What do you do when time is not on your side....make the most of it

Ok so in typical Tanya fashion I am going to start this blog out with the apology for not writing in like 3 weeks. So this will be slightly longer to catch you up on my Italian Summer :)

The first week of summer i chilled at home and hung out with Frida basically everyday. Then every night we'd go to the park. Even though I really really didn't want to I left to and AFS camp on Thursday morning. Its not that i didn't want to see my friends with AFS I just didn't want to leave all my friends here. Anyways there was like 60 of us and it was fun! We spent most the time with orientations but when we didn't have to talk about going home we hung out. Oh and it was in Tuscany :) The first night we all sat in this room and there were candles in the center of the room...you could light one for all the good moments or put one out for the bad. After about 15minutes half the room was in tears. That was when i was like wow, this isn't just a semester abroad this is much more. I mean what can take a room full of teenagers from countries all around the world, who have seemingly nothing in common and have them all brought to tears by one thing. Italy. Its the love for this country we all have and our new lives and families here. Everyone was finally brought to the point where we realized, wow we have to go home soon. Anyways AFS did that all weekend, tried to get us to the point where we can emotionally handle leaving. The second night we hung out on a balcony and found the brightest star in the sky and named it Taker because we were all together under the Tuscan sky staring up and the star...in the country that 'took' our hearts. Cheesy i know but still. The last night we stayed up all night talking and chilling on one of the balconies. No joke i slept like 20minutes waiting for breakfast and that is all. Oh but on a stupid note...since I am just made to get hurt we were teaching them Souja Boi (on mattresses on the balcony) Some how i tripped and hit my head on the edge of the wall. I am pretty sure that is another one for the count lol. It was another super long day but we finally got home. Oh and not to add it was super super hot, the Tuscan sun is so so hot! Anyway it was a fun weekend but it was good to be home.

Monday I got up and made pancakes with my sister and then my friend picked me up. I spent my last days with my friends from school and we just hung out, went to the pool, did fit box at the gym and had a blast. I am really going to miss them! After being at the pool for 9 hours i went directly to volleyball. Oh and it was 38C (AGH!!!) We had a super short practice then went to pizza as a team. I got a pizza with french fries on top! it was good! then my coach and my team gave me presents, they said I'm welcome back to play any day. The gave me a shirt and a vball signed. It was sad to say the first set of goodbyes but we got it done.

The rest of the week was hanging with my friends. I have this set of friends that are literally with me EVERYDAY! Frida, Giulio, Rigo and Matteo. Like they have asked off so much work to just be in Modena before I have to leave. Oh and I even went to the gym again on Friday for Fit Box. Its crazy fun. Saturday I got up after like 3 hours of sleep and got ready to get Erica from the train station. After 3 delays, and not being on the first i finally got to see my sister after 5 months! it was great. we did so much in a week...Disco, Park, Verona, 5 Terre, Milano, Modena, Park again. it was great! I had to be a translator all week and it was so much fun! It was hard too cause her being here showed me that i have changed and that i have to go back to my old life and hope that everyone accepts the changes or at least understands. Saying bye to her at the airport was easy cause its only a week.

Now to the super hard stuff....tomorrow starts the goodbyes that are going to hurt so much. My very best friend here who I am with everyday and is my sounding board here leaves to go home to Norway tomorrow. I am not ready. Like I know I will see her again but I mean when someone becomes apart of your life and is there everyday then all of a sudden like 9,000miles is between you two...yeah it sucks. I think if i can say bye to her the rest will be a little easier. I already talked to my boys and they are all coming over Sunday to help after i say bye. Frida is the greatest friend I could have asked for over here!

But I am done writing a novel, sorry for the length. I am off to have my last Saturday in modena :( I leave next Saturday afternoon. Time is defiantly definitely not on my side so I am going to make this the best week yet! Ti Voglio bene Italia!!!

Bye Bye Wiligelmo :(

It seems like everything these days is bitter sweet. Last Saturday the 6th was our last day of school. It is great that summer is here but at the same time i miss school. The last week was great! On Monday we had our class dinner and then all hung out all night. Toward the end of the week my friends came over and we made some more American cookies so I could bring them to school on Saturday. We didn't do really anything the last day but it was all because the excitement comes after the bell rings.(I'll get to that in a second) But as i was walking out of the class i just was like wow, I'll never be a student here again. Then I have no idea why but as i was walking out of the school I started tearing up, man has this place impacted me.Everyone was like awwww and i was like no seriously this is sad stuff, its the end of another chapter in my life. Growing up kinda sucks you know :/ But then right when the bell rang eggs were launched into the crowd...and so began the longest water fight I've ever seen. I went across the street to find my friends from the 5th year and i found them, next to the open fire hydrant. lol They had opened it up and water was everywhere! Within seconds i was soaked. Luckily I avoided the flour and eggs that were flying all over the place. After about an hour we went to the park where we found like the every kid in our town. What little I was dried off on the way over there was useless cause i got soaked again. Oh and attacked by shaving cream. There were people everywhere!!! And then people started jumping in the lake and throwing people in. It was crazy! Sure don't do it like that in America! the end of school is craziness for sure! Then i came home to shower before going to Armani with Frida and Leo. I finished my gift shopping for people at home!! Ian is going to be the classiest baby :) After I met my friends in Corlo. I also discovered that it is very very hard to ride a bike with 2 people, 5 pizzas, and a 2liter of coke lol. We got ready together and then went to Rockville. Pretty much everyone in the area goes to the Disco the night of the last day of school. It was the greatest time for sure because it was all outside in the mountains, the music was great and I was with my besties here :) It was an AMAZING DAY!!!


And now that summer has started I've taken it slow. well I'm trying to slow down everything cause I'm not ready to go home at all! I am trying to spend a lot of time with my family and friends. And my closest friend Frida. She goes home before me so we both are just trying to not think of going home. At the same time we spent 30minutes yesterday thinking of reasons we want to go home so we can convince ourselves we are ready.But no worries I'll be glad to get there once i say my goodbyes. Oh almost forgot, on Friday night I called Erica with the web cam and I got to talk to Nick, Gracie and my nephew Ian Troy(OK well he's in her belly still so it doesn't' count completely) And then since they were in Nebraska for our family reunion Erica took her laptop around at dinner and I got to see all my family and say hi. Yeah it was like midnight here but hey i was at my family reunion for a while :)

Since I always right something about the culture or something I've learned I have a big one for you guys....I have decided to start all over, from square one. When I get home I'm selling like all the crud in my room, selling most of my clothes and redoing my room...starting over. This semester has really changed me, I mean I have survived just fine for 5 months with just a small fraction of what I have always had so why do I need all of it when i get home? I already know what I want to do with my room and it is basically going to be my bed, side tables, shelf thingy and a table and that's it. Its about time I simplify things. And the clothes thing, I really don't use all my clothes so why do I keep them? I have no idea, I'll just get rid of them. Life is going to be a lot easier without all the materialistic things. Another thing I've learned is that you can live without the material things but without your loved ones its a challenge. The 6,000miles is nothing when it comes to all the stuff I have at home but the family and friends being so far away for 5 months is what really affects you. Right now I'm stuck, I have to leave family and friends here too but to return to my other friends and family. I think its going to be the hardest thing I've ever down. My best friend here goes home the 28th so that will be a real challenge. Adding 6,000 miles the other way hurts hurts just as much. But with all this in mind I'm coming back, I have to. Talk about a lasting impact. With my recent decision to start over and all the other things I've learned and grown from I can honestly say that coming here is the smartest thing I've ever done with my life.

