Aly's Adventures Abroad

Home Sweet Home

2011-01-20T08:27:00.001-08:00

I have now been home a week!!!!!! I am writing this post so you all know I am home and safe. Last Thursday was such a long day and the day before that was pretty long too. That Wednesday there was the school trip to the Vatican. The four exchange students were grouped on a bus with no one else from our linguistic school, which caused us to be separated from the group when we arrived at the Vatican. Everyone from Caserta were give bright yellow baseball hats which we needed to wear so we could be identified. The four of us were waiting to get through security and we kept following a group with the yellow hats, turns out they were another school! We arrived in the audience hall safely and waited with the kids from our bus until our school came in. Four different teachers came up to us and yelled at us saying they were looking for us and we need to stay with them.

In the audience hall the Pope came and read some passages in about seven different languages. It was a wonderful experience to be there and have the Pope in the same room, listening to him. (One thing checked off my list) After the Pope we went into Saint Peter's Basilica and we listened to a little service inside the Vatican. I could not understand everything, but I was able to follow along. Just sitting there looking at everything, realizing where I was, The Vatican! I thought about what this place means to so many people in the world. Religion, God, faith, something to believe in, everything and sitting there a few rows back from the front of the Vatican, feeling small in this world, I just wanted to cry. The experience was very moving and rather overwhelming. I was sitting and listening to a service in the Vatican! To many people this is their life, their goal before they die. The Vatican is just one symbol to represent this religion and thinking of what it all means and the beauty of the Vatican....truly breath taking. (Yet another thing off my list)

After the service we had some free time to stay in St. Peter's Square. I stayed with the two girls from Australia and we went to this fountain and ate lunch. We stood there with St. Peter's Basilica to the left, on top of the hill, with the sun moving towards it, and we were there eating our sandwiches trying to take everything in, staring at the Swiss guards. Time flew by that day and later I remembered that it was my last full day in Italy. The entire day was perfect. From the bus ride there, talking and making friends, listening to the Pope, sitting in the Vatican, eating lunch in St. Peter's Square, everything....made me realized that this experience did not make me hate Italy at all, nor the people. I had my ups and downs and being able to walk around and see things they way I wanted to made me realized thats how I wanted to see Italy. Staying home all the time not being able to get out and see the culture and explore and study the history is why I could not stay until June.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011 will be a day I will never forget and the feelings I felt that day I hope to keep with me forever. Like all good things they must come to an end. The bus ride back seemed to go by too quick, waiting for my host mom to pick me up at the school seemed to fast, saying goodbye to Lani and some of my Italian friends dragged on and I felt that I was losing someone very close to me. When I got back to the house to finish packing I realized I left my camera on the bus. All the pictures from that amazing day were gone. I was more sad about losing the pictures of the Vatican, the Pope, my friends rather than the camera itself. On top of feeling disappointed, I was leaving in like 8 hours for the airport. I had so many emotions and so many thoughts going through my head. That night I slept pretty well and when I awoke for a split second I forgot I was leaving.

Flying by myself was not to bad. The flight to Milan from Naples was not to long, but in the Milan airport I had a four hour layover. I waited with one of the reps from BEC and then she helped me to check my luggage in. The flight left Milan a little later than expected so when I arrived in Frankfurt I had to run from one gate to the next. There was about twenty minutes left for boarding so I didn't have much time to look around. When I got to my gate and gave the woman my ticket there was a man there who told me, "You know its dry onboard." I did not understand what he was talking about so he repeated himself and then said, "We have a roof on the plane." Then I realized he was referring to the rain boots I was wearing. He was very nice and laughing helped me to relax a little. I found my seat and luckily there was only one other person in my row so we were not squished. She was coming back from Israel where he son is going to college and I told her about my trip and she asked questions and talking with her was nice and she was impressed by the way I was explaining things and talking about how much I learned.

About 8 hours later, I was landing in New York City. When the clock on the T.V. screen showed 30 minutes, I was ready to jump out of the plane and go home. Waiting for my luggage took a little longer then I hoped, then I had to have my passport stamped and hand in the paper they gave us where we wrote down everything we were bringing into the country and then I walked through the doors to see my family. My Aunt, brother, his girlfriend, my mom and dad were all there waiting for me and had a little welcome home sign for me. Not even five minutes seeing them my aunt made me call my Grammie and Poppie so they knew I was home safe with them. I called a few more people and they were all glad to hear my voice and hear I was home safely. As we were pulling up to my house my Grandparents were pulling down the drive way. Once we parked I got out and i saw my Grammie running up to hug me. Once we were inside I hugged everyone again.

Once everyone left and I was talking to my mom I gave her another hug and I just cried. I was waiting to hug her for four months. All though it was a learning experience with some unforgettable times, it was the four longest months of my life. I would not trade them for anything, but just being home and hugging my mom, I never wanted to let go.

The next few days I was pretty tired, but still up and doing things, seeing my best friends, my aunt, and on Monday I went to my friends house and it turns out there were a few more people there then she told me there would be. I was so happy to see most of my friends. hugging them all and talking with them. I shared stories with them, we watched a movie and just hung out. It is now exactly one week since I left and I am happy to be home. I start classes in a week or so and I will have to start learning to drive and going back to work and I can't wait. I will never forget Italy. Some details will become fuzzy, but for the most part I will take what I have been through and what I have learned in Italy with me where ever I go and do whatever I do.

A Holiday Speed Through

2011-01-06T09:30:00.000-08:00

Just made another video for youtube. Nothing too exciting, just a bunch of pictures and me talking about them. There is more information about my holidays in my blog posts. Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrGQlTDrm0w

One Week

2011-01-06T07:54:00.000-08:00

Another blog post today, you are all in luck!!!! This post is to tell everyone who does not know already, I am coming home early. I will be coming home in one week, next Thursday. I have decided that I do not want to stay in Italy until June. I followed my dream and took a huge chance by coming here. I was excited to come and after a few months of trying my hardest I realized that this is not the right thing for me, not in high school, not for this long, and not going to an Italian high school. There have been hard times, fun times, sad times, all types of times and I have learned a lot. I am glad my mom and dad said yes and let me follow my dream. I am glad I came and didn't just say, "No it will never happen." I am a little sad things didn't work out like I hoped, not for lack of trying, but I am content with my decision to come home. I will finish my senior year at home with my friends and family. I will start classes again on Feb. 1st, continue with Masque and Mime, I will be home for senior prom and graduation. I will start learning how to drive, go back to work and start saving money for college. I don't know what my next big thing is, but I want to enjoy what I have more because you never know what you have until it is gone. My little town might be boring with nothing to do, but I have my family and friends and they are the reason I love living there so much. Thank you for all of your support! All of you! Everyone talking with me, keeping my spirits up, helping me out, listening, understanding, everything. I could not have come this far without you. I still have dreams of traveling the world and doing things with my life, still unclear, but still plans and dreams the same.

I am enjoying my last few days in Italy and getting excited for coming home. I miss so much from America and home, things I never thought I would miss. I am going to have a little Christmas style party with my family, an Aly Christmas when I come home. I have come so far and grown so much as a person and realized some things are more important than others. Family would be number one. Some of my friends falling into that category and friends in general number two. Having these people in my life have made me who I am and helped me to get where I am. This trip has not changed me into someone else, but I have changed some, I am sure. I fear that I changed in some ways that my friends will not like and don't understand why, but I have a feeling it won't be that big of a change. Things could have gone better and far worse, but what happened, happened and all I can do is learn from it and move forward. I may not know why until later in my life, but staying as long as I have is better then not coming at all. I know some people will judge me for coming home early and I know some people are sad things didn't work out, but I am happy for the most part. I am 100% happy to come home and cannot wait. I know I will miss Italy some, but I will be back to see Italy my own way. Doing what I would like, going where I want and not having to worry about school and this program.

If I have learned anything, it is that you need to be happy with you and surround yourself with people who love you, doing what you love to do. You are the most important and no matter how crazy your dream may sound, do it! You will never know unless you take a chance and try. Somethings will not work and you might be heartbroken, but with time things get better and you move on. You learn and strive for something better while enjoying the most of what you have. Never give up because reaching your goal, your dream is one of the greatest feelings in the world and make you so much stronger.

New Year

2011-01-06T07:46:00.000-08:00

Month three is down and almost month four. The last few days my host sisters boyfriend and his cousin have been staying with us. Her boyfriend has his car so he has been able to drive us places and do some things. Tuesday the fourth we went to Naples and when to some of the markets there and bought some things. I only bought a few things because I don't have room in my suitcase and I am mainly shopping for other people. I have about 5 people left and luckily I can get all their gifts from the same place and they are all rather small. I just need to get to this specific store.

For New Year we went to my host Nonna's house and celebrated at midnight with fireworks and lentils. It was pretty fun, although they didn't have anything like the ball drop in Times Square. In fact, the people on the t.v were a little faster then the clock on the t.v. for the count down. Welcome 2011, I am ready to have an amazing year, so lets get started!!!!!!

I know not a real exciting post, but I don't know what to write about....

Christmas!!!!

2010-12-26T03:57:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate Christmas!!! If you don't no worries, I hope your day was a good one. Christmas for me was really different and new. As I have mentioned before it didn't feel like Christmas, not even on Christmas Day, or opening presents or anything. Well it didn't feel like Christmas normally does for me, but for everyone else here it felt like Christmas. As you know we finally came back from Milan Christmas Eve morning, about 2am, from then we slept and got up around 11. I ate a small breakfast and later was lunch, pesto, one of my favorites. After lunch I was able to talk with my mom and then I took a nap. I woke up around 7 and then it was time to get ready and go to Nonna's house for Christmas Eve Dinner.

Before the first main dish there was this broccoli salad, then there was about 5 different types of seafood. There were two other types of broccoli salads, artichokes, shrimp (two kinds) fried, breaded meat, and something else to help digest all the food. And of yes there was bread and wine, I stuck to Coca Cola. After everyone finished eating we just sat around the table and watched a movie, Benvenuti al Sud. (I had seen this in the theatre when it first came out and talked more about it in another post) After dinner and the movie it was time for dessert. We had the classic Christmas cakes and there was another type of wine to go along with it.

Around 11:50pm, Christmas Eve we went back to the house to open presents. The tradition is to wait until midnight to open them. While we were waiting for midnight to come I went online and Skyped with my mom at my Aunts house so I got to see some of my family then. We talked for a few minutes, but then it was time to open presents. My host mom and dad were tired so they went to bed earlier so it was my host brother and sister, and my host sister's boyfriend. They had already opened their gifts because I was talking online with my parents. I passed out the presents I bought for them and opened the gifts from them. From my host family I received two purses, an Italia soccer jersey, an Italia hat, a box of my favorite pens :D and then from my host sisters boyfriend he gave me this little Vespa which had a snow globe on it of the Colosseum. From my host Nonna she gave all the grandkids a Chocolate Santa. From one host aunt and uncle perfume, and from another a mug with a cute little guy on it. My host sister's friend's family came over and gave us each presents too, mine was a pink backpack.

Once we were done with presents I taught my host siblings to play a card game I play with my cousins back in New York. When we had enough of that and they were eating I called back home to show everyone my gifts and just to talk some more. I finally got to bed around 3am and then we woke up around 9am to go to mass. When we got up we ate breakfast and just hung around the house, didn't get to mass. I then gave my host parents the gifts I bought for them and I am glad they liked them. We went out to see my other host nonna. From there we drove around for a little while and returned around 12 to go to my host nonna's for Christmas lunch. We ate with the family and I played cards with my host cousins. Around 5pm I went back to the house to Skype with my Aunt and Uncle for about two hours. When I was finishing up talking with them, my other Aunt came on skype. I called her and talked to the rest of my family; cousins, aunt, uncle, Grammie, Poppie, Grandma, brother, mom, dad, brother's girlfriend, I even got to see my cousin's cat Lucy. It was nice talking to them all and seeing everyone.

After this Skype session with my family I went back over to my host nonna's house where everyone was playing cards. The game was called In Morto and it used Napoletano cards, which are different then your average cards. They have different symbols and different values. I point of the game was to not have the lowest card so you didn't have to pay into the pot. If you made it to the end of all the rounds and still had money, you one the pot. After playing we went back home and I called home to talk for a few more minutes and then it was off to bed.

Now I have a stomach ache, not sure why, maybe because of all the different foods, and being run down nothing really agreeing with me. Tonight we might be going to the movies and tomorrow hopefully I can go the post office to see if my package is there. The packages from my aunts have been over a month, almost two, what the heck man!!!!!!!! I just hope I will get them before I leave.

Talk to you all and see you soon!!!!!!!!!!!

Milano a Napoli

2010-12-24T05:20:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, December 21st I left with my host sister to go to Milan and visit her boyfriend. We woke up around 5am and left shortly after. Our flight went well and we arrived in Milan with no troubles, and our luggage was all there. I had a window seat and the view was wonderful; however, my camera was in my bag in to over head compartment. Next time I will remember to take it out so I can take some pictures to show you all.

My host sister's boyfriend picked us up and took us to this caffe` bar for breakfast. I had hot chocolate and a giant cookie :D From there we went back to his house and stayed there for a little while. After lunch time he drove us and his sisters to Switzerland!!! It was snowing the farther north in Italy we went and in Switzerland too. We went to this shopping center called FoxTown. You couldn't tell it was Switzerland because it was the Italian-Swiss part of Switzerland. They did have another currency, but luckily they accepted the Euro too. We spent a few hours there and then we headed back to Italy. Before we crossed the border we stopped at a gas station and I bought some chocolate. I also managed to break a container with chocolate in it too, so there for I had to buy it. The worst part was that the container was filled with American chocolates, Snickers, Twix, Milky Way. My host sister's boyfriend was nice enough to buy it and shared with his sisters.

