The Month of May!

I now have one more month left of my exchange, and as school is ending in a little over a week, everything has been pretty routine.  I go to the school in the morning until lunch time and I read books and do small assignments that the teachers give me.  I eat lunch with my family and I hang out with them at the table and we talk.  Later in the afternoon, my host sisters usually go to the library to study so I go with them.  I go out a little later when my other friends go out and then I usually meet my host sisters again because we all have the same group of friends.  There is a caffe in the center and that's where most people go during the afternoons to hang out so I get to talk with everyone.  One day after school, my host mom, my host sisters, and I went to a city about an hour away to go shopping.  We all had lunch together and walked around to the shops in the center. It was really nice to have that afternoon with my host family to talk and shop together.  I had a lot of fun. I also went over to the other exchange students house for dinner one night and she had bought peanut butter and jelly.  We made sandwiches for dinner and it was the first peanut butter and jelly sandwich I have had since I've been in Italy.  It was nice to have that little taste of home even though I will be going back shortly.  We also sat in her living room and watched a movie in Italian before I had to go back home.  It was a perfect, relaxed evening. There was also a huge market in the center recently and I went with my host sisters and our friends.  We walked around all day and shopped at the little stands.  The other exchange student was with us too and she is leaving in less than a week to go buuuack to her city.  She was buying stuff for all of her friends back home and it kept making me think about how little time I have left in Italy.  I feel like my life is here now and it is going to be so hard to leave.  I try not to think about, but it helps me make the most out of this time and spend as much time with my family and friends as I can because I don't know when the soonest I will be able to come back to Italy is.  I have been very happy this past month and I believe I have another great month ahead of me.  The last of my exchange. The year has flown by so quickly!

Ciao! 

~Devon

The Month of April

Well oops... I haven't been on my blog for a month.  I've been very busy and just too tired at night to even think about typing.  So here's the month of April.  It just happens to be my rotary reflection because I am too lazy to write something new.  It covers pretty much everything though!

The month started off great having just had the easter holiday and spending time with my extended host family and getting to know more people.  I had a week or so of school before I went to meet my mom and sister in Rome.  That was a really great experience because not only did I get to see them for the first time in 8 months, but I was able to travel around Italy with them.   We spent the first couple of days in Rome.  I've been there once before and I had a feel for where I was going so it was fun to show my family around and speak in Italian with the locals.  We were also there on a Wednesday so we went to the Vatican and were able to see and hear the new Pope speak.  Then we headed to Fabriano so that they could see my home.  That was my favorite part of the trip because I was able to show them my city.  We walked around and shopped a little for the whole day and they met a lot of my friends.  We also had lunch at my host families house and even though they don't speak Italian, we had me and my host sister to help translate and it was nice for everybody to get to know each other.  My host mom is also an amazing cook so my mom and sister were really impressed with the food.  Before dinner, we went to my first host family's house and spent about an hour talking with them which was also really great.  From Fabriano, we went to Florence and spent a couple of days there.  I have never been to Florence so it was amazing to walk around and see the city.  One of my favorites so far.  It's great to see the differences of all the cities I have traveled to.  Venice came next and we were there for another couple of days.  Venice isn't a super big city and I had been there once before so I was also able to show my family the places I had been.  At the end of the trip, I was off on a train back to Fabriano and them to the airport.  It was so nice being back home and seeing all of my friends again.  They said that they had missed me, which made me feel good.   I wasn't able to stay long because then my dad and grandma came.  My grandma was a surprise because I thought only my dad was coming and it was really great to see both of them.  We spent the day in Fabriano but it was raining, unfortunately, so we spent most of the time in the hotel playing games and some of my friends came over as well, which was nice.  For dinner we went to my host family's house and it was just as great having my dad and grandma get to know my host family and vice versa.  Then they went off to Venice for a couple of days while I stayed in Fabriano so that I could go to school and see my friends a little more.  Then I met them in Florence and we traveled from there to the Amalfi coast.  I was able to see Positano, Amalfi, Salerno, Sorrento, Pisa, Pompei, Capri, and Naples.  It was an amazing trip.  We stayed in Sorrento and drove to new cities some of the days.  Most of our time was spent in Sorrento though, and it is now one of my favorite cities in Italy.  It is a small but bustling city and we spent a lot of time exploring and shopping in the the small streets and the center.  The days we spent relaxing on the beach or staying in town were really nice because I had the time to catch up with my family.  They noticed how I have grown as a person as well.  I wasn't able to spend much time in Fabriano this month but it was a month of traveling around Italy and I learned a lot from that.  It was also obviously very nice to see my family!

Easter Break

I haven't been on the internet for the past couple of days, but I will catch up with everything now.  For Easter, my host family and I went to my host mom's mom's house for a big lunch.  There was so much food, but I just had a little bit of everything.  I didn't feel like stuffing myself even though everything was delicious.  Then we got to open our chocolate eggs which are huge hollow eggs made of different kinds of chocolate which are typical to give as gifts for easter.  Then Chiara, Guilia, and I went and drove around the city for a while and talked.  When we returned, we changed and then went out again with one of Giulia's friends who lives in the same city as her grandma.  We went to this really delicious gelato shop and had ice cream for dinner because we were still somewhat full from lunch.

