So Busy, and Loving It!

So these past few days I have been pretty busy. On Saturday there was the Festival de Uva. This is basically a party of wine (uva=grapes). In Europe there is school on Saturday, so after Devin and I went to go explore the town of Fabriano. We went to the place where all of the kids hang out for a while, and then we decided we would walk back to her apartment where I was going to eat dinner at that night. We got completely lost, and it took us about 40 minutes to get back, when it should have only taken about five-ten minutes! When we eventually did get back to her apartment, Lorena (her host mom) told us that we had all been invited to go out to eat at the Festival.

The restaurant was typical Italian. Chairs were touching chairs, and it was so crowded. I loved every minute of it! The food was so good, Devon and I couldn't even finish it! After we ate Devon and I were allowed to go explore. We weren't really sure what to do so mostly we just wandered the narrow streets. It was pretty interesting finding our way, because it was sort of like a maze.
The next day on Sunday my host family created a huge, huge, huge supper for all of the extended family, and some of my friends from school! Along with Devon's host family. We had pizza, and it was my first Italian pizza! It was so good, most of you wouldn't believe! I l-o-v-e Italian pizza almost as much as I love Italian pasta! It felt like we ate all afternoon there was so much food. Then that night Giulia took Devon and me out and when we came home all of their family was still there, and we ate more pizza :D I couldn't have asked for a better Sunday!
The next day on Monday one of my friends from school invited Devon and me to a nearby town called Metallica. We went to this crazy "street fair." There were tons of vendors selling so many different things that my head was spinning! For those of you who know me, I'm somewhat of a shop-a-holic.. So basically this was like heaven! My mom would be proud, I only spent about 60 euros. I bought a jacket for 27 euro, a purse for 12 euros, and some other small things.
Before we went to the "street fair" we had the honor of touring a beautiful church in the town that was centuries old. It was so pretty, and there were so many artifacts it was totally amazing! I will create a blog full of pictures from the church soon!
After we were done shopping we went back to my friends house for dinner. You'll never guess what we had next: pizza. There was so, so much! There was this one kind that had sauce and sweet corn! Now, being from Iowa, I absolutely l-o-v-e corn! This pizza was so good, I think it became my favorite.
After we left my friends house we headed back to Fabriano for a group that is sort of like my Youth Group back home. There was a lot of talking, and I didn't understand almost anything, but I still loved every minute of it.
On Tuesday Nadia and Giulia picked me up from school and we went to the supermarket. We ate lunch in a little cafe in the same building of the supermarket. Before we went in Giulia had told me that it was a very small supermarket, and there are bigger ones in other places. At home our grocery store has a total of six aisles and I thought this one in Fabriano would be smaller by the way Giulia talked about it. Turns out the place was absolutely huge! I can't believe there are bigger supermarkets!
After we went to the store, they took me to see an extremely old church near the middle of Fabriano. It was seriously the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I didn't want to take pictures of it, because I new that they would never catch the essence of it. I only wanted the memory of it. There were paintings all over the walls and ceilings, and everything was just so beautiful it almost brought tears to my eyes.
Today I finally met my counselor from Rotary. He took Devon and me to a restaurant to meet two other people from Rotary including the president's son. I ordered a pizza, and you'll never guess what they put in front of me. It was a huge pizza! Probably the size of a medium pizza at home, and they expected me to eat all of it! I could only get about half of it down..
All in all, I would say it was a pretty good week. I'm having so much fun, and there is never a dull moment (except in school that is). My school is mostly really boring because I don't understand a lot so I just sit there. Sometimes I will have a day where every teacher wants me to do something different (learning Italian). Then there are days when no one has me do anything. I like to go to make friends though. I think I have made a lot in my class. I'll talk more about my school next time!
Until then, cheers!
Ciao for now!

Day Two in Fabriano

Yesterday was my second day in the beautiful city of Fabriano. I went to school for the first time to meet my principle. After that he introduced me to my new class. There are not very many people in my class, about the size of a medium-sized class at home. There are three boys, and the rest are girls. Everyone is very, very nice, and they all try to speak English with me. There is one girl in my class that speaks very good English. She has been translating for me, and she is very smart.
Here the class stays in one classroom, and the teachers rotate to us. This is very helpful in my case. There is a break mid-morning where people bring sandwiches, or some other little snack to eat. At home it would be about two or three in the morning, so I am not hungry at that time at all, so I eat nothing. At school I only understand about two classes. English (of course), which is actually a lot like our English where we read a lot of English literature. It also reminds me of history class, because right now we are learning about the Renaissance in English. The other class is oddly enough Chemistry. For those of you who know me, science and math are not my strong point! I don't normally particularly enjoy them either! I like Chemistry, because even though it is still in Italian, I remember how things work from last year!
After school Fillippo (who teaches gym at my school) took me back to the house and we ate lunch. After lunch Giulia took me to the pub (don't worry family and Rotarians, there was no drinking at that time for anyone). There we met up with a few of Giulia's friends who I have come to be very fond of. Everyone ordered fries, and other stuff like that. I was still full from lunch, so I did not have any. Then at about 8:30 Giulia and I went back to the house for supper. We had another kind of pasta, and so far it is my favorite! We have had pasta everyday at lunch so far. After dinner, The same people from the pub and Devon came over to our house and we just sat and talked for a while. It was a lot of fun. Mostly we talked about movies, and silly things like that. At midnight I decided to call it a night and went off to bed. Giulia's friends all go to University, and didn't have to get up in the morning, so they stayed longer.
So far I am having such a wonderful time! Everyone is so nice, and tries to help me learn Italian, and also explains things to me in English so that I understand. I am almost filled to the brim with food, and I am never hungry. Italian food is so wonderful, but there is way to much at one time! I can't wait to share more with you soon!