The next day we woke up rather late, 12:30pm. After breakfast we were off to Milan. My host sister's boyfriend's cousin came with us to Milan. We parked outside the city center and took the subway to the Duomo. From there we walked around and looked at some of the shops. For lunch we ate at McDonalds. (Random fact: I have had more McDonalds in Italy in three months, then I would have had back at home in New York) After the Duomo we took the subway to another street for more shopping. Here I finished my host family Christmas shopping which made me rather happy. We took another subway trip to the castel in Milan and from there we walked back to the Duomo to take another subway ride back to parking. For all of the rides on the subway, it was only 2.50 Euro.

In the piazza Duomo there was a Christmas tree with lights and decorations. When we first arrived it was sunny and the lights were off, but by the time we came back it was dark and cloudy and the tree looked wonderful with all the lights and the Duomo behind it. The Duomo's stained glass windows had lights on them and the surrounding buildings had Christmas lights too. And the best part of being there later, around 8pm, there was very few people in the piazza. Near the Duomo was a presepe (Christmas village) with moving parts, running water, and just really well put together.

The next day we woke up at 4:30 am and headed down to San Nicola. When we got around Florence there as a lot of traffic, about three hours for Florence alone. Then we arrived in Rome around 5:30pm. We went to the Spanish steps, Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum. At the Spanish steps they were doing a reading of "A Christmas Carol", then we ate gelato by the Trevi fountain, and then rain to the Colosseum in the rain! Over all it was a fun time and a nice break from riding in the car.

Normally the trip to Rome to Naples is two hours, but it took us eight hours!!!!! It was a rather long trip and we finally got home around 2am. From then I got ready for bed, Skyped with my mom and dad for about ten minutes and then enjoyed my sleep.

Hello Everyone!!!

2010-12-15T07:30:00.000-08:00

Not much going over here in Italy. I might be going shopping tonight which will be fun. I have to do some Christmas shopping for my host family and buy some more presents or my family back in New York and my friends. It is getting pretty cold where I am, not normal weather. There is snow in Milan and seeing as I will be there in 6 days I am pretty excited!!!! I have four more days of school before I leave for Milan on the 21st!!!!!!!!!!!

Today was a pretty normal school day, not doing much, listening, reading, day dreaming.... The German teacher passed back our tests today!! I received a 9.5 out of 10!!!!!!!!!! I am rather thrilled about this because this is only month two of German classes in Italy lol.

I have started looking into college again...when i mean looking into, I mean looking at one main college. I really want to go to University of Liverpool. I don't know my major yet, but I think something with history. I am not going to worry about college until I get home so I can relax and enjoy my time here.

I hope everyone is doing well and getting ready for Christmas vacation/Winter break, which ever you prefer. Love you all!!!!

Footloose

2010-12-13T12:45:00.000-08:00

This spring my school is doing a production of Footloose. Auditions were this past weekend and I would just like to say congrats to everyone who made the play and give credit to everyone who tried out. Many of my friends are part of the drama club-Masque and Mime either on stage or off. I have not be able to take part in a theatre club here in Italy and I miss it quite a bit. There is just something about theatre and for the past three year Masque and Mime has been my life. I know everyone will do a wonderful job with the show and I can't wait to hear some funny rehearsal stories :D

This makes the start of my last full week of school for this year!!!!! Six more days of school until I go to Milan!!!!! I am so excited and I can't wait to go, plus there is snow in Milan!!!! It is getting cold here in southern Italy, around freezing, which is not normal weather for this region. 2010 is coming to an end and I will be celebrating the New Year in Italy!!! My first year away from home for Christmas and New Years, and not the last either, but I will take it one year at a time. You can tell Christmas is coming soon and yet I have not heard that many Italian Christmas songs. Many of the old familiar tunes as background music for commercials. I am kind of glad they do, something to remind me of home, but I would like to hear some Italian songs. Another thing I have noticed, many of the Christmas decorations say 'Merry Christmas' and not 'Buon Natale' which is Italian. I wanted to buy some things for Christmases to come, but it is proving harder than I thought. I will not stop looking until I find them, don't worry!!!!

Here is something else really random, I have started looking at colleges again. For those of you who don't know my 'plan' I am going to community college on a full scholarship because of my class rank, within the top 10% :D and then transferring two years later. Where is still a mystery, but I am a 'dream school'. On school that has caught my eye would be the University of Liverpool, but with the recent news in England about college, the cost, distance, a some other factors, I am not sure weather this will happen, but then again, Italy was a dream two years ago and here I am.....

:D Buon Natale!!!!!! Merry Christmas!!!! Happy Hanukkah!!!! Happy Holidays!!!!

Sorpresa

2010-12-05T04:21:00.001-08:00

Here is my newest video on youtube. Enjoy!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hethtr93YD0

December

2010-12-02T08:19:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving was a week away and a lot has happened. The major this is that I have switched host families. I am now staying in San Nicola near Caserta, still in Southern Italy. I moved on Monday after school and things are going well. I am really excited to be with her and her family. She has a brother who is 17, her mom is a cook and her dad works in a pasta factory. They are all very nice and happy to have me.

Tuesday and Wednesday were kind of bad days. I was just crying so much, in school and at home. So many things going on, not know what I wanted, confused, many emotions. Today went much better and I am feeling better. Being with my friend helps to make me realize I want to spend time with her. This weekend we went to the local mall or shopping center and I bought a book in Italian. I am not really sure what it is about, but my host sister says its good and the writing is pretty simple so it should be a little easier to understand. Saturday night we went to a mexican restaurant and it was alright. I was hoping for some spicy taco or something, but I did not get that. I ordered nachos, which was just chips and 'salsa' but their salsa was more like tomato paste. Then I ordered a cheese thing, but the cheese was different and it was really thick and not that good. Either way I had fun with my host sister and her friends. Today I am not sure what we are going to do, but i am working on another video for youtube so I will post that later.

A few days before Christmas I will be going to Milan with my host sister!!!! Her boy friend lives near Milan and found air plane tickets for 25 Euros!!! We will be staying with him and his family for two days and then traveling back down by car. We will have a chance to stop in Florence for a few hours. Her boyfriend will then be staying with us until January 7th or so. I am really, really excited about that and I can't wait!!!

I was finally able to buy some stamps and I will be mailing some letters and postcards soon. I only have one out of the fifteen i bought and I need to buy some more. The mail here is really slow and I have not received the packages from my aunts or any letters, nothing. I am very sorry if you have mailed a letter and nothing has arrived. I am also sorry to all my friends whom I have not had the opertunity to talk to yet in the three months I have been here. I am thinking about you and I miss you!!!!

Thanksgiving!!!

2010-11-25T06:50:00.001-08:00

I have been home from school for the past three days, my host sister is not feeling well so we stayed home sick. I have been bored just as ever, but I did enjoy sleeping in. I woke up late today like I would normally do, and I didn't have to go to school on Thanksgiving. However, I went to the post office to buy stamps, came back, wrote letters, made another video for youtube, and now I am updating my blog and waiting to talk with my family. My video is almost 9 minutes long and I talk about Thanksgiving some and school, and other things so I hope you enjoy. I am sure to make another post about how calling home went.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W46215AxOac

Ciao!!!

Video Blog

2010-11-21T04:10:00.001-08:00

Here is my second video on Youtube. There are other videos from my friends who are also in Italy as exchange students so watch their videos too!!!!! This video is rather long and I am not talking about anything in particular, sorry. It is pretty random, but I hope you like it!!!! And to my friend Michelle, Thank you so much for the video response :D It totally made my day and I love it!!!!! I hope you enjoy watching the video and hear me talking about really random things. http://www.youtube.com/user/AventuraInItalia?feature=mhum#p/a/u/0/HhCY6IY_vtQ

I miss you all and I love you all!!!! <3

Billard

2010-11-18T06:32:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving is one week away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Although it is mid November, it feels nothing like it should. Yes I am in Italy and Thanksgiving is an all American holiday, I still feel like something is missing. Next Thursday for the first time in my life I will be getting up and not going to school! I will not be going to my aunts to eat tons of food, watching a Christmas movie and going to bed early for Black Friday. Once Thanksgiving passes, in America its Christmas all the way!!! Christmas songs on the radio, Christmas sales, even more Christmas trees and Christmas decorations or no ABC Family for the 25 days of Christmas.

However, I hear that Christmas in Italy is pretty awesome. It will be a different style, but one I hope to enjoy. I do know that there school is closed for two weeks, which is wonderful!!! Also in Italy they have la befana, a which that comes and brings candy to the good kids and coal to the bad kids. December 8th is a religious holiday so there is no school then either!!!!!

Things have been going here in Italy. School is school, six days a week :( I am still enjoying German class and science. I am making friends at school, talking to people more and getting to know my friends here in Aversa too. Last night I went and played pool with a few of my friends and I was reminded just how bad I am at it. It was not a serious game which was good because I had a score of zero.

Last Friday I went home with my friend at school, she is also an exchange student who came over with ASSE so I knew her before from orientation. I spent the night at her house and I had so much fun!!!! I also made two new friends :D They wait everyday after school for my friend and her host sisters and walk with them after school, so while I am waiting for my host mom to pick me up I talk with them and enjoy their company. I have realized just how much I miss my friends and having friends and seeing them everyday. I hate being home doing nothing and just being alone. I hang out with my host sister and I have fun with her, but when we are just watching t.v. or something I become bored very easily. I enjoy the company of others and I always want to be surrounded by people and do something, even if its just a walk, it bets being home on Facebook.

Sorry its been a little while, but I become busy and just don't remember, but I shall try hard to remember about my blog and all me beloved readers!!! Thank you guys!!!!!!

Video Blog

2010-11-05T12:11:00.001-07:00

I was finally able to finish and upload my first video blog on YouTube!!! The other exchange students and I are trying to make videos every week or so to keep updated and just talk about whats going on with us in Italy. It is kind of boring, but watch the end!!! Hopefully the end makes up for the long and boring me talking about nothing in particular.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPa378kQvrw

I hope the link works. :D

Halloween!!!

2010-11-01T07:13:00.000-07:00

Happy November Everyone!!! Yesterday was Halloween, Thanksgiving is in 25 days, and Christmas is 53 days away and I am in Italy living this holiday season a little differently. For the most part Halloween does not exist in Italy. In some of the elementary school there might be a party in the class, but I imagine it much different than those at home. Some of the stores carry Halloween things, like plastic pumpkins, ghosts, Halloween decorations, and even little kits for a costume (like devil horns and a tail), but each store carries the same things. I talked with my host family about getting pumpkins and on the 28th they arrived at the supermarket. Friday night I carved them with my host family. My host sister and cousin scooped out the insides and I scrapped the sides clean and carved them. One I carved a classic Jack, and the other was a spooky graveyard. Overall they came out really well. I then baked the pumpkin seeds with oil and salt. They came out all right, but not as good as mom's.

Hallow's Eve or mischief night I went out with my friends like it was any other Saturday night. We walked around the piazza and talked. A little bit into the evening I took out my camera and my friend asked to see it and the next thing I know he is running down the street asking to take pictures with random people!!!! This went on for the rest of the night. They ran after groups of people, couples, always asking first, to take pictures with them. We also had someone take a group picture which came out really nice. The next day was Halloween!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. In New York the weather is cooler, leaves changing and littering the ground. In general Autumn is my favorite season and I love candy and dressing up so Halloween by default is a fun holiday for me. It did not really like Halloween at all. Yes I carved pumpkins, ate pumpkin seeds and candy corn (my mom mailed packages and they arrived on Friday the 29th, thank you mom) and I listened to some "Halloween" music, but there was still something missing. I ended up going shopping with my host sister and her friends. I bought some books; Alice in Wonderland (but in Italian-Le Avventure di Alice nel Paese delle Meraviglie), Hamlet-Amleto, and Shakespeare's Sonnets-Sonnetti. Then we went to see a movie. Like before, I got the basic idea of the movie and I could pick out words and phrases, but it wasn't complete like English.

When we returned home I got ready for bed and watched the latest episode of The Big Bang The Theory and after that Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride. Before I closed my eyes to sleep I thought about what my friends were doing back in New York and other kids all over America. Going door from door asking for candy, running from house to house in their costumes and when it was done dumping their candy on the floor and sorting what they like and don't like and trading with their friends. I don't think there is an age limit for trick-or-treating because inside we are all kids so what better day than Halloween to have fun. Yes people don't want to give "grown-ups" candy and yes they should save it for the younger children, but its just so much fun!!!!!

November 1st and 2nd I was off from school for a reason I am not sure of, something like the day of the dead, maybe...anyway, it was nice to sleep in and not worry about going to school. Monday night, November 1st, some friends came over and we were going to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas in Italian, but we lost power. Once the power was back we played wii sports and then watched the Italian version of Big Brother, Grande Fratello. I had baked chocolate chip cookies for everyone, and they loved them!!!!!! I was so happy they enjoyed an American classic. I also shared sweet tarts, sour patch kids, and Reese's peanut butter cups with them; which they also loved. Overall it was a fun night seeing everyone and just hanging out.

With the holiday season coming I am starting to miss home a little more. I miss everyone, but I am enjoying my time here. I have met some amazing people and I still have eight months of fun and adventures!!!

Aversa

2010-10-15T06:41:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have not blogged in a little while. I have been a little busy. First of all, I am living in a new city. I now live in Aversa, so if you wish to write to me (hint hint) send me a message and I will send you my new address. I am still going to school in Maddaloni, but now I am going to a linguistic school. I am taking German and Arabic, in Italian!!!!! I am very excited about this new school. I have met so many nice people and my Italian is improving!!! I am still really bad and I have a hard time trying to express myself, but I can understand people better.

I don't want to get into details about why I switched families, but I will tell you that things are going much better. I feel so much more comfortable with this host family. I have a host sister who is 14 and my host brother is 9. My host mom is a teacher and my host dad is a doctor. I have met a lot of my host sister's friends and they are soooo nice!!!!! They are crazy, but so much fun to be with. Last Sunday I went to Naples with my host family. We went to the Port of Naples; beautiful!!!!!!!!! I had some amazing pasta there. It was penne with a spicy sauce and tomatoes. Sunday night was my host sister's best friend's birthday party. We went to this pizzeria with karaoke in the back. Everyone was yelling and singing going crazy and it was so funny to watch them. Later they started dancing, but I sat out this round and watched. I don't dance much at home and they dance a little differently here so I didn't know what they were doing.

