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!