For the past few days at school students have been talking about not entering the school as a sign of protest. They are protesting about the garbage all over the city. Yes the garbage is this bad!!!! There are mountains of garbage everywhere. People just pull up to the pile, open their trunks and toss their bag of trash on top of the pile. It is disgusting seeing trash everywhere and it smells so bad! Another thing I noticed is that they are not to big on recycling bottles, plastic, paper, or anything. Also its "okay" to just through your trash out the window if you are in the car. I hate seeing this because I try and recycle everything, ask my mom, every scrap of paper into the recycling bin with the news papers.

Yesterday most kids from my class (which there are only 21 of) did not attend class. In fact I think most did not enter the school. Five other kids in my class, myself and some others did enter school and went to our classes. There were only the six of us for that school day in our room. The first lesson I did some exercises in the Italian workbook BEC gave me. The next class was technical drawing or something like that and I participated in that because we were drawing lines. Although it was just drawing lines I was happy to do something. For the next two classes we did not have any teachers so we just sat in our classroom and talked. Today I went to another classroom and talked with them during their English literature class. Then I went and talked about my rep then rejoined that class for the last few minutes of gym. I really enjoyed being able to do something physical and get my body moving. Not having gym every other day is weird for me, I think they have it once every week or so. From there I went back to my host sister's class and sat through chemistry. I did not know what was going on, but the teacher tried telling me about this an that and how I should like chem because its not hard. I just sat there and stared at the periodic table trying to find the elements they were talking about and guess their names in English. After that class I went to another English class and they spent their lesson asking me questions and practicing their English.

On another note, last night I went out with my host mom and sister, Assunta, for dinner and then we went to Maddaloni and walked around. There was garbage everywhere and smelled gross. We then can to this candy shop and went in. And if you know me, you know how much I love candy :) I took only a few things because I didn't know how they tasted. I was really in the mood for something sour so I took what looked like they were sour. The candy was really cheep from what I could tell. I started eating some and they were not sour and I could not eat more than a few pieces before feeling sick to my stomach. Not eating much and then really sugary candy is not a good mix so I stopped.

The weather here has been really nice; cool in the mornings and warm in the day, cooling back down at night. Right now it is cloudy and it started raining on our way home. I don't mind rainy days to much because I love to read and watch the rain. Rainy days also tells me that sometimes mother nature needs to let it out and cry every now and then.

I know this picture is really gross, but this is the sight everywhere, sometimes even bigger!!! XP (<-yucky face)

New York How I Miss You...

Hey everyone!!!! Yet again another post, most likely to be rather long like the last few, sorry in advance. As you can imagine living in another country is very hard. I am feeling homesick and at times I want to go home, but I quickly push those feelings aside. I am very excited to be here in Italy and I cannot wait until I understand more of the language. School is very boring because I don't know what they are saying and I have no books to follow along in. I brought my Italian book that BEC gave me, but you need to listen to a CD to do most of the exercises so it never left me bag. Yesterday at school I became very upset, but today I did not cry in class. At the end of the first lesson, latin I think, I started coughing (have a cold and now I have a dry cough) and I could not stop coughing and I felt myself gaging. Cristina took me outside to get a drink and the English teacher was coming up to see me. I went with here and told here how I felt. I don't like the school system here, so everyone in Ketcham you have it made!!! You have no idea how boring it is. I could not tell the English teacher everything because I was too upset.

I have so many mixed emotions about being here. Like I said before I am super excited to be in Italy, but I am struggling with my host family. I am homesick which makes me sad all the time and I have a cold which doesn't help. I can hardly eat at meals and I become upset at meals. I just want to cry and sleep all the time, nothing else. I am having a hard time adjusting to my host family. I wish to tell them this, but I don't want to upset them. I feel uncomfortable around them, I feel like I have no real space to call my own and they seem to think I cannot be left alone because they tell me everything they are doing. I feel like a guest in their house and just sleeping and eating there, not really welcome for a long time.