Thursday we did not go to school, I am not sure why not, but we were able to sleep in. Tonight I am going out, even though there is school tomorrow. I really dislike having school on Saturday it messes up my system and I always forget what day it is. Tomorrow night I think we are going to the movies to see Step Up 3, I will let you know how it goes.

Vulcano Buono

2010-10-03T14:57:00.000-07:00

Its been a little while since my last post, but not too long. It is now October, the start of my favorite time of the year, Halloween into Thanksgiving into Christmas, into winter and snow days. Today I went shopping to the Vulcano Buono, Good Volcano, and I bought a pillow. The one I had here was too hard and tall for my neck. I also bought slippers, but they are a little to small, but thats okay they work for now. At Vulcano Buono I had McDonald's. I ate french fries and a McFlurry. It tasted a little different, but similar to McDonald's.

Wednesday and Thursday school was closed because there was a celebration for Maddaloni, the town where my school is. On Wednesday I went to the Reggia, or royal palace. We went to the back garden, which is HUGE!!! From the every end of it you can not even see the palace and the palace was pretty big. I will try to add some pictures to show you how beautiful it was. It was so nice to walk outside and enjoy to fresh air. After the Reggia we had pizza, I had some with french fries on it and I added hot sauce to spice things up. That night I went to the festival in Maddaloni. I liked seeing the vendors and I really wanted to buy a hamster, but I decided that was not a good idea. Later I bought candy and my host sister and I listened to her cousin's band play in the little center.

Sorry I have not been able to upload pictures, but it takes so long to upload even one picture, but I will keep trying!!!

Love you all!!!

2010-09-24T05:03:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-09-22T05:12:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-20T06:21:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-20T05:48:00.000-07:00

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!!!!

2010-09-15T00:06:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-10T08:18:00.000-07:00

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.

Dutchess County Fair

2010-08-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

This week is the Dutchess County Fair in New York and this goes on every year for one week in the summer. Vendors come and try selling their crafts, food, supplies, equipment, livestock and a lot of other things. I cannot remember the last time I went, but I was younger. This was also the first year going without my family. I did go with my brother and his girlfriend, but I was able to go on my own and look around at what I thought was interesting. The first thing we did when we got into the fair was go to the 4-H booth and buy milkshakes! When you go to the fair it is a tradition and a must to buy a milkshake form the 4-H club. After milkshakes we headed up to see the farm animals. There were piglets, huge pigs, dairy cows, another kind of cow and the cows that were destined to become hamburgers and steaks :( Goats, horses and sheep filled the other pens. In another set of pavilions were chickens, ducks and rabbits. I did not go into that pavilion this year, but I have in the past. After livestock hill we headed into the food area and walked among the rides. I do not typically go on fair or carnival rides, not my thing.

My brother and I split ways after the ride section and I was on my own! The first place I went were to the craft pavilions, and I stopped at the first vendor who was selling candles he made himself. We started talking about different things and he explained about the wax he used and the difference between his candles and soy and the health differences. Between them there are not that many differences. I bought four little candles :) From there I walked to the next pavilion where I then bought hot sauce!! The man also made his own hot sauce with peppers they grew themselves. I ran into my brother and his girlfriend and took them to see the hot sauce guy. A little while later I meet up with a friend and we talked about my upcoming trip and walked around a little. He had to eat and get back to work so I went off into a different direction and found more vendors. I found this one booth called Dancing Bear. In that booth I bought a Fair Trade bag and a Beatles poster :). Once I was done spending all my money I headed back up to livestock hill to waste some more time before 2:30. When I was walking past the cows I found my brother again and we stayed together and went to see Strawberry Fields "Tribute to The Beatles" who were playing at the event tent. The show was not that long and rather entertaining. The men dressed like The Beatles and even had wigs to look like them. They sang Beatles songs, of corse they were not as wonderful as The Beatles, but almost as close as I am going to get. As I sat there thinking the only way I could get closer to a Beatles concert would be to see Paul McCartney or Ringo Starr, but that won't be soon, then I thought that some of these people might have seen The Beatles in concert when they were younger. Can you imagine!!! I would have been one of those girls crying in the stands of Shea Stadium who then became a hippie fighting for world peace! I will still fight for world peace, without the drugs and flower power lol.

All in all the day was great!! I had so much fun. This was one of the first days of the summer where I went some where all day and just got to do what I wanted to do. There were so many cute animals I just wanted to scoop them up and take them home with me :)

I received another email from ASSE and it was kind of confusing. It talks about asking for permission of stay from my host family and I need to pay them 80,00 Euro. I know host families are not paid and should not ask for money from the student for hosting them, but thats what this sounds like. I asked my friend who went to Italy last year with ASSE and he said that the permission of stay is like a student visa and the money goes to the government to allow me to stay. It is a little different than here, but Italy is its own country. Wednesday I am going down to the city with my mom to hand in my student visa application. I have only two things left I need for my visa; passport pictures, which I can do at home. The pictures need to be a certain size and have a white background, not that difficult. Lastly I need a letter from my parents notarized saying they are finically responsible for me in Italy and I will be all set to get my visa at last.

Sorry if this post is rather long. I like to keep them short because no one likes to read forever. The pictures are of Strawberry Fields "Tribute to The Beatles", part of the fair with rides in the background and piglets from one of the pavilions on livestock hill. Enjoy, Ciao a tutti!!

August Already?!?!?!

2010-08-18T19:40:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Summer is half over if you like it or not, and for me, I am a little excited to go to school this year. I have 26 days before I depart for Italy and I cannot wait!! This weekend I am having another party/get together/shindig before I leave. Although my friends planed one for me already, I had talked with my mom about having one myself. I have been working and my last weekend that I will be working will be August 5th. I go down to apply for my visa on the 1st, and hopefully go to the U.S. Open on the 2nd with my best friend :D.

I have emailed my local rep. about my pre-departure orientation, no answer yet. I did receive a rough layout of my orientation in Milan. I will post it on here so you can see it. Very exciting stuff. I also received my very last informational letter from ASSE. This letter talked about "Your International Flight", "Arrival", "Are You The Same Person", "Documents", and "Bon Voyage!" (or in Italian, Buon Viaggio!). The letter also included my E-Ticket Confirmation and a sheet with a check list of things I should do before going to the airport, at the airport, in flight, arrival and listed some numbers to call if I had an "Emergency During Normal Business Hours (Mon-Fri 0900-17.30)" or if I had an "Emergency Outside of Normal Business Hours" lol. I have also solved the problem of my little ASSE "must use" carry one bag. I will be using the ASSE bag for my computer and some personal things like wallet and such and then using a small rolling bag for my extra pair of clothes, travel size shampoo and such, and some other carry-on things (I am not quite sure what those are yet). Anyway, back to my orientation in Milan:

14 Sep-Welcom students at the airport and then go to the Hostel- Ostello La Cordata
15 Sep- 9AM Breakfast, BEC Presentation, student presentation,
1pm Lunch than sightseeing tour of Milan
7 pm Dinner
16 Sep- 9AM Breakfast, Permission of stay, Doctor, Insurance
13.00 Lunch, Visit Duomo, Free time for shopping :)
19.00 Dinner and walk in Navigi area (nice picturesque area of Milan)
17 Sep- Breakfast, taxi to airport/railway station to catch plane/train to final destination

I will most likely be taking a train to Naples and meeting my host family there. I have also uploaded a picture of the bags I will be bringing with me to Italy. (Sorry its at the very top of the post and not at the bottom with the caption)

Electric Windows!!

2010-08-05T13:05:00.000-07:00

I spent to weekend at my aunt's house for a little birthday dinner and some cake. I spent the night and had a lot of time just hanging out with her. In Beacon there was this event called Electric Windows where local artists painted canvases and the next day they put them in to windows of this old electric blanket factory. I thought it was going to be a little different, but it was still really cool watching them paint and looking at the art work.

2010-08-05T12:20:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I received another letter from ASSE!!!! It was acually a package :) In the package was another informational letter about culture shock, ASSE flight package and luggage. After scimming the paper I looked into the package to find a backpack. It is blue with ASSE written on the front. In the letter is says, "The ASSE Flight Bag must be used as a carry-on bag for the trip. The ASSE bag is a draw string backpack and smaller than what I was going to use. Along with the backpack there were two luggage tags with my information and ASSE's information. There was also a name tag in the package which I must also wear "at the airport and while your are traveling with the group." I can understand the name tag so we know each other's names, but the bag, really? Oh well, at least you get to bring a carry on and a personal item/bag.

Today I started packing a box to mail to Italy before I get there. I packed host family gifts, the gifts I got to hand out to future friends and some other things so I can pack more in my suitcase. I still have to mail the box of things back to my old host sister Kristin. Right now her box of things is sitting under my bed, but when I go to get my box weighed I will bring hers and send it on its way.

I told myself I did not want to buy new cloths and if I did buy something I would not buy that many. I just started looking for new clothes to buy for Italy. I shopped the sales and found a few new things. Jeans were the only things I knew I wanted to buy here in the States because they are much more expensive in Europe. So far I have bought a few (4) new, plan shirts, a cardigan, 2 new pairs of jeans, sandals, a new pair of black flats, a new bathing suit, black skirt, a new belt, slippers and sleeping shorts. I would like to pick up a few more things before I leave so i have them and not have to worry about buying them right away in Italy. Shorts, skirts, and dress(s) are pretty much the only things left to buy, besides socks and all those things. The weather will be different then New York so I will just buy a jacket in Italy for their winter. Knowing myself, I will want to buy a million things in Italy, so the less I buy here, the more I can buy in Italy!!!

My summer is going pretty well. Not doing much, but I did go "camping" the other night. I slept in a tent in my friends backyard. I also went swimming for the first time this summer with my aunt. I got bored one day and cleaned my room as well as rearranged my room. And tomorrow I should be spending some time with my best friend. I hope everyone else is enjoying their summer too.

Ciao!!

2010-07-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

After looking at my last post I decided I should update my blog for all you avid readers. This past Tuesday was my birthday for starters. The day started like the day before, I got up and helped my brother and Poppie split wood, then I scrubbed our new tile floors to clean them. After that I did nothing till about 3:45 then I got ready for work. I worked till 8:15 and from there I went to meet up with some of my friends to see Robin Hood for $1! And honestly, I would not pay more than $1 to see it. It was long and I could not focus on the movie. It was entertaining, but really there were so much going on all the time I had little idea what was going on. When the movie finally finished, I went home and went to bed. I have not been doing anything awesome this summer like going on vacation or day trips any where. I have been seeing my friends which is always a plus!! Other than spending time with my friends, doing nothing at home, and getting "ready" for Italy, I have been working. I am glad I have a job because I have started buying new clothes and gifts for my trip and my pay checks have allowed me to buy them on my own.

If there is anything I want to do this summer before I go to Italy and summer "ends" (I won't be going back to school like the rest of my friends so I have a few more days of summer :D) would be to go to New York City at least once, Six Flags, Woodstock, My Poppie's camp in northern New York and with that trip I want to go to Canada, and the beach! I mean a real beach with sand and an ocean! But those are just ideas and things I want to do, hopefully I can do some of them.

Now onto the exchange portion of my post. I called the Italian consulate in New York City to try and make an appointment to drop off my application and get my visa. At first I thought it was going to be a little hard with their ridiculous hours and working out with my schedule and my mom's, but I guessed wrong! I called and asked about applying for a student visa and the man on the phone said they were booked for like seven weeks or something and I started feeling a little panicked. I told him I was leaving the 13th of September and he said that was fine and so I set up the appointment on the earliest day they had. The earliest day was September 1st!!!!!!!! Are you kidding me!! He says it takes about 7 to 10 tens, what if it takes more than that?? What will I do then?? After making the appointment I emailed the woman I have been talking to from ASSE and my area representative about how soon the appointment was to my departure date and the woman from ASSE said, "That is too close to your departure date, but I think you will be able to get your visa." Well lets hope so. As for any new news from ASSE there is nothing. I am hoping some new letters or something will come because I have 46 days before I leave and I feel that I am not ready and equipped with the right amount of information and support from ASSE. I want to know what we will do in Milan and how I am getting to my host family and just some over all "lets get ready for life in Italy" stuff. Oh well, I will wait and see if anything new comes in the mail.

I LOVE YOU!!!

2010-07-21T18:17:00.000-07:00

This is a special little thank you post to all of my friends!! This past Sunday I thought I was going to some random girls party with one of my best friends, but it turned out to be my own surprise party!!! It was the greatest thing! I got there and all my friends were there (well the ones that could go that is) and seeing everyone made me so happy! I had talked to my mom about planing my own in August (which I am still doing), but my friends have been planing this before school even ended!! And I had no idea. Thinking back it is funny because I would see them all the time in school and I have seen them before this and they knew this whole time....Even my mom! There were times she would be texting my friends about the party while I was in the next room...Oh mom I do love you.

My friends are truly amazing people and deserve a big round of applause. They rented this cabin type place, made food and one of my friends was the DJ, DJB!ROCK! Two of my friends even played some songs, and they sounded great for missing half the band. It was a great night and I had so much fun!! They all signed this amazing notebook (which had The Beatles on it) and wrote wonderful little letters to me, which I read when I got home at one in the morning! People were generous with gifts and money, but all I could have asked for was their support. Thinking about what they did for me makes we want to hug each and everyone of them a thousand times!

I honestly had no idea about the party and I am so glad no one told me or posted it on Facebook, "going to Aly's surprise party." This post is to thank everyone who came to the party, kept the party a wonderful surprise, planned the party, and thank them for just being an incredible friend!! Thank you so much, I love you all!!!!

VISA!!!!