Love you all, I'll be on US soil in just 25days :/ See you soon!

Sadest thought since i got here...

So today I realized one month from today i'm going to have to leave Modena and my new life behind. Right now i don't know if i'm mentally strong enough but I will survive...i hope. I was talking to my friends at school and we are all so sad. I have some many amazing people in my life here, i've been so blessed. I discovered when i left the USA i suck at saying goodbye and this one is going to be even worse than saying goodbye to all of you. My best friend here Frida leaves 5 days before me so thats then and at the Station the 3rd i have to do the rest. Oh wow. I'm going to lose it, for sure. Anyways once i say bye i'll want to be home. And unfortunately now i'm flying into KC :( So i'll see everyone either at 1am the 6th or after i wake up. Wow has time flown....

"Its Getting Hot In Here"-4 months

Ok so i'm well aware i am terrible at keeping this blog up, so sorry for that. Things are starting to go into hyper speed, I wish they would just slow the heck down! Thursday was the 4 month mark, how? I have no idea! It seems like i just saw everyone at home yesterday but then again it seems like years. its an odd feeling for sure. But we get out of school next Saturday (THANK GOODNESS!) and then its just summer, time to hang out. I have lots of things planned so it'll be a great last month for sure.

No concerning the other part of the title....ITS SO STINKING HOT!!! and yes some people are like well Tanya you might be exaggerating. I'm not, it hasn't been this hot of a May in Modena for 180years! Yeah awesome right? and there isn't air conditioning anywhere really, not school, not at the house. Yeah and this heat is different. The first week it was really hot i had lots of problems. You have to leave the windows open at night so you don't melt but with all the stuff in the air and the heat i was having an asthma attack every night, i'd wake up not being able to breathe take my inhaler and go to sleep again. Thankfully its not as bad. Last week it was in the 90F all week. Now its a bit more bareable. Oh and i played a vball game in a gym that was 3C hotter inside than outside, yeah it was 96F in the gym, thought i was going to die lol

This last weekend though I went with a group of AFS kids to Cinque Terre. Oh wow was it pretty! Like its a place that you only see in movies and only wish you can go to. Of course it was super hot but it was still great. AFS tends to be super smart sometimes so we climbed no joke a couple thousand steps at 2pm in the afternoon. It was the first time in my life i really thought i physically can't do this, but so did everyone else lol After a slight recovery we went on a 4hr walk before calling it a day. The second day was a 2hr hike and then we went swimming! oh it was awesome, yes the jellyfish made things slightly interesting but still. :) After a ton of delays with the trains we got home about 10pm, 2 hours after we were supposed to. Besides all of that it was a great weekend, I even lost close to 3kilos, thats like 6lbs!! I sure love this country!

Anyways, there are a lot more things i've learned culture wise but I can't remember if I typed them or not so i'll spare you the rereading. Life is absolutely fantastic! As much as you all want to hear me say i'm ready to come home i'm not, i realy can't even think about it. I never thought i'd get this close to everyone here and leaving them is going to be the hardest thing i've ever done. Atleast when i left all of you I knew I'd see you in 5 short months, everyone here...its a bit longer. I miss you guys i really do, once i have to say goodbye to everyone here (and after probably crying a TON) i'll be ready to be home. Its just about 20hours of travel and I'll be there in Springfield with all of you.

I'm done rambling now...hope everyone summer is going great! Love you all, see you sooN!!

Can You Believe How Far We've come?

Ok so I had one of those out of the movies type events. I was riding my bike to meet my friends in the Center and I have to pass the elementary school and as I did there was a little girl that ran along the inside of the fence as her mom was walking to the car, trying to keep up with her cause she wasn't ready to leave her. Which got me thinking, how did i go from that to being in Italy 6000miles from my family. Oh how much we all grow up, its kinda a crazy thought.

Anyways so sososoososo much has happened. I had my last volleyball game, which is sad cause i loved playing. And on the 9th or should I say the 10th at 2am i listened to my big sister graduate. I was so tired but i made it through and then all of a sudden right after they threw their caps I got a call and it was ERica, I was the first person to get to talk to her :) And now she officially knows that she is coming here for a week. She gets here the 20th at 9:55am and i can't wait! Oh and this last week my younger sister and I went to the ballet. it was awesome! i never htought ballet was that amazing. i was wrong. Then Saturday at school I had my big presentation. I got to present my religion and I was super nervous cause my faith means a lot to me and i had to do it all in Italian. So i wrote a ton and was prepared and it went beyond perfect. I even got the big Standing O :) The prof said he was very happy and thought i did great. that always makes you feel good lol Its been great lately, but I mean the entire experience so far has been great. Still sorta a dream. Anyways I'm going to Cinque Terre this weekend with AFS so that should be good :) Summer is Almost here!!!!

Random things I can't seem to work together lol....

So you have to have a permission thing from the police to live here and we applied for mine my first day in Modena. Then they said to come in for a meeting thing in March so we did. We waited for an hour for them to tell me to come back in 2 months, fantastic! So we called them to make an appointment this month and the only open appointment was the 19th of June. And it takes up to 20 days after that to get the paper so i'm basically not going to get it lol Love Italian time :)

I MISS AIRCONDITIONING!!!! Like really bad, they don't have it anywhere here so I'm slowly melting. Its only in the upper 20s now but it gets in the 40s during the summer, fun fun! Not really, lol. For example, one day i ran at like 7pm and when I got done I took a super cold shower and when you get out you instantly start sweating again. woohooo lol

I'm getting my hair cut this week cause I can't really see anymore lol My host dad always makes fun of me cause i'm always flipping my head lol.

Last night I talked to My lil sister here and it was funny cause we talked about how before I got here we were both so scared that each other would be crazy. At lunch earlier my host dad was like we'll get another student and Anna was like NO! She was its not that I don't love you Tanya I just can't do that preparing again, it about killed me lol.

All of us exchange students have discovered that our favorite channel is MTV cause its the only one we understand almost all the time.

So i've discovered this wonderful thing called the public Library so now I have books to read. I finished Breaking Dawn in 4 days and now i'm reading 19 Minutes, which is AMAZING! oh and check this out, I'm reading Twilight in italian! Crazy Huh? I know i know its Twilight but i've watched the movie in italian so its the easiest for me to understand.

Anyways i'm done rambling. Love you all and I promise to try to keep the blog up a little better!
Ciao!

Roma-"I think I'm Crying...."

….no exaggeration I really was! So Friday morning after 3 small hours of sleep the night before and a crowded 5 hour bus ride one of my biggest dreams came true. We caught a cab and headed to the ancient Roman city. We were pulling up close and all of a sudden I could see the wedding cake and I started crying. We got out and there was the Coliseum in the distance. Yeah I know it’s girly but you won’t understand the feeling until you get to be there yourself. It is absolutely breathtaking! I know it’s kind of silly but being there, standing in front of the most historical structures kind of gets to you. Anyways my best friend here, Frida, was with us so we walked around all afternoon and took way too many pics (over 400 hahaha) so I’m pretty sure that I have every angle of the coliseum documented. When we were walking around the base of it I just walked up to it and put my hand on the column and was like “look Frida, I’m touching History” Like I said to really understand it you have to go there. The entire day amazed me; I mean I even ate lunch looking at it. And it was a perfect perfect day, blue skies, nice and warm  Even though we were super tired we walked to Piazza di Spagna. To be honest I thought that it would be bigger but maybe the fact that the stairs were covered with people had something to do with it. It was still beautiful though. We then took a cab back to the hotel to meet the group we came with. After a slight freak out that they lost our bags we ate, got our bags and left again to tour the city. Rome is so pretty at night  in typical teenage fashion all of us didn’t sleep we hung out and played cards till we were about to pass out and finally went to bed. It was even worse because when Frida and I get that tired we get to the point where we can’t speak Italian so no one understands us.


