... somethings I wish I would've known, somethings I've known but were reinforced during my year.

1. Quality over Quantity. It's very important. You can make as many friends as you want this year, but I suggest you make long lasting relationships rather than acquaintances.

2. Be Open. There are some people, situations, and things that may rub you the wrong way if you judge too fast. Think about all the things you are expecting for your life before this, trip and pretty much throw them out the window. You might be in a big town, in the middle of nowhere, good school, bad school, etc. Either way, just make the best of it and have fun.

3. Patience. There were sometimes this year where many people made me angry, but with a lot of patience and new perspective, my situations became controllable.

4. Small problems don't matter. Really the don't matter. Trust me, you'll have other things to worry about anyways. If these small problems add up, you should have a tutor that talks to you throughout your year to help you. :) But other than that, just hop over them and keep going! AFSers are amazing kids and we can do anything we put our minds to.

5. Don't wait to make friends. Don't wait. Really, don't. You are the new kid (haha you can even change yourself if you want!). No one knows who you are. Be who you want. And be interested in other people. You might not want to settle down with the very first people you meet either. There are so many fascinating people in the world and now is your time to get to know them! Everyone will be interested in you in the beginning so DO NOT WASTE THAT TIME.

6. Learn the language as fast as you can. The more you learn the language ahead of time, the easier it is, and the easier it is to talk to people.

7. Facebook everyday? No thanks. I know some AFSers who would be on Facebook every day. =/ You didn't pay all that money (or use somebody else's money, scholarshippers ;P) to travel to a different country and then message your friends back home from Facebook. That's not fun. Your friends from your home country will be there when you get back, but the life you have now is only for a few months, that will fly by so fast. (Dang, I still remember the day I arrived in Treviso, now I only have 6 or 5 days left!) So limit the time on Facebook (or hey even switch it to your host country's language, it's helped me with Italian!) and live your life. You get more stuff done without Facebook anyways. Also, even on days when you don't feel like going out, GO OUT. It doesn't do well to be depressed alone. Surrounding yourself with friends can and usually does help.

8. AFS is not a travel vacation. You may want to visit your friends in different parts of the country and travel but this is a scholastic year, not a vacation. There will be time for travel but every other weekend visiting different cities/countries instead of staying in your own is too much. If you can get away with it, good for you, but you're kind of defeating the purpose of AFS.

9. Spend money wisely. Haha I think this one just speaks for itself. Unless you have endless amounts of money to spend I suggest you follow this rule wisely. Because you're on your own (with your parents / who's ever money?), so buy things that you really need. Are you really going to want to ship that giant plush doll you bought for no reason back in your suitcase? Didn't think so.

10.  Don't break AFS rules. Unless of course you're one stealthy mofo and can get away with it but you didn't hear that from me. Do you really want to go home early and ruin the experience of a life time because you did something dumb? Seriously it's not worth it.

11. Plan ahead. Many of us AFSers get into trouble if we go into a situation without a plan B. Example: Claire and I were once stuck 40 minutes from our houses because we didn't have a train to catch because of the normal Italian strike. It was raining, cold, and we were nearly stuck at the station for 5 hours because no one else could pick us up. I felt bad for wasting the time of one of the AFS mothers that hosted us the night before and she didn't even have to help us but she was kind and she did. Plan Bs children, Plan Bs.

12. Stay organized. I guess if you function very organized and are a bit messy it could still work out. For instance, your room is a total pig stye to your mom but to you it's organized. Just make sure you can still find tomorrow's homework.

13. Watch what you eat. I cannot tell you how many AFSers complain about gaining weight in their year abroad. I'm probably the only AFSer who has lost weight as far as I know.  O_O Salad...every...day... I need something unhealthy! Haha then I'll go back to the diet.

14. And finally...You will be the person to adapt, not those around you. You came to a new country to immerse in a new life. You will do the changing. Not your family, friends, school, etc. They may learn somethings from you but the thing, is in the end you're going to be changing. Not them.

I can't really think of much else at the moment. But hopefully I gave some good tips.

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The volunteers had the final AFS party.

