2 Weeks

I've been here for two weeks now and that feels like a huge accomplishment, these two weeks have felt like they lasted for months because each day is so exhausting. The adjustment to a new culture and language is exhausting and everyday is a battle to understand, or at least pretend to.
School is very good. I have absolutely no idea what is going on in most of my classes, but i do understand the math class because it is pre-calculus and I did that in America. I never thought i would be so happy to see conic sections.I remember the first day we had math class and the prof started talking and I was already preparing for a nice nap, when suddenly I saw her draw an Ellipse. That entire class i felt like the smartest person in the room, which is a nice change because most of the time here i feel like a bumbling idiot. I have english, german, latin, french, and italian classes, so I'm trying to learn like four languages at once. It is significantly harder when you don't understand the language they are being taught in. It is really hard to stay awake at school because i have nothing to focus on haha. It is getting better though, i didn't fall asleep during class yesterday :). Before i came to Italy i was warned alot that people would dress differently, they don't. I think I already mentioned this, but the same brands are popular among teenagers (Abercrombie, Hollister) and Skinny jeans are still very in here ( :(  skinny jeans only look good on skinny people). I'm interested to see what happens to fashion when it gets cold here because last year it got to be -22 celsius (-7.6 F). I can't even imagine that cold. However, one difference i have noticed concerning fashion is that it is okay to wear the same outfit two days in a row here. There is a lot of accesorizing with scarves. Living with a host family is definitely been the hardest adjustment for me because they have a lot of rules and I'm not used to that. I still get really frustrated and I always feel like I'm doing something wrong. The language barrier to really difficult to overcome and most of the time i can't get through what I'm trying to say at all. When i can't understand something is makes me sad and very homesick. Right now I honestly don't think I'm strong enough to do an entire year here it seems too difficult. I have made  a lot of friends and the kids in my class are very nice. Yesterday I went to Alessandria (big city 20 minutes away from Tortona) with my friend Chiara and we went shopping. The shopping was great, but it was hard to find clothes that fit because i am like taller than this entire country. Today I am going to the cinema to see Magic Mike. I am excited because that is definitely a movie i do not need to speak italian to understand. As I try to learn Italian my English is disintigrating sorry.
The meals here are different. Breakfast is usually coffee and like cookies. Then lunch is pasta, then some sort of meat and maybe fruit. Dinner is the same. They eat a lot of nutella here and all of the water is carbonated. I went out to pizza with my friends last week and discovered that the soda also tastes different. I got a Fanta orange and it was more bitter than the ones in America.
I have definitely run into alot of stereotypes about Americans and it dissapoints me. They think we are pretty stupid and that our school is very easy and we only eat junk food. So far my American high school is far more difficult than the one here. Also they older generations seem to think because we can drive at 16 that we grow up too fast, but here kids are smoking, drinking, and going to clubs at 13. It is interesting to see they think driving is more freedom than that.
Speaking of driving, everytime i get in a car here I feel like I am going to die. The driving here is crazy. THe streets are only big enough for one car but there are two lanes going opposite ways, people drive waaay too fast, and leave no space between cars when they stop. I have had to ride on  a moped a couple times and it is terrifying. You keep your hands behind you like underneath the seat and I swear I am going to fall off. Apparently i don't ride correctly so i get made fun of  "the American who can's ride on a motto". All i can think of while riding is that the tiny helmet i have on is not going to save me if we crash. my head just keeps chanting "brain bucket, brain bucket, brain bucket,".
Next Saturday I am going to Milan with some friends and the Saturday after that to a club! I am very excited.

la ragazza americana il primo giorno di scuola

first day of school! very different the teachers move and the students dont. there are only 22 students in my class (4a linguistico) and everyone already knows eachother and the teachers. when i walked into the classroom it went completely silent lol. over the past days i have learned to recognize one phrase very well, la ragazza americana, the american girl. that is how i am introuduced and referred to. they love my california accent here and think its hilarious when i say los angeles california. anyway my classes are fisica, la historia del arte, historia, italiano, francese, latino, matematica, religione, and inglese. in english that is physics,art history,history, italian literature, french, latin,  math (not sure what kind yet i have that tomorrow), catholic religion, and english. the kids, even the stupid boys ( you know the kind), are like crazy smart compared to americans. they speak the languages so well. i mean they are reading books in these languages like 1984, a christmas carol, animal farm, shakespeare! we get to read shakespeare in english class and act it out so thats good something i can understand finally. the teachers were nice kinda. some of the tried to include me and others jsut ignored me. the ones that ignored me i raised my hand and made myself part of the conversation which seemed to work pretty well. school starts at 7 50 and is over at 12 50 and is from monday to saturday. its like a super easy amount of time. at school it is inappropriate to wear anything that doesnt go past your calves and cover your shoulders.. did that make sense? lol now i dont speak english or italian it is really surprising how when you try to learn something new you forget something else. t-ahirts and jeans no tanktops or shorts. so that leaves me with 3 shirts and 2 pairs of pants that i can wear to school... lol  i need to go shopping! already it is colder than in california! today was cloudly and, piove, rain. very very beautiful! i need to buy shoes lol mine are all wet haha. so school was good! in march the class is taking a trip to london to watch shakespeare i think we will be gone for 5 days. i hope my visa will let me go all the permissio soggiorno  ( residence permit) stuff is like super confusing. things are good. io sto bene, i am fine. its not exactly fun yet because it is still uncomfortable and new but i hope in a couple weeks it will be okay. my friend Giami in Denmark says that the first week is the hardest but that after a month it gets better. more school tomorrow...... maybe i will finally remember peoples names lol.

