FU CDG.

Last night was very hard. After saying goodbye to Asia and Alessandra at home, Andrea drove me to the bus stop. I had been trying to convince myself all day that I wouldn't cry when it was time to leave. But after hugging Andrea goodbye the waterworks just flowed on out. EPIC FAIL. I cried for a good 10 minutes and then attempted to get some sleep. That didn't really work so well. We got to the airport this morning at around 4:00. We claimed a spot (it was pretty empty haha) and we all attempted to sleep. I got a couple broken hours of not very good sleep, but enough that I'm still awake now so I guess it's okay. After we all had woken up at about 8:30 all of the girls who were flying back to the US went down to check their bags. Alison checked mine in her name because she's AWESOME so that my mom can pick it up. Hopefully my wine and broken computer make it there unharmed. We all said our goodbyes and I headed over to the check in area for my flight. After a little bit of waiting I got all checked in and went downstairs. I then had 3 hours to sit around and do nothing.

I will never again fly abroad by myself. Haha. They did not post my gate number until 10 minutes before my boarding time which was very frustrating. Once on the plane all was fine. I sat next to an American couple celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. They got married young (she was 21, he was 19) and in celebration of "proving everyone wrong" they are traveling to a few European countries. They held hands and cuddled the whole flight. It was semi sickening. So I'm glad I got a window seat. Once getting to Paris was the complicated part.

The airport is separated into 3 terminals connected by a railway shuttle. I landed in Terminal 1. Not knowing there were multiple buildings I wandered around trying to find Terminal 2G. Finally I realized I needed to travel to another terminal so I did that. Once I got to Terminal 2 though I discovered that this terminal had sub-terminals (thus the G). So I had to take another shuttle bus to where I was supposed to be. Once I got there I checked in and got my boarding pass but still had 3 hours and there was nothing in there but chairs so I came back to Terminal 1 because it had food, stores, and internet (expensive internet.. but I'm desperate and bored!!). My flight leaves at 8:00 so in another 2.5 hours. Hopefully it goes quickly. :(

Final blog from Italy.

Today is my final day in Carpi. I decided to let myself sleep in after the festa because we didn't have anything planned for this morning. I woke up around 10:00 am. Which to most does not constutute as sleeping in, but oh it was heaven. Once I woke up I played a game on my phone for a while that is called Word Mole. Then I decided it was time to get up and do something productive so I packed. Everything I was planning on taking to France fits into my duffel and backpack very nicely. After I finished packing, cleaning, and double checking that I hadn't left anything around the house I got online to load my pictures from the Festa and to update my blog about it. Then I went down and we had lunch. Andrea had made salad with chicken, tomatoes, red peppers, and oil/vinegar. The fresh and simpleness of their delicious salads are definitely things I'm going to miss about staying with the Bisi's.


This afternoon we left around 3:00 for a last minute trip to Verona! I was very excited they had decided to surprise me by going because I wanted to see Juliet's house. We met my host parents' best friends' family. They are the ones we have eaten with a couple of times before. So a total of 10 of us went together in 2 cars. Once we got to Verona we walked around a bit and went to Juliet's house! There is an entire tunnel of love letters that people have left over the course of time. And not only did we get to see the tunnel and the balcony, but Andrea bought Frenchy, Asia, he, and I tickets to go INSIDE of Juliet's house. I got to stand ON the balcony. Like I've said, I have gotten to do so many things this trip that I do not deserve.


After we left Verona all 10 of us drove back toward Carpi and went to a restaurant that was very cool. It was called a multirestaurant and actually had 3 restaurants and a club inside of it. haha. Plus there was an area for kids to play. They definitely spoiled me for my last dinner here with them. Wine, soda, a fried fish plate appetizer, spinach tortelli, tiarimasu (I butchered that spelling I'm sure), and then coffee. It was so good. Then we came home and I loaded the rest of my pictures so that all of the Italy ones are online because I don't know what my internet situation is going to be like when I get to France.

It's so strange to know that this trip is over.
I feel like this trip has allowed me to see and do and experience things that I am not entitled to. I am just a college student. 21 years old and I've lived in Italy. What? And not only that, but I was given the best host family I ever could have imagined. I was not worthy of this experience but I will be grateful for it always.