Anyway the next morning we went to some churches. One of the little boys on the trip finally discovered we were foreigners so in came the questions, which literally lasted all day. Just to see his reaction I gave him US Dollar for a gift and he literally stared at it all day, randomly pulling it out to look at it. He became attached to our hips from that moment on. Then because I’m so lucky it started to rain. That makes 5 cities that I’ve gone to when it’s rained. Luckily it cleared up when we headed to the Centro it was clear. We walked to the Trevi fountain but I was super bummed because I was there for like 5 minutes and didn’t even get to throw in a coin  but yet again I can say I’ve been there so it’s ok. We then got Gelato at a world famous place that has 150 flavors and ate it as we went to the Pantheon. Oh that was so cool too!!! After some time we went to the Senate building and had a tour. To be honest almost everyone fell asleep because we were all so so tired. Plus the whole not understanding the slight Roman accent added to the confusion. One would think that we would all be exhausted and fall asleep instantly but no we stayed up and listened to music and watched a movie in English because I was the only one who had movies.
The lack of sleep made Sunday really hard. We toured a really cool villa then went to the Castel Sant`Angelo. It was so cool!!! Ok except the fact I tripped 4 times within 10minutes…one time I tripped as I was going out to look out the edge toward the top and thank goodness for safety bars is all I have to say. There was a ton of people there so by the time we got out we were tired and ready to eat. Then one of the moms said we could go to the top and I was like what the heck I got a lil more energy (or at least I hoped I did) so I climbed all the stairs...again. It was so beautiful! You can see all of Rome! Once I got down Frida and I escaped to eat and shop. We returned to the buses and headed home. Oh and we watched Twilight (In Italiano) and as pathetic as it is I understood it all cause the entire book and movie in English is in my head. It was a really long trip home but we made it at about 12:30am. Luckily my mom let me stay home so all I did was sleep till 11:30am the next day. It was by far one of the greatest weekends of my life. Everyone has to get to Rome some time in their lives, it’ll really make an impact I promise!!

Oh and I know its already super long but here are a few culture things I’ve noticed lately…..

Our group (all the younger kids and their parents) got lost Saturday getting back to the buses and the Italian moms like took over. They are so protective and sweet. They took care of Frida and I like we were there own. Ok well not all, this one mother only cared about her son, I think that if I was on fire she’d first make sure her son was ok before helping. But all the others are so sweet. And even with their sons they show affection and the boys don’t care. I met the best Italian boy yet this weekend too. He had a lil brother and was so sweet and showed affection in public and didn’t care. He even was that way with his mom. Usually boys would like move away from their moms if they tried to play with their hair or kiss them but no. Yet again he is one of the only good ones I’ve met. I was talking to one of my better friends here on the way home from Milano and he explained Italian boys to me. The reason why they ignore the girls sometimes and act like they don’t like them is because they have to ‘keep the girl in her place’ what’s with that? Boys here also don’t pay every time cause then the girl would have too much power. Yep I sure love my American boys now  lol Oh and even though Italians mothers are very sweet they sure like to argue, one of the nicest ladies on the trip was the one that argued with people most. Its kind of funny how in dating in this country the boy is in control but in marriage the wife is somewhat. Anyways you are probably tired of reading my rambles so if you get a chance head to my online photo album and look at the pics from Rome. (The link is on the blog below)

Lots of Love

Pictures

To see all my pics go to my online album at...

http://picasaweb.google.com/jesuschick0511

Sorry I can't get them on here, It just doesn't like me I guess :)

3 MONTHS!!!

WOWOWOWOOWOW! Yeah sure doesn't feel like its been 3 months since i've left home. So many things have happened this week. So once again It'll probably be long and there will be a lot of spelling mistakes because my english is terrible now but just push through lol Also I finally have almost every picture of my trip on here, so take a look :) Forgive the fact that there isn't any captions and they aren't all right side up but I'm pressed for time.

GITA-Fidenza
Every year each class goes on a trip to another city and my class went to Fidenza and toured churches and a monestary. It was pretty cool except the not understanding any of it. They all spoke in Dialect so i was totally lost. And of course with my luck it rained on us all day. My favorite part was the end of the day when we got to go to this city on top of the hill. It was beautiful! It was like something you see in the Movies but usually there are knights running around. Over all it was so cool. I was so amazed by the castle and my friends were all like, no biggy. Its normal to them, Crazy!!

American Weekend
This weekend my other foreign exchange student friend came to my town so we had a good ol' American weekend. After my Volleyball game Friday we got pizza (11pm) and then gelato. Saturday we had pancakes with my host family :) :) and rode around my town all day. We purposely got lost and found some awesome new places. Oh and check this out, we found a English Christian bookstore! We got home and went to the Vignola Castle. It was really cool. Oh and there was this famous spiral staircase and at the top people were taking pics after a wedding and they asked us to be in it so i'm right next to the bride&groom in pic forever lol. Even tho we were super tired we went bowling. Yeah they leave all the lights on in their alleys and only play one game. It is just different. But it was fun!

MILANO!!!!
So we woke up and got on a train for Milan. Dispite the rain we got a cab (first time in a cab) and went to the fashion street. My good friend who knows Milan really well was with us and he took us to all the best stores. We went into 6 D&G stores! and LV and Versace and lots of others. They are so beautiful, the stores themselves blow you away. Oh and the italian life style is so odd. I mean my friend needed to buy his friend a gift so he bought him a 180Euro shirt from Aramani. And he just casually bought LV sunglasses for 375Euro. Crazy. Oh and we went into Gucci, the biggest one in the world. And armani is HUGE!!! like bigger than a football field and 4 floors with everything imaginable! About lunch we headed to the gallery (absolutely gorgeous) Then we walked to the church. Wow! Words cant describe it! I got goosebumps just looking at it. Of course it was down pouring so we didn't get to get lots of pics :( Oh for lunch i had BURGER KING!!! i was so excited! lol After fighting the weather we headed home. I love love Milano :)oh and on the way home I started talking to some college kids from the US that studied in London and it was so cool to be able to say i live here. It was good to talk to them about studying abroad too.

There has been so many lil things that happen every day that just make you go Wow but by the time i get to sit down and blog i forget. Yeah a problem. lol But I do remember Monday, my host grandma said all the schools and churches in the USA were closed cause some virus, well atleast thats what my sister and i thought we heard so we freaked and I got on my Laptop and looked it up and called Erica. It was like 6am but she picked up and I was like DUDE WHATS GOING ON WITH OUR COUNTRY!? no worries lol Glad all of you are ok. :)

Finally the greatest news, I had my first dream in all Italian :) That means my brain is turning over! it was so exciting! When i woke up I ran to my host sister and was like OMGOSH GUESS WHAT! It is so odd to me some days that I am acutally here and will always have this as a part of me. I don't understand a lot of this culture but thats why I'm here, to learn, to grow and to except those things we don't understand. Time is going by really fast so I'll see all of you in 2 Months. I found out i'll be at the Springfield Airport about 11pm July 5th. Wow time has flown! Love you all!

