Come va Italia EH???

Come va Italia EH???

Allora. Wow, I haven’t written in a month! I’m dreadfully sorry, hopefully this blog post will make up for it. I think what happened is, the Monday after my last post, the next week, I don-t know why but I just didn’t feel like writing. I was in a bit of a bad gloomy mood. Then the next week we had a three day weekend and io sono andata a Lecco for the day with Kailee to hang out with Molly and Mercedes (in case you didn’t get that I went to Lecco for the day). Then I really did mean to write this past Monday, but once again, as soon as I sat down, with all intention of signing into blogspot.com and hitting that “New Post” button, my desire to write completely vanished. I don’t know, I feel like when given the perfect opportunity to write all by myself in the lovely quiet computer lab for two hours, I just loose all interest. So now I’m on my computer at home writing and when I’m finished I’ll upload it onto my little flash drive and put this up subito!! Hopefully Friday, va bene? (... ok so it ended up being Monday, sorry guys but HEY I'm in Italy and nothing runs on time :)

Alright SO what have I been DOING with myself lately all the way over here in beautiful Italia? I guess the real question is where to begin! I’ll just pick somewhere and go in and out of order as I please. Let’s start with I guess it was… a few weekends ago, what was the date?? We had a three day weekend, which was amazing. Saturday, ho mangiato pranzo con Molly, Mercedes, and Kailee and we all hung out and goofed off for a short afternoon together before we had to split up and go home (all fellow exchange students, Mercedes and Kailee are from Australia, and have been here for ten months, while Molly is from California and her and I flew over from Amsterdam on the same flight. Molly and Mercedes live in Lecco, while Kailee and I are in Milan. Molly and Mercedes are our M&M’s, and Kailee and I are either Nerds or Smarties, we’re not sure which). Sunday, I went back to Kailee’s house for lunch, but Molly and Mercedes had left back to Lecco on the train, and later that evening Kailee and I went to church together (Yes! I found a church!! It’s so amazing, but more about that later) and I slept over at her house. Then, early Monday morning, I hoped on my first train ever with Kailee, my Aussie, to Lecco. Lecco is this adorable little city on this absolutely beautiful lake. There’s one big lake, shaped a bit like an upside-down V. One on end of the V is Lecco, and on the other Como. Como is a bit more famous because a few movie stars, for example George Clooney, have homes there. But we don’t know George, and Mercedes and Molly live in Lecco (they’re more fun to visit than George would be anyway). Therefore Kailee and I went to Lecco on Monday. It was grand fun, except for the weather kinda sucked. It was freezing cold and rainy the whole time, but we had a jolly good time together none the less. Then my week began.

I think life for me is like, just make it through the not so exciting week, and then there’s potential for a fun e divertente weekend. Here’s what my week looks like now. I know! I actually have a somewhat regular schedule of things to stick to outside of school, already! I don’t know I thought it would take til January to have something “regular” to attend. So. As you know I have school on Saturdays. But we’re not going to talk about that. I’ll talk about after school activities first.

