Christmas!!!!

Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate Christmas!!! If you don't no worries, I hope your day was a good one. Christmas for me was really different and new. As I have mentioned before it didn't feel like Christmas, not even on Christmas Day, or opening presents or anything. Well it didn't feel like Christmas normally does for me, but for everyone else here it felt like Christmas. As you know we finally came back from Milan Christmas Eve morning, about 2am, from then we slept and got up around 11. I ate a small breakfast and later was lunch, pesto, one of my favorites. After lunch I was able to talk with my mom and then I took a nap. I woke up around 7 and then it was time to get ready and go to Nonna's house for Christmas Eve Dinner.

Before the first main dish there was this broccoli salad, then there was about 5 different types of seafood. There were two other types of broccoli salads, artichokes, shrimp (two kinds) fried, breaded meat, and something else to help digest all the food. And of yes there was bread and wine, I stuck to Coca Cola. After everyone finished eating we just sat around the table and watched a movie, Benvenuti al Sud. (I had seen this in the theatre when it first came out and talked more about it in another post) After dinner and the movie it was time for dessert. We had the classic Christmas cakes and there was another type of wine to go along with it.

Around 11:50pm, Christmas Eve we went back to the house to open presents. The tradition is to wait until midnight to open them. While we were waiting for midnight to come I went online and Skyped with my mom at my Aunts house so I got to see some of my family then. We talked for a few minutes, but then it was time to open presents. My host mom and dad were tired so they went to bed earlier so it was my host brother and sister, and my host sister's boyfriend. They had already opened their gifts because I was talking online with my parents. I passed out the presents I bought for them and opened the gifts from them. From my host family I received two purses, an Italia soccer jersey, an Italia hat, a box of my favorite pens :D and then from my host sisters boyfriend he gave me this little Vespa which had a snow globe on it of the Colosseum. From my host Nonna she gave all the grandkids a Chocolate Santa. From one host aunt and uncle perfume, and from another a mug with a cute little guy on it. My host sister's friend's family came over and gave us each presents too, mine was a pink backpack.

Once we were done with presents I taught my host siblings to play a card game I play with my cousins back in New York. When we had enough of that and they were eating I called back home to show everyone my gifts and just to talk some more. I finally got to bed around 3am and then we woke up around 9am to go to mass. When we got up we ate breakfast and just hung around the house, didn't get to mass. I then gave my host parents the gifts I bought for them and I am glad they liked them. We went out to see my other host nonna. From there we drove around for a little while and returned around 12 to go to my host nonna's for Christmas lunch. We ate with the family and I played cards with my host cousins. Around 5pm I went back to the house to Skype with my Aunt and Uncle for about two hours. When I was finishing up talking with them, my other Aunt came on skype. I called her and talked to the rest of my family; cousins, aunt, uncle, Grammie, Poppie, Grandma, brother, mom, dad, brother's girlfriend, I even got to see my cousin's cat Lucy. It was nice talking to them all and seeing everyone.

After this Skype session with my family I went back over to my host nonna's house where everyone was playing cards. The game was called In Morto and it used Napoletano cards, which are different then your average cards. They have different symbols and different values. I point of the game was to not have the lowest card so you didn't have to pay into the pot. If you made it to the end of all the rounds and still had money, you one the pot. After playing we went back home and I called home to talk for a few more minutes and then it was off to bed.

Now I have a stomach ache, not sure why, maybe because of all the different foods, and being run down nothing really agreeing with me. Tonight we might be going to the movies and tomorrow hopefully I can go the post office to see if my package is there. The packages from my aunts have been over a month, almost two, what the heck man!!!!!!!! I just hope I will get them before I leave.

Talk to you all and see you soon!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorpresa

Here is my next video on Youtube!!!! I hope you enjoy watching!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hethtr93YD0

Novmeber

November has been an interesting month. Ups and downs and everything in between. My emotions and feelings always changing, having a good time or a bad time. Something normal for exchange students I can imagine. Well October ended with a Halloween party with my friends, we played Wii Sports, watched Grande Fratello (Big Brother) and I shared my American Candy with them and they loved it!

I had the chance to go and spend the night at my friends house. She is an American also here with BEC and goes to my school. We went to her friends soccer game and just hung out at home with her host sisters and her friends. I brought some candy and shared with them, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and they loved them :D My host sister has a show coming up in December so she has had more dance classes in the evenings so I went out with our friends one or two nights. The first night we played billiards, which was fun, although my score was zero. The next night we just went to the park and talked, like we do on the other nights. It is still fun to be with them and talk.

