Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Secondo settimana!

Ciao! Sorry this blog post is a day late but I was so busy yesterday and didn't get home until late but I'll tell you all about that now!

MONDAY (Sept. 17th): I didn't have school that day because it was a holiday in Rivoli for a Saint or something so me and my 2 other exchange student friends went shopping in Rivoli! Sanni, a girl from Finland and Blue a boy from Thailand. It was really fun! I tried my best to speak Italian to the shop keepers but after a certain point I would get confused and say "Non parla Italiano, parla inglese?" We really stood out as foreigners compared to the Italians I think! I bought a black leather jacket from Tally Weijl, perfume, some bracelets, earrings and a pink dress for disco's. Also we got some gelato ahh it was good, I have gelato seriously like everyday! I hope I don't become just another fat exchange student.... as soon as I got home I went for a run and my little sister Nini to rode her bike next to me so I wouldn't get lost! hahhaa

Fruit gelato mmmm <3
Gelato with Sanni & Bleue (:
yummmmyyy
TUESDAY: I had school on Tuesday and I switched into the 3rd year, in 3F! Everyone in my class is super nice, they have a group on facebook for their class and added me! It's so weird in Italy you stay with one class all throughout high school so it's really like one big family. Everyone is friends with everyone in a class since they've all known each other for so long! It's cool but then no one really talks to people from other classes. It's weird because in the US I'm used to switching classes and meeting tons of different people but here since you stay with one class ALL freakin day it's hard to meet different people. Anyway, after school I had my first Italian lesson! Sanni, the AFSer here from Finland goes to the school next to mine so we met up and walked to Rivoli and got some lunch. Then after lunch my host mom came and helped us so we know how to take the bus and subway into Torino. Once we got to Porta Nuova, the train & subway station in Torino we met up with all the other kids from our chapter and walked to the building where our Italian lessons are. I loveee Torino! We walked down a street with a bunch of shopping and there's people riding Vespas everywhere and gelato shops on every corner. It's just so Italian <3 At the Italian lessons there was about 15 kids, half from the Rivoli area and half living in Torino. I'm the only American and then theres people from Denmark, Thailand, China, Japan, Germany, Bolivia, Honduras, Russia and South America. It's so cool meeting people from all over the world! Anyway, the teacher split us up into 2 groups and we have lessons at different times of the week. Basically there's a group for the kids good at Italian and the ones not so good (I'm in this group...) haha after the lesson me and Sanni walked back to the station and took the subway and bus all by ourselves it makes me feel so independent! I love it!

Getting Panini's for lunch in Rivoli with Sanni!
A random street in Torino
Stopped for a cioccolato caffé in Porta Nuova
Porta Nuova <333
WEDNESDAY: Another boring day of school I don't remember much from this day.. Umm oh yeah after school Andrea my older sisters boyfriend picked me up and we went to a bar (Italian word for restaurant or caffe) in Rivoli because some of his friends texted him and said that they were hanging out with an exchange student girl from Ohio. He told them that it was me but it wasn't.. it turns out there's another girl here from Ohio! She's with a rotary club not AFS so that's why I never met here! It's sooo crazy that there's 2 girls from Ohio! After I got home from Rivoli me and Nini went running and oh my gosh for a 12 year old she's super fast! I was exhausted!

THURSDAY: I feel like I never write anything about school.. I haven't had all of my classes yet because the first week is just like a practice schedule, it's not permanent until the 2nd week. Once I've had all my classes I'll go through and summarize them and talk more about school! Anyway after school on Thursday me and Sanni met up and went to Torino again for Italian lessons! The lessons are kind of boring and reaaallly basic. I mean I know I'm not a pro at Italian and I'm clueless but we move so slowly at the lessons, we barely learn anything! I want to learn Italian SO bad! I get so frustrated when I can't speak with people :( After the lesson me and some other exchange students walked around Torino and took some pictures in Piazza San Carlo! There's a bunch of Piazza's in Torino, I love all of them so much! Also we went shopping and I bought some black flats (:

I love the colorful winding streets of Rivoli (: 
Rivoli is so cute <3 
Me and Sanni from Finland walking to lunch in Rivoli!
Ahhh looking at signs written in Italian makes me smile (: 
Classic cute narrow Italian streets in Rivoli

Torino!

Church of San Carlo
Piazza San Carlo <3 
Piazza San Carlo
Church of San Carlo
The twin churches of Piazza San Carlo

Church of Santa Cristina 
Piazza San Carlo 
Other exchange students from my Italian lesson! I look like a midget compared to them..  -_- 
Mengzhen from China, Sanni from Finland, Olivia and Victoria from Denmark <3