Venezia :)

So this last weekend we went to Venezia. It is so amazing that I can just take a weekend trip to one of the most famous places in the world! It was a little bit cold and wet but yeah i was in Venice!! We left after lunch on Saturday and started driving. I was a little confused when we no joke turned the opposite way of every sign that said Venezia but it was because we were staying at a little hotel like thing outside of Venezia. It was so cute! We dropped off our bags and had to rush to the Ferry which we got on as they were closing the gates. it was so pretty :) And it was my first Ferry ride which made it even better. We arrived in Venezia right in front of San Marco's Square. WOW. IT is just like what you see in movies, and the Gondola drivers are exactly as you would imagine. It is definately a tourist spot though cause there was so many different nationalities there. Anna and I tried to spot the foreigners lol It was so easy. In San Marco's Square there are so many pigeons, like no joke if you have any food you'll have them all over you. We walked around and just looked at everything. It was so pretty :) We ate and then made our way back to the Ferry at like 9pm. The next morning we ate and headed off once again. This time we rode the front of the Ferry but went inside when it started to Rain. We walked the entire day, looked at all the amazing wonders of Venezia and shopped some. They have some of the most beautiful glass in the world! By about 3pm we were so tired, walking and the rain just killed us. We rode the water bus to the train station and went to meet my host dad who had the car.Its hard to describe it in words so i'll put pics on here. It was great for sure :)

Another big week ahead...Volleyball, Gitta with school, My american friend is coming to Modena for the weekend, Disco, and Sunday MILANO!!!!! AWWW can't wait!

Love ya lots!

Half Way

Today is my half way mark

Not fair, I really really am not ready to leave. Not at all.

One happy note of the day, my box from home got here...3 Jars of Peanut Butter! Thanks family!

Buona Pasque!!!

Happy Easter everyone!!! Hope everyone had a great holiday and enjoyed the time with family. It was sure different not being home this year, i'm used to Sunrise service and getting all dressed up and all that jazz. Here was really great though too. We had a week off of school so we got out Wednesday. Wednesday night was my friends B-day party at the disco so we went, and so did a billion other people! It was so full but we got in fine cause it was Abo's B-day. It was definately my favorite disco though. Thursday was a 'do nothing day' so we just chilled. Oh and since there is a whole supposedly in the ozone near here the sun is super powerful, I'm as tan now as i usually am in June.

Friday began the adventures lol On the way to Flaibono we went to Ferrara. It was so neat! (like every other italian town) Of course once in Flaibono we ate way to much! The cliche` Italian grandmas cooking is so true. It is just so so so good! lol She makes no joke the best Teramisu in the world. Saturday we went to Aquilea and Grado. They were both so pretty and interesting. The floor of the Chapel in Aquilea is all mosaic and is one of the most historical floors in the world! The sea was beautiful in Grado, I could have stayed there all day! We went back to Flaibono for dinner (ate to much again) and we finally had corn! the first time in 2 months! I ate the whole thing. For Easter we had a HUGE meal and then there was a 2kg chocolate egg. Yep it was awesome! we broke it open and we are still eating the chocolate lol Once lunch was cleaned up we went to Lignano and walked on the beach for a couple of hours. It was definately not like any other Easter.

For the culture things, and how they do easter it was interesting. Black Friday is different, In the evening the church and the people of the town walk the streets with a cross and sing and quote different things. And everyone prepares a nice lil table in front of their houses with a cross and candles and other stuff. It was pretty interesting. Sunday everyone when to church and that was the end of the Easter excitement religion wise. For me, Easter is a big deal for my family so I did it all on my own. Friday I read the story in the Bible and sunday when everyone left I went out on the deck thingy and ready the passage of the Bible where Jesus Rises from the grave. Then i just sad there and turned on some music. I have learned so much. I was listening to the song "You Raise Me Up" and i got goosebumps cause it made me realize something. Everyone morning I wake up to a giant mountain, A mountain made of language barriers and 6000miles of distance between me and the ones i love. The great thing though is even though most days i'm not strong enough to climb those mountains He raises me up to stand on top of them and help me get through each day. I know that there are people at home having a really hard time but hang in there cause He doesn't give us mountains we can't climb.

For my closing note, can you beleive tomorrow is the half way mark? Where has the time gone?! I'm going to miss it here so much! Thank you all for helping make this possible, its changed my life!

All my Love

Tanya

No Quake for Tanya

So about 30 people have asked about the earthquake. Luckily i'm in norhtern Italy so we didn't feel it or have any damage. My facebook was covered with wall posts asking about it and emails so i'll put it on here too, i'm A-OK lol. Emily did tell me that her and Erica were on the phone super early that morning and Erica measured and I'm 4inches on a map away from it so I'm safe lol There has been a lot on the TV and the papers obviously about it. It is kinda weird cause in my opinion they don't make a big deal out of natural disasters where in america we talk about it at school and everyone talks about it, not here. Strange.

On another update of life...its amazing! This last week I had volleyball (which was amazing! I love love my team) and i went shopping at the Armani Factory with my best friend here. The Armani Factory is about 5-10minutes from my house. Love it! Saturday I went to the Disco with my friends and it was a lot of fun, more like what i had pictured the disco. It had huge screens all around and it just looked like in the movies. Oh and like the whole time on the screens was things about America and the Election and other things, it was funny. The weather is finally nice so I've spent every afternoon in the park studying or just laying there. I have this podcast that is a youth group in the USA and its amazing so I listen to that too! Today was so hot so I spent the whole afternoon laying on a hill. I sure got tan! I don't know what it was but I mean I just got tan, FAST! It was crazy. I have this terrible line on my wrist where my LIVESTRONG bracelet was even. After I ran with Frida and here I am once again blogging. We are going to Udine for Easter so I'll blog about it when i get back. I'm sure going to miss being home for Easter. won't be the same without all of you! LOTS OF LOVE!


Oh real quick a culture thing to think about...there isn't air conditioning anywhere. Not even at home. Its going to be a interesting summer for sure :)

2 months Already?

I <3 ITALIA


Really? Two Months?! like how is that even possible? Just doesn't seem right to me. This has by far been two of the greatest months of my life! My week of no english really helped cause Saturday at school I don't know what it was but it just clicked, just kinda started talking only Italian. It was pretty awesome no joke! Last week was great, I played a lot of volleyball, hung out with Frida and my friends a ton and just had a blast. Really there are a lot of days that I still don't believe i'm here, like this is something that will forever be apart of who I am. It is kinda crazy to think about. Oh so Sunday was awesome too cause I had 4 of my best friends come over for lunch. We talked and ate, A TON! and we ate some or i guess almost all of the American candy I had. They loved it! We all stayed around and talked and they all left about 5:30pm. To say the least it was a lengthy lunch. Oh it was really cool cause one of our friends came over to introduce us to her friend from France who is here for a week. So at one point we had 4 nationalities in one house. (American, Italian, Norwegian, French) It was pretty cool.

This week so far its been raining and ugly outside so now fun days in the park :( but on the other hand I have lots of Volleyball this week. Monday I had a game and got to play the whole time! I had so much fun! Tonight is practice, tomorrow i'm playing in a game with my class at school and then a game with my team right after it! Lots of volleyball :) Its really funny when i call the ball cause the whole gym just kinda looks at me since they have no idea what i just said. lol Friday I plan on sleeping cause Saturday Night i'm going to the disco again! I'm so excited! Then next week we only have 3 days and then Easter break! WOOHOO! i'm really going to miss being home for Easter, it just won't be the same.
Last thing.....March 25th was a very important day. It marked the one year point since I decided to do this. Thank you everyone who made this possible. That is really cliche` but i truely mean it. Every single day I experience something new and without all of you amazing people in my life supporting me I wouldn't be here. So thank you for being you! I'll never be able to pay you back for what you've done for me :)
Love you all!