Some of the girls on this trip made life-long friendships with each other. Some found boys here to occupy a couple minutes of their time. Some got so close with the one class they worked with that they cried when it was time to leave. And although I didn't really do any of those things, I feel as if I gained something else worth so much more. After almost 22 years of not really being sure of much (most specifically, who I am) I can truly and honestly say that after being here, that has changed. Because I wasn't really sure who I was as a person, my experience started a little rough. I can be a fairly reserved person anyway, and it's hard for me to come out of my shell and expose myself to people. It may have taken a while to figure out, but being here has made me realize that I am really happy with who I am and who I have the potentional/ability to be. I can eat healthy if I want to, I can HIKE MOUNTAINS if I want to, I can teach if I want to, I can bond with strangers if I want to, I can trust if I want to, I can travel the world, I can be beautiful, I can smile, I can make someone happy, I can be good enough. It's all just a matter of believing in myself. And I want to.


Realizing these things would not have been at all possible without this trip to Italy. It would not have been possible had I not been completely removed from everyone and everything that I knew. While I was here I saw famous artwork, observed beautiful landscapes, taught innocent (and sometimes very frustrating) children, and... I grew up. I'm not sure how many of the girls here can honestly say that. (Although, some may be able to.) So regardless of a rough start, being sick most of the time, not sleeping, and my computer breaking (haha) I am so grateful for my opportunity to do this. For my opportunity to meet my host family and all of the other people I met, to have these experiences, and to find out who I am. (Which, ironically, is who I've always wanted to be.)

Saying goodbye in an hour will very difficult.

"There is in truth no past. Only a memory of the past. Blink your eyes and the world you see next did not exist when you closed them. Therefore, the only appropriate state of mind is surprise. The only appropriate state of the heart is joy. The sky you see now you have never seen before. The perfect moment is now. Be glad of it." - Terry Pratchett

FESTA!

Last night was the Festa. This year marks the 10th anniversary of this study abroad program. I wore a new dress that I bought here in Italy. We got there around 9:05. Everyone was dressed up pretty formally. Most of the American girls were wearing really high shoes, but I didn't even bring any with me. So I may have looked a little less elegant, but I think I won in the long run because the party was mostly on grass/cobble stone. Anyway, they had a lot of little snacks, sandwiches, and wine (and orange juice for the children). Basically for the first hour and a half or so we just socialized among ourselves. I introduced my host family to friends and the directors. Like I said, after about an hour and a half had passed (and a few glasses of wine) all of the American students went up on stage. We then introduced ourselves, said where we are from, and then introduced our familes (in Italian!). We presented certificates to our families as well as our schools. After that they served cake, fresh fruit, pastries, and more wine. Asia was tired and so were my parents and I so we left earlier than most.. but still weren't home until almost 1:00 am!


Today I think we're supposed to go to Verona, but I don't know if that's still happening. Until next time!
Ciao!!

Goodbye Florence, Hellooooo Verona!

Sunday evening, after our hiking/cooking adventures, I ventured through Florence on my own to go shopping at H&M. Once there I was in heaven, finding 2 dresses, a belt, and a pair of sunglasses. Sunday night we all got dressed nicely and went out for dinner. I had a huge order of spaghetti, a side salad, and a beer for only 9.5£! After dinner we went to an Irish pub and had a couple of beers and I went home (to the hostel) before everyone else because I was tired.


Monday morning we got up fairly early and basically shopped ALL day. I bought the rest of the presents I needed for people. We left Florence around 4:00 and got back to Carpi around 6:00. The hostel that we stayed at in Florence was so cool though. If I ever go back, I definitely want to stay there again. The walls are covered in people who have stayed there's signature so of course I left my mark!


When we got back to the house I clearned my room, showered, and then packed most of my stuff into my suitcase. I will be spending $55 to send my suitcase home with the people going back to KC (my mom will pick it up) so I don't have to travel with it. So I packed most of my clothes, my shoes, the computer, as well as a lot of other things. Hopefully this will make my traveling to/in France a bit easier to do.