2010-07-16T19:44:00.000-07:00

This past week I have been relaxing and working (not at the same time or corse) and waiting for the mail. I called ASSE with some questions and asked about my visa and if I had already received the paperwork, and at that time, I had not. A few days pasted and then the magical day was here! I received another letter from ASSE and in side a little packet of about six papers. I read every single one, to my best ability (one was in Italian and I understood most of it :D) and once I read the papers, quickly I fired up my mac and went onto the Italian consulate's website for New York and found their contact information. I emailed them, the first time I entered the email wrong, and the second, I am still waiting for a reply. The website is a little confusing and not that clear, hence the email. I do not know which application I need to fill out, but I think I found it so I just need to fill it out and deliver it in person! The consulate has weird hours for dropping off applications and to pick up your visa you have to do it on either Tuesday or Thursday between 2 and 3:30pm!!! Thats it!! And to make an appointment you have to call a number and it costs almost $3 a minute! I was aware the getting my visa might be difficult and there would be fee, but I didn't think it would happen like this. Tomorrow I will print my application and work on it with my mom. It should not take long to fill out and then we will plan a day to go to the city and deliver it in person, because you have to.

I have also found another ASSE soon to be exchange student also going to Italy. We have exchanged emails and found each other on Face Book and have been talking about our up coming trips. I am excited to know someone else who is going with ASSE, not to mention Italy as well.

I have officially started counting down and you may know already. At this point in time, 59 days, but because there is only 1 hour till tomorrow, 58 days!!!

"The Best Kind of Prize is a SURprise." - Willy Wonka

2010-07-07T14:32:00.000-07:00

I received a letter a few days ago from ASSE about my health insurance, nothing exciting really. It talked about what was covered by ASSE, an insurance card and two ASSE ID card, which are really simple and not that exciting either. The really exciting letter fell into my hands yesterday after I saw Toy Story 3 (which was wonderful, reminded me of my childhood) with two of my best friends. One letter was for my parents congratulating them for allowing me to spend a year in Italy :) Thank you mom and dad!! And the second letter was for me! I thought it was just some more information about my exchange program like what to expect, but to my surprise I was wrong! After opening the envelope, pulling out the letter and unfolding the paper, my eyes scanned the letter. On the front sheet was my flight information!! My last day in America for the next 10 months will be September 13th and I will arrive in Milan on September 14th. I was very happy to finally have confirmation and begin the official countdown (which is 68) but a little upset and annoyed because my school will be starting on the 15th so most likely I will not be there for the first day of school, or second. Once again my emotions are all over the place from happy, to sad, to disbelief, to wonder. Although I have my flight information and know I will be going to Italy in 68 days there is still a feeling that this is not real. I don't know if it ever will. At points yes and when I leave my family and friends I will feel it the most, but once I arrive in Italy it will be a dream come true, something way to good to me true. I can only hope for the best and make to most out of everything.

Insomnia

2010-06-28T20:35:00.000-07:00

As the title implies.....
I cannot sleep and I don't know why, well kind-of. Although I woke up rather "early" for teenage summer mode (8:20am) I should be tired and ready for bed, but I am not. I received some more information from ASSE today! Just a few days ago I was worried about not receiving anything new and just how few days I have (64). Today I went up to Poughkeepsie to the jail with my mom for some more ASSE business. We went to get a form filled out and signed to state I do not have a criminal record. And after the wonderful ride up, creepy coffee truck outside the sherif's office and the ride back, I DON'T NEED IT! (The whole thing was not that bad really, plus on the way home we stopped at Borders and picked up some new books.) I called ASSE (not knowing new info was on its way in the mail) and asked if they wanted the hard copy mailed in or if I could fax it. The form really needed to be filled out if I was going to Germany, which I am not, but Hanna from ASSE said it might be handy when I go to the Italian Consulate. I am still unsure what to do about my student visa. ASSE said they will send me information about my visa and how to apply and with today's new info there was some info for visa's, but it is still unclear. I guess Italy needs to send ASSE some more information. Nothing else exciting about my trip though....but soon. :)

As I mentioned above, my mom and I went to Borders and bought books!!! I found two gifts for my host family, which I won't say just in case they read my blog before I give the gifts to them. I also got this book called A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. I have heard a lot about this book and seems really interesting and something I would enjoy* reading.
*When I say enjoy I mean a sense of fascination, interest, and a way to expand my knowledge and understanding of what is happening in the world through the eyes of others and not that I enjoy war or child soldier like I enjoy shopping or something.

Another note, U.S. is out of the World Cup. :( Not much to say about that. They had a great run and I am still proud to be an American and I still enjoy soccer. And yes Mom I would like a jersey, something American to bring over and represent my country. :p

Thanks to the world having different time zones and talking to my friend across the world about spaghettification (Google it!), and this blog, perhaps I will be able to sleep and dream sweet dreams once more...

For now, Buona notte! Or should I say Buon giorno!

GO TEAM USA!!!!!!

2010-06-23T15:00:00.001-07:00

This is a really random note that I did not want to add to my most recent post. I just want to comment on the USA team and the game they played today against Algeria in the World Cup. It was unbelievable!!! The game was so intense and kept my heart racing! There were many attempts to get a goal and earlier in the game they did score, but the referee called it and did not allow the goal, but they should of had it. On ESPN 2 England was also playing and they had scored earlier in their game. With this one point if the US did not score, they would be done with the World Cup. The game just went back and forth between Algeria and the US shooting trying to score. The game went into overtime and there was four minutes left and in the 91st minute US tries to score but the Algerian goal keeper blocks it but gets out of his hands and Landon Donovan kicks the rebound and gets it in!!!!!!! Making the score 1-0 allowing the US team to win and advance in the World Cup with England. Not only did they advance, they won top of their group!! The game was amazing and nerve wracking! If you didn't watch the game, you missed a wonderful match! At the end I was filled with pride and joy to be an American, not that I wasn't already :) Definitely go to ESPN and watch the goal!

WAY OVERDUE UPDATE

2010-06-23T14:19:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has taken me about 3 months to update my blog again. My life has been a little busy with school and work and parties. First we shall start with school. ITS OVER!!!!!!!!! Not only is the last day over, but so are all of my tests!!! The only huge test I had was the U.S. History Regents, which I beasted on and got a 99, sooo close, but oh well. Monday was the last final for math and I am sure I did fine on that. Recently I just got a job as a cashier at a local grociey store (not saying which cause if creepers) and I have been working here and there. I did recieve my first pay check and all I thought about was Italy!!! As for my other job while school was in session, selling candy, I raised a little over $2500!!! Which is over half of what my goal was at the begining of the year way back in August. I have also been selling subscriptions to my newsletter which not that many signed up, but thats okay its still some more money.

Before I go any further, I would like to thank a couple of people. I would like to give a HUGE thank you to all of Masque and Mime because although I am not a senior, they allowed and treated me as if I were. With this they nonminated me to win a scholarship to go towards my trip! Thank you everyone you have no idea how much that is going to help.

I also was awarded the Dennis J. Hannan English Award!! This was a complete shock and wonderful surprise. Many of my English teachers nominated me for the award. As you know I have doubled up on classes, including English. I would like to thank my two English teachers from this year, Mr. Guay and Ms. Sutton. I have had so much fun in their classes and learned a lot. Their gifts were more than I could have expected. Thanks to Ms. Murray and Mrs. Cooke for also nominating me for the award. And yes Mr. Foxhall I know that you would have been among them if they let you. We do have a special bond from Masque and Mime and I will always remember the English teacher who opened my eyes to Poe and Shakespeare and for the first time really like English class.

Another personal shout out to my wonderful Italian teacher Signora DeSorrento!!!!! She has been my Italian teacher for three years now and just as excited as I am about my trip. She is sad; however, this trip means I will leave her one year earlier and miss out on Italian 5. I am not that worried about missing a year of Italian class because in 69ish days everyday will be Italian class times 1000000000! Her generous gift and kind words hit close to home and as I read what she wrote tears filled my eyes and I just stood before her and cried. I am excited to continue to talk with her throughout my exchange and talk to her more and more in Italian. I do feel that just having her has opened my eyes to the true beauty of the Italian language and culture.

I am super excited for summer and no more school, but there is a pain that it is my last year of American high school. I don't think I will miss Ketcham that much, but Masque and Mime and my friends..... it is hard to think of life without them. At the Masque and Mime banquet, which was wonderful, I had a whole bunch of my friends sign my yearbook. That night the first one I read was from my best friend Liam and I cried. As I continued to read my eyes would water and tears would drip. Part from what they wrote, our memeories together, and the thought of leaving them. I know at first it will be hard, but we will talk and stay in touch and time will fly. Even now I think about it and joy fills me, but along with it is sadness. I will be coming back and going to a local college so I'll see many of them, but others, I know I won't. I haven't even thought about leaving my family! Yes I talk about gong, but in a dream like fashion. It has not hit home that in less than 70 days I will be leaving my family for 10 months! Truly this will be one of the hardest things I will have to do not to mention one of the craziest things I will do.

Although I talk about how sad it will all be, I need to think how amazing it will be. Everyone is happy I am going and going to have the time of my life, and I should be thinking that way than leaving everyone and everything I know behind. For over two years I have dreamed about this trip and what it would be like and here it is!! I have a host family who seem wonderful and nice, a beautiful town in Southern Italy that I will be living in, and the support of my friends and family! I just wish they could all come with me, but they can't so I will do my best to bring it to them. Through this blog, pictures, my newsletter and possible website people will be kept updated and experience only half of the adventure because I know that there will be somethings that are undescripbale.

I can wish that everything goes smoothly and make the best out of everything, and remember that I have a crowd of people who love me and are cheering me on every step of the way and to those I would like to say thank you because you are the ones who believe in me and make me believe I can do anything.

News

2010-04-07T13:56:00.000-07:00

I want to start off by telling you something about my exchange trip. (the real reason for this blog) I got a call from ASSE about a week or so ago saying I didn't get the scholarship, and that's all they said. So after the women hung up, I just cried and then did something else to stop thinking about it. I was really bummed about not getting it, but i just said whatever and talked with my Italian teacher about writing letters asking for scholarships, which we are doing Friday.

Today after the Masque and Mime meeting, I went to check my email to respond to the limo guy for prom (more on that later) and I see this email from the ASSE lady, Nancy, for my area. I open the email and click the attachment, and guess what, I HAVE A HOST FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am super excited and I have so many questions for them and I am going to write them an email soon. Its a weird feeling cause I have a host family and its sooo real now!! In a few months I will be living in Italy!!!!

La Mia Famiglia:
Mamma-Cinzia Ciervo
Sorelle- Cristina 17
Assunata 14
my papa has past away, I don't know when/how long ago
They have outside pets. I am going to a scientific school, which I'm going to suck at cause chem and physics here is hard, but in Italian, kill me know!! (not really because I have a host family!!!) I will be living in Valle di Maddaloni in southern Italy near Naples. I will be sharing a room with Cristina and I going to email them, and try not sucking at Italian too much.

PROM:
Prom is May 14th, I am going with one of my best friends whom I will miss soooo much when I go to live with my host family. The dress I thought I was going to get, broke so I'm sending it back. I ordered a new one from this local bridal shop, its sky blue. I ordered my shoes today. And I am trying to arrange a limo.

Nothing really exciting going on in my life, except my host family.

Ciao Ciao

SNOW DAY?!?!?

2010-02-26T14:50:00.001-08:00

Today is our third snow day in a row!! Normally we don't have three, maybe two snow days like this. It has been snowing where I live in New York for the past two days non stop and the snow has been adding up and up to a whole bunch of snow!!! Last night I shoveled my back deck, then the front, then I went up to my grandparent's house to shovel them out, and the snow was really wet (yes I know its snow and it should be) but it was one for those wet and heavy snows. It was snowing faster than I could shovel it!!! It was so annoying, you couldn't tell I shoveled at all!! It was nice having a snow day, the second one was nice as well cause it was really bad, but I kind of wanted to go to school and not use a snow day, but we needed to stay home. Even though today was bad and many people had no power, I was kind of sad we had another snow day. Yesterday was our last given snow day so today's will come from spring break which is not fun!!! It was quite a relaxing week and I enjoyed it but I am starting to get bored because I don't have anything to do or anywheres to go.

On another note, graduation?!?!?!?! At the end of this year I will have 22 1/2 credits and you only need 22 to graduate, so I was thinking I might graduate this year. I called ASSE if I could still go on the exchange to Italy next year if I already graduated and I can!!! The only thing that concerns me is college. Most likely I will be going to the community college then transferring to somewhere else (possibly University of Liverpool :P) so thats no big deal. The top 10% of my grade has the option of going to Dutchess for free and I am almost positive I am in that 10%, up if I graduate and go to Italy for a year, will I still be able to go for free? I kinda want to go through the whole process, but I still want to graduate with my class and go to the community college. I emailed my guidance counselor but seeing as we had a snow day today, I won't know till maybe Monday/Tuesday. I'll make an appointment to see her maybe and talk to her in person.

A huge negative to these snow days, we have lost at lost of rehearsal time and time for working on sets and lights and everything!! We might not have rehearsal tomorrow and push it till Sunday because of people without power and not having people clear the school. As of today we have TWO WEEKS!! till Bye Bye Birdie!! Thats crazy!!!! I am really excited to do this play and I enjoy the music and the play in general, but I am so ready for it to be over!! I am a little sick with some of the people in Masque and Mime, although I love almost everyone, I'm just ready for it to be over. My emotions are also being pulled in another direction, this will be my last musical with Masque and Mime!! This is like my senior year of high school (in America) when ever I talk people about it some say, "What are you talking about there's next year.....ohhhh that's right, your going to Italy" and yeah I know I am going hello I'm counting down the days!!! (158 btw) I am still going to miss it so much and I think I am even going to miss my high school, maybe not the people in it or some of the teachers, but the school system and a five day school week. All I know is, next year (really this year, but next school year) is going to be so strange and weird, yet unbelievable!!!