Roadtrips and Diets

So this last weekend I took my first Italian road trip with my family. We went to Flaibono, a super tiny village in the mountains near Udine. it was really cool. we stayed with grandma and I of course ate way way way to much! the food is just so dang good!! we went to different surrounding towns and looked at their Centros, they were all beautiful! Then Sunday after lunch we were all sitting around and talking and Nonna came out with a big box. Inside the box was all of My host mom's things from her year in the USA. It was so awesome to sit around and just look at all her thing because i know that in like 30 years i'll be doing that with my family. Showing them of all the wonderful things i've learned while over here :)

Now to my two new diets. They aren't your normal diets but both are very much so needed. For the last two weeks i've been on a shopping diet. If you ever had a doubt that i wasn't a girly girl that is all changed now. this country is so amazing! like every town has an Armani or Versace or D&G store. it is amazing! So i've decided no more shopping :( even though i've only bought my shoes and jeans have the constant urge to buy everything I see. Its absolutely terrible. The other diet I am dreading so very much.....my English diet. I am no longer going to be making English apart of my life. That means....less blogging, less facebook, less phonecalls, no american movies or music, no speaking English. Pray for me cause its going to be tough but it'll help me get Italian down.

Oh and real quick I thought I'd through in a shout out about my most recent blessing. My 3 best friends. Frida, Giulio, and Rigo. Frida is from Norway so she speaks english and italian. So she understands me no matter what and we really just have fun every time we are together. Also neither of us really study a lot so we hang out in the afternoons. Then there are the boys. lol Giulio and Rigo are American boys at heart. They are so sweet and always there for me. They show me around and are always there if i need them. I'm really so blessed, everyday more people come into my life that will forever be apart of me and i will never forget the impact that they have left......I'm saying this and I've only been here 2 months. I can't imagine how hard it is going to be to leave in July...

Love you all!!!

Another Week, Another 10383839 Stories to Tell

So in advance, again, sorry for the length but you'd be surprised just how much happens in a week. Ok i'll try to keep everything in order so I don't forget.....

Saturday-Went to the Disco! It was a lot of fun and a huge culture shock. There is nothing like that for teens in the US for sure. They played only American music but with the crazy Techno beat. At one point my friend Frida (an exchange student from Norway) and I thought the fire alarm was going off but it was jut the music. Unfortuately it was the craziest night at Jam. Literally there were so many people walking was a stretch. it was so so hot too! but Fun, I can't wait to go again!

Tuesday-My first Vball game in Italy. It is so different. Like the game was at like 9:30pm. oh and parents don't come to watch games here, its not a big deal at all. It is a lot more relaxed too. After the game my friends and I went and got McDonalds. I usually don't eat McDs but believe it or not it was actually better here, not as greasing and gross.

Wednesday-STRIKE! Ok so today we didn't go to school cause we were striking against the Italian Government. I wasn't sure why we were until someone explained it. The Italian government is trying to make changes that could really hurt the country. For example they want to turn all public schools into Private schools. what this means is only the rich and wealthy can go to school. They also want to continue to give more money to the army and private schools (why private schools need money I have to idea) and leave public schools the way they are. Public schools are so poorly funded here in the first place. Also there are a lot of minor things like getting rid of their version of Credit Recovery, Assemblea, and all of the free time that students have throughout the day. Lots of kids were upset so we met in the Centro and paraded around protesting. Even though i didn't understand all of what they were saying it was really cool to see so many people standing up and taking action, we even had teachers with us.

Today was also such a nice day that after lunch Eleanora and I went to the park, Sat on a hill and she studied when I listened to music. In typical American fashion i wore capris and when i looked down i had a line just below my knees from the sun! wonderful! lol

*Random Culture thing i've noticed....Italy has like no laws. When people ask if I've can (fill in with some outrageous question to anyone from the US) and i am like no its Illegal. They can't believe that we can't do much of anything compared to them. its really weird to tell you the truth lol Oh and something else my friend from Norway (she's an exchange student too) brought up today was how weird it is that the entire world relies on our country for Movies, Music, TV, and everyone knows some English and everyone is amazed by our country. we are extremely blessed and i've really realized just how fortunate we are....Such a young country yet people almost Idolize us.

Also two times this week I have had my friends ask me about my religion, they just don't understand the concept at all. They were like no way?! are you serious? and i was like realy i'm not lieing. Some take it well some blow it off. Its a tough up hill battle. A lot of people are so harden to church and God cause it is so strict here so its definately going to take time for them to understand. But yeah atleast they asked....

Everything is obviously as fantastic as ever! Love you all so very much! Ciao

I LOVE MY LIFE!

Everything here is amazing! I think I was actually born for this country!





(short enough Bishline?)

Firenze!

Blog II of the day lol

So this last sunday we went to Firenze and I met two of my American friends who are here with AFS too. It was so amazing! Unbelievable! We spent the entire day walking around and taking pictures and talking. Oh and there is this street that is amazing! and for some of you you'll be like typical girl but thats ok. lol It had all the designers we only see in magazines and most of them were open. So we went in Prada, Burberry, LV, Fendi, Gucci and all the other amazing ones. the security in those places is insane!! Unfortunately one of my favorite designers, D&G, was closed so I'll have to go in there when i go to Milano! It was also Women's Day in the country so we got to go into museums free! we saw some really awesome things. For lunch we had pizza (imagine that) And believe it or not I've developed a new liking for all kinds of food, like tomatoes, stracchino, zucchini, peppers. AMAZING! lol We had delays all over the place getting home on the train but it was a perfect day with the perfect friends in the perfect city :)

Oh and Saturday afternoon I went to the Centro with some friends and I bought the pair of heels I had been promising myself I'd buy, they are amazing! lol I walked around for a couple of hours with my friends and then we stopped to get coffee and talk. I'm not a fan of coffee so I had orange juice, it was made with blood oranges (like in the south of the USA) and it was amazing! The weather is clearing up and spring is coming so I"m so excited! No more weird stares for not wearing sleeves!!!! lol Love you All!

Clearing Things Up

So apparently once again thanks to the world wide web I have been missunderstood. Those of you who have facebook yes I have a picture of a bar in a movie theater, and of a completely crazy shirt a kid wore to school, and of my first tast of wine (which was absolutely horrible by the way) but that doesn't mean I agree with or I am doing those things...AT ALL! they are all there to show you culture differences. To be honest it kinda hurts to think that some of you would jump to conclusions but what can I do right. I would say I'm the same Tanya I was when I left but in fact I've changed and grown so much. Living in a different counrty really teaches you a lot. I've learned to never be judgemental and not expect to be perfect. There are so many things that are different that if i were to judge the difference I'd be having a rotten time. To tell you the truth probably the hardest part is the fact I'm not in the 'safe shell' of the Bible Belt anymore. The real world is a lot scary and forward. Plus Europe in general has a lot less modesty which is really difficult to get used to. But I have been slowly making an impression, I think at least. For example like every Italian teenager knows every American cuss word, no joke, so one of my friends always says them and I told him that he really shouldn't and I explained all of it and he doesn't say them anymore around me. Also it is really common for Italians to say OMG and I also say oh my gosh or something like that so now all my friends not say OMG they say omgosh. its so funny too, with their accents. Also music, music is definately a tough thing. The music I listen to is only in the USA so no one here knows it, at all. But they love listening to my Zune and they always get songs they like and download them. So the Christian Music genre is making its way into Modena, Italy lol I know some of you were worried about not doing what I said I would but I am. I've only been here 5 weeks so getting the language down is first thing. Its hard to explain really deep things when people don't understand the simple things you say. So its going to take time but I do prepare for it everyday. A few days ago when i was going to bed I was listening to Casting Crowns and I've listened to those songs a million times but Voice of Truth really stuck out this time. Sometimes things seem almost impossible here because there is the culture and language barrier but I just think of those lyrics and its all better. Things are still as fantastic as usual, no worries, no stress, just a wonderful experience!