We said goodbye to the students that were parting next year with AFS, students that returned from their years abroad (like my sister), and us foreign exchange students whose year is coming to an end.

Even the sister of Sara, Valeria from Costa Rica that's staying with us for a week, came with us to the party.

She made something from a delicious recipe from Costa Rica. Can't remember the name but it was awesome. Also Millie's food is always awesome. She always brings something of Japanese heritage,  like last time Teriyaki chicken and rice. I will fight somebody for that food it's so good.

Oh and I made American Chocolate Chip Cookies with my mom. Everyone loved them and they were the first desert to disappear. There's a future with my poor cooking skills! *tears of joy*

We said our goodbyes, I got everyone to sign an Italian flag for Claire in Canada who couldn't be with us! :( I'll mail it to her when I get back to the US.


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We had a goodbye party for me and a welcome home/ happy birthday party for my sister Sara--- all in one. My parents wanted it to be a surprise so they didn't tell us much about it. They said I could invite some of my friends to the party, so I did. The only difficult thing was that the place didn't exactly have an address. You had to follow directions like "Go straight for 2 paces until you meet a troll at a bridge, complete the riddle he'll let you pass.... blah blah blah." Well at least that's what it felt like. So if you want people to show up to a party I suggest you GIVE THEM AN ADDRESS. It helps you know?

In the end, some of my friends found the place and we partied while watching the Italy vs. Germany Euro2012 match. (We were predestined to lose, but we came out 2-1! <3 But in the finale against Spain we were literally murdered 4-0. It was just so embarrassing humiliating bad. Real bad. I'm not even Italian but I feel angry. lol)

The location was very beautiful. We had the party at night in a house nearby a lake illuminated by garden lights. There was a park nearby so if someone was feeling a little bit childish they could go on the swing set. Everything was private and for us. It was adorable. Then the sprinklers went off and drenched the food. My sister started running through the sprinklers like a maniac and dragged me with her so we were completely soaked. Haha I like Sara, she's fun to be around.

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If anything I noticed about these last two weeks, it's just partying and saying goodbye. I have a dinner for my class coming up and it's going to be the last time I see them. :(

I want to go home to the States but at the same time I want to stay in Italy. I've had so much fun. Even though there have been hard times which have annoyed me to the point of tears, I'm happy I've succeeded through them and finished the year. I've enjoyed every minute and made sure a day didn't go to waste. I have friends from all over the world. Heck, I even know more about the world. Looking back at the Zakiyya that left the United States 10 months ago is even disappointing to think about. I  was a bit ignorant of the world...

Also a bit ignorant of myself. My own self. That's just sad. One thing I will definitely guarantee to every single AFS student that completes their year is : You will change.

Hopefully for the better, but either way, you're going to learn things about yourself that you never knew before. You might become more independent, stronger, and your views of things will change. You'll be an all around better person  (if you would like to exaggerate ;P). But trust me, you will change. And like I said before, I don't even recognize myself from 10 months ago. There are some things  that are still the same about me -- for instance I'm still an anime dork, but there are also somethings that have changed for the better. Thank goodness, Italy threw some fashion sense on me..

AFSers are awesome. Some people look at us like we're crazy for going to a different country to live in a different way, learn a language we don't know, meet new friends and live a new life completely. Are we mad? I think not, just a little thirsty for adventure.

I would like to thank everyone I met this year who changed my life. To all the AFSers who stuck in there till the end of the year, and even those who left. This year was magnificent and inexpressible in a few words.

One thing for sure is this year will never be forgotten.

Good luck future AFSers, you can do it.

Zakiyya xoxo

AFS End of Stay Camp = INSTANT DEPRESSION.

I didn't expect the End of Stay Camp to be so sad. Hahaha I really love my region of AFSers. We're just so awesome, kind, talented, *insert other cool adjectives here*, we're too much. And just knowing I have to leave them soon really breaks my heart.

It started off like the 8 Week Stay Camp in October. Most of us met in Treviso, and we took our magical bus to pick everyone up along the way to Trento. It was amazing. Everyone knew Italian so well, but of course many of us still succumbed to our mother languages, too. We just can't resist ok?