I have been talking with my mom because I don't know who to talk to. I have asked other exchange students how they are adjusting and maybe they don't want to say how they really are, but I am having such a hard time. I did not expect this part to be easy, but I did expect to be loved and part of my host family. I have an uneasy feeling with them and I do want to leave. Please understand they have been very nice and have been paying for a few things like gelato and my school books, but I feel so out of place. Being homesick does not help this situation. I want to tell my host family how I feel, but I can't bring myself to tell them. I think about it and I become scared, worried and just start crying. I can't eat a meal without crying. I am scared all the time and always in the way. I know I can make it through this hard time because I have to and I don't want to give up. I feel like a failure for wanting to change families, for crying all the time, for not liking it here.

I am sorry if this post has upset you, but that is how I feel. I have dreamed about coming to Italy for so long and I have worked so hard to come and now I am here and this is how its going. I can only hope things get better and I hear from my rep very soon. I love you all so much and I miss you!!!! I am accepting the fact that you are all in New York, six hours away and I am here. It is hard to think this, but I know I will be coming back and I just need to be strong and believe in myself.
CIao :) Aly

Sorry for not posting pictures here, it takes a while so I will try again in another post.

The First Few Days

The first day in Valle di Maddaloni we stopped in a store in Maddaloni for some school supplies. From there we went to a little super market and bought some things there too. We then headed to Valle di Maddaloni and arrived at my host family's house. Once there we brought my bags inside and brought them to my room, which I am sharing with Cristina. I then asked for the box I shipped over and handed out my host family gifts. I got Assunta and Cristina each a t-shirt, nail polish, and eyeliner. I gave my host mom a cook book with some of my favorite recipes, measuring cups and letters. I made a bandana for my host dog Rocky and also brought him a Greenie dog treat. I also brought over a frisbee, a book about New York and some U.S.A window clings. That night we ate pizza and one had french fries and hot dogs on it and it was not that bad.

The next day was Saturday, Cristina and Assunta had to go to school and I stayed home and slept in. I woke up around 8:30 and ate breakfast. I had a croissant with nutella. After I unpacked my suit case and put away my things. After I had nothing to do so I started practicing my Italian and then it hit me. I will be living in Italy, half way around the world from New York, for ten months!! I know no one except my host family, no friends or anything. Everything I knew was back in New York and here I was in Italy alone. I was sad all day and could not stop thinking about home. I was able to talk with some of my friends which did not help the situation, but by the evening I was finally able to stop crying. I went out with Cristina and her friends and we went and got ice cream. We returned home and stayed her for a little bit then we went out again to Sant'Agata, a near by town and walked around. I got to meet some more of their friends and started to enjoy my time there. I could not understand them because they talked too fast and I did not know everything they were telling me.

We retuned home around midnight and then went to bed. The next morning my host mom's parents came and I got to meet them. After breakfast we walked around Valle di Maddaloni and I met some more of Cristina's friends. Meeting new people and doing things keep my mind away from home and I started to enjoy myself more. We then met up with their uncle Alex, who took us out to get some gelato. We returned home and had lunch and at that time I was not hungry, but I still at some gnocchi which my host mom made by hand. After lunch Cristina's friends came over and they did some homework and I went online. Once they left we took a nap and got up at 8 and ate dinner. We then got ready and went to Caserta to listen to Cristina's cousin who was playing in a band. Once again we returned home around midnight and went to sleep.

The next day was monday and my first day of school. I am in the same class as Cristina so she was able to translate somethings for me. I had no idea what they were talking about!!!! I would catch a word here and there, but not enough to understand completely. With time things will get easier and living in Italy will become more natural and comfortable.

Sorry for such long posts, I just need to keep everyone updated. Love you all!!! :D