The picture is not from the most recent snow storm, but the one a few weeks ago, but it looks the same after I shoveled. If you are reading my other blog on vox.com, sorry but its the same as this one. Thanks for reading- Aly

February

2010-02-22T17:16:00.000-08:00

This short little month is almost over!! Just a few days left and we start the longest month of the entire year! MARCH!! Although my mom's birthday and my host sister, Kristin's birthday are in this month, as well as many of my friends, this month is soooo long. There are five full weeks of school and my school's play is this month as well. We are doing Bye Bye Birdie and we have about three weeks left! If you didn't know I am stage manager and honestly, I am kind of ready for this play to be over. I don't really want it to be over because I like Masque and Mime (the drama club) and this is going to be my last spring musical with Masque and Mime in high school. FOREVER!! Which is really scary and sad when you think about it. :( But hey I'm moving on with my life in a good way and although I have made so many friends, I know we will stay in contact via email, facebook, skype and letters.

I have also been starting to look at colleges!! Fun and kind of scary. I know my family does not have a whole bunch of money to go to an extremely expensive college for four years so I am trying to look at some local or New York colleges. I also hope I can get scholarships due to my brains and the wonderful person I am :). On school which I am in love with (although it is not local lol) would be the University of Liverpool. Yes in Liverpool, England. I know your thinking, "Wow she's going to Italy and then she wants to go the college in England?" Yeah I know it will cost a lot of money but I will work hard and try for as many scholarships as I can. I think I am going to a community college for a year or two when I come back from Italy and then just transfer somewhere else. You see tuition and board at Liverpool is around $30,000 which is $10,000 less then most of the schools I was looking at. At Liverpool I would double major in History and Italian and Liverpool is one of the better schools in England and the city itself has lower living costs than most Britain cities. Another college that sparked my interest was the American University of Rome! There I would either do Italian studies or International Relations. Another one is Western New England College where I might major in either history or international studies. As you can tell, I really have no idea where I want to go or what I want to do. I want to do something with the Italian I will gain with my year abroad, just what is the problem.

School itself is going pretty well. My classes are getting really boring and I am tired of doing the work. I can not wait for spring to come and then summer!!!! I have around 162 days till September and I will be leaving some time in September. I have not received any thing from ASSE yet about my acceptance or host family. I did talk to my Friend about passing the word onto her family in Northern Italy about hosting me. It doesn't really matter where I get placed because I know I will love anywhere, but I think if I had to choose I would like to be placed in Northern Italy, ideally Milan. I am really excited about my exchange and I have been reading people's blogs, but they are going with another group, AFS and I have also been watching their video blogs. I have been trying to do the same thing with people who went with ASSE, but I can't really find anything because they are not as big as AFS I think and all my attempts have failed. On Facebook, however, I have been talking to this boy who is in Italy now and he has been a big help with my questions.

If anything really exciting happens in my life I will try to make a post and fill you in, but for now, life is going and I'm taking it one day at a time. Ciao ciao- Aly-Oh!

Regents Week

2010-01-27T06:45:00.000-08:00

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!!

2010-01-16T15:11:00.000-08:00

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 :)

2010-01-14T17:42:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-09T18:13:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-07T17:10:00.000-08:00

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!?!?!?!?!?

2010-01-01T13:22:00.002-08:00

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!?!??!

2010-01-01T13:22:00.001-08:00

Forms!!

2009-12-14T18:33:00.000-08:00

ASSE has finally sent me my forms! I received them last week, around Thursday. Within the thick envelope we forms for my doctor to refill out, the old forms he filled out wrong and a new program agreement form. I have to sign it again with my parents. I have not heard anything about my application, but I bet they are reviewing it in Italy as you read this post!!! I am thinking more and more about Italy and next year and my future.

I have been looking for colleges and trying to decide what I want to study and major in. I love History and Italian and I don't want to go to Italy for a year a lose it. I found on college, abroad :), where I can double major in History and Italian and receive my Bachelor's degree in three years. And the best part, its in Liverpool England!!! but this is only one of the few I will be looking at. Who knows where I am going, but this is on the list for now.

On another note, 7 more days of school and 10 days till Christmas Eve!!!! YAY!!!! Christmas is always a fun and wonderful holiday, but this year it will come and go really fast because the first day off from school is Christmas Eve!! Which means I can't really enjoy the Christmas spirit of sleeping in and watching Christmas movies or anything which makes me a little sad :( but oh well school off is school off!!

Hopefully I will be returning to blog about my application being accepted into ASSE Italy or something much bigger, but until then, I will enjoy my decreasing American high school days

Today

2009-11-30T17:44:00.000-08:00

Today was like anyother Monday, suckish! Thanksgiving break just finished and now we go back to a full week of school, oh so much fun, NOT! When my alarm went of I did not want to climb down from my bed or get ready to go to zero period gym. I got up and ready to face another long day at my boring high school. And that was how my day went, long and boring. When I realized what day it was, I remembered something (the reason for this blog) and became extreamly excited!

Today my application is being sent over to ITALY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In nine months its going to be going to Italy!! I can't wait, but to tell you the truth I am really scared and sad to be leaving my family and friends. Sure I hav thought about it and sometimes its whatever for now cause its so far away, but then other times it hits me and makes me really sad and all I want to do is hang out with all my friends. This weekend I'm going to the city with my mom, host sister, and mayber dad and brother so that should be fun. Masque and Mime is in a break right now because the play ended a few weeks ago. This past weekend I went to a party and I hung out with some of my friends and it was really fun, but at times I wish they were with me all the time. Sure its a while till I go, but once I am there I know there will be times when I know I will wnat to come back and be surrounded by my family and friends. I just need to take it one long, boring, homework filled day at a time and I'll get there and be back.

Once I find more about my traveling application, I'll let you know, right after my mom and facebook

2009-11-12T16:14:00.000-08:00

A few new updates to inform you with.

First of all, the play at my school is tomorrow!!!!! After hours and hours of rehearsal at school with missing actors, missing props, food moms, and totally confusion, the time has come to let everyone see just how great the theatre program at Ketcham is! I love being part of Masque and Mime and I am going to miss everyone in it next year. This is my last fall play with them, but its not as bad as it will be at the end of the spring play, cause that will be really my last show with them. But on another note, I am super excited for tomorrow night and I hope a lot of people go and see it.

Next Wedensday Masque and Mime is going on a feild trip to New York City!!!!!!!!!!! We are going to see Bye Bye Birdie and meet the cast after :) I am really excited to go to the city and meet the cast, maybe not see the play. It will really fun hanging out with my friends and leaving school early! If I had to live anywhere in the U.S. I would chose New York City because I love it. I know that many can't stand the city and hate going, but I love the city and wish I went more often. There is just something about it that makes me wish I could stay. I would love living abroad somewhere in Europe (Italy my #1 choice) but if I can't I would reside in New York City.

I am going to call ASSE tomorrow after school because I do not have rehearsal :) and will have time to do homework and maybe take a nap, but I don't know. The one thing with Masque and Mime is that it takes up all of your time and once the play is over, you have nothing!! I get really bored and start to miss all my firends. I loved working with the cast for this play and I know I'm going to miss them because not all of them will be in the spring show. This spring we are doing Bye Bye Birdie so going to see the Broadway play will be interesting and give us idea's for our show.

The frist quater ends tomorrow and so far taking two English and History classes have been okay. Double English can get boring, but luckily we are doing different things. Writing two essays are worse then one. I'll put up a new post when I call ASSE and talk with Hanna. Hopefully there will be some really good news.

November :)

2009-11-01T16:57:00.000-08:00

Halloween has passed, soon it will be Thanksgiving, then on to Christmas!!!!! The fall and winter are by far the fastest seasons of the year, especially in school. The play will be in two weeks!!! And soon I will be staying past 5, then later 8! Saturday, I was at school from 9am to 4pm!!! that's 7 hours!!!!!!!!!!!! As much as I complain about the hours and having no time for anything else, I love it. I'm really excited for Italy, yet at the same time I am really really really scared!! First of all, my Italian sucks!!! I wont be able to understand a lot. Second I am going to miss my family and friends A LOT!!! But it will be worth it! The first and last few weeks will be the hardest. I have lots of time till then so I wont think about it too much :)

No news from ASSE yet :(

School is getting boring and I can't wait till the next vacation. My life has been school, masque and mime, homework, sleep and repeat. I went and listened to a few college reps at guidance, Marist and Wagner, both seem really interesting. The thing is I have no idea what I'm going to be! I know the first two years are at DCC and after who know!! I still have to take the SATS of ACT not sure which one, or maybe both. (lol) I still need a job! After the play. The candy sales have been really good and steady. I have reached $300 from candy :) Thank you to all those who have supported my trip by buying candy! At school I entered a contest held by the Literary Magazine at my school. You need to support some form of writing, art, picture etc. of your interpretation of "The Other Side" I decided to send in a picture. (the one at the top of my post I fixed it up before and this copy looks worse then what I submitted)

Autumn

2009-10-24T10:08:00.000-07:00

Fall is by far my favorite seasons of all!! I love the weather (although this year has been pretty bad), the fashion, the colors, the leaves changing, and everything about it!!! I love the color orange and many things in fall are oragne!!! I decided to change my template again to fit the season :P

Nothing new has really happened with ASSE and my trip. I am fund rasising in school and still have not recieved the new paperwork from ASSE for the doctors. I have been really busy with Masque and Mime. This year we are doing Appoiontment with Death and it is only three weeks away!!!! AAHHHHH! Just a little worried about that, but I know everything will come together like it always does.

In random news, I still need to make/get a Halloween costume. Kristin and I are having a party and we need to dress up and I have nothing! I have an idea what I want to be, just not the costume itself. I wanted to be a soldier but im just not sure seeing as I have a week to go.

Oh well I'll think of something, I always do

Italy Template

2009-10-08T18:47:00.000-07:00

So i changed the background and its an Italian coast!! its really pretty! and i like it and i hope you do too :) wouldn't it be awesome if i went somewhere like this!!! it would be amazing!!!

one step closer!!

2009-10-05T14:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend my mom, Kristin, and I went to the new Big Lots and when we were looking around, I found were the luggage was. I was looking and thinking about Italy, and I saw this red suit case. It is a good size, a little big, but not to big. And the greatest part was that it was only $40!!!!!! I am so excited and can't wait till I get to pack it, but ultimately to pack it in my home in Italy!!!!!

I have officially sold 2 subscriptions to my Italy Newsletter, Ms. Sarna, and Wil! Thank you so much!!! I have been selling candy bars and I almost raised $100 there. My Gramie, mom, aunt and I will be working on making homemade dog biscuits and doggy bandannas to sell at my cousin's friend's dog grooming shop. I still have to work on the letter and meet again with Mr. Stella, but I have not thought about the letter or looked for organizations to send it to.

September is over and October is beginning, which leaves 11 months!!!

Principal Stella

2009-10-01T15:02:00.000-07:00

The meeting with my Principal went pretty well. I discussed if I could do anything at school and at school functions, which a I can't. Oh well. He also said that he would look into this organization who gave him a scholar award, ACIM, and he said he would be more then happy to write to the Sons Of Italy and ACIM and ask for some sort of scholarship/donation on my behalf. YAY!!!!!! My job is to think of some other sponsors to sent this letter to. Also I need to make a rough draft of this letter. I'm not sure what its going to say, but I will think of something.

I'm a little worried that I'm not going to fund raise enough. I know I have 11 months (!!) but it will fly by and $5000 is a lot of money! I need to get a job, but the problem is I'm really involved in Masque and Mime, so that is a little problem. I sometimes get this terrible thought that I'm not going to be able to go next year which makes me really sad. If I don't go, I don't know what I'm going to do!! I could graduate early but you know what, I'm not going to think that because I'm going and I will fund raise and get the money some how!!!

Oh and I'm still waiting for those new forms from ASSE. It was almost a month ago when I called Hanna and it doesn't take that long to mail two forms to New York from Virginia.

Meeting with the big cheese tomorrow

2009-09-29T15:18:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I have a go and see my princapal at 12:15!!! I'm going to talk to him about my up-coming exchange trip and I have no idea what I'm going to say besides I need to fund raise and money!!!! I started selling candy and bought some more today and I kind of afraid that he is going to say you can't sell that in school because I don't think I'm aloud to in the first place. I'm still working on getting a job, I need my new working papers which I think I'm just going to fax to the doctors because the paperwork I was waiting for from ASSE still has not come in. I need to have a yard sale and I'm running out of weekends, but that's okay I like fall so I don't care if its a little cold. Rehearsals are now going to be picking up, everyday till 4:30 or 5, none on Tuesday, and sometime on Saturday!!! I'm excited to work on this show and work with this cast! I know this show is going to be awesome and special in its own way, my last fall play with Masque and Mime! Aaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! That's kind of scary on its own!!!! I know Masque and Mime and all my friends I have made through it is going to be one of the hardest things to say goodbye too!! But I'm not going to think of it because its a while aways :/ Well I'm going to do some homework or maybe just procrastinate some more, and I will most likely inform you what happens tomorrow!! Wish me luck!!!

school....

2009-09-23T15:08:00.000-07:00

Day 11 of school and everything is going so slow!!!!!! Classes, the week, Masque and Mime, the day, the week, everything!!!!!! ahhhh!!!! its killing me!!! I want to go and do something, but i can't just go some place during the week with all my homework and having to stay after till 5 everyday. Saturday is homecoming which I'm going to so I'm kind of excited for that because its my first and my last homecoming :/ its really weird to think of it that way, but its true. I want to go to Italy so bad!!! but I didn't want to miss this year. I know I'm going to miss all my friends, my family, and Masque and mime, but i just want to leave!!! I know I'm just repeating myself, but I'm just filled with so many different thoughts. Like how its going to be in Italy, what i need to do this year, make sure I do this and see this person and go here. Italy doesn't seem real yet because I'm not accepted into ASSE Italy yet and its only September!!!! and I would be leaving a year from now. This girl who is there now left the day my school started!! I would have if i left after school started! I would have to go with friends and sit in the class with them.

I started selling candy today is school to start fund raising and I only sold like 5 candy bars!!!!! This is going to be harder then I thought. Maybe once people realize that I'm selling it it will be different. I need to do some massive fund raising so I might talk with the principal but I'm not sure because i don't think i should be selling candy in school because its not for a club or anything, but for me. I will try and hopefully I will get something and permission to do something start raising money. So as of now I have $9,295 left to pay for Italy and supplies :) yay!!!!

