And here are more... :)
Thursday, October 22, 2009
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Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Orientation Camp!
I know that it has been a long time since I last posted, but things have been so busy and wonderful here that I have found it difficult to find enough time to actually sit and type and entry. Now, I am unfortunately sick, so I have all day.
This past weekend was the Sicilia-Calabria regional orientation. After a month and a half of living with our families and attending school, they wanted to touch base and give us a chance to talk about how everything is going. On Friday, Tobias, the German exchange student here in Messina and his mother picked me up at ten in the morning. Taneli, the exchange student from Finland, was also in the car. We drove to the bus station in order to meet up with Halldis, the Swedish exchange student and with a Thai girl from Calabria. We all caught a bus to Catania, where we were for the next four days. Actually, we were there until Monday. Anyway, we drove down there and met up with all of the other exchange students. Everyone was incredibly excited to finally speak in their native languages. For me, I already get to speak in my native language, seeing that it is English. For those who speak Japanese, Thai, Finnish, German, French...etc..., they don't get to speak their languages because nobody knows them. For the rest of Friday, we had a planning session to learn about how the day was going to flow, split up into groups, and worked in groups. In the groups, we played games in order to get to know each other. We also talked about our problems that have come up with our host families. It became very emotional for some people. Dinner was at 8:30. Since it was our first night there, we had a special dinner of quiche, bruschette (plural), 4 different types of pizza, and gelato. The gelato was delicious! It was an amaretto flavor with a cherry sauce. I almost died it was that good! Then, we made country posters until midnight. I must say that our poster (USA) was quite incredible. :)
Saturday, most of the day was taken up by individual interviews. Except for a couple hours in the afternoon where we were in our groups, we were just hanging out with other exchange students. When someone had their interview, they would just leave and return when it was finished. Everyday we were there, at midmorning and midafternoon, there was a coffee break and a snack. All of the food was delicious! I have also come to the conclusion that by the time I return to the United States, I will be addicted to coffee. I love coffee here. :) After lunch, we split up into our groups and did more activities. All of us were feeling the fatigue of staying up until midnight and waking up early. As a result, no one was too into being energetic. After that, for the rest of the day, people had interviews. I had my interview at 6:30. It was really great. The woman who interviewed me just asked me questions and to rate different things on a scale of one to ten. We also had an opportunity to talk more in depth about problems that we have. I don't really have any problems, so I was happy not to have to talk about them. Once again, dinner was at 8:30 and we stayed up until midnight. This time, we had huge lecture about how disrespectful some people had been to volunteers and that they weren't participating in the activities. As a result, all of us, even if we had not done anything and had happily participated in every activity (like me), lost our first chance. We have two chances to mess up before being sent home. I have now lost my first chance and I did nothing. In an attempt to lighten up the mood, the volunteers had us play two games. The first one was the one where you suck a piece of paper to your mouth and you have to transfer the paper to someone elses mouth. It was really fun and we were all worried that we would end up accidentally kissing the person next to us because the paper fell. The second game was one where we had to all kiss a part of an origami crane. Then, depending upon where we kissed, we got a sticky note saying where we kissed it. When everyone had kissed it, we found out that we had to kiss the person next to us where we had kissed the bird. Thankfully, I chose the neck. Some people though had chosen the butt or the beak. The funny thing about the beak though was that everyone thought that it meant kissing on the lips. As it turned out, it really meant that they had to kiss the person on the nose. :) Hahaha. Everyone who chose that was kissing on the lips. That finished pretty quickly, so we actually played one more game. We split into four different groups and had to put as many of our personal belongings, clothes included, on one person. After four minutes, we had to count how many to see which team won.
