5 months!

Hey everyone!!

Yesterday the 7th of feb. was the official day of being with my host family for 5 months!! i still can't believe that the year is half way over :( I am having so much fun over here with all of my friends and learning a lot!!! one of my friends said to me, "ti vogliamo bene anche! e sarà triste quando tu tornerai negli Stati Uniti :(" -translation: we love you too! and it will be sad when you return to the United States :( .. something like that. :) but I'm also looking forward to seeing all of you!! :)

A little bit of the lifestyle and my life here in Italy:

in italy the lifestyle is generally very relaxed, everynight we eat together as a family, and their dinners are usually atleast an hour long.. when there is a holiday the meal can be anywhere from 2-3 or 4 hours depends on how long they talk for .... i go to school from 8:25-1:40.. in italy the students stay in one classroom and the teachers switch classrooms... when the teacher comes in, we stand up for them, because the student-teacher relationship is generally pretty formal... italians love shopping, but not the exact kind of shopping we like.. they like window shopping, they'll stop at generally every window and if something catches their eye they'll go into the store... one time we went into a store "just to stay warm" but then they started shopping..i thought it was funny... Venice is amazing! its a city built on water and there aren't any roads, only canals and bridges... so instead of cars they use boats.. its one of the most unique cities in the world!! generally USA is know for skyscrapers, but Italy is know for churches or basilicas..i have been in some of the most amazing churches ever!! one for example is the basilica of Saint Mark (in Venice).. it was amazing!!

when i have more time, i'll hopefully write some more of what i've done in the past 5 months!

Ciao for now,
Heather