MASQUE AND MIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-09-14T13:48:00.001-07:00

Masque and Mime is my school's drama club, which I am very actively involved in, and started again today for the year. Today was the first general meeting, which was really fun. I got to see all my friends from last year and I was able to pick out the freshman haha. By the way there are A LOT of! About half way through the meeting Jake asks me to go and make copies, and as ASM I am oh so happy to do! After I return with the copies the director is naming the ASM's a.k.a. Me and my best friend Saadia, yay!!!!! I'm so excited to be working with her and Jake this year. I love being ASM, well almost all the time, I have had so much fun hanging out with Jake and staying really late for lighting. Oh boy where to I start.....
Any ways, I return with the copies and sit down and finish listening to what the officers had to say and finishing my history homework. With that all done another person asks me for copies, no problem! That one is done and when I return the director asks me to make copies of the script for people auditioning. Sweet!! I love the copier! I go and make copies and my fellow ASM joins me for some fun copying! Trying to make these copies were rather confusing. They way they were marked, numbered and organized was difficult to figure out at first. The copier did not want to work right, and having to wait for four teachers to use the copier while i was there, I was able to go back down and see that the meeting was over and everyone left and were waiting for the buses. Whoops :P I organized the sets and put them away and left. Kristin and my mom were wait in the car for me and it was almost 4pm. I explained to Kristin that this normally happens because I need to do things and I normally don't finish in time to make the late bus.

I just wanted to share with everyone how the first masque and mime meeting went for me and all the trees I wasted :(

Still no news from ASSE. I did not receive the new paperwork yet, but hopefully that will arrive in my mail box soon!

MAIL!!!

2009-09-10T14:56:00.001-07:00

I love getting mail and letters from my friends in the mail. Sure emails are fast, easy, and really helpful, but when you get a letter in the mail and you start to open the envelope and you hear the paper tear, you get excited!! There is just something about opening real mail and reading it on paper and holding it makes letters so much fun! I am still young enough that I don't have to worry about getting bills so I like getting mail and opening envelopes and just tearing out the paper to read whatever it says.

Today my mom brought the mail in after work and I decided to check the pile to see if there was anything for me. I was not really expecting anything, maybe the new forms from ASSE to complete, again, but I figured they would be in a larger envelope like the size my application came in, and because I did not see any that size, I didn't worry. However! There was an envelop from ASSE and at first I was not sure if it was for Kristin or for myself, because two times this month Kristin had received two letters from ASSE. I looked down for who it was for and to my surprise it was for me!!! At once I knew what it was!!

"Dear Alyson,
I was delighted to receive your final application packet and confirm that you are being considered for a scholarship.

ASSE scholarships will be awarded in early April. You will be notified as soon as the recipients have been chosen.

Good luck and welcome to ASSE!"

Whoot Whoot!! I already knew that I was accepted but still opening the letter and reading the paper with the official signature of the Eastern Regional Director, Chantel Bartlett, I become even more excited for Italy!!!! This is it!! I'm in and one more step closer to my dream!!! I wish to go to Italy, but there are also many other places I would love to go and study. And sometime in April I'll be blogging and telling you either I have a scholarship or not, but lets not rush that, well maybe a little :)

Other exciting news, Italian class!! Today my teacher handed out the syllabus telling us about what we are going to be doing this year. She was telling us how we will be learning about Italy, the culture, the regions, doing projects and lots of hands on work, improving in speaking, working together and she is going to try to find some cool Italian music (Sonohra!!) and some cool Italian videos and stuff like that. We are going to take the Italian we have been learning and using it and applying our Italian skills to everything we do in the class!! This is like the perfect Italian class to be taking right before Italy!! YAY!!! I really want to improve in Italian and I love the language and just about everything about it! And I can't wait!!

First day of school

2009-09-09T12:05:00.000-07:00

Nothing to exciting happened today, rather the opposite. I went into some of my classes thinking alright this is going to be fine just take one day at a time, but after listening to the teachers and thinking about the work and the subject I realized that I do not want to take that class what so ever!!!!! If I had to stay in those classes I would shoot myself and I don't want to do that now, seeing as I was accepted into ASSE!!! I know guidance will be busy these first few weeks, but I NEED to get out of those classes there are maybe 2, but really 3, that i don't want to be in. I didn't really want to take these classes and I told my guidance counselor this, but no!! she decided to make schedule for me! And now that she didn't "advise" my decisions to not take these classes and picked the "right" classes for me, I have to change. She told me these classes were good for a four year college and for the advanced diploma. Yes I know that I am very capable of getting the advanced diploma, but i really don't care. All it means is that I took more regents, wow! go me! NO!! I want to take the classes I need and I like!!! The teachers seem really nice and all, but I do not want to take the class. I take other classes instead of those and still meet my requirements! So why don't I do that you may ask, but really you need to ask my guidance counsel er, who now has more work to do now instead of during the summer, which is unfortunately over!!

Hopefully I will be able to change these classes and keep in mind my goal and to stay on track!

ITALY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thats what I need to think and keep that in mind and just push through. One thing I know for sure, this is going to be a long thing and I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad one.

Ciao Ciao!!

ACCEPTED!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-09-02T18:58:00.000-07:00

No not the movie, even though Justin Long is amazing, but Yes!! I have been accepted into ASSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So today I called ASSE because they said I would find out last week if I was accepted and I didn't hear anything from them so I waited till the middle of this week to call. I talked to Hanna, the one who answered some of my questions and interested me in hosing again this year. I asked her if she knew anything about my application and she said that I had been accepted into ASSE!!!! Which made me super happy!!! But then she also told me my application was missing two things! WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought I had everything and was done collecting paperwork for a while, i guess not. I asked her what was missing and she said my parents W2s and the doctor filled the health form out wrong!!! Way to leave it to the doctors to screw it up, again!! I'm not to worried because Hanna is just going to mail me another form and because I am applying so early in the year I know I have time to get it done (again) and mail it in. Scholarships are not awarded until April so I'm not sure if i heard her right but she was saying that if i get a scholarship great, if not i need to decide if I will still go with out a scholarship and then they will send it to Italy, but that seems a little late in the year to start looking for host families. I don't know, I might just have to call again and ask to explain it again to me, but I will wait a few days cause I have to start packing for vacation!!!

Just think, this time next year I will be blogging to you from Italy!!!!!!!!! SWEET!!

My Sweet 16!!!

2009-08-30T07:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my sweet 16!!! I was planing the party to happen at my house in my back yard, but due to hurricane DANNY! my mom had to rent a hall. We ended up renting a VFW building. The hall wasn't too big, but it wasn't too small. It worked out really well for the amount of people that came. I invited a lot of people, but the day before and the day of my party many people canceled which made me said and I was glad those who could make it did! Some of my family was there as well, but the mostly sat together on one side of the room, while my friends and I were on the other side. I also hired a dj, but no one really danced, even though I love dancing, it was just not the right atmosphere for dancing. People had fun and the food was wonderful!! My family helped out with making food and decorating the hall and cleaning up. We could only rent the hall for about four hours or so we ended going back to my house with about five people and we had a camp fire, played apples to apples and then my wii. I had fun and enjoyed seeing my friends before school, some of whom I have not seen all summer!! All and all, its much easier to go to a sweet 16 then hosting your own, minus the presents :]

No exciting news from ASSE yet, but I'm hoping and I really want the email at least telling me that I was accepted. Once the say, yup your accepted I can focus on fund raising and when school starts I have to get my new working papers, then a job and I need to get my permit!! I have checking my email everyday and nothing. I have been reading people's blogs of them studying in Italy and I can say I have read every single Italy blog on the AFS blog web page!! I just can't get enough!!! Most of them went last year, some went this summer for a month and only a few on the AFS page are going and studying this year. I'm really excited for my trip, but kind of sad because this is going to be my last year in American high school. I need to make this year count and do the things I want to do, because when I come back I will be going to college, yes it maybe the local college, but it will still be different then still being in high school. And for my birthday my friend gave me a travel journal and a book about Italy, which I can't wait to read!!!! Another one of my friends gave me a wallet with her picture in it so I would have one when I go abroad!! How sweet!!!!! I wasn't expecting anything like that, at least not at this party!! I hope i find out soon if I an accepted or not! Telling the world via blog will be my third step after receiving the letter/call/email (i'm not sure how they are going to tell me, just make it soon please) the first things I will be doing are 1. Calling my mom! 2. Posting it on facebook! 3. Making a new post on my blog. and while I do all three of those things I will be calling other family members and texting friends!!!!

Till then, ciao!!!

up dates

2009-08-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

So to brake up my summer boredom, I have decided to update the layout of my blog. I wanted to change it up some and well that's really it. I looked at every layout and I liked this one a lot. I hope you like it too!!!

News form studying abroad!! Well, there is none. Not yet, I haven't received any email yet from ASSE and I really hope it comes and soon, which I know it will, its just the waiting. Once school starts I will be busy and be thinking about other things and not just about Italy.

In other news: My mom bought me these bright yellow rainboots!!! And they are awesome!! They are a kids size 5, but were $10 cheaper! Plus they were made in the U.S.A.!!!!!! Go America!!!! Now lets start making other things for Americans to buy and lets have it made here!!!!!!

HOST SISTER!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-08-22T17:39:00.000-07:00

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!

Okay so maybe you could guess, Kristin arrived yesterday and I'm just so excited!!! So My mom and I woke up around 6 am and started driving down to JFK around 7. Kristin was leaving Washington D.C. around 8:20 am, and the funny thing is, we had to leave our house before she even left D.C.!!! So we arrived at the airport at 9am and we walked inside and found out where we had to wait for domestic arrivals. It was this corner and it was a little disappointing. We were reading the sign that had all the arrivals and information of the flights and hers was the first one on the board. As we were reading the board we noticed it said arrival 9:40 am and next to it said estimated time of arrival was 9:24 am, so we thought we would meet her earlier. We waited and read out books in the spot with these rows of metal benches. As we were reading and listening to this Asian family talking in their cool sounding Asian language, and listening to their children scream and run around us, the time was going by and when I noticed the time it was 9:25, so my mom and I walked back over to the board to see what it said about her flight. It said her plane had arrived at 9:24 so we decided to put our books away, grab the sign I made for her (it was a poster board covered in colorful paper and said "Welcome Kristin ASSE" in metallic blue/green paint) and headed over to the domestic arrival meeting spot. There was nobody in this part of the airport except this one older gentleman who was standing under a sign that read "United and British Airlines Baggage service" with and arrow pointing to the left. We weren't allowed to go there (well we didn't try, I walked over to see what was down there but there was just a metal like wall, which I figured opened up, and that's where I thought she would be coming out through) So we waited by the board and in view of where she would come out. It was about 9:32ish and my mom and I were wondering if we were at the right gate or if we should be some where else, but we decided to wait a few more minutes because I saw a person come out of where I was expecting her to come out. A few minutes later a couple came out and little bit after them came an Asian woman. Around 9:42ish a smaller group, may be two or three people came out. One of them was Kristin and the other(s) I have no idea! I wasn't sure if it was her for a split second because I thought she would have these huge, rolling trunk/suitcases, but she had a big one, a back pack, and a big purse. She waved to us and I noticed her very bright blue FLEX t-shirt. When she got to us she hugged my mother and I and then we started walking back to the car.

The car ride back home was a little less then 2hrs and it was a little strange at first. No one really talked and it wasn't like we could put the radio on or anything. So we were driving with this awkward silence. My mom was trying to find her way out of the city and I had to help read the directions pack to her. I tried thinking of some questions to ask so she didn't feel awkward. My mom asked about her flight. Then I asked some question about any big cities where she lives and a little while later I was talking about school and what classes she might take and how her school system is set up and compared to our schooling. I felt kind of bad because I wanted to talk to her, but I didn't know what to talk about really. So yeah, I was being a little bit shy. I didn't want to be, because I was trying to think if that was me and how strange it must feel. After we arrived home I showed her around our house and I showed her where she could put her clothes, which half of the dresser was hers and the dresser next to her bed, her draw in the bathroom and the self for her things in the shower (well really, I told her about the shower today, I kind of forgot, sorry:|) After she was done unpacking I showed her where the iron was so she could iron some of her clothes. Then we headed out to my friends party.

Many of my friends were there and I had told my friends I was hosting this year and going to bring her the the party and they were so excited to meet her. The weather was really hot so I was ready to jump into the pool the minute we got there. I walked down to the pool where most of the people were and introduced her to many of my friends. After that I went swimming with some people and she sat and put her feet in and talked and listened to some of the other people doing the same thing. When we all decided to get out we were taking by the pool about Twilight and vampires (whom are very overrated by the way!!) and them it was time to eat! We headed up to the kitchen and there was lots of yummy food. My friends party was a birthday barbecue and so there was hamburgers and hot dogs and some awesome yummy stuff. After eating we went to the deck at we listened to music and talked. It started down pouring so some people went to the living room and some went to the screened in part of the deck and that's where Kristin and I stayed for most of the time and talked to people. A little while after we sang happy birthday and had ice cream cake!!! It was wonderful ice cream cake! When we left we headed back home, which was luckily a short car ride. Kristin went on the computer and was talking to friends online, while I watched t.v. and my mom started making dinner. That night my grand parents came over for dinner and we ended up having hamburgers as well, but Kristin did not eat because she was full from the party. After dinner and dessert my grandparents left and the three of us watched some t.v. Kristin was pretty tired, which I would be too! So she headed for bed before I did and watched some more t.v. with my mom.