Sunday, we played games and split up into our groups again. It was a really fun day. In the evening, the volunteers finished up the individual interviews and we had free time. After dinner, we watched/participated in the talent show. It was really incredible to watch the many different talents or random things that people came up with. The show started with the volunteers doing their own show. They performed a bunch of national dances that they have learned over the years. After they finished, it was our turn to show them and everyone else what we knew. The people from New Zealand performed the Haka (?) and people from Finland, Japan, Norway, and Russia performed songs. Some people, like Thailand and Indonesia, performed their dances. It was a really fun night. :)
Monday was the day we had to say goodbye. The camp ended and then we basically got to hang out with everyone until lunch. I was so tired from staying up until midnight every night that I had zero energy to do anything. People made origami, talked, played soccer...it was a really relaxed environment. Then, right before lunch, one of the American girls was thrown into the pool. After she got out, she chased down the people who had thrown her in. She seemed really, really mad. She was soaking wet. We all had lunch and then got on a bus to go to the bus station. Everyone had to go their separate ways. We will not all be together until June! It was really bittersweet. We had all become really good friends in the span of four days.
Ok, so in the time that I haven't written, I turned 17! My birthday was incredible!!!!! I don't have time at the moment to talk about it, but my next post will be pictures and I will put some on there. :) I must sleep now, because my eyes don't want to stay open.
Ciao!!!! :)
This past weekend was the Sicilia-Calabria regional orientation. After a month and a half of living with our families and attending school, they wanted to touch base and give us a chance to talk about how everything is going. On Friday, Tobias, the German exchange student here in Messina and his mother picked me up at ten in the morning. Taneli, the exchange student from Finland, was also in the car. We drove to the bus station in order to meet up with Halldis, the Swedish exchange student and with a Thai girl from Calabria. We all caught a bus to Catania, where we were for the next four days. Actually, we were there until Monday. Anyway, we drove down there and met up with all of the other exchange students. Everyone was incredibly excited to finally speak in their native languages. For me, I already get to speak in my native language, seeing that it is English. For those who speak Japanese, Thai, Finnish, German, French...etc..., they don't get to speak their languages because nobody knows them. For the rest of Friday, we had a planning session to learn about how the day was going to flow, split up into groups, and worked in groups. In the groups, we played games in order to get to know each other. We also talked about our problems that have come up with our host families. It became very emotional for some people. Dinner was at 8:30. Since it was our first night there, we had a special dinner of quiche, bruschette (plural), 4 different types of pizza, and gelato. The gelato was delicious! It was an amaretto flavor with a cherry sauce. I almost died it was that good! Then, we made country posters until midnight. I must say that our poster (USA) was quite incredible. :)
Saturday, most of the day was taken up by individual interviews. Except for a couple hours in the afternoon where we were in our groups, we were just hanging out with other exchange students. When someone had their interview, they would just leave and return when it was finished. Everyday we were there, at midmorning and midafternoon, there was a coffee break and a snack. All of the food was delicious! I have also come to the conclusion that by the time I return to the United States, I will be addicted to coffee. I love coffee here. :) After lunch, we split up into our groups and did more activities. All of us were feeling the fatigue of staying up until midnight and waking up early. As a result, no one was too into being energetic. After that, for the rest of the day, people had interviews. I had my interview at 6:30. It was really great. The woman who interviewed me just asked me questions and to rate different things on a scale of one to ten. We also had an opportunity to talk more in depth about problems that we have. I don't really have any problems, so I was happy not to have to talk about them. Once again, dinner was at 8:30 and we stayed up until midnight. This time, we had huge lecture about how disrespectful some people had been to volunteers and that they weren't participating in the activities. As a result, all of us, even if we had not done anything and had happily participated in every activity (like me), lost our first chance. We have two chances to mess up before being sent home. I have now lost my first chance and I did nothing. In an attempt to lighten up the mood, the volunteers had us play two games. The first one was the one where you suck a piece of paper to your mouth and you have to transfer the paper to someone elses mouth. It was really fun and we were all worried that we would end up accidentally kissing the person next to us because the paper fell. The second game was one where we had to all kiss a part of an origami crane. Then, depending upon where we kissed, we got a sticky note saying where we kissed it. When everyone had kissed it, we found out that we had to kiss the person next to us where we had kissed the bird. Thankfully, I chose the neck. Some people though had chosen the butt or the beak. The funny thing about the beak though was that everyone thought that it meant kissing on the lips. As it turned out, it really meant that they had to kiss the person on the nose. :) Hahaha. Everyone who chose that was kissing on the lips. That finished pretty quickly, so we actually played one more game. We split into four different groups and had to put as many of our personal belongings, clothes included, on one person. After four minutes, we had to count how many to see which team won.