Torino! I forgot the name of this building..
Yeah forgot the name of this too..
FRIDAY: Friday was a goood day, I got to miss school and go on a school trip with the 5th year (Senior) storia dell'arte (art history) class to Torino! I took the subway all alone and felt super cool because I got to Porta Nuova early so I shopped around by myself. I just feel so independent it's awesome haha. It was really fun walking all around the city and seeing all the piazzas and we got to inside all of the churches! Oh and it was really nice making some more friends from a different class! We also toured the Palazzo Dal Pozza Della Cisterna of course everything was in Italian but there was always somewhere there to translate for me! All the students and everyone I've met from Torino love their city, they all say it's the best city in Italy and I'm really starting to believe them! The tour guide of Palazzo Dal Pozza Della Cisterna, was sooo funny. While he was talking I kind of started nodding off and falling asleep.. I can't help it, listening to Italian that I don't understand makes me super sleepy!! Anyway after he was done speaking he said to me in Italian "Oh don't fall asleep stay awake this is going to be fun!!" Of course I only sort of understood it so I just kind of smiled and said Si! Then one of the students explained that I was American and didn't speak Italian. The tour guide thought that was really cool he was like "oh wow we have a special guest here!" During one of the presentations there was no chairs left so he had me sit in the very front facing everyone at one of the fancy tables you're not supposed to touch.. he was like the special guest can sit here! It was cool but kind of embarrassing in front of the 5th year classes... Anyway, after the tour I took the subway & bus home then my host grandmother picked me up from Rivoli. She doesn't speak a word of English! I actually enjoyed talking to here in the car though because it really forces me to use my Italian, we were surprisingly able to communicate pretty well! When she said something and I understood it, I got so happy and would scream "Io capisco!! Io capisco!!" haha when I got home it was my little sister Nini's birthday party with her friends! My host mom made tortolini, french fries and chicken nuggets. It felt really American! Nini and all her friends were so loud and cute playing Just Dance! haha I took a nap and then Federica got home from Milan. My host mom went out with her friends so me Federica, Nini and my host dad went out for dinner at a place called Kepo's I think.. it was good I got pizza (of course!) and there was this really good bread that they made in a wood fired oven. We went home and watched a movie in Italian with English subtitles! haha I did my best to understand it... I went to sleep kind of early though cause I had school on Saturday :'( FML

Church of San Carlo 
Piazza San Carlo
Piazza San Carlo 
Palazzo Dal Pozza Della Cisterna 
Some cool building.. 
Another cool building

Inside a church
soo pretty 
Nini's birthday party with her friends!
Tortolini <333
SATURDAY: I got up and went to school it sucked. But the day was so short and ended at noon! My host dad picked me up and we rode his motorcycle home, as soon as I arrived home to my host family ready and waiting for me to eat a delicious Italian lunch I almost forgot that I even went to school that day.. almost. After lunch, me Federica and her boyfriend Andrea went shopping to look for a birthday present for one of their friends in Torino! It was suuuper crowded since it was a Saturday but it was fun! I got some gelato too and I think it's the best gelato I've had in Italy so far! It was called Gianduja and I found a recipe online for it here (: After shopping we went home stopped in for a quick half hour changed, said hi to the family and then left again to go out for dinner! We didn't even make the reservation for until 9:30 pm and we didn't get home until about 1:30! Italians eat soo muuch later but I kind of like it because by the time it's dinner I'm so starving I can't even wait to eat! The restaurant was really cool, it was called Mucca Pazza! It used to be a disco (club) but then changed to a restaurant so it was super loud and crowded! I liked the atmosphere, there was a few peoples birthdays so they blasted Happy Birthday and everyone was cheering.

At Mucca Pazza with everyone!
SUNDAY: Sunday was my host dads birthday and also one of the best days in Italy so far! (: I got up at around 9 and my host dad drove me to my friend Sergio's house for a visit! He's another American here with AFS for the year and he lives in Ivrea, it's about 45 minutes from Rivoli. I was going to sleepover at Sergios on Saturday night but AFS wouldn't let me since it's still only the 2nd week :'( Another time! Anyway we rode the motorcycle there and went on the highway, it was awesome because there was pretty much no limit to how fast we could go so we went fast I loved it! It's official I want a motorcycle when I come back so mom & dad if you're reading this, that could be my welcome home present (; Once we got to Ivrea we met Sergio's family they're super nice! He has 2 sisters one went to Mississippi with AFS. Ivrea is kind of small so I thought that me and Sergio might get bored but we didn't! We spent the entire day walking around the city and eating alooott of food (: There was some festival going on in the town so there was stands with food and stuff all over the place. And there was an American dancing group called "Route 66" they were like square dancing and there was an American flag, it was so weird seeing American stuff in Italy! First we got coffee (mine with a scoop of gelato in it) and split some really good chocolate cream cake. Then we wandered around and got lost a little... then we ate lunch at this super cute fancy little Italian restaurant. Sergio's host mom said it's the best restaurant in Ivrea! I got ravioli for my 1st course, Sergio got gorgonzola gnocchi, then for our 2nd course we split some veal and potatoes and for desert we had peaches and cream. To drink we tried this white rose wine and surprisingly I really liked it! and on the side there was these tiny little breadstick cracker things, they're sooo good and they're a Piemonte speciality. Each region in Italy has their own style of cooking. The restaurant grows their own blueberries and they mix the blueberries in with some liquor to make a digestif drink. It was really good too! We walked around some more went shopping, I got pastiere and a card for my host dad's birthday. The food prices here are so cheap it's totally insane. I bought 10 pastries and cookies for only 5 euros! Oh and then we got some gelato, see I told you we ate a TON, I got yogurt and lemon flavored. It was amazing! Also super cheap, for 2 cones both with 2 scoops of gelato it was only 3.50 euros. I'm seriously going to get fat with such cheap gelato prices.. Anyway, it was a fantastic visit! I can't wait to visit again and I want to go to the Ivrea Battle of the Oranges festival in the Spring! My host dad picked me up at 6 and we rode his motorcycle home again, this time on the smaller streets so it was more scenic! Then when we got home we had octopus for dinner, it was delicious!

mmm Italian cheese >> 
The festival in the town square
<3 

The river that runs through the center of Ivrea 

Fresh olives and veggies at one of the stands

PINK FIAT I WANT THIS


The "castle of Ivrea" Pretty much only used for concerts nowadays 

Desert peaches, cream & white wine (: 
Sergio & the blueberry digestif

Ivrea's main church

"Route 66"

sooo weridd 
Probably my best friend in Italy so far <3

The symbol of Ivrea for the Orange festival
White water kayaking in the river!



Well that's all for now, I'm getting sick of typing! Arrivederci! (: