25 days!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the first post I will do now that it's officially LESS THAN A MONTH until I leave for Carpi. A lot of things have happened pertaining to the trip recently!

First, and most importantly!!!, I got my family assignment. :) :) :) I have a few pictures, but I'm only going to post one.

This is my host sister Asia. She's 6 years old and obviously beautiful. I'm so excited to meet her. My host dad is Andrea, he is a Director of Sales and Marketing for the European, Mid Eastern, and African regions for Brunswick Bowling. And my host mom is Alessandra, she is a middle school P.E. teacher. By the sounds of it they have a nice house, like spending time outdoors, and only live about a half mile from the school I will be working at.

Secondly, I got my school assignment. I will be working at Scuole Medie: Fassi. 5 of the 20+ students going will be here. It is actually the middle school that my host mom works at, so that will be really nice too. I don't have a classroom assignment yet, but I'm sure I will get that soon after I get there.

Thirdly, we got our final assignment books for the class portion of the trip. We have reflections we must do while we are abroad, and I have to write THREE lesson plans (40-50 minutes long) for the days when I will be teaching in a classroom. I have chosen to do one lesson on Futball vs. Football, one on Missouri/US symbols such as birds, flowers, trees, etc vs. Italy symbols, and the third on the history of Pop/Rock music in the United States. They will be mostly based on Vocab. I'm really excited.

We have our University orientation on Saturday followed by the parents meeting. We got our packing lists, dress codes, and activity calender at the last meeting too. It's getting very close.

Lately, I've been very busy with trying to wrap up the semester. I have a 6-8 page paper to write, 2 other papers to turn in, a group project, 2 presentations, 1 exam, and a final to finish in the next 3.5 weeks of class. Of course this is in addition to finishing my volunteer hours, observation hours, and all of my Italy preparations (lesson plans, buying gifts, packing, etc).

I'm very excited though! I'll write again next Monday.
Ciao!

32 DAYS!!!

The day I leave is getting closer every day!

Like I said last week, I got my physical and Tuberculosis test done. Good news is, I don't have Tuberculosis! Haha.

Today started the period of true preparation, to be honest. This month I have assignments, final papers, projects, etc. I only have 3 weeks left at the Nursing home, and 2 weeks left at Jefferson Jr. High! But I'm excited to get a whole new set of kids in Italy!!

I'm trying to fit in one more trip home before I leave. I would like to go to a Royals' game and have a nice home cooked meal from my mom. But who knows. Because I have so many things coming up in terms of school, and my cash funds are low, I'm not sure that it will be a feasible option.

We have our last student-only meeting tomorrow with Dr. Bradley. We're going to go over some of the assignments for the course, discuss the final projects, etc. On the 17th we have our University orientation for study abroad and then a parent meeting. Only having 2 meetings left makes it seem to be coming faster. Crazy!

Ciao!

39 days.

Recently, I've been doing a lot of medical things in order to prepare for the trip. Last week I went and had a physical done. Today I went and had a TB skin test done, which is where they inject a fluid into your arm to detect whether or not you've been exposed to TB germs. Unfortunately, I passed out almost immediately after the injection. They gave me Gatorade and peanut butter crackers and made me wait to leave since I had driven myself. I went home and slept for 3 hours after that. I made dinner tonight hoping that it would help me feel a bit better but my head and stomach still hurt.

I'm going back Wednesday to the doctor to get my test results. Hopefully I don't pass out then too, haha. It should be fine since there won't be needles involved.

We have a meeting next Tuesday. It's our last group meeting before we leave aside from the one that our parents are invited to later on in mid-April.

Other than the medical stuff all that's really happening right now for the trip is me trying to finish all of my school work in a timely fashion so I'm not freaking out and stressed before I leave.

I'll write again next Monday and update again!
Arrivederci!

46 Days.

This last week has been a bit less busy in terms of Italy preparation due to a rise in things to do for this semester's classes. I have 2 papers due and an exam this week in addition to having a paper due in my English 4060 class right after Spring Break. English 4060 is the hardest class I've ever taken in my life, and because I will be traveling and volunteering for a large portion of my break, I'm working away at the paper piece by piece. It's killing me. Haha.

I ordered the photos I will be taking with me to show my family. I have pictures of my family, friends, and Cesar. When I go back to Independence this weekend I'm going to take pictures of my house, as well as other things that are important in the community (my schools, etc).
We also had a language meeting last week. We learned how to say a few sayings in Italian, which in all honesty, I have forgotten already. Oops. Because the audio repetition of phrases just isn't cutting it for me, I have borrowed Cesar's old Italian book and invested in an Italian dictionary/phrase book. I'm going to go through some of the easier lessons to get the basics such as hello, my name is, etc.

I've been working steadfastly on Cesar's present as well as completing other small assignments for the trip since it is technically a class. I have a paper I need to write, and a few other things I need to do. I researched the Opera House and the Piazza because I have to give a presentation on them at our next meeting on April 6th.

All in all, the trip is coming up faster than I ever imagined and I'm hoping that I make it through this semester without pulling my hair out so that I will be able to enjoy Italy and France and not have to wear a hat all the time. :)

Ciao a tutti!

53 days and Counting.

I leave for Italy in exactly 53 days. I am already keeping myself awake at night trying to think about what clothes I'm going to take and how I'm going to fit everything I need for 5 weeks in a small suitcase. I'm extremely excited, but it blows my mind how many things I have to do (meetings, paperwork, etc.) before I can actually go. Classes get done on May 5th. I have tickets with Cesar to see DJ Pauly D that night. Then I'm planning on going to KC in the early afternoon on Thursday the 6th. As of right now, Cesar is planning on going to KC to go to the airport with me and my parents when I leave. I've started planning a surprise for him. He knows the main idea. Basically I'm going to leave a box full of envelopes labeled for certain days while I'm gone for him to open. Hopefully him opening those, his reactions to them, and the random communication we will have aside from that will be enough. 5 weeks is a long time to be gone, but I think it's going to be an amazing experience. Plus it will be so great to see him, my parents, and everyone else when I get back.

I'm also considering having a going away cook-out thing before I leave. I'm looking at the weekend before. Probably at Cesar's if that's okay with him since he has a grill and a trampoline.

We have a language meeting tomorrow to learn some basic words. Should be interesting.