Monday and Friday afternoons, from 3-5, I have Italian with Rotary and 4 other exchange students. I love love love my Italian teacher, she’s really sharp, and really enjoys teaching exchange students and helping them out in whatever way she can. Rotary pays her, but she’s going to continue lessons through December and January (we’re supposed to have a break) even though she won’t get paid for it. Sometimes I wonder how she can keep it up voluntarily with the way for of the others *ahem* behave at her house. I get tired of it sometimes when people won’t shut up and stop laughing at something stupid and pointless *ahem!* and can’t just shut up listen and be respectful *AHEM!* I mean this woman is being kind and gracious enough to offer her home, knowledge, and 4 hours of her week to help some undeserving and very clueless stupid American (and Australian) teenagers. Anyway every Monday and Friday I try to catch the quickest way up to Duomo (I have two options, tram or metro. Metro is by far quicker but I have to walk ten minutes, and I’m not weird enough to actually time how long it takes me each different way so I just take which ever method I think would be quicker on that certain afternoon) or whatever location Kailee Tyler and I have decided prima nella cita per mangiare pranzo. It takes a while to get anywhere around here because you have to wait on public transport so while it seems like I have a nice long time to eat and hang out (I get out of school at 1:25, so from 1:25-3 technically is how much time I have) but really we have twenty minutes to a half hour. Then we head up, usually running into Jody and Kylee on bus 42 (the answer to life the universe and everything, also the carriage that transports us to learn Italian, our key to understanding this world we’ve found ourselves in) at Centale station. I wish I could put up the metro map on here. There are three lines, Red, Green, and Yellow. I spend most of my time on the yellow. The three biggest stops are, of course, Duomo, where Red and Yellow cross, Cadorna, where Red and Green cross, and Centrale, where crosses the Green and the Yellow. Duomo is of course the biggest and busiest, I like Cadorna more though, and Centrale is just sketchy. So then we have lessons and dopo all head to head the 42 back to Centrale, where we split our different ways to head home. It gets dark here basically at 5, so I go home in the dark, but if I head straight home I’m there between 6 and 6:30, which is still tropo early by Italian’s watch.
However, I do have this free month at a gym, by the name of Tonic, and if I choose I can go there for about an hour or so after Italian. This gym is hilarious. It spirals up like, I don’t know, a big spiral slide on a children’s playground, and on the sides there are the platforms with the different workout machines. It’s really quite funny. However, I have discovered one thing about Italians and their exercise machines. If you’re a workout machine, do not brag about the fact that you’re from Italy. It’s really not a good thing. If however you’re a dish or bag or shoe from Italy, brag all you want. Italians do and make many things very well, just not workout machines. Also if you’re a tv show, do not brag that you’re from Italy. Italian reality tv shows and soap operas are, if you can imagine, far worse than American. Yeah, that has to be really really bad right? It’s true though, the shows are just about the dumbest things I’ve ever seen, and most the time I can’t even understand half of it. Back to the gym, there are also classes, like Yoga and Pilates offered though which I have yet but want very much to try. The pool is very nice though, and anche the sauna!!! I’m not sure I’ll be able to continue going after my free month though because I heard Italian gym membership can be quite pricey, like 100 euro a month (just multiply that by whatever the exchange rate happens to be that month, which is never great and usually between 1.25 and 1.5 and you get between $125-$150 a month. Yeah, a bit pricey). I just don’t know for sure.

That’s Mondays and Fridays. Tuesdays I actually have nothing to do after school, the afternoon is wide open. Yesterday I walked from school, to Duomo, to Cadorna, then a little further to this fantastic little place to eat called “Natural Break” It’s got tons of fresh fruit in the windows and it serves smoothies and fruit salads and wraps and it’s all organic and fresh and mmmm che buono! Walking there took a little over an hour, so I ended up eating lunch around 3 because I stayed at school until 2 putting up photos of this last weekend (more about that later as well!!). Then, after a marvelous lunch, I ate this great like, gyro I think is what it’s called in English. It’s like a thick tortilla with stuff inside. I got one with mozzarella, tomato, tuna, and mayonnaise. It was so good!! After lunch I walked to the “Last Supper Church” because right across the street is this great old teeny tiny negozio, or shop, with great postcards for only .20 cents each, half of what they are in Duomo! The pictures on the postcards are much better too, and there’s far more to choose from. So Tuesdays I usually can come up with something to do, this city is pretty big after all.

Oh Monday and Thursday nights I have basketball practice, from 9-11, which ends up going to around 11:30. It’s fun, and everyone on the team is SO sweet, haha and they serve chocolates and cookies or cake sometimes after practice… and champagne, but to be entirely honest starting something at 9 at night and not getting in bed till 12ish is a bit late for me. I’ve already (so quickly! Where did my energy go?? I’m pretty sure it packed its bags and headed out as soon as I went two months without running or something) gotten to the point where one time a week is more than enough for me, and practice isn’t even physically demanding! I’m not that great, but I can handle all the exercises and play-ups or whatever they call them just fine. True, I suck as soon as a real game starts, but I don’t break out in a sweat the entire night. That may be because it’s close to freezing outside, but still! I know from an observer on the sideline I must look ridiculous running up and down the court, trying to figure out what the heck I’m supposed to be doing or where I’m supposed to be, or what goal is mine or who my team mates are, or what I’m supposed to do once I find out, if I ever do. Quite quite funny.

