Today, Saturday, has been a lazy day. My favorites. I am still in my pajamas and do not plan on changing out of them until after lunch...even then, it is doubtful. This past week was a reminder that I have a normal schedule here, just like at home. On my nine days of vacation I was getting quite used to having something new and exciting every day. Not to mention, being able to sleep in however late I wanted! But, unfortunately, I am required to go to school so this week it was back to "hitting the books"....haha funny joke Emma! I study nothing but Italian here (which, trust me, is plenty) so I actually never "hit the books". But school does take up a majority of my time during the week. Oh, and this week I took my first test...in INLGLESE (English)! It was hilarious. All the students in my class were saying "Emma come sit next to me!" "Emma, come here come here!" Priceless. I received a 10 on my test. I know you are all thinking wow, she can't speak Italian yet but apparently she forgot how to speak english too. Not true. One thing that is extremely different between Italian and American schools is their grading scales. We have a 0-100 grading scale in america, but here it is simply a 1-10 scale. So no, I have not forgotten English!
Although this week was full of school, I also spent more time in Aosta or just getting out of the house than I did in my first two weeks of school. Probably because I (as well as my host parents) am now completely comfortable taking the bus home. I know which numbers I can take, when to push the little "I need to get off here" button, and when to actually get off. If you want to hear a funny story, ask my mom about my first time attempting to take the bus home from school. Rather embarrassing. Anyhow, now that I can successfully get from one place to the other, I am starting to have a lot more freedom. Not that I didn't have a lot to begin with...I think packing up your bags and taking off transatlantic gives you a sense of freedom that, I dont know, is indescribable...Sorry, I keep getting off track. Focus. Okay, now that I have more freedom, I stay after school with friends and take walks around town, always stopping for gelato of course. (Sidenote: I am addicted to gelato and espresso. Two days this week I bought gelato twice...in a row. But my friends did as well, so don't judge!) It's nice being able to have more freedom, not because I don't absolutely adore my host family, but because the goal of this experience is for me to really fit into Italian culture and although family is extremely important in Italia, children have a lot of freedom to do as they please on most days.
What else what else what else?
Oh I will update you on my travel plans that are definite:
1. This upcoming weekend I am spending a nightin Torino with my host sister.
2. March 18-22 I have a school gita (trip) to Firenze (Florence)! I am so excited for this. The gita is with 2 classes that some of my closest friends are in.
3. I AM SPENDING EASTER IN ROMA!!! I am so so so so so so incredibly excited for this. I love Aosta, it has it's own character and charm and it is bigger than Morganton, but sometimes I feel a bit cut off from the real world. Roma will be a nice break from this. Plus, a few of my close AFS friends live in Roma so I am hoping to meet up with them and they can show me the real Roma...not just the touristy stuff.
4. After Easter break I return to school on a Thursday and that Friday another one of my classes has a field trip to Torino scheduled. So more Torino!
5. And of course, there is the week vacation in June to Tuscany with my family :) Time on the beach and experiencing a different region of Italy!
6. And lastly, sometime before I leave, in the summer, my fam is going to return to Roma!
As far as I know that is all that is definite for now. Which is pretty crazy, that checks off a lot of what I want to see! Some AFSers have talked about getting a group together and going to a Coldplay concert in Milan and spending a night or two there in May. Milano, Venezia, and possibly Gravina (a small town in South Italy where one of my good friends is staying) are the only places left that I have noted possibly wanting to see. The good thing is, after Pasqua (Easter), we are allowed to start traveling alone! Which is perfect because I can then take a weekend or sometime during summer to travel to these places!!
This week has been a bit frustrating with the language. I feel like I should be able to start speaking, even if its not complete sentences, more than I can. Understanding is definitely improving day by day, but as far as speaking goes I feel as if I've sort of hit a plateau for the time being. A lot of my classmates like to try and speak English to me, so I think not constantly hearing Italian at school is messing with my brain a little bit!
Venerdì sera (Friday night) was a quiet evening. I stayed in Aosta til about 6-6:30, came home, my fam ate dinner around 8:30, and then watched a scary movie together. And although it was in Italian, it was still extremely scary. Ieri sera (last night) I had an Italian lesson/festa. I went to my teachers house and we (me along with Chika, another exchange student) had the usual lesson but then we made biscotti from scratch. They were delicious! afterwards I was supposed to go to one of my friends concerts but it ended up being in a town about 20 minutes away and our little festa lasted to late for it to worth making the trek! Today I have no plans so far, which means it can be a day of hanging around the house and maybe going into Aosta (only if I muster up enough energy to change out of my pjs)!
Love and miss you all, un grande bacio per tutti! Xoxo
Emma
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