Sunday, we played games and split up into our groups again. It was a really fun day. In the evening, the volunteers finished up the individual interviews and we had free time. After dinner, we watched/participated in the talent show. It was really incredible to watch the many different talents or random things that people came up with. The show started with the volunteers doing their own show. They performed a bunch of national dances that they have learned over the years. After they finished, it was our turn to show them and everyone else what we knew. The people from New Zealand performed the Haka (?) and people from Finland, Japan, Norway, and Russia performed songs. Some people, like Thailand and Indonesia, performed their dances. It was a really fun night. :)
Monday was the day we had to say goodbye. The camp ended and then we basically got to hang out with everyone until lunch. I was so tired from staying up until midnight every night that I had zero energy to do anything. People made origami, talked, played soccer...it was a really relaxed environment. Then, right before lunch, one of the American girls was thrown into the pool. After she got out, she chased down the people who had thrown her in. She seemed really, really mad. She was soaking wet. We all had lunch and then got on a bus to go to the bus station. Everyone had to go their separate ways. We will not all be together until June! It was really bittersweet. We had all become really good friends in the span of four days.
Ok, so in the time that I haven't written, I turned 17! My birthday was incredible!!!!! I don't have time at the moment to talk about it, but my next post will be pictures and I will put some on there. :) I must sleep now, because my eyes don't want to stay open.
Ciao!!!! :)
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Everything is OK!
Also, I just wanted to reassure everyone that everything here is ok. Because we have had such tumultuous rain and outrageous storms, there have been enormous landslides. Twenty plus people have died here in Messina because of them. I am ok! I live in the middle of the city, whereas these landslides have occured on the outskirts. It is tragic, but I am ok! :)
A Day in the Life of Me
I know that some of you are wondering what a regular day is like here in Messina. I am going to give examples and I am also just going to talk at the end of this post...ok? :)
During the week, we all get up early. Sometimes, Robertat leaves for school in Barcellona at 6:30 in the morning or sometimes in the afternoon. Either way, she wakes up early. Since Maurizio teaches at my school, he must also get up early. Agnese and I wake up at pretty much the same time, 7:10-7:15 in the morning. There is only one bathroom, so we all must take shifts in the morning. It only takes me about 20 minutes total to get ready. That includes make-up, clothing, making sure I have all of my school stuff...etc. I have a small breakfast while others are getting ready. Federico never wakes up when he is supposed to. School starts at 8:00, but he never wakes up himself. Roberta ends up yelling for him to wake up until about 7:50. He makes it to school on time. I find it amuzing that it is like this every single day. :) I love it though. Agnese is the first to leave to school, then me, then Federico and Maurizio. When I get to school, all of the students at the school are waiting outside of the building. They have gates that bar us from entering until they open them. As a result, there are hundreds of teenagers milling around on the sidewalks and in the streets. It causes quite a lot of confusion! When we go in, we disperse into our classes. Each day, we have four blocks for about an hour and a half each. We have a 15-20 minute break at about 11 every day and we leave school at 2:00 PM. The only difference about my schedule and others is that on Tuesdays and Fridays, I have a fifth block. That means that when I get out at 2:00, I must return at 2:30 and stay until 4:00. Those are long days. During the break at 11, I usually walk around with classmates and go into their "courtyard" area. It is an area outside where we can all mingle. The first thing that you notice when you go there is that most of the teenagers are smoking. That's right....majority of people smoke here. I did the calculations and I know, 100%, that 1/5 of my class smokes. My class is of 20 people. For all I know, more people smoke. Anyway, when I return home at about 2:15 (I can walk home!), we have lunch. Sometimes Roberta is here, sometimes she is not. It all depends upon her schedule in Barcellona, where she teaches. Lunch is the largest meal of the day. It usually consists of pasta, bread, sometimes a tomato salad, and fruit. When we aren't in a rush, meaning when Maurizio isn't in a rush, we eat outside in the garden. When we don't have as much time, we eat in the kitchen. Lunch is one of my favorite meals here. :) If I do have a fifth block, I either rush home, eat quickly, and go back to the school, or I go out with classmates. After lunch, we have a few hours of down time. This is kind of like the siesta in Spain. The shops do close and almost everyone goes indoors to rest. Here, we do what we want. Roberta and Maurizio usually rest while watching TV, Federico texts his friends, watches TV, and studies, Agnese does the same as Federico, but with more studying, and I just do whatever. It is usually a combination of: sleeping, computer, watching TV with Agnese, and doing what little homework I do get. If it isn't raining and Federico is in good health, I have the option of going to tennis at about 5 every day. Every time, so far, I have gone. Agnese has always been studying. We go to tennis, sit around and watch tennis, talk, eat a snack... :) Agnese and Maurizio show up later. Agnese hasn't been playing any tennis, so we come home at about 8:00 every night. Then, we all do our own thing, whether it be computer, studying, showering...etc. Roberta, Maurizio, or both of them make dinner. We eat at between 9-9:30 every night. That has been a big adjustment. Their dinners are, however, small and light. I like the meal rituals here in Italy a million times more than in America. It is slower and ritualistic; there is more warmth between family members. I love it!