Around November 22, my host sister's dance class went down to Naples to this theatre where they are putting on a show. While we still had some time before we could use the stage we walked to a Pizzeria and ate some delicious pizza. My favorite pizza would have to be Margarita with french fires. Because we came home late from the dance class in Naples we didn't go to school on Tuesday. Then my host sister was sick so we stayed home Wednesday and Thursday. That Thursday was Thanksgiving so I called home and spoke with my aunt and uncle and then later my family at my other aunts house. I was able to see my mom, cousins, aunt, uncle, and grandparents. The moment I saw my Grammie and Poppie I started to cry. It was the first time I saw them in almost 3 months!!!! It was wonderful so see their faces and talk with them. Later when it was time for them to eat Thanksgiving dinner they placed the laptop at the table and I was with them and watched them enjoy the wonderful thanksgiving feast.

I have moved to my friends house this past Monday, November 29th. I am so excited to be with her and her family is happy to have me. I am working on videos for youtube so check there every week or so. I love you all and miss you so much!! I hope you are enjoying your holiday season. Lots of Love- Aly

Thanksgiving!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!

I have been home from school for the past three days, my host sister is not feeling well so we stayed home sick. I have been bored just as ever, but I did enjoy sleeping in. I woke up late today like I would normally do, and I didn't have to go to school on Thanksgiving. However, I went to the post office to buy stamps, came back, wrote letters, made another video for youtube, and now I am updating my blog and waiting to talk with my family. My video is almost 9 minutes long and I talk about Thanksgiving some and school, and other things so I hope you enjoy. I am sure to make another post about how calling home went.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W46215AxOac

Enjoy!!! Ciao Ciao

Video Number 2!!!

Hey Everyone,
I have made my second video for my video blog :D It is kind of long, sorry, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. If you have any questions or comments leave a post and I will try my best to answer them. I miss you all and I hope you are getting ready for Thanksgiving!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/user/AventuraInItalia?feature=mhum#p/a/u/0/HhCY6IY_vtQ

Enjoy <3

First Video Blog

I was finally able to finish and upload my first video blog on YouTube!!! The other exchange students and I are trying to make videos every week or so to keep updated and just talk about whats going on with us in Italy. It is kind of boring, but watch the end!!! Hopefully the end makes up for the long and boring me talking about nothing in particular.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPa378kQvrw

I hope the link works. :D

October

One month, from the first to the thirty-first, complete, eight more to go. As many of you know I switched host families at the beginning of the month. Things are going so much better. I am enjoying Italy and Italian food!! My Italian is going along, still slow, but I am always learning new words and phrases, but it is hard to remeber everything. I have a hard time with names because people have the same names a lot and they are just different sounding in general. Some "normal" names are said different, they are said in an Italian way. School is going well too. I am actually enjoy some of my classes. Gym and German are still my favorites. Normally after German class my head hurts do to all the German, Italian, and think in English. I am starting to get to know people better at school, but its still hard because of my Italian. I have not been here for a month yet either so I don't know anyone too well, but I try and jump into conversations and just hang out with them and listen because I want to be their friend.

My frist weekend here in Aversa I was able to go to Naples with my host family. We went up one of the mountains some and there was a church at the top where I was able to take some amazing pictures of Naples, Mount Vesuvius and the sea. (Blogger still takes forever for pictures, sorry) I also had an amazing lunch in Naples!!!! It was penne with a spicy tomato sauce. That night I went out with my host sister and her friend for her friend's birthday. We went to this bar/pizzaria and in the back was karaoke. My host sister's friends are so nice, but crazy!!! They were screaming and signing and then danced on the chairs and tables. I had so much fun and I still have fun every time I see them.

So far I have seen three movies here in Italy. The first was Step Up 3D; I understood the concept of the movie and some phrases. In the beginning they arrive in NYC and they are driving through Times Square and Jay-Z's song Empire State of Mind was playing and I sat there with tears forming...I really missed home and wished I could just zap myself back to my life in New York. The next day I saw Benvenuti al Sud, an Italian movie. It is about this man from Northern Italy who moves to a town near Naples for his job. In the beginning he is worried about theft and how different and unsafe the south is. In the end he makes friends and enjoys his time there, even learning some Napolitano (the dialect here in the south near Naples). The third I do not remember the name of, but it was interesting to say the least. I didn't understand the idea of the movie or the Italian. There was a lot of half naked people and a lot of talk about sex. My friend told me it was a typical Italian movie...okay. I also noticed they didn't have ratings for the movies. If this movie played in the U.S. it would be rated R and my host sister and her friend could not just buy tickets for the movie because they are 14 and 15, kind of weird for me.

I have gone shopping a few times here in Italy and its a little different. People just push and don't care about lines and for the most part, everything is so much more expensive. However; being the bargain shopper that I am, I found some good deals. I bought bright green rain boots, a jacket, gray boots, scarves and a purse. In reality I have not spent that much for being here almost two months. I have not had gelato in a while either, I might have to go and get some.