First Days in Italy

so first thing the keyboard is completely different here so in this post there will be many typos and no punctuation. deal with it. its a bit weird i feel like im stranded on an island because i didnt bring a phone (should have) and my computer isnt compatible with the internet my family has so until that is resolved i will post as often as possible. my family is really nice and they are trying really hard to speak english so we can communicate but it is hard on both sides. ceci my sister is 22. i am running on very little energy so this will be a string of unrelated thoughts. i miss home this is very very hard. the hardest thing i have ever done in my life.v i didnt think it would be hard but i was totaly wrong. there is something to be said about comfort. i dont know how anything works here even the light switches look different. my rooom is really nce they painted it yellow for me and it is very spacious and pretty. the house is three stroies and very comfortable. there is only one bathroom but it is huge. the switch to flush the toilet is above thetoilet and is a button and not a lever. i have no idea how to work the shower lol. i have given my family some of the gifts i got them and they love it. the weather is hot during the day and cold during the night. moist but not too humid. i wish i had known my computer wasnt going to work i could have saved myself alot of trouble on the 16 hours of flying 4 hours in a bus and 7 hours on a train. it is very beautiful. everyone smokes. all the kids drink and smoke. my family doesnt drink at all. learning a new language is exhausting i am always tired but i already feel as if i have learned a little more than i knew before. the one level of rosetta stone that afs made us do before leaving seemed pointless while i was doping it but it has been a life saver! if they keep having afsers do that do it all! i start school tomorrow and i am really nervous i have to walk which is good but i have a broken toe that is jsut not going to heal apparently and it is so swollen so none of my shoes fit. yay constant pain and embarrassment. afs said no one wears shorts and everyone dresses very formally. that is absolutely wrong everyone wears shorts and they dtress exactly the same as we do. breakfast is at 7 lunch at 1 then rest until 3 and dinner at 8 or 9 party until 1 and then start all over again. i dont know how they do it. i feel like a bother to everyone i try to speak too and it is discoruaging but then something will happen and everything is okay again. because i am on my own it is hard to keep things in perspectibve and keep my emotions in check like sometimes i just think this is horrinble i am stupid and i want to cry and then three mintues later ceci invites me somewhere and it is fine. this is hard. now i cant speak italian but i am trying so hard to speak italian that my english sucks. i am worried i am going to get lost walking to school tomorrow. i need to buy school supplies today . i forgot my tongue scraper. there are alot of bees. alot of hand motions like a whole other language i need to learn there are literally thousands. hundreds of different ways to flip people off. i went to like a street fair last night ( you have no idea how long it took me to remember how to say that in english) there were fireworkd snd i hung out with ceci and here friends. i am like an alien first people are afriad to talk to me and then its have you met the lakers do you surf. they do lsiten to american music here but there are actually alot of really famous italian singggers. this giy ligabue is super popular and alessandra morsoso ( i have no idea how to spell their names). overall everything is good just very difficult. i thought it would be more carefree and easy but it is so hard that i cant even describe it. anyone who says otherwise is either lying or fluent in italian. did i mention i have a nonno and a nonna they are really nive. eberyone knows everyone here and is impossible to go anywhere without sayinghi to someone. thats all the time i have because now i need to go buy school supplies. hopefully next time i post i will be a little moer cogent. ciao. oh and only old poeèple do the kissy thing the firdst timethey meet.

Packing and Host Family Gifts!

I have officially finished packing! it took several hours and three rounds of packing and unpacking, but I'm done! When i was packing i kept on searching for what other AFSers had packed but couldn't seem to find a list anywhere, so here is what I packed.
1. 2 pairs of jeans
2. 1 pair of slacks
3. 1 pair of jean shorts
4. 1 pair of green capri's
5. 7 shirts
6. 2 long sleeve shirts
7. 2 white tanktops
8. 14 underwear
9. 14 pairs of socks
10. 1 pair of flip flops
11. 2 pairs of walking shoes
12. 1 pair of flats
13. 1 pair of heels
14. 1 pair of water proof shoes
15. 1 pair of tennis shoes
16. 1 black blazer
17. 3 sweater jacket things
18. 2 scarves
On the AFS facebook page people often ask if they should bring their computers or not. I would definitely say yes because of school work, but also if you are applying to college while abroad (like me).
I also got all of my host family gifts picked out and packed. In my host family I have a mom, dad, and a sister. For my mom I got oven mits that say I love USA on them, blackberry jam (very californian), a coffee cup that says California on it, american measuring cups and spoons, and I made a cookbook of all of my favorite recipes that only americans eat  (stuff from thanksgiving, chocolate chip cookies, breakfast stuff). For my dad I got chocolate american money! I thought it was brilliant, there is a 100 dollar chocolate bar and also the chocolate coins. In addition, i got Obama candy (yes it exists), and a pretty poster of my city logo. For my sister, Cecilia, I got a Hollister shirt that says southern California on it, I made her a necklace, and got some salt water taffy. Plus i went to the beach and collected some shells and sand and put them in cute containers to give to my host family and the friends I plan to make!  My host mom messaged me that they are getting my room ready and that i start school on September 12th at 7:50 in the morning. Exciting stuff!