Today, well I got up around 10am and Kristin wasn't up yet so I thought I would wake her around 10:30 so she didn't sleep to much, and for breakfast she made some tea and ate some crackers while I took a shower and then I ate a bowl of frosted flakes. When my mom came home around 12:15 from work we went out shopping at the mall and Kristin bought some jeans and some shirts. I bought some things as well. Then around 4ish we went to Shop Rite to pick some things up for dinner. Kristin was saying how different the shops were and just how bigger the food store was and noticed there were no sidewalks along rt. 9 and that we couldn't really walk anywhere. When we came home she talked to some people online, I watched like 5 minutes of t.v. and then helped my mom with dinner. My brother's girlfriend came over for dinner and I sat at the table talking to her. And we asked Kristin some questions. Some how we were on the topic of psychics and getting our palms read, and because I was on my moms lap top checking face book :) I went on Blackle and looked up palm reading and we tried reading our palms. It was really fun trying to figure what our palms said about our lives. We talked a lot about food and all the wonderful junk food Kristin had to try and dollar store shopping (which we are doing tomorrow!!!). After Linette (brother's girlfriend) left, I logged onto my blog to write this post, and Kristin took a shower and is now reading in bed, while my mom watched That '70s Show!!!

Sorry this post is so long, but I figured you wanted to know what was going on with Kristin and what its been like these 2 days :)

Nothing yet from ASSE, but hopefully soon, maybe next week they were saying about my acceptance into ASSE Italy. I was also thinking how it must be for Kristin to try and think in English and understand and what to say back and reading everything, and I tried doing some of that in Italian just to see where I would be, and well lets just say it did not work out well at all!!!!! I had such a hard time!! I couldn't think of anything. Maybe just a few things but not as well as Kristin was doing. I was very impressed at just how well she was doing and I hope what ever trouble is having now will lessen and lessen within the next few months.

Oh! and another friend of mine is having a party next week, which Kristin is also invited to, and then next Saturday is my sweet 16!!!! I'm just so excited and about 2 weeks till school starts!!!! what joy! NOT!!!

nothing! :(

2009-08-17T15:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, so nothing has come to me from ASSE via mail or email. I just came home from being on vacation for five days and there is no internet where I went, so I was hoping by the time I came back, there would be something! At least an email saying that ASSE at least received my application and they would be looking it over very soon. But oh well!! Because I wont get to disapointed seeing as I'm going to be wait very long to even go on this exchange and get a host family!!!!! Plus....My mom and I (my dad has to work) will be picking up Kristin at JFK this Friday!!!!! I'm so excited!!!! We just got her matress all set up today. Tomorrow I have to wash up her sheets and then make her bed for her, and then I have to finish her sign!!! I'm really excited and I just can't wait! I am really hoping this year works out a lot better and I have a feeling it will. Not only will we be making Kristin's dream come true, but my family and I will see and start to understand what I will go through when I go to "Italy"!!! And this time next year! I'll be in "Italy"!! (Once I get accepted officaly into ASSE Italy, I'm going to take Italy out of quotes, seeing as I'm not accepted just yet) Tomorrow is going to be the last day I can talk/skype with Kristin, but I'm not too sad because she is going to be living with use for 10 months, so I think I can wait a few days.

In other exciting news, I got my schedule for my junior/last year of high school!!! It's really funny telling people that this year is going to be my last year! I mean, I doesn't seem really yet. I don't want to leave my friends and Masque and Mime, but this is my dream, and its not like I'm going to live there (for now :]) I will be coming back and I will see them before most of us go off to collage. And with the wonderful invention of the internet and texting it will be really easy to keep in touch! Well, I'm not going to think about that right now, because thats a far far ways away :)

I bet the next time you read my blog 1. I'm going to pick up Kristin/Kristin is home, 2. I have been accepted into ASSE Italy (knock on wood), or 3. BOTH!!!! We shall wait and see.

Ciao!!!!!
(I need to start practicing)

Day's are flying by!!!

2009-08-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

Okay, as many of you know, my host sister Kristin will becoming in just a few days!!! She arrives in JFK in about 8 days!!!!!!!!! My family and I are going to be picking her up at the airport, so I still have to finish her sign :] The other day I got to talk to Kristin on Skype! Which was really fun, but the only thing was that her microphone on her web cam wasn't working so she had to type everything she wanted to say, while I was able to just talk. She has been trying to fix her web cam, but she has not been able to fix it just yet, but hopefully Monday. So for the moment, I am just using the message option with Skype. We are talking about school and which passport she should bring. She has one for Ukraine to travel to other places, and another one for being an exchange student. I just told her to bring both to be on the safe side and we can always but them in our safe to keep them safe :P
Last Thursday I mailed in my full application to ASSE and I have not heard anything yet, so I am going to email them to find out if they got it and when they will start looking at it. They were saying that because I'm handing it in early it should take less time for them to accept me and they will start looking for a host family sooner!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can not wait!!!!!!!!!! I'm just so excited! But I also want this year to be exciting for both Kristin and I. I want to make sure that her year in the U.S. is wonderful and fun. I also want my last year of high school (in the U.S. :]) to be wonderful and full of memories will all my friends and the new friends I will make. I want it go by so fast, yet not to fast. I know I have said this about a million times before but that's how I feel. It's hard to explain really, just how I feel about my trip and everything.

Well, I'm going back to talking to my host sister, whom we will pick up at JFK in 8 days!!!!!

~IT'S ON IT'S WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!~

2009-08-06T18:55:00.000-07:00

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So my full application for ASSE went in the mail today and is now on its way to Virginia!!!! AAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited!!!!! I won't find out if I won any scholarships as soon like AFS, but rather in late April. And because I'm handing it in so early, I should be accepted and they should be looking for a host family for me quicker than the norm!!!!! I'm just so excited!!!! Plus Kristin comes in 15 days!!!!! I talked to her for the first time with Skype, well we just sent messages back and forth, but it was sort of like a really chat!!! I found my family's web cam so the next time I talk with her I will use mine and she will use her's and we can talk and see each other that way!!! I'm just so excited for a bunch of things!!! Kristin to come! My application in the mail!! My sweet 16!!! And this weekend I'm going to go to my friend's sweet 16, and hopefully see a bunch of my friends!!!! Okay I'm just excited in general, well may not about the fact that school starts in a little over a month :( That makes me kind of sad in a way, yeah I want to go back and see my friends and start up again with Masque and Mime, but I like sleeping in and not having to do homework every night and just doing what I want to do! This year is going to be really demaning, seeing as I have had to double up on English and Social Studies classes. I'm just hoping this year goes by faster than I think it will, yet I don't want it to go by too fast!! I know I have said that at least three times, but its true! I have so many emotions pulsing through my body right now, I don't know what to think about anything really. Just finnishing my application (which is finally done!!!!) getting my room ready for Kristin (maybe half way done) doing things for my party and still having to finish summer reading!

Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Just taking one day at a time :]

18 DAYS AND COUNTING!!!!!!

2009-08-03T08:43:00.000-07:00

No this is not for my trip or anything, but for my host sister, who prefers to go by Kristen. She will be flying into JFK on the 21st where we have to pick her up!!! How exciting is that!!! I have to make this huge sign and everything!! I can't wait!!! Not only is she coming very soon, but I will also be handing in my full application very soon!!! Hopefully when my mom goes to pick up my paperwork at the doctors, they will have it!!! Then tomorrow night will hopefully be my in home interview where I will also get my scholarship form, or I should be getting it today via email. And that's it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3 things!!! and then its off to ASSE!!! WOW!!!!! That's exciting!!! And 2 of those things will be done tomorrow evening!!! YAY!!!!!!!!! and then....waiting, but this wait will be a lot less then waiting for a host family!! oh boy oh boy oh boy!!! And on top of this, I have summer reading, and planing my sweet 16/welcome Kristen to America party :] AHHHHHHH!!!!!! (that's whats going through my head right now!!!!) I just feel like there is just so much to do and so little time, yet I know that I will get everything done in like the next week or so!!! Which is not that bad.
And no, I have not found another job, still babysitting and selling things on Ebay. I will try to find a job on the weekends so I can still babysit. Maybe even working in the evenings for now. But when school starts I will have to work mainly on the weekends, you know what that means! No life out side of home!!! But what little life I have this year will be maid up for my year in Italy :]

The doctors!!!

2009-07-31T16:38:00.000-07:00

As you know I have been filling out paperwork for lets see...the last MONTH!!!!!! And I am just about done with ASSE (going to apply with them first and not AFS, even though I have a scholarship of $1,600 with AFS, it's still going to be cheaper with ASSE). All I need is a recommendation, the health papers, finalize my host family letter, an essay, and an in home interview (which will be Monday evening, and Monday, ASSE will be emailing me the scholarship/financial aid form) and then I can mail it to ASSE in Virgina and wait about 6 WEEKS!!!!! To see if I am even excepted!!

So the reason of this post would be to talk about the doctors!! *hint the title of the post :]* So last week I faxed over the health papers that needed to be filled out by my doctor for ASSE. I asked when it should be ready for pick up and they said that my doctor was on vacation so I should call the middle of next week. I called yesterday seeing if they were complete and the lady said they were, so I called my mom and asked her to pick them up on her way home. After she gets there she calls me telling me they do not have the paperwork!!! I was confused and a little angry seeing as I called after I faxed them, and talked to the lady sitting by the fax, who said it was there, and then after calling yesterday seeing if it was done, which they said it was, and now a call from my mom saying they couldn't find it!!!! Oh boy! Well I faxed the papers over AGAIN and called to make sure they got it, and they did. So today I got a call from the doctors saying it was done and I'm going to pick it up tomorrow, hopefully they will have it!

AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! I just wait everything to be done and mailed and have them email me telling me I am accepted, which will not happen a quickly as I would like it too! It has only been ONE MONTH!! And I am stressed about this and tired of waiting!! All I know is that it is going to be such a long year!!!

Well maybe not!!! My mom and I will be picking up Khrystyna (my host sister from Ukraine!!:]) on August 21st so that will be really exciting!! I can not wait! I'm still in the process of getting my room ready and moving my stuff so she has a place for her cloths and things. And once I get accepted (keeping my fingers crossed) I will fell a lot better and wont have these confusing emotions (until later) and will become more busy with school so I'll have to think about more things than Italy. I have been listening to this really good Italian band called Sonohra and its been getting me super excited about Italy! I really hope I get accepted, and on the faster side, seeing as my application will be mailed in rater early in the year :]

I really can not wait for a lot of things to happen! Khrystyna to come, my application mailed in, reviewed and accepted!, school to start (kind-of)my sweet 16, not yet planed, Kopchik to come back so we can hang out and have a mega movie marathon! Oh there is just so much! Maybe this year being long will be a good thing so I can enjoy my time with my friends and family and enjoy my last year of high school and all the memories to be made! But I was talking to my friend from Germany, Dorothe whom I miss so much, and she was saying how this year just goes by quick and I should spend the most time with my friends and family as I can and live it, just like my year abroad! Live it, don't waste it, and that's what I plan on doing, living.

Collecting the paperwork!!

2009-07-30T11:56:00.001-07:00

Well nothing has really happened that I need to announce to the world, yet! I have been doing paperwork and filling/signing paper with my parents. I faxed over the health forms to my doctor last week and my mom will be picking them up this afternoon. I faxed the school forms to my school to be filled out and I'm meeting with a guidance counselor, Ms. Sarna, and getting this paperwork and talking about my exchange. I also emailed ASSE asking for the scholarship form I need and asking who I get in contact with in order to set up an in home interview for my trip so they can wright a recommendation for my to apply for the scholarships. I have to finialize my host family letter, make it shorter (you need at least 500, I have over 1,000!!!) I need to type up an two page essay on "Why I should be an exchange student" (not bad) and a few other things that I have to check my check list to make sure I do them.

On another note, I just finished painting my dresser (purples!!) and getting ready to turn my loft bed into a bunk bed, after I shampoo the carpet. I can not wait till Khrystyna comes. In Ukraine they don't have roller coasters and I was telling her about six flags and she has never been on a roller coaster!!!!!! I love them and can not wait till we take her!!!

Off to write my essay :)

Host Sister!!!!!!!!

2009-07-24T09:33:00.000-07:00

As you can tell from my title my family and I have been approved to host!!!!!!! Her name is Khrystyna and she is from Ukraine! I am really excited and can't wait till she comes. She will be staying with us for the entire school year so August to June I believe. I'm not sure when she is arriving yet, but I'm thinking some time in August. Khrystyna is a FLEX scholarship winner and is going to be like a mini ambassador here in America!! I have emailed her about two days ago, but nothing yet :( that's alright, I wouldn't be checking my email everyday to hear if I got a host family getting so close to the program. I am working on my ASSE full application and writing an essay for a scholarship with them. Really the main question is for every question with all the applications I have done and this essay is "Why do you want to be an exchange student." Which actually is a really easy question because if I think back on when I started thinking about this wonderful/crazy (in a good way) idea I had to ask myself that. Then it was harder because I wasn't to sure, but now this is all I really want.
On Wednesday evening I called into an AFS webinar about fund raising and it was king of interesting. I got some new ideas about how to raise all this money. My parents told me that I am going to half to come up with about half the cost so that's around $3,500-$5,000 and if you remember I wanted to fund raise $5,000 in the first place and so far I have around maybe $500 which is a start....
I have been selling things on EBay and I'm going to have a yard sale next month and in 3 days I turn 16!!!!!! so I can get a job :/ All I know is that I need to get thinking, planing and finish my application so I can get accepted and start looking for some company sponsors or something. Well I do have about 12 more months till I leave for my exchange, hopefully that will be enough time.
I can not wait to hear back from Khrystyna, hopefully it will be very soon!!!

ASSE Full application

2009-07-20T14:56:00.001-07:00

Today my preliminary application for ASSE was accepted and I received my full application via email!!! I am so excited!! I really think I am going to go with them, seeing as my family and I are hopefully hosting this school year. My family might also host the same year I am going to be abroad which will be interesting if thats what they choose to do. I'm not sure if they will do it, but all I know for sure is that my senior year I will STUDYING ABROAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hopefully Italy, but who knows! I think that just about any where I go, I will be happy and have the time of my life!

In-home interview!!!