The weather is starting to get a little colder, but nothing like in New York. I found out it doesn't get colder than 50 degrees!!!!! How wonderful is that!!!! Although I miss Autumn and I will miss having snow and really cold mornings, I think I can live a year without them. This past week I did not have school (November 1st and 2nd) because of All Saints Day.

On October 29th both packages my mom sent me arrived! I was having trouble getting them because I forgot to give my mom my host family's name to put on the package. I was so happy they arrived! I was excited to get mail and for the things inside. I felt so much more at home with everything she was able to send. In box number one (the large box) there was: the water bottle my English teacher gave me, hot chocolate packets, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, sour patch kids, fire sauce from Taco Bell, my bible, candy corn, Halloween pencils, window clings for Thanksgiving, 3 pairs of fuzzy socks, cold medicine, allergy medicine, peanut butter, pens from my brother's company, Orbit mint gum, honey, Halloween socks, a sweat band for my host sister with Zach Effron on it, tooth paste, an internet cable, silly bands, nail polish, lip gloss, chocolate chips and cough drops. Box number 2 (a medium sized box): 5 pairs of tights, vitamins, Url Gray Tea from my Grammie and Poppie, 2 pairs of toe socks, fuzzy socks, a cinnamon candle, hot pepper relish, peppermint dark chocolate, 2 matchbox cars for my host brother, tic tacs, and a bunch of sweet tarts.

For Halloween I carved pumpkins and baked the seeds to share the American tradition with my host family. Halloween night I went to the movies instead of trick-or-treating for the first time ever in my life! The next day I baked chocolate chip cookies to share with my friends here. My friends came over Monday the 1st to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas (in Italian), but we lost power. Once to power came back on we played Wii Sports and around 9pm the Italian version of Big Brother, Grande Fratello, came on and we watched that. Overall it was a nice night hanging out with my friends.

Aversa

I just wanted to inform you all that I am now living in Aversa. Things were not working out with my past host family so I have switched. Things have been to a good start. Aversa is closer to Naples and the coast, so I might be able to go to the ocean more. My host sister is 14 and loves Zach Effron, my host brother, whoes name I cannot remember is 9, my host mom is a teacher and my host dad is a doctor.

I am trying to upload picutes and I am trying to start a Youtube Channel with some of the other kids in Italy and once I have that up and running I will post the link on the blog. Thnaks for reading!!! I love you all

Aly Oliva

September 2010

My last few days in the U.S. I was busy packing things, making plans to see my friends and family, and realizing my dream was coming true. Earlier in July my friends planed a surprise party for me. I had an amazing night and realized just how amazing my friends are. In August I had my own little shindig with friends and family. The last weekend in the U.S. I also saw many for my friends and family. That Friday I went to school to visit teachers and attend the first Masque and Mime meeting of the year. At the meeting we prepared for the flea market, which was the next day. That Saturday I went to the flea market and friends over for a campfire. We roasted marshmallows, pizza, and cheese doodles. Sunday, my last full day in America, I spent time packing things, seeing my aunt and I had family over for dinner.

The next morning, Monday September 13th, I weighed my luggage again, repacked something’s, covered things in my room so they wouldn’t get dusty, wrote my first journal entry, and just did things around the house. At 4:30 my mom and I loaded my things into the car and we picked up my Grammie and Poppie. We stopped at Subway to get sandwiches to eat at the airport. After Subway we headed down to New York City. While in the car I talked with my aunt, texted a few of my friends for on last time for 10 months and before I knew it we where in New York City. My Grammie and I headed inside to see if we could find the other ASSE exchange students while my Mom and Poppie parked the car. When I went inside I sound the group and I talked with the ASSE rep who was flying with us to Germany. She told me to get my tickets and check my luggage in so Grammie and I went online. I had to check my carryon because it was too big, but luckily the women did not charge me for it.
Once I had my tickets in hand Mom and Poppie can in and the ASSE group was going to go through security and wait at the terminal. I waited with my family and ate dinner, Subway, and waited for my Dad to come. A few minutes later my dad was there and we walked over to security. I hugged everyone and I was doing well, but then I finished hugging my Poppie and I just started to cry. It was so hard and I had to hug them all again. I pulled myself together and went through. They waited there until I was on my way and could not longer been seen. My terminal was one of the first ones so I did not have to walk far. I found the group and started talking to two other kids going to Italy. They were both going to Naples so I knew we would be taking the same train.

We boarded the plane around 9:40pm. The plane ride was about 6 hours and very boring. I could not sleep because the woman sitting next to me kept poking me with her toes while she slept and the man in front of me had his seat all the way back for the entire trip. I listened to my iPod for a little bit, read, watched the movie on the plane, which was like Step Up (a street dancing movie), but British. Once we landed in Germany it was around 11:30 in the morning. We got our passports stamped and we headed to our gates. We departed with our ASSE rep who traveled with us and we adventured into Frankfurt our selves.

