BUON GIORNO!!!
Yes, I know, I stink at writing. So therefore, yes, I am sending a
mass email due to my lack in responsibility. I am sorry if it makes
any of you feel unspecialised, but you all know that I love you like
crazy and can't wait to see and hang out with all of you again,
which believe it or not isn't that far off.
Since I haven't written since Christmas, ouch! Has it been that
long?
Indeed it has. Let me tell you how my Christmas went. I went to
the south of France with the family and spent my Christmas there for
one week. We stayed in an apartment on the sea in Theoule. Which
was a cute town with nothing in it except for an architectural house
made in the shape of a bunch of bubbles, it was actually on a
commercial here and bursted out with, "I saw that house!! I was
there!!!" As silly as it sounds, I actually felt proud of myself
for some reason.
We went and saw Grasses which is world renound for perfumes and
we visited the perfumery called Fragonaurd there and my host Dad
offered to buy me some perfume. The only thing I got there was a
big headache.
Then we saw Monaco and monte carlo and I got to see the
house that Grace Kelly lived in which the thought of being a
princess kept me occupied for the next hour in the car. It was
really amazing to see a place that you had read about in a book and
only
lived in your head and to see you minds fantasies right before you
is an incredible feeling, one that has me hooked on travelling.
We went to Nice where I was introduced to the new love of my
life: croissants! I practically lived off those things there and
the car was filled with the precious flaky little crumbs. And nice
will always hold a special place in my heart because that is where I
first saw the sea, or any large body of
water for that matter. It was much too cold to go running into a
wave, so I ran up to the edge with my host dad, stuck my finger in
the water, and tasted it! And yes, I can say from experience that
it is most definitely salty. I also toured a castle in Gordon, but
the guide was in French, but I
did decently following him because the words were somewhat similar
to Italian, but not a lot of them of course.
Christmas day was awesome, except that my host sister spent
the entire night violently throwing up, so she was bed written the
entire day. I got to cook with my host parents and steal a few
recipes, which I have started a little cookbook, I have stolen so
many, haha. We also returned to Nice for our last day and I got to
tour a modern art museum, which was breathtaking, just thinking
about it makes me want to go back. France was amazing! Can't wait
to see Paris in June!!
For New Year's Eve, I went to San Remo and danced the night away, it
was incredible! I got to play around on the seaside with some
friends too! I think I started dancing at 9:00 and ended at about
3:00, I was needless to say the first and last person on the dance
floor; what can I say, dancing is in my blood!! It was also
interesting seeing how 30 kids sleep in a one bedroom apartment,
especially these itty bitty European apartments.
Next we went to Sestri Levante to visit the grandparents of my
host family, my god! The grandmother can cook like no one I have
ever met before! Everything she has ever made for me I became
addicted to. I think one of my favourite parts about travelling is
the food, I am so happy when I eat food! But no worries, I still
weigh the same as I did when I left.
Since then I have changed host families, which ended up being a
better thing than I thought it would be. It is so strange leaving a
host family, the feeling is so mixed, thank god I only have to do it
one more time. My host parents shed a few tears when I left, I was
really close to them and love them to pieces!
I have now been with this family for almost 2 months which the
environment is a flip flop from the last family. The first was
communist and from the north and this one is conservative and from
the south. I was a bit uneasy coming to this family to be honest,
because of my liberal thinking and such. But I really like this
family and adapted immediately.
I have a cute little host sister named Fedderica who I love to
pieces. She is actually home sick today, so that means ITALIAN
DISNEY FEST!!! YEAHHHH!!! I have practically worn her out with
Disney movies and Barbie's. I love being a kid again!
With this host family I went up to the Swiss alps and went skiing.
Well, I sledded, I could just invision myself walking around with a
cast for the rest of my time in Italy and so I opted on not
attempting skiing for my first time in a foreign country. It was
really beautiful and I had so much fun. I have also experienced
teaching English to 10 year olds for two weeks for eight hours a
day. I had a lot of fun and got to spend time with a child from an
abusive home and being around her really puts you in your place, she
was very sweet. I had a lot of fun doing that with my friend
Ceceilia and I will never forget my experience there.
For my usual life in Milan, I am doing belly dancing, tango, yoga,
and gym.
I also finally found a group of friends to go out dancing with!
That was a big thing I missed back home was dancing and here it is
so expensive and everyone has homework and the fact that it is
freezing in the winter time, and I mean FREEZING, no one really goes
out dancing. But the people that I met like cheap places (hooray
for the sudden existence of cheap disquoteques!) , and go almost
every Saturday. My friends Laura, Barbara, and Tizia live close to
the disquoteques and so I spend the night with one of them, so I
don't have to catch an expensive cab home. Last time we went to a
Latin bar and I had one of the most fun nights here ever. This week
is hip hop night!!! I have also joined a church theatre group which
they are performing Joseph and the amazing Technicolor dream coat,
but it has already been casted unfortunately, but I fill in when
someone isn't there and I am going to help work on stage props and
such. I really like it!
Okay, I am off to belly dancing, write back and let me know what is
going on in your lives, I really miss you all, and forgive me for
the stinkiness of not writing. CIAO!