All My love!

A little Less English, A lot More Italian!

So as most of you have noticed my Grammar and spelling pretty much sucks now. I would like to make a disclaimer, English is not a part of my life anymore therefore I'm starting to forget it. lol And the worst part is I'm starting to forget English but I don't know a lot of Italian so I'm stuck not knowing how to say something. It isn't fun. I have dreamed a few time in Italian, I don't quite understand myself or the dreams but hey it was in Italian so we'll take it.

Everything else is great! Except the head cold I've developed and a minor bike accident today lol. Yeah wet pavement+taking a corner fast=not good! I broke my favorite sunglasses :( but its ok I was bound to fall or something, it has been since September that I got hurt. lol

Oh and just to make you say, WHAT!? lol Our PE Prof had to leave so we couldn't dress out and have class so we spent two hours in our classroom alone just messing around. Kids were like running all over the place and screaming and stuff and no one cares its great! This weekend is hopefully going to be a lot of fun too. Friday after school my friends (Martina and Chiara) are coming over for lunch and then we are going shopping. Saturday after school I'm meeting a group of friends for Pizza in the Centro and then going to the DISCO!!! I'm so so so excited to go to the disco lol and Sunday, after little sleep, I'm going to take a train to Firenze! Its going to be a great week!

Thanks for all the prayers and for putting up with my horrible spelling and blogging abilities lol

Ciao!

One Month Down.....

Ok so yes I realize its been forever since I’ve blogged so this one with be pretty long. Sorry to those who don’t like to read (cough cough Mr. Bishline cough cough) I can’t believe its been a month already! I mean like how is that even possible! This has been the greatest month ever! Really there hasn’t been any worries, stress or anything go wrong. Can you say blessign? So there has been so much happen I don’t really no where to start so I’ll just start with what happened this week. This week I started volleyball and Romanico. My volleyball team is actually really good it is just slightly frustrating when something you’ve known for years is slightly different and its hard to translate. Ugh lol but its been fun so far. The only thing right now is they don’t know if I can play in games because I’m not Italian. There is some weird rule about foreigners. And Romanico is a private School that teaches Italian. I will go twice a week after school. So my schedule is quite busy. Palavola (vball) 3 times a week, Romanico 3 times a week, AFS Italian lessons 1 time a week plus homework and friends and family! Fun fun! Lol school is pretty fantastic as well! I’m starting to understand people. I can understand it when its spoken, read it, and write it and speak a little. I’m not like reading books in Italian or anything I’m just able to translate things if they are within a subject being discussed. Hopefully with all my classes and studying I’ll be speaking it very soon. There are a lot of culture shocks that I’ve recently come to. I’ll list those at the end. Oh Carnivale just ended. It was pretty cool, nothing like we have. People dress up and watch parades and eat food and its awesome! There is confetti everywhere and silly string and lil kids everywhere! My friends and I dressed up as good and evil, angel and devil. I was the angel and she was the devil. Oh and we got to wear it to school! Tuesday was the last day so a lot of students dressed up. It was pretty awesome I’m not going to lie. I’m so glad spring is coming! I’m ready for some warm days. Somedays it is pretty cold when we ride to school. The coldest we got was -2 C one morning. Yeah I about froze! Last Saturday I spent the whole day in Corlo with my friends so Papa took me to school by car and yeah bike is way faster. Random note but I was pretty pumped cause my bike has this sweet light on the front of it lol I’m getting really good at getting around the town by myself too. I go to italian lessons by myself now and if I have to go to the Centro I just ask and I can go. Tomorrow I’m meeting friends for lunch there after school. When it comes to school I don’t understand a lot of things still so I study italian a lot! I have like 6 English classes though. I go to all the older classes and help with what ever they need. Basically I read cause they love to here my accent. Oh and I have to read super slow. I really want to talk super fast to someone cause I usually talk fast and I haven’t been able to for almost a month. My friend who came with AFS who is in Pisa is coming to visit this weekend so I’ll finally get to talk at my normal speed. I’m sure there is a ton more I’m forgetting but I’m just going to list some culture differences and call it good for a day. I promise I’ll try to blog again soon!

Culture Differences
*So I’ve decided that the Italian road system is similar to a Hot Wheels track. Seriously it is like one roundabout after another and there are so many Michigan turns its crazy. Oh and a little bit of Pacman as well cause riding the middle line is a hobby of most drivers lol.
*They are pretty particular when it comes to clothes. The first day I wore a short sleeve shirt my host parents asked if I was hot I said no I just don’t wear sleeves. We talked about it at school and everyone was like what? You even wear shorts in the winter? Oh and to gym I wore Basketball shorts and everyone was starring at me and I realized girls don’t play Bball therefore they don’t have bball shorts lol. They all wear sweats to gym instead. To the carnivale I was wearing this white dress thing and my legs weren’t covered and literally everyone looked at me. I was like Sono Americana lol it explains it all
*At school if a teacher can’t be there they don’t bring in a sub you just don’t have that class. They rearrange it so you can either go home early or sleep in and come in late.
*In between classes its like a jungle in the classroom. All the boys literally fight eachother, most of the time making a lot of noise. And people write on the board (american cuss words a lot of times cause Profs don’t know English lol) and no one really cares. Its so relaxed. And people right on the desks and walls and its no biggy. Its kinda do what you want type attitude. Its great lol
*You have to dry your hair, no matter what. Kinda pain after a while.
*They iron EVERYTHING! If its clean and not ironed you can’t wear it until it is.
*Americans are super spoiled! There are so so many things that I will not take for grandite ever again here are a few examples
-having a clothes dryer, not many people have one here
-A large water heater, if your shower is longer than 10minutes the water is freezing!
-A big shower, the showers are all really small in the corner of the bathroom
-Having more than one TV, my mama was talking about this rich politician and how he had like 4 TVs and 4 cars. I was like wow, we have 7 TVs in my house and 5 cars. Yeah makes you think.
-Phones, cellphones are super expensive here so people don’t text as much as we do at home.
-Energy, Italians are so energy efficient and Green. They recycle everything and never turn on things that don’t need to be on. We could learn a thing or two from them.

My Papa and I have decided to form a new counrty. The United States of Italyerica. It will take all the good from America and Italy and form one super nation! Leaving all the bad out of course. Italian food and energy conservativness, American opportunities and government. Perfect! Lol

Love you all!

I'm Gonna Set the World on Fire

So many wonderful things have happened in the last week. i absolutely love my new friends. I had an amazing Valentines' Day wtih all of them. Monday at school is where things really started to make sense....but not in the way one would think. I had math and I wanted to just walk out of the classroom because none of it made sense at all. I just wanted to scream! I hate not understanding things and for a small time I just wanted to give up on school cause it wasn't getting easier. Then the next hour I had gym and it was fantastic. Walking back to class I was like wow God you're amazing! Right when I want to give up you always give me hope. Then before I fell asleep that night I was listening to my Zune and this song by Brit Nichole came on and I was like WOW! PERFECT! It was one of those moments when you just want to sit there and put your hands in the air cause the song grasps all that you are going through. So you know what I mean here are some of the lyrics......