Today was our last day working in the schools. All we did all day was watch the kids play baseball and take pictures. Some of the girls asked for our autographs and were taking videos of us like we are celebrities. Semi-awkward... just saying. But it was a nice way to end the experience. Plus we finally got a picture of all 5 of us who worked there for the time we were here.


After school I came home and had lunch with my host parents and talked to them for a bit. Afterwards, I went upstairs and started cleaning/organizing some more of my stuff. I then went through my assignment notebook to ensure that everything was finished.

Tonight is the festa for all of us, the families, and the teachers. I have to introduce myself, say where I'm from, AND introduce my host family in Italian!! I've been practicing though so I think it should go pretty smoothly. :) Tomorrow Alessandra wants to go to Verona in the afternoon because I didn't get to go last week. I really want to see Romeo and Juliet's wall/balcony, so I'm very excited!! And then tomorrow night at 1:00 AM I will be dropped off at the train station. I can't believe it's the end!!

RIP COMPUTER

Friday evening, like I mentioned in the last post, I went to Asia's class festa. A festa here is like an end of the year celebration. The parents, students, and teachers of that class all get together and go out to eat. The kids play, the adults socialize, and in this case.. the Americans sit there and play games on their Blackberry that doesn't have service. haha. We went to a fairly nice restaurant and had Digelli again. It makes sense due to this being an extremely easy meal to make for large groups. My host father also ordered us a bottle of Lambrusco, which is the wine that the region Carpi is in is known for. If any of you remember in my first post I mentioned how my first night here my host parents had a family over for dinner.. well the son of that couple is in Asia's class so they were there and the mother spoke English so I was able to talk to her some. It was nice. We got home around 1030, and I packed and prepared for Florence before going to sleep.

Saturday morning I woke up and got ready to leave for the train station. I shut down my computer thinknig it would not need to be on for the duration of the traveling, then shortly after realized I needed to get something off of it. Well... that didn't work out because my monitor no longer works. The computer itself still turns on and makes all of the noises, etc. but the monitor is completely blacked out. I talked to a girl on the trip with me named Christina who said she had the exact same thing happen to her last year. Apparently it was something with her switch board, which is why my computer has been BURNING UP hot all the time even if I'm not using it. So I'm without a computer for the rest of the trip. Thankfully there are computers I will be able to use.

Anyway, yesterday we came to Florence. We went to the Uffizi museum and got to see a ton of awesome/famous art. Then we came back to the hotel and hung out for a while. Last night we got ready and then went out for dinner. I had spinach and ricotta ravioli. It was really good. After dinner I was tired so I came back to the hostel.

This morning we got up bright and early and went to our Accidental Tours. When we first got there we did a wine tasting. I bought my mom and dad Olive Oil and Wine. Then we walked around took pictures. After that we drove to another location and went out on our hike. We hiked for 3 miles. Hideous and hot. Then we went back and met the girls who had done the cooking class. They had made pasta so we had that and a vegetable quich among other things for lunch. It was delicious. After that Natalie, Tori, Amy, and I took a cab back to the hostel. We brought all of the wine/oil that other people had bought but didn't want to carry when they went out to do other things.

Tomorrow we will be shopping and going back to Carpi for our final 2 days.
Until next time I get internet, Ciao!!

I was behind so this is LONG.

On Wednesday I went on a visit to the Leonardo Divinci Technical High School. They chose to have me shadow a Chemistry teacher who spoke very good English. The first class of the day had 9 students, was a fifth year class (high school here is 5 years), and they all spoke pretty good English. Of course, this school was mainly males so I definitely got a few looks as I was walking in, as I'm sure my blonde hair and bright purple shirt stood out among the few other females. When we got to the class he had them take a test but it was written completely in English. Because the class was all boys it seemed to reduce some of the stress/pressure of coeducational classrooms. Although, when one of the boys asked me what the word "penny" meant and I went to help him many of the boys whistled or made remarks about the boy asking me for help. Soon after though, many of the students were asking me to define words for them such as "bond", "shared", and "gained." I have to say it is kind of difficult to come up with simple enough examples for them to understand but still explain the word. - Also, there was a boy in his class who looked just like Ivan when he had long hair, except he was white. Ivan<3.

