...Understand?

So I can now pretty much understand most of what is said to me slowly and I can speak a little. Italian is really hard though! People think I understand more than I do though. They've started to speak faster with me as well so it still difficult to understand sometimes. I come to the conclusion that even though most of them know English, they would rather just not talk to you than speak English. 

One day, One of my teacher went on strike I think, so we only had three hours of school. Some of the girls in my class invited me to go to the Centro with them and they showed me around. I enjoyed going around with other teenagers because they showed me where all the good shops were and where to find food.

Saturday, I went to the Centro with my friend Nicole who I have hung out with before. Even though she speaks English very well, I tried to speak Italian the whole afternoon, and I think I did pretty well! Tomorrow is my two months mark and I'm really proud of how far my language skills have come in such a short time.

Last weekend, Ellen and Anika who live in Vicenza, came to Bassano to tour the town and I got to meet up with them!

...Vicenza (Again)?

In the last two weeks I've been to Vicenza twice for my permission of permanent stay. The first time my host mom and I took a bus to the immigration office. When we got there, there were tons of people there! Our appointment was at 10:30 but we didn't end up going till 11:15. When they called us we went up the window where they went through my papers and took my finger prints. Then, they told us they we didn't have my school papers that I need even though no where in the paper work did it say to bring them. So they gave us another appointment for the next week. The second time we drove to Vicenza. This time our appointment was at 8:30 and we were the first ones there. Again they took my finger prints and then we left. I have to go back one more time before I can get my documents though. After we left the office my host mom took me to the Centro to tour the town.

The inside of the cathedral

The Piaza

A cute bar where my host mom and I got Cappuccinos   

The Piaza

The Palladian Basilica

Palazzo Chiericati

A street performer. There are many of these in everywhere in Italy.

 

Teatro Olimpico From the outside

A church

Balconys are very popular in Vicenza

The outside of another church

A candy store. There are many little stores like this in my town also that sell cakes, pizzas, bread, or noodles.

...A Birthday Party?

Last weekend was my host mom's birthday. So I had brought presents with me from America to give away during my year here in Italy. After much consideration I decided to give a cutting board in the shape of Indiana. I thought this would be a good gift because she is always cooking! So I went to the Centro, which has become a regular thing since that is where the library is. As I wandered through the streets I searched for a store to buy things to wrap the present. After about an hour and a half I gave up y search and returned home frustrated. Sometimes I wish they had Wal-Mart here, it would make it so much easier to know where to buy things. So I went to my room and started looking for something I could wrap it with. I found and old shopping bag and some paper and got creative. In the end I thought the present looked pretty good.

So later that night there was a party at my house. It started at 9:30 and didn't end till 1 or 2 in the morning. All the host moms friends came and ate cake and sweets and drank a lot and celebrated. I ended up going to bed at about midnight though. The next night there was another party with just family.

 

...Food Friday #3?

I don't know how many more of these I can do because its seems every time there are less new dishes. Most of the time when I try something new I am at a dinner party and I don't want to be rude and pull out my camera to take pictures but here are a few of the things I've tried at home.

Rice with peppers

Speck hamburger and zucchini

(I eat zucchini at least twice a week)

Pizza with würstel

(German sausage)

Potatoes and Guinea fowl

(A bird like turkey. They don't have turkey in Italy)

Cow Tongue!

It was a little gross at first but it didn't taste bad the texture was just weird.

Minestrone

(I eat this multiple time a week too)

Risotto with zucchini

(Lots of zucchini)

 

So when I first got to Italy I didn't understand what all the fuss was about. I mean the food was good, but I've had other things just as good. However, as the weeks went on the food started to grow on me. Now eating is my favorite part of the day! I've also opened up to trying basically anything. I've realized that if the Italians like to eat it, it has to be good.

...Trieste?

Ciao! Last weekend the other exchange students and I took our second trip to the city of Trieste. Trieste is a very big city with a university. For those who don't know Italy geography very well, Trieste is in the north east of Italy and borders Slovenia. Four of the exchange students from our district live there, so we stayed at their houses and the house of a Rotex member. The whole weekend was kind of bad for me. I have to start this story about a week before we actually went to Trieste because that's when it all started. So they told us we had the opportunity to go to Trieste to watch Barcolana, but they told us absolutely no information about it. No one knew how we were supposed to get there or when. So we started trying to plan our train ourselves, but it was just disastrous. Everyone just wanted to do what was easiest for them and not meet up somewhere in the middle, but that didn't work for those of us who live alone, because we had to travel with someone else. So after battling each other all week about who was going to take what train, the Rotary people finally told us what trains we would all take. Since I live alone in Bassano, my host mom drove we about thirty minutes to Vicenza where three of the other students live so I could take the train with them. When we got to the station We found Anika and Brock's dad, but no Brock. So we thought he was waiting on the platform for us. So as we walked to our train I saw Brock getting on a different train and not ours. Thankfully the train he got on was going to Padova, the same place ours would stop. So when we got to Padova we waited for Brock to meet us on the train. As our train started to leave the station we saw Brock and Sarah waiting on the opposite side of the tracks getting on a different train. Thankfully that train was also going to Venice just a little later. When we get to Venice we find Maddie and Emily and decide to get some ice cream from the McDonalds in the station while we waited for Brock and Sarah.