We all stayed together until the Spain group left about three hours before we needed to leave. We went to our gate and just sat together talking about Italy, our host families, each other, our expectations, and what we were scared of. The plane to Milan was much smaller and they served really gross sandwiches. In Milan we got our luggage, only one girls luggage was left in Frankfurt, and we went through the doors and met the two ASSE/BEC representatives waiting for us. Once we were all through we went outside and loaded our luggage and ourselves onto this little tour bus. For the hour it took us to get to the hostel we practiced Italian and enjoyed seeing Milan.

At the hostel we found our room, clamed our beds and headed out for dinner. We went to this cute, little Italian restaurant, which we ended up having every single meal except one. While there I had two different kinds of pizzas, lasagna, pasta, pastries and blood orange juice. The next day the group from Australia arrived and we started orientation. We took a bus tour around central Milan and went to the castle that is there in Milan. The next day we finished orientation and had free time to shop, visit the duomo (cathedral) and do whatever. I spent my time walking all over central Milan with two other girls trying to find a gelateria called Grom; the best gelateria in all of Milan. After walking for about forever and asking at least 10 people we finally found it!!!! It was the first gelato I had the whole trip and it was wonderful; most defiantly worth the walking.

After Grom we walked back and waited at the duomo for the other students in our group to arrive. We walked back to the hostel and spent our last night showering and packing. The next morning we all got ready to go to the Italian restaurant except for one girl who had to leave for the airport because she had to catch a plane to Sardinia. We all waited down stairs with our luggage and once everyone was down we walked to the bus that was taking us to the train station. We took pictures with each other and enjoyed each others company because in a little over an hour we would be saying goodbye. At the train station we waited together and around 11am the group going to Naples; a group of seven including myself and two going to Rome, left the group and went to find our train. Once we found the train, getting on was a whole nothing thing. Our suitcases were the size of the aisle and people just wanted to get by, but there was no place for us to go. Once we were able to get our luggage put away, we sat together as a group and began our four-hour train ride to Naples.

Not much happened on the train, but I was able to take some pictures of the landscape and the group I was traveling with. Once in Naples we all unloaded our luggage and ourselves and headed towards the station. My host family was walking towards me with a yellow sign. I was so happy, but so nervous. I have worked so hard to get here and dreamed about this for so long!!! We walked back to their car and I noticed Mt. Vesuvius in the distance and we drove to Maddaloni. There we bought some school supplies and then went to this little food store and bought some things. We then went to Valle di Maddaloni and I was finally able to put down my bag and relax a little. I handed out my host family gifts and before I knew it was time for dinner. The first night there we had pizza, but this pizza had French fries and hot dogs on it! It tasted good, but a little weird to see.

Things with my host family have been slow, not much to do really. Wednesday and Thursday, September 29 and 30, I did not have school so on Wednesday my host sister, a few of her friends and I went to Caserta, a town close by, to visit the Reggia or royal palace. We only went to the back garden, but the garden is huge!!!! I have seen pictures on Google, but it was still breath taking!! I had so much fun getting out and enjoying nature. I loved seeing the clean, green grass and I just wanted to take off my shoes and walk in the grass. That night there was a festival for the city, the reason I did not have school, so I went to that. I did not go on any rides, but I walked around, looked at the vendors and watched this band play. My host sister’s cousin plays the keyboard in the band.

Today is October 1, 2010 and I miss seeing the tress change. Autumn is my favorite season and I love everything about it. I love Halloween and I am excited, but I know things will be different here, but isn’t that why I came? To live life and learn new things and learn about another culture? Thank you all again for subscribing to my newsletter and I hope you have enjoyed reading this and seeing the pictures. Until next time: Love you all!!

My New Blog

Ciao Everyone!!! As you can see I have created a new blog for my newsletter subscribers. I was unable to just send you all an email because it was too big with all the pictures and everything I wanted to tell you. Here I will be able to write as much as I want whenever I want. I will be updating every month, sometimes more. I will be adding pictures and videos just for you!! Before I get into telling you all about Italy, I would like to say thank you! Thank you to everyone who has signed up for my newsletter. Thank you for everyone who has supported me and helped my dream come true. It felt like yesterday that I was talking with my mom about being an exchange student at the end of ninth grade. At that time I was not serious, but enjoyed thinking about what could happen. After becoming part of the AFS club at Ketcham and meeting the other exchange students my interests went to whole new leave. As they year went on our friendships grew and I really got to know them and ask them all sorts of questions. Not until the end of tenth grade did I know for sure that I wanted to be an exchange student. I brought it back up with my mom and of corse she said no again. I looked into different programs and started compaing and picking countries. My first choice was Italy without a doubt. For so many reasons Italy kept popping into my mind. Then late in the summer I started to apply. At first I applied to AFS and then YFU, but then Ms. Sarna, a guidance counsler who also ran the AFS club, told me about ASSE.