There were new faces, the kids of the 6 month programs, and some faces that departed from the 10 month program. It was beautiful to see everyone in the same spot again.

Haha unfortunately for me my weekend turned into survival camp because I didn't bring any hygiene or medicine projects with me. I left some of my belongings at Liv's house and then they somehow ended up at Alyce's house and then she didn't bring them. So I went bum style and mooched off of everyone else and then everything was fine. It was funny though because I would joke with one of the volunteers in the mornings saying, "HUG ME I DIDN'T PUT ON DEODORANT!" and he would just run away. It was hilarious.

Pretty much like this.

The program for this End of Stay camp was just like the other one except more of a "How was you year?" or "How would you sum up your experience?", "Are you different?","What will you do now?", "What do you have to say about Italy before and after your stay?"  etc, stuff like that. To my surprise, answering those questions were really hard! Thinking about what you did in the past 10 months, your ups and downs, in 30 minute sessions where you had to write everything was difficult... because it's not something you usually do. We had to make a curve of our experience --- A line that showed our positive and negatives throughout the year. Seeing our journey on paper is really what puts things into perspective. This experience of AFS has changed our lives and quite frankly I feel so sorry for anyone who doesn't take a year like this.

Yellow Team! <3

It's not a long term vacation. It's a new language, friends, school, town, ----> NEW LIFE basically in which you need to adapt. It's crazy. But we did it.

Ah, but what would this camp be without our games? We had "The Kissing Game" rematch, too. (Check the post about the first camp if you don't know what that is.) There were also new games with our teams like who can form the Pyramids, Eiffel Tower, or the Colosseum first. My team, "This is SPARTA!", lost every time. Except for the funky chicken dance. Because we can dance apparently. :)

Kissing Game Rematch/ Millie vs. Johannes, Millie is so good at this game, seriously she's a ninja! <3 /Goodness I clap like a seal D:

Despite all the fun there were sad activities, too. AFS told us to bring sleeping bags or something similar to camp. I didn't bring one because I knew we were going to the same Youth Hostel which definitely had sheets on their beds. I wasn't porting more baggage but then I a little felt stupid later as to why I didn't. The volunteers had us sit in the gym after our party , like a big sleepover, with the lights turned off, in silence, while sad music you only hear in Titanic played and then they started reading a paragraph of stuff I didn't want to think about.

I'll sum it up basically. "Imagine you are in the airport seeing your host family for the last time. Imagine you are in Rome saying  your goodbyes to all of your AFS friends. Everyone's leaving and going back to their own countries. Imagine you are on the airplane back to your country. You arrive, now it's time to finally say goodbye to your friends from your country. You are going back to a world that you know, a world where many don't know what it's like to be a foreign exchange student, you will adapt again. Will your friends and family understand you? Will they notice some things have changed about you? What looks different to you? How do you see your country now? How are you different? How is school? How is your family? How is everything now? Now imagine months or years later you return to Italy..." and I don't remember much after that because I suddenly heard Alessa crying in the darkness and Alyce wanting to get up and hug her, but she couldn't... it was beyond depressing. I started crying because we realized how close we've come to the finish...

After that activity the volunteers said we could slowly head back to our rooms because they knew we would want to talk and hug after what happened... even they cried! I guess even they remembered some of their AFS adventures and I can tell I'll be just like them in the future. This is not something that will be forgotten ever in my entire life.

The fantastic volunteers minus Tobia (Yellow Team picture last person to the right- Green shirt.)

The next day we had our surprise AFS Talent Show no one prepared for a usual, but in the end we came up with something makeshift. It was cute but I still liked the other Talent Show better. It was much more spontaneous. :)

This time I sung my trademark Little Mermaid "Part of Your World" in half Italian and in English. And then I found a monologue in English on the internet, translated it into Italian, then performed it. All that learned in 2 days... LIKE A BOSS. The surprising thing is there was absolute silence when I sung! Usually we're all talking at once because we're so happy and the volunteers can't shut us up, but for the first time at camp everyone was like this:

I even received a standing ovation! They said I was so awesome and gave them shivers XD Even my tutor from AFS, who was a volunteer at this camp, teared up a bit. I surprised myself, too, I had almost lost my voice the previous hours!