That is a normal day in my life. Some little side notes:
During the week, we all get up early. Sometimes, Robertat leaves for school in Barcellona at 6:30 in the morning or sometimes in the afternoon. Either way, she wakes up early. Since Maurizio teaches at my school, he must also get up early. Agnese and I wake up at pretty much the same time, 7:10-7:15 in the morning. There is only one bathroom, so we all must take shifts in the morning. It only takes me about 20 minutes total to get ready. That includes make-up, clothing, making sure I have all of my school stuff...etc. I have a small breakfast while others are getting ready. Federico never wakes up when he is supposed to. School starts at 8:00, but he never wakes up himself. Roberta ends up yelling for him to wake up until about 7:50. He makes it to school on time. I find it amuzing that it is like this every single day. :) I love it though. Agnese is the first to leave to school, then me, then Federico and Maurizio. When I get to school, all of the students at the school are waiting outside of the building. They have gates that bar us from entering until they open them. As a result, there are hundreds of teenagers milling around on the sidewalks and in the streets. It causes quite a lot of confusion! When we go in, we disperse into our classes. Each day, we have four blocks for about an hour and a half each. We have a 15-20 minute break at about 11 every day and we leave school at 2:00 PM. The only difference about my schedule and others is that on Tuesdays and Fridays, I have a fifth block. That means that when I get out at 2:00, I must return at 2:30 and stay until 4:00. Those are long days. During the break at 11, I usually walk around with classmates and go into their "courtyard" area. It is an area outside where we can all mingle. The first thing that you notice when you go there is that most of the teenagers are smoking. That's right....majority of people smoke here. I did the calculations and I know, 100%, that 1/5 of my class smokes. My class is of 20 people. For all I know, more people smoke. Anyway, when I return home at about 2:15 (I can walk home!), we have lunch. Sometimes Roberta is here, sometimes she is not. It all depends upon her schedule in Barcellona, where she teaches. Lunch is the largest meal of the day. It usually consists of pasta, bread, sometimes a tomato salad, and fruit. When we aren't in a rush, meaning when Maurizio isn't in a rush, we eat outside in the garden. When we don't have as much time, we eat in the kitchen. Lunch is one of my favorite meals here. :) If I do have a fifth block, I either rush home, eat quickly, and go back to the school, or I go out with classmates. After lunch, we have a few hours of down time. This is kind of like the siesta in Spain. The shops do close and almost everyone goes indoors to rest. Here, we do what we want. Roberta and Maurizio usually rest while watching TV, Federico texts his friends, watches TV, and studies, Agnese does the same as Federico, but with more studying, and I just do whatever. It is usually a combination of: sleeping, computer, watching TV with Agnese, and doing what little homework I do get. If it isn't raining and Federico is in good health, I have the option of going to tennis at about 5 every day. Every time, so far, I have gone. Agnese has always been studying. We go to tennis, sit around and watch tennis, talk, eat a snack... :) Agnese and Maurizio show up later. Agnese hasn't been playing any tennis, so we come home at about 8:00 every night. Then, we all do our own thing, whether it be computer, studying, showering...etc. Roberta, Maurizio, or both of them make dinner. We eat at between 9-9:30 every night. That has been a big adjustment. Their dinners are, however, small and light. I like the meal rituals here in Italy a million times more than in America. It is slower and ritualistic; there is more warmth between family members. I love it!
