First Three Days

Ciao from Vicenza! :)
All I can say is "Wow!". Italy is so incredibly beautiful. I am just in awe that this is really happening to me. Everything is so fantastic! Where do I even begin? (Unfortunately my computer died because I didn't figure out how to charge it for three days, but now it is up and running and will work from now on! So please excuse the terribly long post!)

The beginning of my adventure was when I was in the Reno-Tahoe Airport. I had some friends come say their last goodbye to me, (Thank you Kimmie, Nick, Jessica and Jessica!) and my mom and dad and sister Kathryn said goodbye to me as well. I kept telling myself "Don't cry!! Don't cry!!", but of course I cried. I had three flights in all- Reno to LA, LA to Frankfurt, and Frankfurt to the Venice Airport. I met another exchange student boy named Brock who was from Idaho who was also going to the Vicenza area. He was only 16, but such a sweetheart! I hope I get to see him again! Brock and I flew from Frankfurt to Venice together, and when we got off the plane to the checked baggage claim, we waited for our bags. Brock got his right away, and I was waiting....and waiting...and still no bag. So I walked out to my happy, smiling new family and friends, and had to tell them I had lost luggage! But they were absolutely amazing about it- they waited for me very patiently, they were very friendly and helpful to me. Almost all of them spoke a little English, and so we chatted a bit about my flights and the things we liked to do.

This is me, coming out of the security doors, and saying hello to my new family!

This is my new family and Rotary friends. They were the sweetest people ever! :)

 

 

After waiting a bit, the security guards told me I would have to come back the next day for my lost luggage at 10:00 am. One of the Rotary guys, Obrad, told me he would give me a ride the next day, so that settled that.  Everyone said their goodbyes (mostly just a lot of "Ciao!"). My host brother Leonardo, my host mother Paola, and my host father Flavio all went to a Pizzaria in Vicenza. You can order a meter sized pizza there and every square be a different type of pizza. Flavio ordered mushroom, cheese, ham, and a different type of cheese. It was fantastic food, so much better than American pizza. Later that night, we went to the house where my host family lives. The house is big and gorgeous. It is connected to two other houses so that we all practically live together. We are on the left, the grandma lives in the middle, and the aunt and cousins live in the far right house. Our house is very pretty, inside and out.

 

This is my room, or camera. It is quite large, and there's even some exercise equipment that was Camilla's!

This is the bathroom that is also quite large. It is my own personal bathroom also, I am the only one who will use it. I think its fantastic! :)

 

That night I slept like a log! The next morning, Obrad and I left at 9:00 am to go to the airport and get my luggage. It is about an hour drive to get to the airport, so Obrad and I talked a lot about Italy and what it will be like for me. What I found most interesting, and Leonardo told me this too, is that every region in Italy has its own dialect. It is similar to America and our different accents, but he told me that if someone from the north tried to talk dialect to someone from the south, they wouldn't be able to understand each other at all!

This is the view from the car on the way to the airport. Very, very green! And very pretty. I will have to get better pictures of the landscape soon!



I came home after the airport, and unpacked my bag. I realized quickly that for some reason, I thought Italy was going to be colder. It is quite warm here, and I didn't pack enough T-shirts for here. I did however pack a lot of cardigans, which is not what I needed. So, I will soon need a shopping spree!! :) My mamma Paola made lunch for me and Lorenzo around 1:00 pm, and it was a delicious pasta with meat. The food here is soooooo good. I will eat my life away! After that, I talked to Paola and Leonardo about Nevada and the US and about my life. It was fun to talk to them and show them about my life.

That evening, Paola and I met up with another girl name Anika (hopefully I am spelling that right!) who is from Minnesota. She is such a doll. I like her already! We will be going to the same school so we thought it would be a good idea to meet. We first went to the SuperMarcato, and bought some things. Then we drove to her host parent's brother's house, and we all took a walk around the city center of Vicenza. This by far was the most beautiful thing imaginable. Vicenza is what you think picture in your head for Italy: cobblestone streets, outdoor cafes, beautiful and fashionable people, and lots of old buildings. Here are just a few pictures I took:

Mia mamma, Paola!

There was a big September festival that night, and there were many street performers!

 Vicenza is even more beautiful at night...

This is the other exchange student, Anika. She was very nice! I hope I get to see more of her! :)

Exchange students and our mammas!

This was our dinner that night in an outdoor restaurant. I was very surprised to find that Italians don't eat a lot of snacks throughout the day, but we get enormous pizzas all to ourselves for dinner. I will definitely have to exercise often if this is what I am eating!

 

 

That night, we got home around 1 in the morning, and I dropped like a log into bed. It was a great day! The next day, I slept in until 12:30 in the afternoon and my host mom had to wake me up! It was funny because she told me she didn't even worry about breakfast and just made lunch! She had made a delicious chicken and veggie dish. It was sweet and so delicious. She is definitely a talented cook. After lunch, Leonardo had to study because his exam for the university is on Monday, so I went and watched some Italian Modern Family and looked through my phrase book. I figure that reading the phrase books over and over will help me eventually get enough for a good conversation. When Paola came home from being with her friends, we decided we needed to figure out a solution to my technology problem. My computer died the first night, and I have not been able to charge my camera, I-pod, or laptop. So Paola and I went to the technology market to look for an international charger. We couldn't find a single one anywhere. We went back home and asked Flavio's (my host dad's) brother who is very good with technology. He had a charger that works all over the world and we also figured out I could unplug my laptop's charger in half and plug the other half into the Italian charger. It was all very complicated, but we made it work. :)

 

Later that evening, Leonardo and I went out. We first went to his friend's house in the city of Este. His name was Elia, and we had another huge pizza to ourselves. I met Elia's mom, grandma, and younger brother and his friend, and they were so polite! After dinner, which was around 9:00 at night, Leonardo and Elia and I went to the center of Este and met up with a lot of Leonardo's college friends. I of course was very shy, but I did try to talk to a few of them. The names I remember were Giula, Toni, Marko, Davide, and...that's all. But they all were very polite to me and tried to make me feel welcome. Almost all of them however spoke little to no English. Only Leonardo and Toni spoke English. We all stood in the center of Este for an hour or so, and then we went to a party a few minutes away. It was a toga party and it was packed full of college kids. I was so shy! But it was interesting to see how the kids there enjoy their Saturday night. Leonardo was explaining to me how you MUST go out every single Saturday night, because it is the only night to have fun. In Italy, they have school Monday-Saturday, and Sunday is the relaxing and church day. I should have taken some photos from this night, but I didn't want to seem like the nerdy American taking lot of photos with her camera. I will need to buy a cell phone very soon, for pictures and communication.

 

So, this has been my Italian life so far! Italy is amazing, and I am having a blast. Now please excuse me, I have a language to learn! ;) Ciao!