Wednesdays I have an Italian course with my school from 2-4. I really really like that class, and love the teacher, just about as much as my course with Rotary. The teacher is so incredibly sweet and patient and nice and she just makes learning Italian so pleasant! She’s really smart too, and she knows way more English than she gives herself credit for. The class however, contrary to the one with Rotary, is taught completely in Italian. Yes, it’s an Italian class to teach Italian taught in Italian, but it’s for students in school who moved here from outside the country (Philippines, Turkey, India, and Ecuador are common) and need a little help figuring out the language. I think I definitely fall into that category. After if I want I can go to the gym, but today I walked to this little book store to order a textbook for German, which I’ve needed to do for too long, and then walked down to my bus stop. I like walking if you haven’t noticed, and try to take every opportunity I can to walk. You can’t really blame me, seeing as I’m a devoted runner who’s used to running through the most beautiful mountains on this planet and has now suddenly been thrust into a very flat and extremely runner-unfriendly world of cement and smog.

Thursdays I have theater with my school from 2:30-4. Theater is a bit of a give and take. At times, it can be fun, while the other ninety-percent of the time it’s really hard to figure out and stay on top of what’s going on, all while trying to appear like I’m having a good time. It’s a small group of us at practice, and they’re all super nice (well, except one girl, who’s also one of my classmates. I don’t know who spat in her breakfast cereal, or all over her Italian biscotti, which she eats too much of if you ask me, but she’s a real snob to me). We’ve only had three practices, tomorrow makes four, and so far we’ve just played little acting games that have been fun, but I know would be way more fun (for me) if they were either in English and I were with friends or I spoke Italian. Duh. I think theater for me will be one of those things that is hard in the beginning but if I stick with it will be worth it in the end. I can hope so at least. After theater, again, for the next two and half weeks, I have the option of going to the gym. Ooo although, tomorrow I’m going to a young adult’s BIBLE STUDY from 6ish-8:30 for the first time. I’m so excited!! I would have basketball but, as I explained earlier, I think going to the bible study is a much better choice. So domain dopo scuola… tomorrow after school… Oh, I actually get out of school at 11:45 tomorrow because the Italian teacher is sick or something. I wish I would’ve known that yesterday. Every Tuesday I go into school 2 hours late, because my school is amazing. So yesterday I go in two hours late and find out that the Italian teacher is sick, so for the next two hours my class has nothing to do. Nothing. And I’d almost rather be stuck in a den of lions for two hours than my class. Ok, that’s not true, but really half the class ignores me, or they are too scared to talk to me, and the other half are nice and all, but a bit odd. Like, they think it’s funny to play games involving “who you like” and “have you kissed anyone” and like to teach me naughty words (like I need to learn, those are like the next thing I learned after “si” and “grazie”). It’s not like I can just go and strike up a conversation with the first half of the class either (I think the language barrier has something to do with that). That is one real flaw of the Italian school system, one of the many many many, but I won’t get into all of them right now (it would take too long). This whole staying-with-one-freaking-class-all-of-high-school-thing is so dumb!!! It keeps kids from getting to know other people, through all of high school!!! I mean, I thought it sucked to have to be just in the same school for four years, with the same people, I mean, I’d get pretty sick of people. But this is with the same CLASS, the same ROOM, for four YEARS! I can’t even imagine!!! One year in the same class (or same school) is more than enough for me, and I even get to move around a bit into two different classes during the week, and also go into the library and computer lab by myself. So anyway where was I? Oh yeah, how’d I’d rather be stuck with lions. So for two hours we (I) did nothing, then we had one hour of English (I don’t think I need to explain why that class is a waste of time for me), and then I had one hour to go into the computer lab or study somewhere by myself. So I’m just wondering, why the heck did I go to school eh?? I did get to put pictures up the last hour though, so that was worth it. But still, it would’ve been nice to know about my teacher earlier. So tomorrow I get out early, but have to be back at the school by 2:30 for theater. So, I want to walk to Duomo to eat lunch at this awesome restaurant Brek. Brek is one of those restaurants where you grab a tray when you first go in and walk around and put stuff one your plate that you want, except the food is incredibly good, not crap like in America. They have this awesome build your own salad bar, but with grains and fun cool vegetables, not boring lettuce stuff, and with a little olive oil and acetto di mela, e molta buona!! And only 3.90 euro, around 5 bucks (it’s cheap because they expect people to buy more than a salad, but that salad, the way I pack it, is more than enough for a good lunch). Walking to the Duomo takes, at minimum, a half hour, and after eating I may have some time da fare some shopping. I need to buy a sweater or two, it’d be nice anyway. Then I’ll go back to theater, and when that’s finished I’ll have two hours to do something… not sure what yet, before I have to meet everyone at the bible study.