That is a normal day in my life. Some little side notes:
- When showering, one must always dry their hair completely. If not, Roberta will hound you until you do.
- With my long hair, it takes a long time to actually dry completely. I never blow dry it 100%.
- My hair is considered to be thin and blonde!!!! I have thick, brown hair, not thin, blonde hair. :) haha
- Even among Italians, I am incredibly short. In my class, there is one girl shorter than me, a few around my height, but most are taller.
- The food here is nothing like in restaurants. It is way better!!! The only way to truly experience Italian cooking is to come here yourself. :)
- Never count on plans actually working out. Many different factors must be taken into account.
- Italians are always, always asking if you want more food or a snack.
- Everything that you think about Italian traffic is true!
- People blast their radios so loud, that when they drive by our house and I am in my room, it sounds like I am in a discoteca.
- Fashion really is important. People have so many different pairs of shoes, watches, and clothing in general. I am in desperate need of shopping!
- Modesty only partially exists here.
- They, at least my family, doesn't watch much TV together. It is usually separate, in their own rooms.
- Italian's really do sounds like they are aruging a lot when they really are not.
- If they think that it is cold, then everyone must bundle up in a sweatshirt.
There are others and I will post them when I think of them. Today, I was supposed to finally go out with my classmates, but because of this weather, it was postponed....again! I really wanted it to happen. This weekend, my family is going to the mountains. At least, we are going to what they call mountains. It should be really nice!
School is going really well. I am understanding more and more of what is going on and being said. Math is incomprehensible to me. They are doing full blown trigonometry. Trig doesn't exist in my high school in Oregon, let alone in other United States high schools. I don't have any books yet either. That makes it, therefore, impossible to actually study what we are studying. My Italian/Latin teacher, who is part of Intercultura, gives me special homework to do. She is also making my class study Oregon and the United States. During this time, they are also teaching me about Messina, Sicily, and Italy as a whole. In French, I am supposed to get a simple book and the teacher is supposed to work with me one on one, but that hasn't happened yet. The big to do right now with school is that the school trip is being discussed. This year, I will have tho opportunity to go to France with my school. They were thinking Paris or Prague. Then it changed to Paris, France. Then, it changed again to somewhere in France. Paris is really expensive.
I may start taking tennis lessons a couple times a week. It just depends on how much it costs and when it actually takes place. I also want to join choir here.
Yesterday, I finished applying for my residence permit. It took the whole morning. I went to one block of school and then Maurizio picked me up to take me to the immigration office and the police. It took from 9:45 in the morning until 2:00 in the afternoon. At the immigration office, they wanted to postpone it to another day. Maurizio persisted though and managed to start it. When we had a certain paper finally filled out, we went all the way across the city to the police department, which is huge, to do something else. He had to leave me there, with the police, for an hour and a half. He had to return to school to teach a class. At the police, I waited until it was my turn. They had me sign four pieces of paper. On a machine, they then took my finger prints and my handprints. This information was then printed onto the papers I had signed. I am now in their system here in Messina. It was so weird being fingerprinted. I felt kind of like a criminal, but not. They also took my height. I now know that I am 155 cm tall. That is really short. :) They printed out another piece of paper and signed it. I had to take this paper back to the immigration office. Maurizio wasn't there to take me though. I had to wait with the police for a good 40 minutes. They were actually really nice. They talked to me in both English and Italian. They were pretty impressed with my Italian skills so far. The two men had to go to their offices, so they took me with them. They told me that their department was like the CSI of Messina. It was pretty cool to go behind the scenes of the Messina police. :) I sat around for 50 minutes total waiting for Maurizio. The police asked me if I was hungry and thirsty. They made me feel quite at home. When Maurizio did show up, we went back across the city to the immigration office. There, they fingerprinted me again and had me sign another little piece of paper. After that, I was officially finished. It was quite an experience.
Anyway, I will get back to life here in Messina. I will post again soon. Once again, I'm sorry that I can't put any pictures up. :(
Ciao!
Rebecca
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