ITA Blog #1- Sharing some feelings...

"So I stood up and did a handstand on my Guru's roof, to celebrate the notion of liberation. I felt the dusty tiles under my hands. I felt my own strenght and balance. I felt the easy night breeze on the palms of my bare feet. This kind of thing- a spontaneus handstand- isn't something a disembodied coll blue soul can do, but a human being can do it. 

We have hands; we can stand on them if we want to. That's our privilege. That's the joy of a mortal body. And that' why God (or whatver we believe in) needs us. Because God loves to feel things through our hands."

from Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert

Hi people! How are you? I'm great, thanks. And I'm alive!! Ahah  I know...I know...I haven't posted in forever, but At first I had to get readjusted in my old life and then I didn't really think my life was worth sharing so I just stopped writing here and I focused on school and on speding time ith family and friends (basically trying to have a social live inspite of the amount of homework the Italian schools give you ahah)...but now that school is almost over and an entire chapter of my life is coming to an end (I'm finishing hish school) I felt like I needed to share some thought and feelings with you guys, so there we go....

My bags (and the bags of other exchange students)

Where were we? Oh yeah...last june, after some last memorable days in the USA, I went back to Italy...I left my host family on the 28th of june...

The surprise cake my hsot family bought for my goodby party

An AFS shirt signed by all my friends and family memebers

  

 

...and, finally, on the 29th,  I arrived home from one of the most amazing and life changing years of my life...

 

Then summer started...it was a crazy summer, but like a good type of crazy, I spent a lot of time with friends and family we had so many things to talk about, so many things I didn't do, so many things they didn't know about...

Some fun at my best friend's house

  

My friends and I at Mirabilandia (amusement park)

Playing a board game (GoT)

  

My mom, Pina, and my host mom, Jill

In early july I was also blessed with the visit of my host family! They all came to Italy and, after spending some time in Rome and Florence, they came to my town, Ravenna, in north-east of Italy and the got to meet my entire family!! 

My grandma, Marisa

That was one of the most wonderful moments of my exchange experience...seeing my host mom and my grandma talikng to each other in two completely different languages and yet understanding each other because love and compassion don't need any words was just a very heart warming moment....I think this is the true purpose  of AFS: to connect people, family, lives, to make us understand that no matter ho w different we are and how far away we live and how different were our lives growing up ultimately we are all the same, we all smile and love in the same universal language...

Then arrived September, too fast as usual, and I had to go back to school. To have all the credits I needed for my last year of high school (yeah we have five years of high school in Italy, I know...it sucks) I had to do an oral exam before the actual beginning of school in which I was asked about some subjects I didn't really do in the USA (like Latin, Greek, Physics, Philosophy and Italian). It wasn't such an hard test and the teachers were all really nice with me. 

This year class picture

So, after passing this exam, I went back to my old class...it was great to see everyone's face again...I kind of missed the magic air you breath in an Italian classroom...it Italy, indeed, we don't change classes during the day, we have the same class, every day, for five years...so your classmates (like it or not) basically became your second family.

Surprisingly I was also really happy to see all my teachers again and to listen to some of my favourite classes that weren't tought in the USA schools, like Italian, World History, Philosophy, etc.

I cought up pretty fast with the outher students, i jsut struggled a little with Latin and Greek grammar, but I akways had had troubles with grammar so it was not a new problem for me. 

Some of my Greek homework

When school life starts we all kind of get lost in it, having as major problems in ur lives that test or that exam, but luckily that wasn't the case for me this year, at least not as much as the other years. 

After spending one year away from your family and friends in a new coutry, you get a grneral idea of what the important things really are...so even if I did the best I could in class and at home, I tried not to panick too much for any school related things, because there's no point in doing it, since pretty soon we will all be in college and we will all laugh about how crazy we all got for that test...

All this to say that I tried to find time for my self, to read, write, go out with my friends, spend time with my family members, play with my dogs and so on...

I tried to enjoy every minute of this year (and I will do the same with my life from now on), because after my exachange year I realized how temporary everything is and how fast time flies, so I really don't want to waste time doing things I don't like or with people of whom I don't enjoy the company. 

My friends and I at the Halloween Party

My friends and I at the New Year's Eve Party

Being silly at the party

My friends and I on a school trip (al Vittoriale)

My friends and I at a Carnival Party

Some Carniaval spirit at school

More Carnival pics in class

my Best friend's 18th bday party

Reday to perform at the "Liceo Classico" Open Night

My friend 19th bday party (during our school trip in Greece)

One night during our school trip in Greece

During a chemistry lab

 School is basically over now (our last day will be next Wednesday, the 7th of june) and then we will have a huge National exam, called Maturità, that every 13th grader has to take (so yeah, that's why I have been sooo busy studying and doing things for school!!). 

But after that we will be done with high school and ready for new adventures...

I will go to University next year and I just got accepted at Ca'Foscari, in Venice,  in a course entirely tought in English (which is pretty special in Italy) that puts together economy, social studies and philosophy (is called PISE: Philosophy, International Studies and Economics)...I can't wait to start...but before that I really want to enjoy this summer going on holiday and doing funny crazy (but totally leagal) things with my friends! I don't know why but this summer feels special...it's going to be our very last "teen age" summer becouse after it we will definately be on our own in the world (since most of us are moving out for college), not that I am scared or anything like that, but I feel like this is the end of a period of our life and the beginning of a new one...is kind of sad, emotional, exciting, amazing, all at the same time...

Me in Venice on the Rialto Bridge

About my family and friends in the USA I missed them a lot and I am trying to write to them or Skype with them as much as possible (even if it's very difficult sometimes to find time to do it, especially if we consider that we are in different time zones) and I really hope I'll be able to go back soon to meet all of them again! 

 

So yeah, I guess that's all for today, I don't really know how many people read this (probably like two, one is my mom and the other is my other mom ahaha) or how many people care about what I do, but I just really missed writing down all of my thoughs and feelings about the experiences I was living, so I decided to start again with many new adventures....

Lots of love,

 See you soon,

Fennec Curioso