During the second class period 2 of the 5th year students took me on a tour of the school. Their names were Gabrielle and Lorenzo. For those of you reading who know them, Lorenzo would be the child is Tyler Sevy and Brian Bland reproduced together. They took me around the school and showed me the Physics, Chemistry, and Biology labs, and I also met the English teacher. They also showed me the gym and the Mechanics lab. I guess the students in the Mechanics lab have been building one of those soapbox race cars that runs entirely on Hydrogen. It goes abut 40 mph and when they raced it they got 19th place in all of Europe. Anyway, on our walk back to the room Lorenzo was telling me about how the teacher in the class at that time was very mean. (I blew the statement off until she yelled at him for his mistakes in a paper in front of the whole class.) When we got back to the classroom, right before walked in Lorenzo kissed me on the cheek and told me how much he enjoyed meeting me and asked for my last name so he can add me on Facebook to "keep in touch." I don't know why these Italian guys feel this is an effective way of hitting on an American girl. So I told him if he wanted to keep in touch he would figure out my last name. Then I walked away.

The third class of the day I went to observe in a gym class. This was a bit more difficult because the teacher didn't speak English. Trying to explain what you're doing somewhere with a language barrier is difficult. But luckily I had a note and my schedule for the day so he then understood. Once again the class was all bys, but this class was freshman. They were pretty eager to peer around corners and talk about me because they thought I would not understand them. All I did was watch them play t-ball for 45 minutes. What was interesting about this class was that there were boys named Alex, William, David, and Charles in this class. These names just seemed to not be very Italian to me. Not to mention, three of four are the names of people I've dated. haha. All of these boys wore very short athletic shorts with soccer jerseys and tall socks.

Following gym I went to observe in a Chemistry lab. These boys were 16 and 17. The lab instructor didn't really speak English but there was a student who was very good at it and he was able to explain what they were doing. Basically they were extracting substances from flowers so they could test whether they were acids or bases. They used ethanol to extract the pigments from the petals to assess the pH of this every day substance. There was also another experiment having to do with red cabbage. They cut it into slices, boiled the slices in water, and then tested the substance for something. It was much more interesting than I expected. Oh! And there was 1 girl in this class.

The last class of the day I was pulled out to go observe an Italian class. All I could really figure out was that they were talking about Machiavelli. This class was again all boys. They stood for me when I walked into the room. The entire time I was in the class I felt completely lost. There was no English in this class whatsoever, only Italian. I concentrated on trying to pick out works that sounded similar to something French or English that I already knew. That actually didn't work as well as I'd hoped, but it was okay. Sitting in that class made me sad for students who have to do this every single day. How can we fix this? What programs need to be implemented? How can we make sure that every single student gets to be a part of the action and not back being a part of the scenery?

Overall, I still find their high schools, as a whole, interesting. The ideas of the teachers moving between classes makes sense but I have a feeling causes boredom. And the fact that they choose their job for the rest of their life at the end of 8th grade so they can go to a certain high school for it is nuts to me too!! How could you possibly know? And what happens if a student changes their mind? Overall, the visit was good and informative.

Wednesday evening we had a our final group meeting. We met at another middle school in Carpi. We gave our group inquiry project presentations. This was a very long process but we learned a lot about Italian culture. The presentation topics ranged from government, religion, teaching strategies, and SPED, all the way to the E-pals project (and more!). We were also given information on our trip to Florence this weekend, our final party, and Jared gave a speech on his program "Call me MISTER." Call me MISTER is a program based in the South which recruits black males to teach. He said something during his speech that I will never forget. "After being in Italy I can honestly say that after 21 years this is the first time I have just been treated like and American and not an AFRICAN American." It made me sad and happy at the same time. After that we finished up our meeting and went out for Pizza at a Pizzeria named Charlie's. Mary Jo, Shaun, and I split wine. Afterward we walked to the Gelato place across the street. Alle and Asia met me there and I bought them gelato. After that I went home, cleaned, and went to bed.