Friday… I already went over that, Friday is basically like Monday, but better because it’s at the end of the week, not the beginning.

Then Saturdays, or weekends!!! I’ve had some pretty great weekends since I’ve been here, I don’t know how it’s happened. That one weekend, I guess it was three weekend ago, I went to Lecco. Then... drum roll please, this was spectacular, the next weekend we had “Milan Act 2” with Rotary, and we went to see The Last Supper!!! Words can almost not describe. It was truly incredible to stand right up next to such a work of art, I felt different coming out of that grand dining hall (that’s the room where it’s painted, in the dining hall of the friars), like I had seen with my own eyes something that God was pleased with. I mean, He protected it during the bombing of WWII when half of the church had been completely destroyed, but The Last Supper wasn’t touched. The entire history of The Last Supper is totally fascinating as well, I only learned what our tour guide told us (although he knew a lot) and I would love to learn more about it. Then… then then then… What did I do that Sunday??? I don’t remember at the moment, but I know that the next weekend I went to La Scala for the first time with Kailee and her host parents!!! That was also absolutely beautiful. Wow. Later that evening, after the concert and around 10:30 at night, we went to eat dinner at The Galleria!!! Yeah, The Galleria is where Prada and Escada are, and where dishes cost $50, and Kailee and I go to go at 10:30 for a typical “late classy night in Milan” dinner there. I spent the night at her house, and Sunday her family took us to their lake house on Lake Major (Lago Magiore in Italian). It isn’t a house though I discovered, it’s more like a small castle. It has four floors (plus the basement), two kitchens, who knows how many bedrooms, a massive beautifully well-kept backyard, pool, and from the windows on the top floors you can see all of the lake, the snow-peaked mountains, and part of Switzerland. Yeah, WOW. So that was definitely a very good weekend.

Alright well I’m writing this rather late at night, and while I would LOVE to keep writing and writing and writing, I really do have to go to bed. I still have to talk more about 1. School 2. Italian kids 3. The church! 4. All the people I’ve met, Italian, American, Australian, Canadian, British, African, and even someone from New Zealand! 5. Misc. fun random stuff (living with an Italian family, living in a big big city, not being able to run, the yummy yummy food, etc.)
Now at least though I feel like I’ve given you all a basic overview of MY LIFE at the moment, and for that I feel pretty good.

IF you would like to see pictures, unfortunately I won’t be able to upload them onto my blog for a little bit. I can try to get some up next week but no promises. They are ALL on facebook however, and I think most of you have access to an account.

OH want to hear something in Italian?? This is something I wrote yesterday, and it’s not very much, and it’s extremely basic Italian, but I did it all by myself! The teacher of course looked over it to correct it after, but there were only maybe two mistakes. I’m quite proud.

Mi presento, mi chiama Halcyon Annette Garrett. Ho 17 anni, sono alta, con I capelli castani scuri e gli occhi verdi. Io vengo da North Carolina, negli Stati Uniti e sono qui per uno anno per studiare Italiano. Sono qui da due mesi e due settimane, e mi piace molto Italia. Nel mio tempo libro mi piace tanto correre, fare pilates e fare yoga. Mi piace anche molto cucinare e fare arte. Mi piace tutto il cibo sano, e non mi piace l’inquinamento e il cibo dannoso per la salute. Nel futuro io voglio fare qualcosa nel campo dei viaggi oppure essere una professoressa di storia o una dottoressa. Anche io voglio sapere multe lingue.

Ta da!!! This will hopefully be the first of much more Italian from me. Spero di si cumunque.

Alright y’all, it’s late, and I’m tired. I’ll write more soon!!! All my love to all you all!!!!! Ciao ciao!!!!

Halcyon