Woot! Standing ovation --- ugh those slippers.

Oh no, but after that there was another activity that was more depressing than the one we did the previous night. After another after dinner party the volunteers had us sit in a circle, in the dark, in silence, except this time with no music.There were unlit candles in the middle of our circle and even through the dark I could tell they spelled out the letters AFS. They said when we were ready, one at a time, we could walk into the middle of the dark circle and say something to everyone, a thank you, a confession, something you just wanted to say about your year, then light a candle. Not everyone went up but there were a lot who did... and one by one with each heartfelt tearful message and thank you we illuminated the letters AFS until most of us were bawling our eyes out. Before my crying was just a sniffle in the other activity, but that night I was a wreck. We all were. Good thing we had friends all around to help.

When we finished lighting the candles it was about 3 in the morning  and the volunteers finally gave us a break. They said we could go back the Youth Hostel and sleep in whatever room we wanted to. (Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, booyah?) Last night. We all camped out in one of the special rooms that could hold only 5 sleeping spaces but we managed to fit in 20-25. We sat there for most of the night just  watching a comedian on a laptop someone brought with them. Then we went back to our rooms and slept for 3 hours because we had more activities to do the next day.

Despite being zombies we were still energetic to say goodbye to everyone. We got our pictures and watched a spectacular video one of the volunteers prepared for us. Apparently they hoarded pictures and videos from the last camp (pssh 7 months ago) and randomly took pictures from this camp and put it into to one video. It was amazing to see how much we've all changed!

Monserrat - Mexico

All of Treviso. (Not Isabel (striped dress) and Forrest (with my American Flag) , and minus the boys and me.)

Nick from Germany and Anne from Honduras! Sexy salsa. <3

Sigurros from Iceland plays violin! ^o^

The oddest energizer ever. "Frow frow frow" any other AFSers know this? ;)

Basically all the kids from Asia. They're always so cute! China, Thailand and Japan dancing together. <3

Tangui from France playing his guitar. <3

All of us of the Region Veneto! <3

Um... some of the boys performing I'm sexy and I know it in the hottest clothes EVAR.

Monserrat and Zakiyya!

These camps were some of my favorite parts of my stay. <3

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My report card arrived last week.... aaaaaand I PASSED ITALIAN SCHOOL WITH SUFFICIENT MARKS. Yupp. That sums up my year. I'm good to go. All we have to do is see what my school in the US has to say about this. :)


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My host sister Sara came back from Costa Rica yesterday after 11 months! She's so kind! :) And just as tall as me... O_O I expected her to be taller. Anyways I have little time to get to know her but I'm so excited!

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I finally packed up all my things. 18 days left.  It was supposed to be a test package but not that everything is a way, I'm too much of a bum to unpack, I'm going to be living out of my suitcases for the next couple of weeks.

Chaos in my once clean room!

Everything is finally coming to a close, eh?

The AFS Calendar is Closing...

Ha you can call me a bad blog keeper now. xD

I've been so busy, I never thought at that beginning of the year it would be actually hard to fit in time for a blog. It looked like a cinch!

I recently had my last show for Skating and it was a big show I didn't expect. We had guest hip-hop dancers, colorful theater lights, loud music, the whole shebang. It was awesome. I received a cool scarf, a DVD of something, and an alarm clock from my organization :)

The only thing I was mad about was the glitter they put on my face.

It was beautiful when it contrasted with my dark skin in the lights but the problem was after the show. Someone invented it so it wouldn't come off. It is literally the herpes of arts and crafts! (My Life as Liz, ha, high-five.) I woke up in the morning looking like I went to a party at Ke$ha's house. Yes, my dears, it was that bad. It took at least 3 washes to get most of it off, and I still have a bit on me! Next person that comes to me with glitter is going down.

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I went to a nearby wonder park called Gardaland with Intercultura yesterday. Originally it was only for the 12 students of Treviso but we invited some of the students that are here for only 6 months. It was fun and I made even more friends. XD

Costa Rica, Japan, and USA!

