Traveling Abroad the Italian Way: April was cool

I'll save you the usual reasons why I didn't update this month. Long story short, April was a really good month, and I've been really busy. Now that we got that out of the way, here's what I've been up to...

First of all, in the beginning of April, I was finally reunited with my other AFS America kids in Florence (shoutout to Bear/Rory/Sam even though you weren't there). The trip started at about 1:00am on the morning of the 3rd. I took a night train to Bologna, and there I met up with my host brother, who had already arrived the day before, to take another train to Florence. Or at least that was the plan. I ended up missing the connecting train, but Giorgio (my host brother) managed to get on the right train. It was frustrating trying to find the next train and buy a new ticket, but I really got to put my language skills to the test. It was really satisfying having them understand my Italian. After only an hour of waiting for the next train, I was on my way to Florence.

Once I arrived, I met Giorgio at the station and we went to get breakfast. We met up with my friend Bear at the station afterwards and waited for Rory to arrive. Once we were all together, we headed to see the Duomo in the center of Florence. I'll post a picture of it at the end, but it doesn't really do it justice. It was so big and detailed. Really cool to see. We spent the rest of the day walking around Florence and just enjoying being together. If you are or were an exchange student, you understand the weird bond you get with other students. We had seen each other a total of about 36 hours before Florence, but we became really good friends quickly.

For the sake of time, I'll just summarize the last day of Florence: I didn't miss my train back to Pescara. Facile.

The day after I got back from Florence, we had Easter day to celebrate. I spent the morning and early afternoon going around to different families who I had never met. I couldn't really converse with them that well, but they were really good cooks so I liked them. For dinner, our family (which includes close friends for us) came over for a big meal. We had lasagna, which was surprisingly the first time I had it in Italy. It lived up to my expectations to say the least. Also, I'm not really sure what I did with myself in America without Kinder Chocolate. My host mom got my host brother and I these HUGE Kinder eggs that were, no joke, the size of my head. I feel bad about this, but they were gone in 2 days. (Kinder chocolate+Italian coffee=paradise). I didn't really notice a big difference between Easter here and Easter in America. The Easter bunny didn't make an appearance in any mall here, but that's about it. The day was spent with family, just like in America. It's also worth noting that the day after Easter is called "Pasqua". To put it bluntly, it's where people go out to the countryside and drink a bunch of wine. My family choose not to participate, which I wasn't opposed to.

This month, the weather is starting to get warmer, so I've been at my family's restaurant a lot, (it's on beach if you didn't know). I don't do much other than sit out on the beach and study. By study I mean bury my feet in the sand. It's productive.

This month was full of concerts for me as well. I went to my first "concert" with my liason. One of her friends from uni was playing a gig at a bar, and I went with her and her boyfriend to see it. I had forgotten how much I loved concerts, so it was nice to hear live music again. A few weeks after that, we went to a real show at club in Pescara. It was a little strange seeing a band with only Italian songs, but an experience nonetheless. I also got to see one of my friend's band play. If you're interested in what really good Italian rock sounds like, check them out on youtube. They are called Therapy 14's.

I also got to go to Rome again one Sunday. I met up with Rory there as well. I had already seen most of the main attractions, but that was the first time I got to go into St. Peter's Basilica. Probably sick of hearing this, but pictures do not do this place justice. Ever since I went there, I have been obsessed with Bramante and Michelangelo. You definitely get a new appreciation/understanding of their genius when you visit these places.

That's about it for traveling. As for me personally, I am still taking everything in. Things that used to strike me as differences are now things I think are normal. For example, I was talking with my Dad the other day, and I could not for the life of me remember is the word Catholic was pronounced "cAtholic" or "cathOlic". Here in Italy, they stress the "o". I'm still not sure which one of them is right honestly.

School is still really boring, because I don't understand 100% of the lessons, but it is getting better. I have learned how to study independently, which was really new to me when I first got here. My main mission during class is to pick up on the main topic of the lecture, and then I research it on my phone. Not all teachers like this, but I didn't pay that much money to not learn anything. Sorry.

My language is improving, I think. It is hard to tell, because something come out completely fine, but others are a real struggle. My Italian course is finished, so I don't learn as much new material. Most of my progress will have to come from actually speaking to people. Terrifying.

As of right now, I only have one big plan for May, so I'm not sure when I will update next. I'll post some pictures at the bottom, but until next time, thanks for reading. A dopo!