Today marks 2 months since I first arrived in Italy, and a lot has happened since then. I've gotten very close with the other Cremona exchange students, befriended my classmates, met almost all of the exchange students in Italy, become proficient in Italian, and I am having the best time through all of it. I won't pretend there aren't challenges--going to Italian school, breaking cultural barriers, living with a family that isn't mine--but the benefits and successes far outweigh the challenges, and I am figuring out how to deal with problems as I go.
On a typical day, I wake up around 7:00, bike to school by 8:00, spend 5 hours in classes that I barely understand, go home at 1:00, eat lunch, and then figure out what to do with the rest of my day. Most of the Italians study for the afternoon, so hanging out with my classmates during the week is difficult. Many afternoons I will spend at a café, park, or gym with other exchange students. I'm enrolled in an orchestra, but otherwise not involved in other extra-curricular activities. I am going to start teaching English at the school where my host mother teaches, so I am excited for that.
Back in September all of the exchange students in Italy (minus Sicily) met up in a small village called Fognano, near Ravenna, in the state of Emilia-Romagna. You know life is sweet when you're having the time of your life with over 100 other exchange students from all over the world.
The meeting took place at a convent, where we slept for two nights. If you want to picture what this region of Italy looks like, you should picture what you see on postcards and in movies--green rolling hills covered in vineyards, dappled with old terra cotta churches and cobblestone streets. So beautiful. During the day we had presentations by Rotary, organized activities like hiking in the nearby hills, and lots of free time to meet all of the exchange students. It was so much fun. The community of RYE kids is so strong and so open, because what are we here for if not to make connections?
I am loving Italy so far. People are friendly, the food is great (hello extra kilos), the architecture is magnificent, and the language is beautiful. There are times when I can hear someone playing violin in the street, while I'm walking through the city center, and I think to myself, "my life is a movie." No matter what challenges I have, those moments remind me of why I'm here and how lucky I am. My Italian acquaintances are becoming friendlier around me, my language skills are coming along nicely, and I think I'm doing a decent job at assimilating into the Cremonese world. I am having so much fun and I am learning so much. One thing that living abroad has done for me is giving me a better perspective on where I come from--Italy isn't perfect, the U.S. isn't perfect, but they both have things to be proud of and appreciated. It's becoming more apparent to me that every country has its issues, but we can't focus on negativity if we want anything to change.
As far as school, I think I am quite lucky that I don't need credits for back home, having already graduated. I am trying to keep up in my classes, but I won't pretend that I can actually follow physics in Italian. I go to the scientific school in Cremona, which is one of the hardest disciplines in Italian high school. My Italian is getting pretty decent, but these classes are hard for the Italian students--a lot of it goes right over my head. School is so very different from back home--here, the teacher talks with little-to-know visual aid while the class frantically scribbles notes. Every couple of weeks or so, they'll have a "verifica" or "interrogazione". The former is a two-or-so hour written test and the latter basically amounts to an oral test. It's common that they don't have nightly homework, but spend their afternoons studying and memorizing their notes and textbooks. When I tried to explain that in the U.S., we write papers and do research projects, my Italian friends were simply confused as to why we would do such things. I got to make a presentation about Steamboat, LWS, and my life to my classmates (other weird thing--I only have one group of 24 kids who I spend the entire school day with), and I really enjoyed getting to share the Steamboat way of life.
To wrap things up, I'd like to thank you for reading this blog, and I'd like to thank Rotary a billion times over for this experience. I can't think of any other way I'd rather be spending this year. I will try to keep updating as interesting things happen, so stay tuned!
A presto,
Nissa
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