Carbonia thus far

So I have now been with my family for exactly 2 weeks. YAY. It has been a very good two weeks. I like my family a lot, they are very nice and we all get along really well. They are very helpful to me and they are just so sweet. I love them. So here is a run down of my life so far in Carbonia:

First few days:

My first night here me and the family didn't do much. We had a really yummy dinner and then we basically went to bed because I didn't get there until late so the day was pretty much over by the time that i got there. The next morning papà had taken off of work and he took me and Ele to get my residence permit and to get me a phone because my phone does not work here in Italy because of the SIM card. We came home and me and ele hung out for a little while then papà said that we were going to go to the beach so i got on my bikini and so did Ele and we got ready for the beach. The beach is only about 10 minutes from our house which is really nice. Me and Ele had a lot of fun at the beach. The next few days were really fun. We basically went to the beach every day and did a few errands. We went to the grocery store a lot lol. There grocery stores are exactly like ours are except you bag your own groceries and you have to pay for the bags. After the first few days they told me that we were going to go to Sant. Antioco to there other house for 4 days.

Sant. Antioco:

The first day we were there me and Ele went to the beach again which was a lot of fun and then that first night we were there a few of Ele's friends came over and there parents too. One of Ele's guy friends and Mary plus there parents. I have found that when Italian's go to each others houses it is usually after 930 which i find really strange because well in the states. at least in Monroe. The whole town is usually shut down by 930 so that was a bit of a shock to me. Her friends stayed until about 1100 except Mary who stayed longer then that. She stayed with us the whole weekend. Most of the days we were there we would go to the beach and then we would come home and stay home and just hang out there. it was a lot of fun but it did tend to get a little boring when they would all speak to each other in really fast Italian and I couldn't understand what was going on. Then on the Friday night that we were there mamma went to a party so me, Ele, and Mary went to out to get pizza. It was the first time that I had eaten out in Italy so I was excited. We went in to the restaurant at about 600 and it wasn't even open yet which really surprised me because in the states all the restaurants open at like 5 or at least they do in Wisconsin. Well we went back for dinner around 900 (it took a lot of getting used to get used to eating so late and having such big gaps between my meals) and we ordered our pizza. We all ordered our own pizza which seemed strange to me but i went along with it assuming they would like give us a slice of pizza or something. but no. when the pizza came out we each had our own full pizza! it was like a medium pizza from pizza hut all for one person. They both finished their's but I couldn't finish mine it was just to big. Then we hung out with all of there friends for a couple of hours and then we went home. We left Sant. antioco on Sunday. Sunday was the day before school started a week ago.

School:

The first time that I went to the school was in the first few days that I was here in Carbonia. My mamma, me, Sara (more about her later), Ele, and Claudio all went to the school so that E could meet the principal and my "tutor" the lady to help me at school if I have any problems with classes and such. Then on Monday September 15, 2008 (15/9/2008) I went for my first day of my Italian school. Me and Ele woke up a little early that morning so we were ready a long time before we had to be up. We waited at the house for Sara to arrive so that she could introduce me to my class. I went in the school with my whole family (well Ele and Claudio) and Sara introduced me to my new class that I would have in Italy for a year. It was really small and almost all girls I noticed. There are only about 13 kids in my class including me. The class was really nice to me. I really like them. The first day they included me in everything that they did because for the first 2 days of school we really didn't have any classes so we just sat around in the classroom and talked for most of the day. It was alot of fun because I got to know my class and not have to take classes for the first couple days of school. After the first 2 days of school, when we did absolutely nothing, we started having classes and my class is really nice and helpful. they explain things in English when I don't understand the Italian which is really nice of them. for classes i have: English, Italian, French, Spanish, Latin, Art History, History, Philosophy, Algebra and Religion. I can really only participate in my Spanish and Algebra class. I would be able to do in my English class too but the professor does not speak English. My math class is really easy because I'm a head of my class in math. Like today they learned the quadratic formula soooo I think I can handle my math class. I really dislike my Philosophy teacher because she expects me to participate in that class and take notes and everything when I don't really understand what's going on in the class. sooo I don't know. The kids are all really nice so that's good. On Friday we Didn't have a class the first hour so they invited me to go to breakfast with them which was really nice. it was nice to be included. Plus I had a lot of fun at breakfast.

After school:

I really only have normal days after school on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays because of my Italian lessons (more on that later). on the days when I don't have Italian lessons me and Ele and Claudio usually just come home and play on the computer a little bit and then mamma and papà are home so we hang out with them for a while then we eat dinner and that's really all we do on those days because there's not much to do well not yet anyway. but its nice to just be home with them because we get along so well.

My Chapter in Sardinia:

So far my chapter has been AMAZING. I am in a double chapter of Cagliari-Igleases so for the meetings and such I have to ride the train to Cagliari which is about an hour away. Well for the chapter so far we have had one meeting. At that meeting we got to know rules again which was really boring because that was about the 4th time we had heard them in 1 week. Then they told us that we would be having Italian lessons starting the next week. We also found out that we had a trip to Roma in January if we are all good and we all go to school like we should. so that I'm really excited for because I haven't seen Roma yet and i really really want to see it. I want to see all the famous stuff that Italy is famous for. I want to take a ton of pictures. Just I'm very excited. Well we also found out about our exchange week. Which is in May and we have a week long exchange to another part of Italy when we stay with another family and live in another part of Italy for a week. So I'm really excited for that because I really want to see some sights of Italy before I leave. We also have a 4 day orientation on Sassari (a big city in northern Sardinia) on October 1st - October 4th at a really nice Resort. Then last night we had a welcome part for all of the kids on the south side of Sardinia. so that was really really fun because i got to see kids that I hadn't seen since orientation. They all get to see each other all the time but i don't because i'm the only student in Carbonia. Which i'm glad for because i will have to make alot of Italian friends and not rely on the other exchange students like they can. so the party was a lot of fun I cant wait until October to see all of the students.

Italian Lessons:

Our local chapter set up our Italian lessons for Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 330-630 every week for 5 weeks. Olivia, Nico, Cow-Cow and I all have to ride the train to Cagliari every day for that because the lessons are in Cagliari. Cagliari is an hour away so by the time we get home its really late. I know that the lessons are supposed to help us but for this last week which was my first week of lessons i didn't learn anything in the lessons because i already knew what the lady was teaching us. I know that when they will get harder they will be worth the hour long train ride to cagliari but this week they weren't worth it because i didn't learn anything. but i know in the end they will be because they will help me learn the basics of Italian faster. At least I hope they do or i wasted a lot of time in Cagliari.

Well everyone this is my life thus far in Italy if you would like me to write about something specific just comment on my blog and i will try to write about it. i have also put up more pictures on my sight so have a look.

ciao a tutti