I promise PROMISE that from now on I will update more often. The past 6 weeks have been some of the most hectic of my life but now my routine has balanced out a bit. This video is me explaining as much of that as I could. Prego! 

watch my vlog here!!!!

FIRST VIDEO BLOG // italian alps

first 5 days

I will try and update this blog as much as possible, hopefully at least once a week. I had hoped to write sooner but this is the first time I have had a moment all to myself!

thursday, september 5

My host dad Bernardo goes to work every morning at 8:30, comes home for lunch around 1:30 pm and goes back to work, and returns back home around 6:00 pm or earlier. During his lunch break on Thursday, his son Stefano came with him (they are both engineers and work together) and dropped off his two children. Elena is four and has short blonde curls and her little brother Matteo is two and a half with little tufts of white-ish golden hair. Every single member of my host family has blue eyes (an Italian rarity). We painted together and read an Italian story book that I could actually comprehend (!!!!).  

For dinner (around 9 pm), Marina, Bernardo, and I rode our bikes to a local pizzeria. Bernardo ordered each of us our own pizza accompanied by a tall glass of beer. They both finished their pizzas in entirety when I had nearly finished half of my own. Marina asked me if I was okay and I told her that I was perfectly great and that my stomach was full. She scolded me for not eating enough and made sure that I finished all of my beer. We then rode our bikes into the city center where there was a dancing/roller skating competition for teens. Really cool. 

friday, september 6

Marina drove me to the pool (in her Mini Cooper convertible which I adore) and I met with the swim coach Moreno and did a workout. He thinks I don't understand Italian very well and always tries to speak English with me which is entertaining. I trained with 3 other swimmers who are in their 20s and if I understood correctly, one girl was an Olympian for Venezuela. 

saturday, september 7

When Marina came home from work (she is a middle school Italian teacher) around 1pm, Bernardo drove the three of us into Venice. We parked in one of the enormous garages and then took a water taxi across the canal to a point called Punta della Dogana, just opposite of Piazza San Marco (my parents insisted that we didn't need to buy tickets for the taxi because the workers never check them anyways). We went through a door on the side of this beautiful white building and inside was a modern art exhibit. Most of the artists were American but there were a few French and maybe one or two Italian artists. The art was fascinating and a little confusing but perhaps even more entertaining was Marina and Bernardo's reaction to everything. They are now convinced that all modern American artists are psychopaths.

Punta della Dogana

inside the exhibit

Afterwards, we took a water taxi across the canal to Piazza San Marco where we grabbed drinks at an outdoor caffè away from all of the tourists and watched the boats pass by in the side canals. There was a newlywed couple who had rented a gondola and the bride had on her dress and veil and the groom was still in his tux. A proper fairytale. 

We then met friends of Bernardo and Marina and watched a new indie Italian film that was part of the Venice Film Festival. It was outdoors in a fairly large courtyard, and beneath the stars with the gentle Venetian breeze... it was perfect (aside from the fact that I was absolutely exhausted and fell asleep on both Marina and her friend twice during the movie). We got lost trying to find our way back to the main canal and arrived home a little past midnight. 

sunday, september 8

Bernardo took me out at sunset to show me how to get to the pool by bike. We rode along this gravel path that ran parallel with the river and it absolutely charming. The river is lined by old, two story, villa-style homes with tall grass and crickets buzzing.

We then drove out of the city into the countryside, to a house owned by the friends that we watched the outdoor movie with. The villa was built in 1690 and you could smell how ancient it was. There were maybe 50 people at the house for a dinner-potluck party. I was the only kid there but it wasn't too boring. This little Italian man (around 60 years old) armed me with a decent amount of words and phrases that "are not very well to say inside of the church". 

monday september 9

Tonight we are planning on going to a fair/carnival for my family's local church. The festival will continue on through next weekend.

I start school Thursday and I'm both excited (as much as one can be for school) and nervous. We haven't bought my books yet but Marina assures me we will get them soon (hopefully sometime in the next two days???).

a dopo,
sarah

casa mia

Yesterday I arrived in Venice after an exhausting two days worth of travel. Out of my three flights, two of them (home to LAX and JFK to Venice) were red-eyes. Needless to say, I didn't sleep more than an hour for the entire trip and my eyes were practically bloodshot.