We were scared it would rain all day, but it on happened in the morning, and it was cold. But in the end it was a beautiful day. Intercultura raided Gardaland along with affiliates and friends. XD

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I wasn't too sad parting with everyone after Gardaland because tomorrow is the final camp! We get to see each other for 4 days. It's going to be beautiful and sad at the same time. I'm so happy! It's going to be like the camp in October... except at the end of the year. They said we have another Talent Show but this time, I prepared nothing. Woops! I'll find something last minute to do...

We'll see who left early, who's only been here for 6 months ... ha I don't really want to say goodbye to anyone. :'( I want to go home to the US but at the same time, I would like to stay in Italy and continue my adventures. I think I might actually have some reverse culture shock when I go back, too.

Also I just want to remember Italian. I'm going to try and read or write every now and then so I can hold on to it.

I haven't even started test packing my stuff. That's the only thing I'm not looking forward to. Packing. It's just so troublesome and annoying for me. I know it may not seem like I need to start packing all my stuff now, but I want to have an idea of what the heck I'm going to do. I'm too organized!

Besides my sister,Sara, is coming back from Costa Rica on June 19th so I think I might have to move out of my luxurious studio apartment room and go upstairs for just a bit. Sara's sister from Costa Rica is also moving in with us for a week. She's in Portugal for a year and is taking a vacation with us. This house is going to be interesting. I can only hope they're very nice!

I hope my little sister will be happier, too. Marta had usual cry fits saying how she missed Sara so I think she'll be more than ecstatic to see here again.

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Last day of school was so sad. I took a lot of pictures with people and surprisingly I didn't cry. It was sad but I actually didn't cry! O_O I think it was  a combination of  the abomination, that is Italian school, being finished and being happy to see many of my classmates for the last time. The weird part is very few people didn't even know I was from the United States until the saw me taking photos with everyone and my flag. Wow. XD

I had everyone sign my t-shirt! Practically half the school, I had to stop after a while because it was too full.

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, ...smell no evil?

I'm really going to miss my class. They did their best to make sure I felt at home with them and I'll never forget that. They could've just abandoned me but they stayed and helped a girl with poor childish Italian grow into a person who could actually speak with others properly. :)

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I finally found my favorite Italian song! It's so beautiful! <3 La Notte - By Arisa! <3

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Mary Beth, an AFS who went to Spain for a year is in Europe again! I wanted to meet her in Venice but I'm too busy. ---> follow her blog, see her adventures, and how she's actually learning a lot of Italian cause it's similar to Spanish! http://marybeth-afs.blogspot.it/

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Every year Treviso has the students create a yearbook and I drew some images for it! I can't wait to see it, I'll post a picture when the Yearbook comes in.

I gave everyone a title from one of my favorite stories, of Alice and Wonderland, and I drew a dedication to them. I think one of the volunteers put it as the cover!

Alyce - New Zealand - Alice/ Alessa - Dominican Republic - Cheshire Cate / Johannes - Finland - White Rabbit / Millie - USA - Tweedle Dee and Dum / Palm - Thailand - Dormouse / Zakiyya - USA - Mad Hatter / Pipa - Portugal - Red Queen / Vuk - Serbia - Caterpillar / Rosita - Argentina - White Queen / Facundo - Paraguay - White Knight / Liv - Germany - Knave / Joanna - Portugal - Ace of Hearts / Claire - Canada - March Hare / <3

I've been making water color paintings left and right as gifts for people as goodbye gifts. They're so fun and easy to make! I translate some inspirational quotes onto these images in Italian and every seems to enjoy them. :)

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They're have been a few earthquakes here in Italy lately.  I haven't felt any of them even though they've been close, such as by Bologna or North Italy in general. My body is dumb enough to sleep through them but it will wake up at the first signs of hard rain. That doesn't even make any sense!

Here's a picture of the after math taken by an AFS student from Conversano, Italy. (Southern Italy)

It's sad to hear of deaths and ancient architecture being destroyed. But Italy is doing all they can to deal with the situation!
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I need to make a list of things I learned  this year. Haha it sure is a lot.

