My First Week in Italy!

Ciao Everyone!

Sorry I haven’t written in a while. Well I made it to Italy. The process of getting from the US to Italy took a lot more energy than I imagined it would. However, after 16 hours of travel, I arrived here in bella Italia. So far I have loved Italy! My host family is amazing! I love how the world got a lot smaller after my arrival. So far I have visited a place called Aquileia, which is one of the oldest Roman cities yet to be excavated. I was fun to think to myself, “This is the oldest thing I have ever seen in my life. After a full day touring we went to a restaurant that was awesome. I had squid, octopus, and snails for the first time in my life. It was a lot of fun.

I also had to chance to meet two Rotarians in Gorizia. They are very sweet. They also have a daughter who spent a year in America on a Rotary Youth Exchange. She is wonderful. The other day she took me out for Spritz. It was a lot of fun. It will be nice to talk to someone who went through the same situation that I am going through. This weekend we plan to make brownies (because they don’t exist in Italy.) I am told that I will meet the other exchange students at the boat races in Trieste. Apparantly there are thousands of boats at the race and it is going to be beautiful! I can’t wait to go.

I love my new friends and family. I think this will be one of the best years of my life. I love how Italian Italy is! I enjoy the face that there is no such thing as a hurry. I love the castle that you can see from all the main streets of the town. I love that every day I get more confident in my Italian speaking abilities (I can actually hold a conversation with my host family now). I love how everyone rides their bikes or walks to get gelato. I am even starting to appreciate Italian driving.

I will write again soon. Ciao!

That's Amore

Well, tonight was wonderful. Katherine cooked shrimp and grits that were amazing, and I got to see all my nephews. I had three helpings of the shrimp and grits (which is a record for me). Witt walked the farthest he has ever walked (about three and a half feet), Dixon played with his toys from the 1980's, and William smiled at me about three dozen times. Witt topped off the night by dancing to my Italian music. When his mom said "Maybe he would dance more to country music," Lee commented "That is OLD country music." The thought of this comment still makes me smile. After everyone left, Dad made my night by dancing to "That's Amore" with me. However, we were interrupted by Prince, my dog, who was very jealous that Dad was paying so much attention to me. So, to make him stop barking, we let him join in our dance. Dad said it was the only Italian song he knew (which is funny since only one word in the song is Italian "Amore"). All in all it was an amazing night. I hope to have many more like it.

From Beautiful Louisiana to Bella Italia

Ludovico and me at the Rotary meeting

Ciao! Well, I'm about to go to Italy for a year as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student. I am setting up this blog so that my friends and family at home can see what I am up to while traveling around Italy. This blog will also serve as a type of journal. I hope to read this blog at the end of my stay in Italy and remember all the fun I had there. I cannot wait to see how my worldview will change throughout the year. Having never been out of the country (except for one day in Canada for a hike) I am extremely excited about my trip! Only 11 days 15 hours and 17 minutes until my plane leaves. Not that I'm counting or anything. I cannot wait to meet my new family in Italy! But i hate to leave my amazing family in Louisiana. This year, and the years to come will be a learning experience for everyone. Wish my luck.

"To live would be an awfully big adventure." (J.M. Barrie)

Ciao!