 We had thought we had an hour before our train left, but the times were different that day so we missed our train, but Brock and Sarah got on the right one this time. Next, we checked when the next train to Trieste was and found one and ran to the tracks. When we got on the train we realized it was a first class train and almost immediately got kicked off because we didn't have to right tickets. So again we find the next train to Trieste which was only like an hour later than the train we were supposed to take. When we got on there were no seats so we just went to the last car and sat on the floor and after a few stops we finally got seats. After we had been on the train for about two hours, when we should have been in Trieste, we realized that we had gotten on a regional train that stops at every single station possible and that we weren't even half way there yet. We started freaking out because we didn't want to get in trouble for missing our train, but we called everyone and they said it was okay. So after another hour, we were the only ones left on the train and we had a little dance party in our car.

After a little over four hours we finally arrived in Trieste. We then had to walk through the crowed streets of Trieste, through the Centro, with all of our luggage to the pizzeria. We got there and ate and then we were allowed to go around the town until three in the morning. Unfortunately, I got the worst stomach I have ever had in my life. So one of the other girls sat with me at the pier. Eventually, I just couldn't take it anymore and I asked to go home around one thirty. The next day we had to wake up at about six and drive to Slovenia and board a boat where we spent the whole day on the Adriatic Sea.

 After a few hours all of us exchange students started to get sea sick and we all just kind of fell asleep. when we got off the boat we drove back to town and then had to walk all the way to the train station. We rode the train to Venice where we then switched to a much smaller train where we spent to the next hour standing in very close quarters. Finally we made it home!

...Lazy weekends and Carnivals?

Okay, so I know it's been like 2 weeks since I posted anything, but I've been busy! Last weekend there was a fair in my town. It was just like a fair in the USA, but there weren't any farm animals. Just fried food and rides. Instead of animals they had a giant street market. Kind of like the ones they have every week but bigger and with more than just clothing and shoes. I went on Saturday night with a friend from school and then again the next morning with my host mom and sister. I had a successful day of shopping though. I finally bought myself a jacket because I am freezing here. Also, I got a sweater, wool socks, and cargo pants. Cargo pants, Camouflage print, and graphic t-shirts are really popular here right now, so I was trying to embrace the Italian style. Here's a few pictures!

 

So I also went to another Rotary meeting. They are every Monday night at 8 o'clock. First, I just want to say Italian Rotary is completely different than American Rotary. I don't think they actually do any service projects (the other students and I haven't heard our clubs talk about any). I think its more of a social gathering. So we all got to the restaurant that the meeting was being held at dressed in a black dress with heels. We sat down at our tables and we were served our first dish which is always some kind of pasta. So I read the menu and I saw that the first dish was risotto con frutti di mare. Now I thought this meant like risotto with fruits found by the sea on the side, but no. The plate placed in front of me contained Risotto with muscles, calamari, and baby octopus mixed in. I was a little hesitant at first, but I eventually ate everything except the octopus. I just couldn't handle eating them, they were still whole with just the head chopped off. Anyways, so we had about three more dishes and coffee which took a little over an hour. So then, the meeting finally started. There was a famous Italian writer at the meeting and they read his stories with music in the background. I was extremely bored and on the verge of falling into a deep sleep. You see, the music was really soft and soothing and I couldn't understand anything. I've become really good at just tuning everything out because sometimes my head just needs a break. So this went on for another hour. By the time the meeting was over and it was almost 11 o'clock. I am just shocked that I had to stay for the whole meeting on a school night. 

...Fogano?

I feel like its been forever since I posted anything, but I was away from technology this weekend. I spent three days with all the exchange students in Italy! So this post might be a little long.

So I spent my weekend in Brisighella, a small town next to Faenza. The town was absolutely the most beautiful place I have ever seen. It was exactly what you would think of when imagining Italy. Myself as well as 140 other exchange students stayed in a convent. It was the scariest place I have ever been! It kind of looked like an old abandoned hospital.

The room with the flags was mine!

(America, Canada, and Finland)

 The only bad part was that we had to sit on a bus for 7 hours I think to get there. However, this gave me the opportunity to meet the other exchange student in my district (2060). There are 14 of us, but I think there will be an Australian arriving in January. I can honestly say I really like every single one of them and I can't wait to spend more time with them.

(Unites States, Canada, Mexico, India, Finland and Germany/Argentina)

So during this weekend we went to meetings and discussed rules in the morning. Then, we went hiking in the mountains. The view was beautiful from the top and we got to spend some time just hanging out there. Later, we went down to the caves too!

 

That night, we had karaoke, and we tried to sing to Italian songs, but its was not very successful.

The last day, we all got up and ate and packed our things and exchanged pins (I think my blazer weights 15 pounds now). We also got a group picture. We went to a winery and tasted oils and wines too. Our district was the last to leave and we decided to tour the town, in the rain. It was tons of fun though running through Italy in the pouring rain, it's defiantly something I would recommend.

 

After a five hour bus ride to Padova, I met my host mom at the train station and took my first ever train back to Bassano del Grappa.

(Me taking a typical exchange student picture with my blazer and flag.)