2009-07-18T08:32:00.000-07:00

Hopefully tomorrow the lady, Nancy from ASSE will be coming over to have an in-home interview. We are going to discuss two things. 1) hosting and 2) me studying abroad!!!! I can not wait to hear what she has to say and the questions she is going to ask. Monday I should also know when I will get my full application for ASSE. To be honest with you, I am kinda leaning towards ASSE for my student exchange. First of all, Nancy not only emailed me, but also called me and talked with me about my exchange trip and host. She seems to be just as excited about both just as much as me! Nancy also says she likes to be there and be part of the first transition and give support to the student and the family while hosting. I am really excited about hosting and I really hope that this time everything will work out so much better. Plus I am extreamlly excited about my exchange!!! It's so far away, yet so soon. I'm going to be an explosion of emotions!!!

Second times the charm

2009-07-17T14:31:00.000-07:00

So last year my family and I tried hosting a student from Finland for a year. I thought it was going to be a wonderful experience and get me pumped and convince my parents to let me go abroad. Well that did not really go over to well. Finland left our home after two months. There are many reasons why she left, I will give you a few. Well, she was a little older than I was so the age difference made it weird a little. Plus she did not have common inturasts as I do or my family for that matter. I'm not sure why we were paired with her in the first place, but I bet AFS knew what they were doing.

I have been talking to my family about hosting again, but now hosting a boy. Well my brother would have to share his room with our new host brother. At first he was not sure and then he said yes, but he made no effert to clean his room and make way for our new brother, so the idea of hosting a girl came to mind. I really want to experience hosting and having all these wonderful memories with my host sister. My friend Dorothe from Germany (whom I miss so much!) came here this past year and just being her friend made me so lucky to know her. My friend Zach hosted her for the second half of the year and just talking to both of them and what they got out of living together made me wish I had a host sister like her. Well the main point of this blog is to tell you that yes, we are going to try again with a girl from the Ukraine. We are not sure if we are going to be hosting her or not, but when I know for sure, I will be on telling you, hopefully soon.

Paperwork is calling my name!!!

ASSE- Step One: Done

2009-07-14T19:05:00.000-07:00

I just finished the preliminary application for ASSE!! Same old same old questions like AFS. They were really easy and I was done in 1 2 3!!! Not much to talk about there. :)

I had contacted a rep for ASSE and asked her some of my questions about the program and what they offered. She also sent me the bio for this girl who needed a host family from Italy. I don't think we are going to host her, but ASSE is going to email some more bios for exchange students who have some of the same interests. When I got home from my friends house I had to call another lady form ASSE and we talked for a few minutes. We talked about which program I want to go on, where, how long. She also said she was emailing me more bios and info for my family to look at about the exchange students. I excited to read that email and read about the students. Hopefully there will be someone there that is just amazing and pops out at us and does not end up like the last one we hosted....another story for a later date.

FUND RAISING IDEA!!!!!!
Make a movie!!! I have been having these ideas and making these scenes in my head and I keep picturing them! When I tell someone about it I just say, "I'll put it in my movie I'm going to make!" Well I could make a movie and charge people admission and I can make clips like half an hour every two weeks or a month like those old Super Man movies!!! If my movies came out really good and people watched them!! OMG it would be so much fun and some money coming in for my trip!!!!! YAY!!!! And it would give me something to do over the summer!! and the beginning of the school year before I start with Masque and Mime!! javascript:void(0)

"And I'm a genius, genius!"-Manchester England, from the musical HAIR!!!!!

Scholarship Winner!!!

2009-07-13T13:20:00.000-07:00

After checking my email throughout the day seeing if anything new came, I received an email from AFS. This email was about the amount of money I won for the scholarships. I'm just going to tell you what I won. Okay for AFS Family: $200 and for Merit scholarship: $1,400!!!!! Not as much as I was hoping for, but it is WAY better than nothing!!! Now I am $1600 closer to my dream come true!!!!!

Another Program

2009-07-08T15:00:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I went online and looked at this program called ASSE that my guidance counselor told me about and I think I'm going to try applying with them because they have a program for Italy which is way less expensive then AFS. I also got a check in the mail from the same guidance counselor for a subscription to my news letter!!!! I have been filling out so much paperwork and trying to make sure I have everything. Monday I will be meeting with my doctor for a physical and for him to sign the forms for YFU and AFS. I think I am going to apply with AFS and ASSE first and if one of them doesn't work out, I will try with YFU, but I think I'm going to be accepted to both. Of course Italy is my first choice for both so hopefully that's where I will be going, but who knows.

Another Application

2009-06-30T12:30:00.000-07:00

This morning was my guidance meeting where I got to make next years schedule and talk about my senior year abroad. We made sure I had all the classes I need to take for junior year and made sure I would have enough credits to graduate. I need 22 credits and at the end of junior year I will have 22 1/2 credits! The classes that I need to take in Italy are an English class, economics and gym, which I think a lot of schools in Italy will have. I will also try to transfer some of my credits is possible. Last night I typed up my general email and sent it to everyone I knew with an email and asked them to forward it to everyone they knew. I also found some yummy looking recipes for Italian cookies that I will take pre-orders for.

Online I have started filling out the YFU application and I have the papers that need to be filled out by hand in a pile. When I complete the online application I will mail the rest of the application. The only thing that will take forever will be getting my transcripts and GPA from school, which I will have by uh August!!! Which seems forever. I just want to finish these applications and be accepted, but I will have patience because the wait is worth it.

So today I went online to check my email hoping something came in. The website said I had two new emails and my first thought was my exchange. I logged in and was excited to see an email was from AFS. I clicked on it as once and it was a page with a link and my user ID and password to start filling out my application! I was extremely excited and began reading everything. I printed all the documents that needed to be filled out in person and realized that this application had a ton of paperwork, just like the application for YFU.

I have been teaching my younger cousin, the one I am babysitting, Italian and it has been so much fun!! I feels great to test my knowledge and to speak it and make sentences! If my family were to host I would love to have an Italian host sibling cause then I can practice my Italian and help them with their English, plus they might know how to cook some amazing Italian meals.

Off to fill out some more paperwork!

General Email

2009-06-29T08:54:00.000-07:00

So today I am going to start working on that general email I was talking about before. I'm not sure what I'm going to write yet, but it will come to me. Today on of my friends from Switzerland is leaving to go to his last orientation in New York city. He came here for the year with AFS and I am going to miss him so much!!! And tomorrow my friend who came here for a year with YFU from Germany is leaving!! I'm so sad but know I will be in contact with them. They were so happy to hear that I started applying and they forewarned my about all the paperwork, and they were right. I am know where near ready to start the online application for YFU. I have not heard anything from AFS, hopefully I will be Wednesday if not I will have to wait till the following Monday when I come back from my vacation. My teacher finished my YFU recommendation and is going to be faxing it to them today or tomorrow, i think. I have also been talking to my mom about my birthday party which will most likely be at the end of August, yay!!! Hopefully sometime this week or next week I will be setting up a new account so I can start putting the money I have for my trip. Right now I have maybe $300 plus I will get some money at the end of the week from babysitting so that leaves about $11,700 to go!!!! wonderful :)

Donations are now being accepted

2009-06-28T16:18:00.001-07:00

I figured out how to add a donate button so now you can start donating towards my year abroad. I really need your help and any donations over $30 you can request to be put on my mailing list for my news letter!!! Thank you very much. I am one more step closer to my dream!

PICTURES!!!

2009-06-28T14:48:00.000-07:00

I have been cleaning and reorganizing my room looking for old things that I don't want anymore and can sell at a yard sale. I don't live in the right spot for yard sales so I don't think a lot of people will come, but I have faith because the money I make at this yard sale will go towards my trip, no surprise there. I will also be selling some things on eBay as well, hopefully there will be more people interested on eBay.

Still no word back from my teacher Mr. J with the recommendations, but I know he will do them and let me know by tonight. With the YFU application you need to send in 8 2x2 pictures of yourself and 5 pictures of you and your family/friends/pets/hobbies/activities. I was not sure which pictures to do. I do not have many pictures where I look good. I was able to find five and I don't look to bad. I am smiling and having a good time. Most of the pictures are me and my friends only one is with my family and that's my older cousin.

I am still working on creating a paypal account on my blog and have to talk to my mom some more about it, maybe after dinner. Last night I finished writing my host family letter, but I know I need to add some things and make it better. With the YFU scholarships you have to answer five questions with at least 250 words for each answer, and I completed all five last night as well. Now I have to type them up and save them. I also need to type up an email to send to EVERYONE and let them know I am going to be studying abroad and in need LOTS of money and their help.

I don't want to forget about other things I have to do in my life and during the summer, but I also want to go and study abroad. I know next year will be hard with classes and anticipation for senior year and it is going to fell like forever!!! But once I am there it will be worth it. I finally complete one aspect of the application or print out pictures and take a breath and start thinking about what else I need to do and I just feel like I am running out of time. I don't know why, I know I have about a year before I would leave and like 5 months before the application is due and 2 months of summer to enjoy myself and relax so why am I getting all worked up?? It's driving my crazy!!!

I really want to host again this year, but I would rather get a boy for a few reasons that I will not go into right now. My older brother would have to share his room with our new foreign brother and he has not said yes to this idea, but he didn't say no either. I have talked to my friends who hosted this year and he seemed to get a lot out of it and that's what I wished would have come out of my hosting this year but our experience ended short and badly for a number of long reasons I can't explain right now.

Summer job (for now): BABYSITTING!!!
I will be baby sitting my cousin throughout the summer and making around $20 a day which is not bad at all. I will be starting up a new checking account and putting all the money I make and raise in there to go towards my trip.

I am just so excited and I am not over the fact that my parents said yes and I have started the application process of studying abroad!!!

AFS pre-application!!!!!

2009-06-27T18:57:00.000-07:00

So I have just completed the first part of the AFS pre-application and paid the non refundable application fee for AFS!!!!! YAY!!!! It will take about three business days for and AFS advisor to send me a full application. Tuesday I am going to meet with my guidance counselor and have the school fill out some other paperwork for YFU. I also have to make appointments with the dentist and doctor to sign papers, but I will wait till I have some of the papers for AFS as well.

I have also applied for the merit-based scholarship with AFS and its possible to find out the results within a few weeks I believe. I am waiting for my teacher to send me back the recommendation sheets I have sent him for both AFS and YFU. I have asked my biology teacher Mr. J. He has emailed me back and told me he will completing the sheets tomorrow seeing as it is a little past 10pm.

I am also looking for photos to send in with my YFU application. Last night I started my host family letter which needs to be over 500 words and I already have 529. I don't want to write a lot but I want to write enough so they know a great deal about me so I am paired with a wonderful host family. I just don't want to write to much and have it be to long and tell them everything because they would know all about me and that would be boring. Well I am a fun and interesting person so I don't think that would happen. When I was first reading about the host family letter I thought, "Wow! 500 words that's a lot!" but really you are just talking about yourself and its really easy, cause who knows you better than you??

Paperwork

2009-06-26T19:27:00.000-07:00

WOW!!!!!!!
I never realized just how much paperwork I need to fill out and have other people fill out for applying to go abroad!!!! There are about 15 different sections just for the YFU application. I can't wait to see what the AFS application will look like. I'm printing out dozens of papers, which I know is killing trees, but I want to make sure I have everything and can keep a check list of what I need to write up or get signed.

*Although this year is going to seem long and task full between classes and preparation, I sort of want it to go by quickly. Summer is just begin and I sort of want it to go by faster, but I really don't! You know that feeling a week or so before Christmas, that sort of rush of excitement and anticipation, well that's what I feel and I have (lets count.....) a little over a year before I would be leaving!! Once I start enjoying my summer and starting on summer AP English work, hopefully it will calm down.* Random thought

After reading for both AFS and YFU application fees and when money is due, I realized that I need to start fund raising and getting a job NOW!!! I am working on that paypal account for my blog and I am writing up an email to send to everyone I know and my patents know. I think my total amount for which ever program I end up going with will be around $12,000!!! Give or take a thousand dollars. I need to fund raise a majority of that other wise I will not be going, so I am getting a head start as fast as I can!! I just need to remember to focus on school work, friend, family, and my exchange for the next 12/13 months and everything will be smooth sailing.

Near the end of summer, sometime in August, I might have a birthday party to celebrate my 16th birthday and for the most part all I want is money which will, as you guest it, go towards my exchange. Plus by the end of the summer you want to see your friends, but don't want to wait till the first day of school.

While writing this blog I have decided on an amount that I am going to list a goal I wish to reach, or higher to go towards my exchange (drum role please...)

$5,000!!!!!!

That's not to bad considering the total amount.

Finally a YES!!!

2009-06-25T09:34:00.000-07:00

As some of you know, I have been very interested in studying abroad and finally my parents have said yes!! I am going to start applying Friday with AFS and YFU. Within the application you need to list your top three countries, but because I am applying with both AFS and YFU and they have different programs, I had to pick six. With AFS my choices are 1) Italy 2) Portugal 3) Latvia and with YFU my choices are 1) Germany 2) Greece 3) Poland. I know that some of the countries sound really random, but they are not and I have great interest in studying in all of these countries. All of these countries are well over $8,000 and I am going to have to do a lot of fund raising. I will be sending out a general email and having my parents post it up at their jobs letting people know what I am doing, and fund raising ideas I have, and latter in the year I will be able to say which exciting country I will be studying in. I will be keeping up my blog throughout my junior year as well as my year abroad.

I shall list some of my fund raising ideas for you now:

*Creating a blog and having people sponsor me. I will try to create a paypal account where people can sponsor me by donating money. I will also try to show the amount of money I have towards the trip and how much I still need.

*Making an email Newsletter: I will advertise that while I am abroad I will be creating a newsletter and sending it to people who subscribe via email, or US mail. In this newsletter I will talk about events, activities, people, places, the country, the town will be living in and some basic language that I have learned and used. I will send out this newsletter every two weeks or monthly. People will buy subscriptions to the newsletter before I leave so the money will go towards my trip.

*Pre-Orders for homemade food: I will advertise around holidays and random times throughout the year telling people to please support my dream to study abroad by pre-ordering foods that I will cook/bake at home and hand deliver to them.

*Getting a job: hopefully companies will be hiring so I can start working and putting that money away for studying abroad.