I wanna set the world on fire
Until it's burning bright for You
It's everything that I desire
Can I be the one You use?

I, I am small but
You, You are big enough
I, I am weak but
You, You are strong enough to
Take my dreams
Come and give them wings
Lord with You
There's nothing I can not do
Nothing I cannot do

I wanna feed the hungry children
And reach across the farthest land
And tell the broken there is healing
And mercy in the Father's hands

My hands my feet
My everything
My life, my loveLord, use me
I wanna set the world on fire

I wanna set the world on fire, yeah

I'm gonna set the world on fire
Set the world on fire

.....God has definately given my dreams wings by getting me here and even though I'm just a 16 year old American in Italy He'll give me the strength and He is big enough to reach those that need to hear his word here. Through Him...

I'm gonna set the World on fire~

So its official, I'm in LOVE!

There are so many things i have fallen in love with while here. It is a billion times better than I could ever have imagined. Yes the language barrier causes some stress at times but everyone is so helpful! I really think this could be the best semester of my life! I can't wait for school everyday. I love all my classmates and I love being able to go to other classes and be a 'guest', its a good way to meet a lot of people. Now I can barely walk down the hall without people saying Ciao Tanya! It already feels like home, I'm hanging out and doing stuff with friends. its just perfect! I still get very frustrated though cause I don't understand things I used to. Italian use this wierd 'math language' which makes like no sense at all lol. yeah so everyday I sit down to do homework I sit and stare and things I have no idea how to do and try to figure them out. I am probably doing it all wrong but oh well lol. My friends at school are always trying to help and explain things and the teachers don't mind the constant translating. My school is fantabulous!!!

Oh and I've developed a new passion...RUNNING! Tanya Budler love running? What? lol Yeah i'm pretty shocked too but I found it clears my head, gives me a break from constant translating and is the world's best cure for homesickness for sure! Everyday at 5pm I stop studying, change, grab my zune and go run. I crank up Hillsong so loud I can't hear anything but the music. Then i run, run until I have finally stopped thinking and worrying and all my focus is completely on God and my next step. The park behind my house makes it even more perfect. My time with God is in a beautiful place He's given us. I figured what better way to get physically fit than do it while I'm getting spiritually fit as well.

Now the most obvious...GELATO! Like seriously, why don't we have stuff this good in America? I've had it like 6 times since i've gotten here and the last time we got it (Wednesday) it was pretty much like heaven on a cone. After shopping Eleanora and I went to Slurp, the best gelateria in Modena. I had 3 different kinds with nutella and whipped cream on top. It was amazing!! Oh and only 2 Euros! I really loving the no sales tax on anything here. When i went shopping and bought some clothes it was an even 30 Euro. I would say no change but they have the 1 and 2 Euro coins so still got the 'jingles' lol

My family is amazing! They are so helpful, understanding and willing to do anything to make my life easier. I have some pretty fantastic friends as well. A boy from my class even gave me a phone to use while here and I'm hanging out with Martina this weekend. Also Italians thank each other with more than just thank yous. If someone invites you to something you give them a gift if you can't come. Or you have them over for a meal. For example we are having Righini and Martina over for lunch to thank them for helping me so much at school. As you can tell i'm doing fantastic and enjoying every minute of my life! Love and Miss you All!

Pictures

To see pics just go to these links :)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87774&l=a1636&id=557813744

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87780&l=76609&id=557813744

Grazie! Love you all

I love being American in Italy

So once again i'd like to state just how much i love it here! Literally everything is amazing! School is like the greatest thing, yeah sure I don't understand any of the classes except English but everyone is so interested in the fact I'm American. I've made a lot of friends. They are constantly talking to me and inviting me to things. Like to the disco tonight for example! I'm going with Eleanora somewhere else but I'll definately be going to the disco! Oh and culture shock # a million, the parents don't care what you do really. they say yes to everything. and curfew on saturday is 2am! crazy!

But The town is beautiful and the weather is clearing up now. which is very good since we ride our bikes everywhere! lol Yesterday we went to the square cause there is a big Chocolate festival in town! OMGOSH its so much better than our chocolate. Later in the evening I went on a walk with Mama Paola and it was great cause we talked bout everything and she just reaffirmed that its ok if i mess up with Italian, no one expects me to be perfect. (and for those of you who know me you know not being perfect kills me)

Today at school was bellissima! I was in my class for the first two classes and then went to another class as a guest. When i left my class like freaked out. The other class was like OMGOSH its an American lol then we got out early because our Prof wasn't there (gotta love italian schools) and i met my friends and now i'm home till we go out tonight.

So for all of you who are worrying, don't! I'm doing fantastic! Its pretty amazing how easily i fit in and how great this turned out to be so quickly! love you all!

First Day of School

So today was my first day of school and one would think I was a movie star the way they all acted. I guess Italians love Americans cause they never left me alone. I started off the day waiting for my English class when Eleanora came down and said her class wanted to meet me. we were standing in the hall and the students were junping out of their chairs to see me, no joke. Once I got to my class it was the same way. I did meet some really nice girls though, they are helping a lot. They moved my desk by theirs so i'm by friends now. So once again a few tibits of info on Italian schools.
*The teachers change classes we don't
*you have a break for 15mins and you can eat/smoke/whatever. In fact this one boy asked me if i wanted to go smoke with him today lol
*They use grid paper for everything!
*You can get up and leave whenever you like but you usually go fast.
*You don't raise your hand, you just say Prof.
*It is sorta in a block schedule form so you don't have much of each class. it makes for a lot of homework.

Once again off to study my italian

Ciao!

Day two at my new home in Italy. So far it’s great! My family so so nice, they remind me of home. Right now they will literally do anything for me. They know enough English where they can pretty much explain everything to me. It is so so nice. But at the same time it is so overwhelming when we go out somewhere and I don’t understand anything people are saying. I’ve done so much since I’ve gotten here its great. So I’ll do some small bullets of events.
*Italians eat a lot and all the time! I swear I’ve had more snacks and 3 course meal than me entire life! But man is it good! There isn’t one thing that I’ve had that I didn’t like.
*Coffee is extremely strong and in a very small glass. They drink it all the time too. Also hot chocolate is not we know, it’s thicker and you eat it with a spoon.
*Italian drivers are crazy!!! They go where ever they want whenever they want. No questions asked, if they are driving in the middle of the road who cares. Oh and they parallel park everywhere. I actually got car sick.
*Papa Walter makes the best breakfast; it’s like yogurt/cereal/milk/other things. It’s amazing!!
*Showering, oh wow that is fun. There is a lot of calcium in the water so you must clean the shower every time it is used. Lol Oh and you have to dry your hair.
*When you know barely any Italian your dictionary becomes your best friend. Mine has literally been in my pocket everyday.
*They talk super fast so if you know a little you can catch a few words but that’s bout it. Sometimes I don’t realize they are even talking about me lol
* I met my Tutor and English teacher today; he is super nice and sounds British when he speaks English. My school is crazy! I’m so excited though. I’m the first foreign exchange student so everyone is excited. And my tutor said I get to leave my class to go to more advanced English classes and help them which will be fun.
*Italians walk everywhere!!! It is so nice though because I’ve seen so much of the city. It is so beautiful. It is really nothing like we are used to. The Grande Centre is like straight out of the movies.
*When you hear an American songs playing in a store or anywhere really you get super excited because it’s something familiar.
*A great way to learn Italian is to read children’s books and set the table repeating what you are putting on it over and over again. I’m basically learning it 24/7. My family is so much help. Anna my younger sister is so funny because she ‘parlo italiano’ very slowly and then parlo inglese lol And they act things out for me.