Orientation

I spent three days in Milan with other students from across the U.S., Canada, and Australia. We stayed at a Hostel a little ways from the Duomo of Milan. For every meal we would walk to the same restaurant; which would have only been bad if the food was terrible, and it was not!! In fact, the food was AMAZING!! There were so many things I wanted to try and so little time. Of what I can remember this is what I ate over the three days in no particular order: 4 cheese pizza, lasagna, croissant with custard/creme, gnocchi, salad, and or corse gelato!!! We spent the mornings at the hostel talking about the BEC rules, the program, our host families and some general things about Italy. The first day after lunch we walked to the duomo where we then got onto a double decker bus and took a little tour around Milan. Once that was over we returned to the duomo and walked to this castle not far from there. We had and hour to walk around the castle and return with the group. There was not much to see unless you went on a tour of the inside or went in the museum. We did not have much time so we walked through the court yards of the castle and walked back to the front. The second afternoon we walked around some more and found Vittorio Emanuele II gallery, a very famous place in Milan right next to the duomo. Once we walked through Vittorio Emanuele II gallery and got to the duomo we had three hours to walk around, shop, and do whatever. I stayed with Stephanie and Edith for our free time and we set on an adventure!! We wanted to get gelato, but not just any gelato, gelato from Grom!!! We heard Grom was the best in all of Milan so we just had to go. We could not remember where it was so we asked about ten people along the way and finally we found it. We walked so much and in a circle, but we found it!!! That was the first time I had gelato in Italy on this trip and it was delicious. We walked back the way we went and once we reached the duomo we just sat and rested our tried feet.

Our next task was to find Stephanie a scarf from Milan. We went back into Vittorio Emanuele II gallery and started looking around. We went in maybe two or three shops before Stephanie found one she liked, that was not over 100 Euros. From that store we stopped in an AutoGrill, which sells drinks and snack. There I bought a Gatorade, and yes it tasted different, but not in a bad way. We walked back to the duomo and found others from our group and just sat there. Others started to arrive and then our reps from BEC arrived; Valentina and Claudia. We walked back to the hostel and then went out for our last dinner in Milan. The next morning we woke around 7:30. We had to be ready by 8:30 for breakfast, except one girl Samantha who had to leave at 8:30 to catch her plane to Sardinia. After breakfast we had a few minutes to gather our things and then we were off to the train station. Luckily the only thing I forgot in the hostel was my shampoo.

At the train station we sat as a group and waited around till the first group had to leave. I was part of the first group, the Naples group. There were 9 of us, 7 going to Naples, 2 going to Rome. We walked to platform 15 and then to car 9. The train had a small isle and I had a hard time getting through with my luggage not to mention people were trying to pass me, but there was no room!! Jonathon helped by putting our things in the above compartments and we finally took our seats. Only one person had to sit by himself. The woman wanted to trade seats so she could sit with her friends and the guy from our group did not mind switching with her.

The train ride was very fun talking and laughing with the other students going to Naples. There was one girl, Lani, who was going to stay in Maddaloni, which is only one town over from mine. Everyone else was not too far. I tried to take some pictures while on the train because the scenery was so beautiful. We went right through Tuscany and the rolling hills, farms, old Italian buildings; truly something amazing. We finally arrived in Naples four hours later and now came the big event, meeting our host families!!! We all unloaded from the train and started walking to the station, one by one families came and meet their exchange students. My family had a big yellow sign with my name on it :) I said goodbye to my friends and went with my host family to their car and headed to Valle di Maddaloni.

ITALIA!!!!

Today is the first full day of orientation. Last night we arrived at the hostel and brought our bags to our rooms and picked out our beds. We then walked a block or two and went to this cute little Italian cafe`. I shared a pizza with another girl, Stephanie who is from California. It was wonderful!!!!! After dinner we headed back to the hostel and started getting ready for bed. Taking a shower was amazing!!!! Although it was like a day or so, it still felt nice to get out of the clothes I was wearing and freshen up. Sleeping in a bed was really nice, I had no problem getting to sleep. This morning I woke up a minute or two before Loni woke us all up. We walked back the the cafe from last night and we ate breakfast there. I picked out this pastry with creme in the middle, not to much and I ordered orange juice.

I don't know what we are going to do today because I cannot get onto my email! Italy is beautiful and I can not wait till we to go sight seeing and free time to walk around. Ciao a tutti!!