We stayed with Giulia's friends for the rest of the night and then we returned back to her grandma's house to sleep.  I was able to sleep in until around 12 in the morning and then we had a somewhat light lunch.  All I ate was the soup because I wasn't very hungry. Then the three of us laid in bed for an hour or so, resting, listening to music, and talking.  Around 4, we went for an hour long walk around the the town.  It's a really small, but very pretty place.  A little after 5, we drove back to Fabriano, got ready, and then the three of us went out again for dinner and stayed at the pub with our friends for the rest of the night.

That night I got really sick and wasn't able to sleep very well.  At lunch just looking at food made me feel nauseous, so I skipped eating and went back to bed.  I stayed in bed for the rest of the afternoon, still felt nauseous during dinner, so I went back to sleep at 9.  It wasn't the best of days.

Today I woke up and felt almost normal again aside from a little weakness, but it's probably because I hadn't eaten.  I made my way through school and I mostly read.  I did a little writing as well and I talked with all of my friends about their spring breaks.  After lunch, I laid in bed because I was still tired and then I had to leave at 3 for italian lessons but it was the first time I was able to see Janie in more than 2 weeks because she had been in Germany, so I was excited.

After lessons, Janie and I walked around the gardens and talked for about 2 hours straight.  Then we met up with some friends at a pizzeria and we all walked to the pub together and stayed there until 7:30.    It was still really light out when I was picked up which is going to take some getting used to because we just changed the hour here.  I like it when it's light out later though.

After dinner, I got some of my travel plans figured out for when my mom and sister come to Italy and then I went to my room to go to bed because I've been pretty tired today.

Buonanotte!
~Devon

Big Dinner

I woke up at 1:30 this morning/afternoon for lunch.  After lunch, I relaxed and talked with Giulia and Chiara for a while.  At 4, Giulia and I went to the grocery store to pick up some stuff for easter, we dropped it off at home, and then we went out.  We walked around and stayed at the central caffe and then the pub for most of the time with Giulia's friends.  At 9:30 we went to dinner at a restaurant with about 20 other friends and it we stayed there until 11:30 talking, laughing, eating, and having a good time.

When everybody was done with dinner, we went to the pub and then walked around the center for a while.  At 12:30, I had to return back home and all of Chiara's friends were there because they just found out today that she is back in Italy.  They had to leave shortly after though and then I got ready for bed.

We had to turn our clocks forward at midnight so I lost an hour which means I lost an hour of sleep.  I'm going to bed now.

Buonanotte!
~Devon

Exercise

This morning Giulia came into my room at 11:45 and started jumping on my bed to wake me up.  She had told me last night that she was going to wake me up early so that we could go running but she was joking.  This morning when she woke me up, I immediately asked if we were going to run.  She hesitated a little bit, but then I convinced her to go.  We got ready and went to an area around the house to run for a little bit.  I am so out of shape so we only ran for about 30 minutes and then went back home.   I was dead and I took a shower right away.

A little before 2, we had lunch and then Nadia went to her mom's house for the afternoon and Giulia and I stayed home.  We talked for a little bit and then walked to the center because we didn't have the car this afternoon.  It was nice to walk again.  We hung out with Giulia's friends for the rest of the evening walking around and at the pub and then one of her friends dropped us off at home.

Nadia arrived shortly after we did and we ate dinner.  After dinner I went to Giulia's room and we talked and listened to music like always.  When she left around 9 to got out, Chiara and I talked for a little over an hour in Giulia's room and then I went to my room to watch some tv and then go to bed.

Buonanotte!
~Devon

Catching Up On Sleep

I finally got to sleep for more than 9 hours today! I woke up at 1:30 for lunch and then Giulia and I went to her room, listened to music and talked.  I got ready at 4 and Giulia took me to the center at 4:30 to meet up with my friends.  We walked around for a little bit and then went to the pub. I stayed with them until some of them had to go and then I stayed with Giulia until 8 at the pub because she got there a little later.

When we went home, we had dinner and then went back to her room again.  We left the house to go out earlier tonight and I stayed with her and her friends at the pub until midnight and then she dropped me off at home and went back out.

I've been on my computer for a couple of hours finding new music and I'm probably going to go to bed soon even though I'm not as tired tonight as I was yesterday.

Ciao!
~Devon

Spring Break

I can't really remember what we had for the first two hours of class today, but I know that I read.  I also read for the last three hours after break as well.  I'm re-reading The Host so that I'm ready when the movie comes out! 

Giulia's aunt picked me up from school today and I went over to her house for lunch because Nadia was out.  Her house is right next to ours, so when we were finished eating, I walked home, showered, and then Giulia arrived shortly before I had to leave for Italian lessons.  She took me to school and it went by pretty fast.  Then I went out with some of my friends and I met someone who speaks really good english.  We talked mostly in Italian, but we had a couple of conversations in english as well. 

Giulia picked me up at 8 and we went back to the house.  When I walked through the door, I thought Nadia was standing there so I said hi and then I did a double take because it was actually Chiara, my host family's daughter who was doing her exchange in Canada!  She came home early because she was having some troubles with Rotary.  It was my first time meeting her, but I've skyped her before.  It was so weird because I couldn't believe what I was seeing and I didn't think she was really there in the beginning.  After my shock passed a little bit, we talked and had dinner.  Then we all went to the living room and watched some tv.  

I'm not really sure how things are going to change here but I guess we'll figure that out tomorrow.  I'm staying in her room right now and she's staying in her mom's.  I went to my room around 10 to write and relax.  I don't have to go to school tomorrow because it's the start of easter break so I don't have to go to bed early!

Ciao!

~Devon