I’m sure I’m missing a lot of things but I am off to help Papa Walter make a strudle. J This lifestyle is very different but awesome. I’m so tired I actually go to bed at 10pm. Tomorrow is my first day of school and I can’t wait to make new friends and start a routine. I miss home but this is really so surreal and amazing I’m so glad I did it. All my love!

Italy...so Far

So this trip has been everything I have ever dreamed of and even more. I said goodbye the morning of the 28th and now I’m on a train headed to Modena to meet my family and I’ve been perfectly fine. So many funny, awesome, and unforgettable things have happened. My hand is basically numb from writing so much in my journals. I absolutely love it here and I’m not even to my family yet. Since so many things have happened I’ll try to be short but some things just need to be described lol.

*Right after saying goodbye at the airport in KC I went into security only to be chosen for a random security search. So while I was still crying I was patted down and all my stuff was gone through. Once on the plane I just kinds sat there because the turbulence was so bad. I got to Atlanta fine and to JFK as well. Of course it was raining in NY so I had to walk through the rain in JFK trying to find the AirTrain and waiting for the shuttle bus. But I made it to the hotel and got to my room to sleep!!!! I finally got to meet all the people I met on facebook and we hit it off instantly! After eating and a few orientation things we all basically crashed.

*We woke up, had more orientations, and then just hung out till we went to the airport. We got through security then sat around at our gate till we got on. I was sitting with Tyler from CA and Grace from OR and we were just so excited! We were on American soil for the last time until July and we were about to take off! Tyler and I were trying to think of what we wanted to do with the last few minutes in the USA and we decided to pray. It was perfect! The flight even though it was like 6 hours and all night was so much fun! We watched movies, talked and had an amazing time. Tyler and I were basically laughing the entire time.

*We arrived in Paris completely drained because we left NY at 7:30pm and it was now 7:40am in Paris and we had not slept any. It took forever to get through security and once I got up there of course with my luck I had to have a special supposedly random security search lol we waited around then got on the plane to Rome. We slept most of the time but we were awake when we went over the Alps, WOW is all I can say! Once we got to the airport some how 11 of us AFS students managed to get separated from the group. So we basically walked in and out, followed a random Italian man, and tried anything to get to our group. It was actually really fun. After walking like 3 miles trying to get to the group we walked another mile to get to the bus. Next thing we knew we were at the hotel. At this point we were all so hungry, tired and gross feeling that we looked like a bunch of rehab students. Lol I quickly jumped in the shower but of course that was an adventure as well. My roommates said to pull this string thing in the shower for hot water so I just did and it set off an alarm. Then the door broke, therefore my clothes got soaked, oh and I couldn’t get the door unlocked lol we finally got to have our first Italian meal and it was amazing! 3 huge courses! After feeding us we finally went to sleep!

*Saturday was by far one of the greatest days of my life. We woke up, ate, and went to some orientations that were really fun because we had very young nice leaders. Then we ate lunch. (They eat pasta at the beginning of every meal!) After lunch they put us on a bus and we got to go to the Vatican City. Oh My Gosh it was amazing!!! St. Peter’s Square was just so unbelievable! We walked around, took tons of pics, and even got gelato J The weather was perfect and I was with some really great friends so it was amazing! If my day wasn’t going amazingly well already Tyler gave me my phone and was like call your sister I know you want to so I did. I got to call her as I stood in front of the Vatican. It was the highlight of my day. Once we got back we had more orientations that topped them all. They gave us a crash course of Italian and then the young leaders taught us a ton of cuss words lol. It was so so funny. Dinner was great again and so funny! We played a game one last time as the AFS USA group and were free to do whatever. We all stayed up and were talking when some of us found a door that led to a chapel. We went back there and found all this stuff. It was really creepy though because it was like 1am and dark and all these weird sounds were coming from this one door. After successfully freaking each other out we ran out but in the process somehow got the attention of the guy at the front desk on the cameras. He was walking down the hall toward us so we all bolted upstairs and hid in one of the other kid’s rooms till the coast was clear. It was so much fun!

Every little thing that has happened had been such an adventure and an experience. Even though I do miss everyone I am so glad I did this. I love Italy; it is just as great as I had ever dreamed it to be! I I’m on a train on my way to meet my family and I can’t believe that I’m in Italy still. Crazy how God works, you would never have convinced me at this time last year that I’d be riding a train through all of Italy today. But He knows what he’s doing and He has done some pretty amazing things through all of this. I will try to write more as soon as I can once I get to my home and with my family. Love you all and thank you for all your prayers and supports!
Tanya
(Post time is weird because I don’t have internet on this train)

On My Way....

So i managed to say bye and i'm here in NYC waiting to leave for Paris. Inside it kinda sucks but right now i'm doing really good. Of course I'm going to have other times where I break down but I'm so so so excited! All of my friends that I have met are pretty amazing! I'm having so much fun! I can't believe that I'm leaving in a few hours from the US. This is just so sureal. AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! Well I'm off to socialize. Thank you for the prayers! and don't worry bout me I am dong great, God is giving me strenght!

I Leave in 5 hours....I DID IT!!!

So i'm sitting here in KC with my sister thinking, wow i'm leaving in 5 hours! I'm not sure how but I managed to say bye to some very important people in my life (of course while crying like crazy!) and fought through terrible weather to get here and basically stressed out to the point of pulling my hair out but i'm here, i did it!

Tomorrow morning I will say goodbye one more time and basically leave all I know behind. But to tell you the truth I'm not worried anymore, for heavens sake I actually did it!!!! Ten months ago when I came up with this i didn't think I would actually be able to do it but hey God does some amazing things!

So i'm off to spend time with my sister but I will update this when I get to my family on February 1st. Thank you all for your prayers and support!

All My Love,

Tanya

Visa:noun-Document that is equivalent to death by torture

So we finally went to Chicago to get my visa. Of course it came with as much stress as humanly possible. To start it off my wallet got stolen Friday night and I needed my License for my Visa Appointment. Oh and my luck Monday was a holiday so I couldn't get it. So I was freaking out all the way there. And my official documents from my school in Italy had not been sent yet so we had to have a cover letter and copies of all the papers sent to the consulate.

After the very long drive to Chicago we got our hotel. The next morning I woke up super early got ready and just waited. We walked to the Consulate and the entire time I thought I was going to get sick. We walk in the doors, ride the elevator to the 18th floor and check in. We finally sit down in seats that look like they are straight from a bus station and wait. I'm starring at a small windown directly in front of me just waiting for them to call my name. In complete Italian fashion my name was finally called 20minutes after our appointment. The lady behind the desk began asking for documents and I would slide them to her. One by one the stack got bigger. Of course being a minor I had like 3xs the papers as everyone else. She was so nice and understanding. We got it all done and now all I do is wait. I should get it in the mail by Monday.

Oh and one of the greatest things, everyone in the room was talking about where they were going and when and this one guy was like "I leave the 24th of February, its cutting it close." I wanted to be like I leave in a week, thats cutting it close lol.