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.