Regents Week

For all of you not living in New York, you are lucky!!! Here in New York we have these state wide tests, normally taken in June, for almost every subject in every grade. The last week of the second quarter, this week, we go to school on Monday, then Tuesday through Friday are mid-terms, regents and other tests. Yesterday I had math in the morning, then at 11 I went in for part I of the English 11 regents. It was three hours long!!!!! In that time we had to listen to this passage about park systems, and answer 6 multiple choice questions then write an essay! About Park Systems!!! Who really cares! The second part was a reading about organic foods followed by 10 multiple choice questions and you guessed it! An essay on organic foods and the job opportunities it has created. This whole thing is ridiculous, but at least in June I won't have to take it. Due to my exciting exchange next year, I need to take the regents in January, so just in case I fail it then, I can take it again in June, but I won't fail, so by the end of the year when the rest of my class is reviewing i won't be to bothered or stress, just really bored. Today I am going in again at 11 for part II of the regents, again three hours to write two more essays!!! I can't wait!

I have not heard anything from ASSE about my application. I do know it was sent to Italy a little over two weeks ago, but I really want to here if I am accepted and they are looking for a host family for me! I am really excited and wish these days would go by a little faster, but having school then rehearsal for Bye Bye Birdie till 5 then homework, my days just seem to go on for ever! Luckily this week there was little school, a few tests, and rehearsals seem to be going faster then normal. Another exciting thing is that when I go back to school on Monday, it will be the Third Quarter!!!!! Although this quarter seems to be the longest, it still is 10 weeks, makes the half way point of my finial high school year (at least at Ketcham/America) then starting in September is school Monday through Saturday!! I can't wait :/ I am excited to go, but school on Saturday sucks, and I will get over it real quick. I know it.

I added a picture of this canal in Bologna. I did not take it, but a wonderful person on flickr did. Wait about 189ish days and I'll start up loading my first pictures from Italy and I'll post the links. Remember I do have a Flickr account (I don't have any pictures on there now, so don't look, but once I start loading them on I'll let you know :P)

Rehearsal!!

Today we had seven hours of rehearsal for Bye Bye Birdie! End of post!

I'm just kidding, but really we did have seven hours of rehearsal, which needs little explanation. We started at 9am and got out at 4pm! It was a long day and seemed to go on forever!! Today we even had a fire drill!!! on a Saturday how does this happen lol. Well it was a good break and it was really nice and once we got back in it was time to eat lunch!!! although the day was really long and it has only been one week of rehearsal and we have eight weeks left (OMFG!!!) we have gotten a lot done. I am really excited to do this show, but the songs will get really annoying really quick like week two. We also got our packets for writing who's who and all this other stuff and its my last play which makes me a little sad, but yet I'm so excited!!! 200 days :)!!! Hopefully in a month I will get an email telling me I'm accepted into ASSE Italy and they are looking for my host family! Tomorrow we are hopefully going to the Palisades mall and go shopping!!!! and Monday to respect MLK I'm going to do hw!!! yeah!!! i can't wait!

Hey school update :)

I still am trying out my other blog, but I'm not sure if I'm going to us it because my mom could not view it at work (she works for the school) because of "adult content" which is really weird!!! Anyways, I added a count down clock till September, my departure month and it says I have 229 days, which doesn't match up to my numbers :( but i guess we will find out in a few months. I have already made over another $100 in candy money and have been handing out newsletter subscription sheets and many of my friends are very excited. I also started making a list of items I need to remember, some things i know i won't forget like jeans, socks lol, but some other things like lint roller, germ-x (they don't have these things in Europe I hear) and another list for host family gift ideas, list of people i need to send post cards to. I mailed in my health form to ASSE, they got it, but my parents forgot to sign the agreement part, but Hanna faxed it over and my mom is going to fax it back over tomorrow after work. Once all this paperwork over here is done and completed, maybe now they can send it to Italy!