Cheers,

Janie <3

First Day in Fabriano

What can I say, these last few days have seemed like a lifetime already, because I have done so much. The plane from Charlotte to Rome was soooo long, and honestly pretty awful. I watched one movie at the beginning of the flight. Then I tried to go to sleep. I slept for maybe two hours. Then I tried to watch another movie, but I was so excited I just couldn't get focused. It was extremely long and very boring.
When I got to Rome it was about ten in the morning. It took a half hour to navigate the airport, and then to receive my luggage. When I walked out of the door Giulia (my host sister), Fillipo (my host father), and Lucho (a nice Rotarian who speaks good English) were all waiting for me. We left the airport around eleven, and drove to Fabriano.
All of the cars in Italy are stick shift, so in the city we were always shifting. Now, those of you who know me know that I get very car sick, very easily. I got a little sick, so I fell asleep for about and hour and a half. When we finally got to Fabriano, everything was so  beautiful! When you think of Italia, you think of narrow streets, and tall, extremely old buildings. Well, that's exactly what it is like here! Classic Italia.
When we got to the house I was in awe. It is so beautiful and so large! The family lives on the first floor during the summer, and then in the winter they live on the second floor. There is a third floor with one room. It is fairly large, a little like the size of a normal classroom at home. That room is used for when the girls have friends over. The house is so beautiful, and very classic. There are wood and stone floors all over the house. Right after we arrived at the house, they served lunch. We ate on the patio right outside of the kitchen. We had pasta first. I thought that was the whole meal, and I couldn't even finish that because they gave me so much! I would say now that that is the normal size serving here. Then after the pasta Nadia (my host mom) brought out chicken, salad, grilled vegetables, and a lemon cake. All I could eat after the pasta was a little bit of salad, and a small piece of cake.
After dinner I took a shower and Giulia took me out to where all of the kids hang out. First we walked a little bit of the center of town, and found ourselves in the "medieval" part of town. It was absolutely bellissimo! Absolutely outstanding! We walked back up to a little area that is outside. There were chairs and tables spread out through the fenced in area. Here it was littered with so many kids my age, I couldn't believe it! It was probably as many as half as the high school back home. Later Giulia told me it was a pretty small crowd that night because of school. I was amazed.
Then we went  back home to eat supper at about nine (which is the normal time for supper, and lunch is about 1:30-2:00). After dinner some of Giulia's friends came over. At that point I was so dog tired, I just had to go to bed, so I couldn't meet everyone.
I'll keep this short, and write more about my second day soon!

Cheers,

Janie <3

Last Night, First Flight

Last night was my last night in America for the year. It was strange saying goodbye to everyone, because I have waited so long for this it didn't seem real that I was actually leaving. Packing was harder than I thought it would be. However, I am happy to say that other than a few shirts and my favorite (but trashed) pair of boots I was able to bring everything! My weight limit was 50 pounds on my checked suitcase, and I was lucky enough to escape with a whopping 49.5 pounds!
I stayed up until around eleven trying to get things finished and getting it all around.  Then I had to wake up at 2:30 AM to get to the airport. My parents and my sister drove me there, and we got my tickets, and all of that good stuff. Dad and I had some breakfast, and then he bought me the cutest neck pillow! I hugged Mom, Dad, and Emily goodbye, and Mom and Emily both let out the waterworks. I stayed strong and didn't shed a single tear! The first flight was almost two and a half hours. It started out pretty slow, but I dozed off and we were in Charlotte before I knew it!
Now I am sitting in the airport, got some Starbucks, and am just waiting. My next flight boards in about five hours, and it goes straight to Rome! There my host parents will pick me up, along with a Rotary representative (which I am going to assume is my counselor). I will get to Rome at about 9 AM there, which would be about 2 AM at home. That's also the day school starts, but I will miss it because I will not be in Fabriano in time.
There is another American girl that is going to my town. It is a very rare predicament, because she will live with my second host family, and then we will switch families nearing the middle of our exchange. It is also rare that if that were to happen to anyone, it happened to two people from the same country! Her name is Devon (My brother's name is spelled Devin, so no confusion there!), and she is from Reno, Nevada. The other strange part of our situation is her first host family's daughter is spending her year of exchange in Reno! She arrived a few weeks before Devon left, so they got to hang out a few times!
Even though I am sitting in the airport between flights, it still doesn't seem real that I am actually going to Italy for the whole year. I am so excited, nervous, and I feel so blessed! I can't wait for the nine hour flight there to be over so I can meet my host family, and start school the next day, and have the time of my life!


Cheers,

Janie <3

Hello :)

Hi everyone! I have four days left until I leave for Fabriano, Italy as an exchange student for the whole school year. For those of you who do not know Fabriano is about 130 miles northeast of Rome, and about 100 miles southeast of Florence. It is pretty much right in the middle of Italia, which is exactly where I wanted to be!
It is very time consuming being an exchange student, so I will try to update everyone as much as possible throughout my year!