My Student Visa

Last week I went down to New York City with my mom to apply for my student visa. We get to the visa office early to confirm its location and make sure we were in the right area. Once we found the visa office we checked our maps to see where we were and what we could do in the city before my appointment. We were only two blocks from Central Park so we walked over there and found a nice little place to rest our feet and get something to drink. Once rested we headed back to the park entrance. After checking the time, we still had plenty of time so we waited some more on a central park bench. When the time was right we walked back to the visa office and arrived outside the door around 11:10. On the email they sent to me it said only the applicant can go to the appointment and one should arrive 15 minutes early to go through security. We were there promptly and I rang the buzzer. A man came out and asked for my name and information. I told him I had an 11:30 appointment, but he simply gave me a paper with the order my documents needed to be in and said he would let me in at exactly 11:30.

We were not allowed into the visa office so my mom and I were on 69th street with all my paperwork looking for a spot to sort them. I found this little post outside another building and set to work there. Luckily it was not too windy so my very important paperwork did not fly away. We went to work and soon the papers were all organized. When I first made my appointment I printed out the student visa web page with all the documents needed to apply for the visa. I brought the paper with me and as my mom and I were checking off the paperwork with the list from the web site. I had ever document they listed on the web site and I was ready to get my visa!

11:30 comes and the man comes back to the door and takes me inside. The door leads into an enclosed ally way. I walk down the stairs and there is this little security check point where the man goes, takes my passport and enters my information. He gives me a pass, returns my passport and gives me the okay to go inside. The first door is rather heavy for the look and size of the door; you could tell the door was bullet proof. From the doors I walked into this dark, depressing feeling room. There were three rows of six chairs. The chairs were all connected and like sets at a baseball game, but smaller and farther apart. In front of the room were three teller windows (also bullet proof), but in front of the windows where the visa workers were they had placed partitions. While I waited (for a little over an hour) there was nothing in the room to look at. The walls were bare, the room echoed and I could do was think to worse.

Finally my name was called so I walked up to window number two and faced my nightmare. The women takes my application, looks at my passports, then she heads to a bulletin board and takes a packet. She searches for my name and says, "I am sorry I don't think I can accept your application, your name is not on the list." NOT ON THE LIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY NAME IS NOT ON THE LIST!!!!!!!! I had no idea what to think when she said that. She talked with another women then she checked another list and found me. She then tells me my parents need to be there because I am a minor so I run out and get my mom who was waiting outside on 69th street for an hour and take her in with me. The security guard had to check her id and enter her into the system. We get in there and the women asks for my dad, who was not there because we did not know he needed to be there too. Then she goes on saying we do not have enough money to send me to Italy!!! They were asking for 30 euros a day, which is a lot for a high school student who does not spend that much money normally everyday, the 30 Euro a day equals out to about 10,000 euro for my entire year which is a lot, A LOT, of money!! She then recalculated it and I was fine, but I was still missing several papers. If you know me you know that I would not have gone down there unless I had all my paperwork copied at least twice! The paperwork I was missing was not on the web site so I had no idea I needed it. Once they women gave us a paper saying we could come back again and a list of everything I needed my mom and I left to office and once we were outside I stared to cry, again. The whole thing was very stressful, scary and just a terrible experience. We went back to Grand Central and took the next train home.

Once we were home I gathered up the paperwork I needed and headed to the bank to get everything notarized! And I mean EVERYTHING!!! The next day, Thursday, my mom and I went back down to the visa office and we arrived around 8:45. I needed to be there between 9 and 10 to deal with my missing paperwork. Some of the same people who were there yesterday were there again with their missing paperwork. The security guard came out and called us in with our receipts we got yesterday. My mom had to come with my because I am a minor and I needed her so I had to wait till everyone was already in the room so the man could check her passport into the computer. We waited some more and they called my name once again. We walked up with our folder with everything they asked for. She started asking for paperwork and my mom just keep pulling them out one after another and the women was so happy we had everything notarized and organized. We had everything and the greatest thing I heard that day was when she said, "You can come back Thursday the 9th between 2 and 3:30." I left the visa office much happier that day.

I went back down on the 9th, early again and waited in line to get into the visa office. When 2pm came the security guard came out took us down and we had to wait again for him to put my moms passport into the computer. We get in, sit down and wait about 10 minutes. They call my name, we walk to window number three, and he handed me back my passport and with my visa inside. We walked out and there is nothing holding me back from going to Italy now!!!!

Sorry for the long post, but they were long trips and an experience I do not want to have again anytime soon.