Rehearsals have started and it is so weird being stage manager, having no one to ask questions to and be in charge, its me!! I'm watching closely and trying to block the dance numbers and blocking dancing is way harder then the stuff in the fall drama where people cross here, sit, stand up, exit, enter, but with Bye Bye Birdie there are spins and jumps, kick ball change and all this other stuff Mr. Peter (choreographer lol) has them doing. My script has a whole bunch of initials and circles, arrows, numbers, drawings, and mythical symbols. Ill have to scan a page into the computer and show you its quite a sight to see. I think I'm doing okay so far, but as time goes on ill get better. rehearsals are Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturdays, this Saturday is 9am to 4pm which is really long, but the last day with Mr. Peter. Tuesday/Wednesday I have Italian Honor Society, and I am in the process of filling out paperwork for Nation Honor Society!!! yay!!!! I need to finish that paper work this weekend and read Macbeth and write my own abridged version of Act IV, so as you can tell I don't have a lot of time to think about Italy, but i still do in my spare daydreaming time which is dwindling and dwindling lol

My next post will hopefully bring good news in some sort of form, maybe from Italy! but that might be in a post next month.

Another blog

I was messing around on the web, creating my flickr account for Italy photos (207 days) and I came across another bloging website. This one might be a little easier to you when I try to upload my picutres and videos from Italy, but I don't know if I'm going to be using it for sure. I'm going to do a few test runs by posting and uploading photos, but I wont know for sure which one I will be using till I get there and start up loading photos and everything. I posted some new things on my other blog so read them there and post on either telling me which one you like better. Thank you :)

www.alyoliva.vox.com

Real Life

The first week back from break is almost done and this weekend is going to be way to short!! Monday I went to the doctors to drop off the new paperwork and today I picked them up after masque and mime. Today was call backs and congrats for everyone who auditioned, you all did a great job. I can not wait for rehearsals although I might say how much time they take up. Masque and Mime is a major part of my life, almost all of my life. And anyone in Masque and Mime knows this! Over break I became really bored by the end and started reading people's blogs who have gone to Italy or are there now with AFS. I know I'm going with ASSE, but they do not have the same style as AFS. On the ASSE facebook page I posted that I was going to Italy and if anyone there now would message me back because I had some questions. I have been in contact with this one kid who is staying in southern Italy, and a kid in Spain. But by reading these blogs my re-excitement for Italy came back and the countdown began (as you may have read in my earlier blog lol). Today, 209 days till September, when I would be leaving. Hopefully I will find out if I am accepted either this month or next. I would love to find out about my host family maybe March/April, and in April scholarships are awarded and staying positive, I will receive one. Tomorrow I am mailing my papers back to ASSE so they can hopefully send them to Italy!!!!!

I hope this post was not to all over for you all, I am just having a hard time keeping focused and my thoughts are all over the place.

The other day I typed up a little letter to print and hand to my friends. It is an informal letter asking for donations to my trip and subscriptions to my newsletter. Hopefully I will earn some more money through that as well. Candy sales are going great, in fact, today I sold 37 candy bars. Two days ago I went to the back and deposited the candy money I earned over the last two months and the bills totaled $333 including some from my old iPod and Christmas (both totalling $80, so almost all was candy $) and then over $40 in coins!!!! I got to use the little coin star machine they have at my bank and it was really fun lol.

COUNTDOWN!?!?!?!?!?

First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!! I hope you have all enjoyed this holiday season. I have, and sharing our Christmas traditions with my host sister Kristin have been fun. Next week we will be celebrating her Christmas and trying to make some of her Ukrainian traditional dishes.

COUNTDOWN?!?!?!
I have calculated how many days till September because I will most likely be leaving till then, and it is 215 days!!!!!!!!!!! OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When I realized this I danced around in the dining room! I first started thinking, hey 4 months till I win my scholarship! which is really exciting as well. Today I went onto AFS.ORG, another exchange program and was looking to see if they had any new blogs for Italy, and there was!!! This one girl went to Italy in the spring semester in 2008. I was reading her posts and getting more and more exciting. After reading many, I decided to look at her pictures and WOW!!!! They were amazing!!!! She looked like she was having so much fun!! and I can not wait till it is my turn!!! 215 days!!!!!! I feel like I'm 5 and Christmas is a few days away!!!!

Although I am super excited I know its going to be hard. Packing up and leaving my family for a year with no real in person contact is going to be tough, but by the time i leave its like I'm going to have to do it again. But I know I will return home and visit my new home :)

Another exciting point: I'm not going to Italy next year, I'm going to Italy THIS year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

COUNTDOWN!?!??!