I breezed through customs and waited about 15 minutes before my luggage came. Then, (pulling two huge suitcases, a rolling carry-on, and a backpack) I ventured out into the pick-up area of the airport. Scanning the sign-holders, I didn't see my name anywhere, nor did I see anyone that looked like Lorena, the woman who said she was picking me up. 

Side note - Lorena was originally supposed to be my first host mom and I was to live with her, her husband, and their two daughters. BUT due to a research project that she was accepted into, she and her family will now be living near Como for most of the year. 

I glanced at the clock. It was 20 minutes past the time we had planned on meeting and honestly I was getting a little worried. Here I was, in the middle of a frenzied crowd of travelers and greeters, not knowing anybody and completely alone. I wasn't even sure I was in the right place to meet her but I didn't think that going out and exploring was a very good idea. 

So, I called the phone number that Lorena had given me. When a woman answered the phone, a wave of relief washed over me. Unfortunately, this was short-lived because the woman informed me that she was not Lorena and that I had called the house phone and not Lorena's cell phone. She told me that Lorena had left for the airport so at least I knew that I was forgotten about. I really didn't understand the rest of the conversation. 

As I anxiously scanned the crowd for a familiar face, I was overwhelmed with the sense of vulnerableness. In that moment, that's when my decision to spend my year in Italy really sunk in. This was no longer just words on paper or thoughts in my head. This is real life and it's not going to be a walk in the park. 

Out of the darkness, my savior came. I spotted Lorena in a floral maxi dress walking quickly towards me with a shopping bag in one hand and a potted plant in the other. Trailing her were three teenagers.
I waved and ran (okay, more of an awkwardly brisk walk) to hug her, greeting them all with smiles and cheek baci.

We drove back to Padova (less than an hour) and to her house where we ate lunch. One of the kids was Lorena's daughter (Bianca) and the other two were best friends of Lorena's oldest daughter (Magdelena and Martino). After lunch, Lorena drove me to my official host mom's home where we met and quickly bonded.

The house is absolutely beautiful. Rosy-orange and three stories tall, it really is something out of a moive. Today I will go with Lorena to get school, swimming, and other things situated while my host mom works (a school teacher).

Abbracci e baci,
Sarah

t-minus 2 weeks

I leave for Italy in 13 days... 13!?!? I still have loads to do to prepare for life in Padua. The best part is that my visa is good to go, as well as my plane tickets. Most of me is so excited that the thought of two more weeks NOT being in Italy is almost painful. But there's definitely a part of me that's nervous. Mostly about the language, to be honest. 

I just came home from  two amazing months at UCLA, where I took three years of Italian in eight weeks. The friends I made there were crazy and funny and simply genuine people. The teachers were all really helpful and not only taught me about the language but also about the culture. I know that I have a pretty solid foundation of basic Italian beneath me but I'm still self-conscious - mostly about my American accent - but also with messing up all the grammar rules. 

But really, I shouldn't be nervous. All of the Italians I've met -- literally all of them -- are so encouraging and are always happy to hear me say even the simplest phrases. 

In Padua, I will be attending a "liceo scientifico" which is a science/math-based high school.  (Learning physics in Italian... can't wait!!!!!!!!) In Italy teenagers choose either this a school with a curriculum like mine OR a school with a classical curriculum (liceo classico) where Latin, Ancient Greek, philosophy, and Italian literature are more heavily emphasized. 

And that's about it for now. I've got packing and vocabulary studying to do.


You may have the universe if I may have Italy

- Giuseppe Verdi

host family

I found out my host family about a month ago but I haven't been able to write about it until now... I've been too busy with school and swimming, but now all of that is over (well, at least the school part) and I can relax and focus on studying Italian!

So... I'm going to Padua! (in Italian it is Padova) And I could not be more excited. It is a beautiful university city with a stunning city-center, church, and river running through it. I found out in early May when my host sister emailed me. She will be headed to America for an exchange while I am in Italy!  I will have two younger host sisters that will stay in Padua while she goes to the US.  TWO YOUNGER SISTERS! Finally, my dream of being an older sister will be fulfilled. 

{Padua's City-Center}

Padua is a quick twenty-minute train ride from Venice, so hopefully I'll get to visit the City of Bridges a few times during my exchange. 

{Bridge of Sighs, Venice}