Buon Compleanno da L'Italia!

You can only turn sixteen once, right? I mean I don't think there's any better way to celebrate than moving to Italy. Somewhere in that crazy first week, my birthday happened. I only knew it when Carla woke me up with a great big, "Buon Compleanno!" What? Oh yeah, oops. All my days are blurring together as I'm trying to shake this jet-lag.

Ivan, Aurelie, Tanrin - Russia, Canada, Thailand

Carla, Fede and I started our morning by making a delicious birthday cake. [As I'm baking, of course I'm wondering how it will compare to the one birthday I spent in New Jersey when Aunt Paddy baked for the first/only time. To this day, no one believes she really made that cake.] But what a tease to sit and stare at this one all day... there was no time for daydreaming! Things to do, people to see, places to go! I met the other Bologna AFSers for some important legal nonsense before casually strolling around the center. Thailand, Japan, Russia, Canada, Norway, Honduras, Venezuela and Germany - I'm learning so much about such different teenage lives.

This is a little bit of the Piazza Maggiore -
At night, it's filled with people, drinks, smoke and fun

I love these people. As understanding as everyone is, they are really the best ones to talk to about the up's and down's. We can gossip about cultural differences, guffaw at the boys or nostalgically exchange home-country stories to our heart's content. It's like having a third family.

So let me explain - The Pieri's have a daughter, Bianca. Bianca is about seventeen (?) and had a great time with their other American host daughter, Holly, last year. Well, she decided to try the AFS thing for herself. Bianca is now living in Chicago while I'm here with her family/friends in her room and her city. It's still so weird and a little sad to me that we'll never meet! 

Okay, back to the birthday. I have to ditch my AFS crew early because I've got a dinner date :) two of Bianca's best friends, Francesca and Eleonora, come for introductions and delicious omnomnoms. 

They both speak a little English so we manage to communicate. Ugh, why am I not fluent yet?! They are such sweet girls and the first Italian friends I've made. 

By the time I make it to my computer for a family Skype session, it's nearly midnight and I'm exhausted. Best birthday ever. Talking clear and fluent English was surprisingly difficult - I kept blurting out Italian answers to their English questions. This is a good sign, right? Maybe I'm actually learning. Day 1 complete and so far I'm liking this sixteenth year. 

Best Birthday Ever. 

Honey, I'm Home...

500 steps to the top and I can see my
whole kingdom from here

Ciao Bologna, sono Natalie. Piacere! I don't care if it's too soon to say it - I'm in love, I'm in love, and I don't care who knows it. This is my perfect city.

Some host
mother/brother lovin'

I'll be honest - this first week was filled with every emotion imaginable. I was excited and exhausted, content and confused, baffled and beaten, lost and loving, hot and helpless. Excuse me, have I stepped into the daily life of Emily Miranda? Not interested.

The first thing to see in Bologna is quite obviously the very old and very important Two Towers. By important, I mean these towers are the symbol of the city and by old, I mean older than your grandma... the Medieval-Era kind of old.  Oh, and that "leaning" look you think you see is completely accurate. The construction makes you think it's going to fall (or you will as you climb it) at any minute!

I have a week to myself before school starts. This means Federico (my host brother) and I have plenty of quality time, all day every day. We have lots of fun trying to create as many games as possible that don't require reading/speaking. Let's just say I'll be putting my card and hide-and-go-seek skills at ease for a little while - they have been overused. However, our bike rides and adventures in the park were a great way to help me get familiar with the area.

Got 'em! 

He's my #1 bro. The first day I arrived, he had Post-Its all over the house of Italian words. My little teacher still springs a surprise quiz on me every once in a while. Other lessons include how to find the best gelato, set the table (so he doesn't have to) and catch these little lizards all over the city.

Things he loves: American music, whistling, Callipso (our cat), singing all the wrong words, ice skating, monkey bars and gelato

Things he hates: peanut butter and the skin of apples

Reasons he reminds me of home: He always has to "go to the bathroom" as dinner clean-up starts. If you've ever had dinner at the Miranda Mansion, this should remind you of someone....

I'm more quiet than I have ever been. It can get really frustrating to have all these clever things to say and no way to communicate them! The important thing is to keep my head above the water. Whenever I find myself giving up a little, I eavesdrop on someone's conversation to learn something new. So what if I say something wrong? It's better than not saying anything at all. Also, there is no better way to learn a language than throwing someone in a school/family/city where it's all there is to hear. Carla usually notices when this is getting me down so she gives me a kiss and a, "Ciaooo Natalie!" :)

Hey, meet my beautiful family.

I'm lucky and I know it. 

450 Italian Wannabes

Boom - just like that & I'm gone. It feels like the time between my 90 day countdown and my 10 day countdown flew by. All of a sudden I'm dragging my single suitcase from the car to the New York hotel where AFS staff tells me to ditch the family so we can get started. Saying goodbye is weird - I can't really wrap my head around the idea that this is the last time I'll see them (in 3D) for ten months. 

How many Americans can
fit in one picture?

Anyway, I am one of 40 American-Italian AFSers. It seems as though it takes a certain type of personality to really want this new and different life for ten months. Therefore, we're all alike and get along easily.. Orientation was both overwhelming and boring - anything the volunteers tell us is nothing we haven't heard before but everything we should be reminded of. Culture differences, games, homesickness, language, quizzes, etc. fill the next day and a half in our hotel. It's hard to focus when my interest is instead tuned on the people I'm with and the places I'm going. From New York to California to Iowa to Vermont to Washington - I swear we could have an AFS student per state. Looking back, it seems so strange that we became so close so quickly here. I miss these friends already!

Ciao, Roma!

By Saturday morning, I'm in Rome's airport. The majority of my time with AFS has so far been - car, hotel, bus, airport, plane, airport, plane, bus. Finally some fresh air and real sunshine. Everything here is beautiful. I swear even the cigarette butts scattered across the sidewalks have that Italian charm. But the bus ride to the hotel is such a tease -  I'm driving through Rome but the only thing I'll see is the inside of another hotel? Not fair. 


Now if I thought our American group was diverse, the 450 students from across the world was insane. Ghana, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Germany, Norway, Iceland, China, Thailand, Japan, New Zealand, etc. - I now have friends in all the right places. Even by the time I crawl into my dirty and uncomfortable bed at 11, my lullaby is shouts of greetings to more arriving students. 

Saturday night (last orientation day) the "Boss" of AFS Italy came to our hotel in the outskirts of Rome to greet us. His speech made a difference to me. He told us how proud he was that we had made this decision to be a part of something so special. Also, we were reminded that this was our chance to start fresh if needed or to become the best versions of ourselves that we could. That was something I hadn't really considered before - I can be whoever I want in Italy. I think with that opportunity, I'd still like to be me. However, I don't expect to come home the same Natalie you know. I'll probably change and I'll probably grow - hopefully for the best. We'll see how this goes! Whoever I am, wherever I go, I just want to be happy.

This last night in Rome was bursting with energy and excitement. I danced with the Mexicans, cheered with the Japanese, drank tea with the Brazilians and ate ice cream with the Canadians. I didn't want it to end, but that 5am train came pretty quickly. 

I slept my way to Bologna and woke up with nerves I didn't expect. What if my family doesn't like me? What if I don't like them? What if I can't learn Italian? What if they forget to pick me up?! What if I don't make friends? What if I get lost in this city? Ugh, I'm such a stunad. Once I finally hugged my host mom, it felt more like a reunion than an introduction. I'm home now! This is no Woodbury Road but I suppose it will be a good substitute. 

Arrivederci my friends, miss you all :)