Buon Natale!

For anyone who didn't realize it, Buon Natale is Merry Christmas in Italian! I didn't expect there to be many differences between Christmas in the US and Christmas in Italy after everyone described the traditions to me, but I. Was. Wrong. I'm not very sure if it was only in my family or if it was an Italian "norm," but other than spending the day with family it was kind of like a normal day. I myself am confused so bare with me.

Let's begin with Christmas Eve. At around 9 pm we went to their grandmothers house for Christmas Eve dinner with some of the family. One of the major differences between the food on Christmas Eve and Christmas is that they eat a lot of seafood. For Christmas Eve we ate bruschetta, calamari, pasta with calamari, salad, fish, and pandoro(a sweet bread covered in powdered sugar). I'm missing a few things but you get the gist. At 11:30 we went to the church and attended the midnight mass. We were late so we were in a separate room and couldn't see the service very well. The mass ended at 1 am and that's when it started. The kissing. I have never kissed so many cheeks in my entire life. Complete strangers came up to me and kissed me. It was strange at first but after a while I found myself going up to people and kissing them. When the kissing stopped we went to The Garden, the bar we go to everyday. There the kissing started again. It was strange to be out with friends on Christmas but it was really nice. I still think it was crazy we didn't return home until 3am!

Christmas morning I woke up at about 10:30, went downstairs, and ate breakfast with Velia. While eating Velia gave me my gift from the family, a cute elephant necklace. But this is where I got confused. There were no presents under the tree, and I did not see my siblings receive any presents, but I think they were given money? I'll clarify once I know more. After breakfast I relaxed a bit and then got dressed. We were having Christmas lunch at our house and it is a very big deal. They began to prepare the food two days prior to Christmas. We started eating at 1 and didn't stop until 5 or 6. The courses were: antipasto, risotto, pasta, salad, meat, fruit and nuts, and finally dessert. I've never eaten so much in my life. After taking a little nap I went downstairs to find a completely new group of family members I've never met. Italian family are very large, especially compared to my fairly small family. At around 10 Laura, Velia, and I went to The Garden again and came home around two. I was exhausted and the next morning I slept until 1 pm!

I was kind of thankful that this Christmas was so different then mine because honestly I'm kind of in denial that I missed Christmas with my family. This was one of the best Christmases I've ever had, but I think every exchange student will agree that there is nothing better than Christmas in their home country. 🎄
Arrivederci!

Rotondella

It's only two months late but I actually have some pictures to post! There are even more from this trip but I have told you before what a hassle pictures are. So please enjoys these photos. 

Taranto

Today my school went to the city of Taranto to see a play be preformed we had an hour before the show to walk around city and go in a few shops. The city is right on the see and very beautiful. The streets were wide and no cars were allowed on the main street. There were Christmas lights and a tree set up which I thought was pretty funny considering we were surrounded by palm trees.

After walking around the city we made our way to the theater. We saw "The picture of Dorian Gray" performed in English. It was good and I think im the only one who enjoyed it considering everyone else could barely understand! Afterwards it was back to reality and back to the Italian language!

The 18th birthday is very big in Italy. People rent out banquet halls and other large spaces and have 100+ guests. There is eating, drinking, singing, and lots of dancing. Everyone wears their best dresses an we party until about 2 in the morning. I've been to a few and have two coming up next week. I like not always going to the bar and being able to dance. I love 18th birthdays. :)

Straight jackets, a hurricane, and cibo.

During another stimulating day at school, I have decided to describe my classroom to you. Let's begin con mia scuola, or as I like to call it, "the one room schoolhouse." There is one hallway in my school with about fifteen rooms. In each class there is 15-20 students. My classroom is very calming. There's bare white walls, no clocks, and bars on the windows; it's reminiscent of a psychiatric hospital. Very stimulating! There is one blackboard to use, which is often ignored due to the fact it is the size of a postage stamp. There is also no supplies. No pencil sharpeners, no scissors, no learning aids. It erks me so much that the rooms do not even have clocks. It's really hard to be a student in Italy. They purchase everything themselves and are then expected to study for hours after school. My host sister once studied for seven hours straight. I try to study but it is very hard to focus, especially when I don't understand everything.

Last weekend was also pretty action packed. We had ourselves a little hurricane and we weren't allowed to leave the house for two days. The beach in Nova Siri got hit pretty hard but the town is still intact. Other towns were not as lucky.

I have also come to the conclusion that I am the most awkward person to ever live. I feel like a penguin from the movie Madagascar. "Smile and wave boys.. Smile and wave." However I'm starting to understand almost everything. Speaking is a different story. I'm not very talkative as it is, and talking in Italian only makes it harder. I can speak basic things, mostly all present tense. I wish people could understand it's a process, and that if they don't talk to me and try to teach me Italian, then I am going to learn much slower.

I've been craving some American things at this time. At the top of my list is apple pie, a big juicy steak, and believe it or not a Starbucks frappucino! I love Italian food with all of my heart but sometimes I just want a taco, or Chinese food, or a good ole Philly cheesesteak. Since I've been in Italy I don't think that I have seen any international restaraunts. But hey, pizza and pasta is fine by me.

Hopefully I will have something exciting to talk about soon. Arrivederci!