Wow, I don't know what happened for the past two weeks but it's like my daily schedule decided to just compress and pack in more activities. I had other programs interfering with others and it was total chaos. I thought I was going to go ballistic! Of course as usual the internet would step in and help me forget my problems making everything worse. I had so much stuff to do I didn't even feel like starting therefore we I had procrastination on my hands. Haha, I'm sure we've all had days like that.

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Peace Project

The students of Intercultura finally participated in the greatly anticipated  Peace Project ceremony this year in Padova. We introduced ourselves AND THEEEEEN... we sat down and watched everyone perform. Yupp. Super duper exciting! At least we missed school. Gosh it was a Monday, too. Thank goodness.

There were students from all over Italy. Some from Rome, from more southern places and from Sicily!  Also other students from France, Macedonia, and other countries. They prepared their dances well and it was fantastic to watch everyone. I love the krump dancers the most. All the performances promoted peace in very creative ways. I hadn't seen for a long time so I was happy! :)

A French school choir that had deaf children. They made hand signs and were so enthusiastic about their performance! It was so cute!

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Theater

About two weeks after Peace Project I returned back to Padova with my school my school to participate in a Theater competition. It was awesome! We didn't win anything but we still had so much fun. Another excuse to miss school, too.  And when you're with a bunch of hyperactive teenagers in a small bus to get there, it's an adventure in itself. I'm seriously going to miss my theater group the most because they're just as crazy as me. Some of them even remind me of my goofy friends from home. They're very passionate about what they do! It makes me want to work just as hard as them.

Our play was about a boy who constantly lies, hoping to receive the heart of the most popular girl in school, which puts him up in very odd situations. It was much funnier and shorter  than the play that we saw before WHICH PUT EVERYONE TO SLEEP. But the judges obviously loved it cause they won. I think it's because our play had to many curse words and wasn't as serious.

The night before we had our competition we did a show for all the parents, students, and teachers that would actually take some time out of their melancholy life of studying to see us perform. Everyone was so happy and said our show was absolutely fantastic. Some people showed up to see me that I didn't even expect to be there! O_O;; Like many other classmates, teachers I didn't know very well, and also one of the old lady volunteers from AFS I'm not a big fan of.

Haha the people who didn't know me in the audience could tell I wasn't Italian because I had an American accent while speaking. XD I can only imagine what I sounded like. Also for some reason, when I say Italian curse words, everyone just bursts into laughter. I guess it's funny the way I pronounce them.

I received a real rose from my good friends Achille and Maria Vittoria and their mother.

I don't have to add water to it for two years and it's still going to be alive

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I find that reading is becoming slightly easier. The more I read and the more I study the rules of Italian, the more things just come into the light. The last journal I think I posted about me reading was when I just started... at a third grade level.  XD Well ladies and gentlemen I have good news! I've graduated to adult novels. AW YEAH. They're extremely difficult but if I read slowly I can understand them. But I'm going to go back to teenage novels again. They have easier vocabulary even if their stories suck.

I finished reading Sophie's World in Italian, because my Philosophy teacher wanted another round of Hunger Games aka an oral test. He didn't say when the it would be, he just told me to be ready and I was like "Crap. ಠ_ಠ" But I was ready! And I passed the test of course. He told me what to study BUT for some reason in Italy that means it won't be on the test or in the oral exam. It always ends up like that! Teachers need to get their lives together. Telling me what to do and end up doing something else. This is why hardworking children fail. >_>;;

I'm just glad that I did well on the other tests I had to study for also. XD I'm alive again! Only to go back to studying for Physics and Math. This is the time of year everyone has tests to do. I feel so bad for all the students because it just adds on more to their studying time in which they already have enough to do.

But after the exams there's going to be a handful of parties I can hopefully make my way into... 

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I had a skating competition yesterday and I kind of had no clue what I was doing. Haha I had fun though with my group and I arrived in first place. Also being the only one in my category helps, too! :) I've improved so much in skating though...

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It's finally arriving. The end of the year with AFS. Wow. 2 months to go. I have to make them count.

I think some people have been angry lately and just need to chill. Life doesn't need to be that serious at all.

I saw this comic online and it just basically defines what I think about life.

Seriously it's a marvelous feeling once you really think about it.

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.