Thursday morning I got up for school as usual but during the day we went on a field trip to an elementary school with one of the 2nd year classes. While there we taught them Simon Says, Red Light/Green Light, a few dances, and they taught us their favorite hand clapping games. We also had pizza for a snack. We got to go home once we got back to school so I got home 15 minutes early!! Once I got there I began my packing process. My hope is to get everything I need for the France portion of my trip to fit into my duffle bag so I can open my suitcase as few times as possible. Then my host mom drove Amy and I to the bus station to meet our group for an activity. We drove about 15 minutes to another town to a neighborhood called Coriandoline (Italian for confetti, I think!). Basically it's a neighborhood where the homes were designed by children. They had 10 main requests: transparent, hard outside, peaceful, playful, soft inside, decorated, cozy, big, child centered, and magic. There were unique things to this neighborhood including slides next to steps in houses, fun house mirror elevators, and a secret place for just the children to go.


After leaving there my host mom picked Amy and I up, drove us home, and then she left for dance so I had the house to myself. I watched some TV online, made dinner, and then went to sleep fairly early (yes, 11:15 is early for me these days!). I got up this morning, chatted online for a bit, then went to school. We taught/watched them play baseball ALL DAY. I came home for lunch after school and we had veal and mashed potatoes. Unfortunately I have broken out in a heat rash. :(

Anyway, Tuesday is our only day left at Fassi and tomorrow we leave for Florence until Monday. But first, tonight is Asia's class Festa!

Ciao!

May 24th - 25th

Monday I was very tired. I did not sleep much the previous night so getting out of bed was difficult. I got up and proceeded to school anyways. We had the first 2 classes off from observing. I enjoy this time because it's nice for the 5 of us girls (Allison, Katie, Laura, Paige, and I) to have time to talk, gossip, and express our feelings about what's happening here. Towards the end of our time off we watched one of the classes involved in the Grease production practice for the performance. For the third class period we went out and watched a class play baseball. The fourth hour we had off again and the last class we went in and observed a third year class review for their final.

After school I went home and organized/cleaned my room. Around 2:25 I left to meet Amy at her house down the street so we could bike to the city center together. Once we got there we met up with the rest of the group for our tour of the Carpi Deportation Museum. During the Holocaust there was a holding camp 3 miles north of the city of Carpi in the village of Fossoli. We saw memorabilia from the camp including prison uniforms, barbwire, and photographs, along with multiple quotes from people who were being held captive. We weren't allowed to take pictures INSIDE, but here's one from outside.


After the museum Amy and I biked back to our houses and I went upstairs and Skyped for a while because nobody was home. When Alle and Asia got home Alle came upstairs and we talked for a while about plans for the next few days. Then she went down to start dinner. I went down there shortly after and watched cartoons with Asia until dinner was done. We had grilled chicken, green beans, and strawberries for dessert. After dinner Alle and I talked for a while she asked me if I wanted to go to a dance recital in the city center but I asked to be excused because I was very tired. After they left I called my mom and talked to her for about an hour. I still have almost an hour and a half on my calling card to use in the next week before I leave Italy! Haha. Once off the phone with her I showered and started watching Pretty Woman but soon got tired so I got ready for bed.

Thankfully I got a little more sleep than usual last night but I was still tired and running a little late this morning. After getting up to turn off my alarm this morning I laid back down and chatted with friends online for a bit. I then got up, got dressed, and went down to eat breakfast. Then I rode my bike to school. This morning we again had the first 2 classes off so we all worked on our Inquiry Project presentations. In case you had forgotten, this trip for me is also a class and we have to do a research project on a chosen topic. We chose to work together and do our project on E-Pals since it is the e-mail correspondence between Italian and American students done right here in Carpi. After working on those projects we went to observe a Math class. The teacher had us read the equations how we would read them out loud. The next class was a third year English class and some of them practiced for their oral exams that they will take soon.

After school I came home and ate lunch with Alle and then she took me to the train station to meet Allison, Katie, Shaun, and Mary Jo. This afternoon we went to Bologna with the pure intention of shopping. We went to H&M and I bought 3 dresses and head band for only 32 euro, which turns out to be about $40!!


Tomorrow I am going to a technical high school to find out how they work and tomorrow night we have our final group meeting followed by pizza and gelato.

Until then, ciao!