Nissa Parker - La metà - 5 months in Italy!

Hi everyone,

February 2 was my official 5 month mark, meaning my exchange year is halfway through. I could not be more grateful for everything that's happened so far--I'm absolutely having the time of my life and I know that coming back will be hard.

Since I haven't blogged in a while, I'll try to recap everything that I've been doing.

Festa del Torrone

Torrone is a type of nougat candy that is typical of Cremona, and even has its own festival every year. Exchange students from all of Northern Italy gathered here to experience the sights, sounds, and smells of Cremona's famous Festa del Torrone. The festival lasted a whole week, but the exchange students were only all together for one day. That week, the streets were filled with stands of vendors trying to sell their version of torrone. It came in all different flavors, including classic Italian pistachio, tiramisu, and even Nutella. Saturday and Sunday were definitely the most crowded days, and Sunday ended with a huge aerial dance performance in the main square, Piazza del Duomo. After meeting all of these exchange students in Fognano, it was really fun to see them again two months later, discovering how we've all grown and changed.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a very bittersweet time to be on exchange, and for that reason, all of the exchange students in Cremona decided to work together to host our very own Thanksgiving feast. We cooked all of the traditional Thanksgiving foods and invited our host families to the oratorio where the feast was held. Pictured here are hungry exchange students past, present, and future. 

Christmas Break

Like Thanksgiving, Christmas was a difficult and bittersweet time to be away from my family. Even though I kept telling myself to be positive, that I'd only be in Italy for Christmas once, it's a lot easier said than done. My host sister Caterina came home from studying in Berlin right before my Christmas break start, which I was really happy about because she's a lot of fun. Christmas Eve, we all went over to the house of my host father's sister and her husband. There was a lot of extended family there, including Caterina's cousins. In Italy, it's a tradition to eat fish on Christmas Eve. Every course had some version of seafood, and the meal lasted probably around 3 or 4 hours. We exchanged gifts when we got home, as it was past 12:00 by the time we were finished eating. After a long night's sleep, we prepared for the next big meal--Christmas lunch at my host mother's parents' house. The feast was even bigger this time, featuring large chunks of some kind of roast, mashed potatoes, spinach, and mostarda--a Cremonese specialty. Included in the festivities were grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and in-laws. Being Northern Italy, it was all a bit more formal than I had anticipated, but it was a beautiful celebration nonetheless. I can't pretend I wasn't homesick, though. I missed hot chocolate, Christmas carols, and the smell of a real Christmas tree, but I managed to pull through with a smile on my face. 

The second part of the break was even more fun--I got to go skiing in the Alps!

We spent a few days at my host family's condo in a village called Madonna di Campiglio, and it was absolutely beautiful. It actually reminded me a lot of Steamboat, except people were speaking Italian and wearing Moon Boots. Skiing in the Alps was definitely one of my bucket list items, and I was really excited about the whole experience. There was only one problem--they don't go powder skiing! According to my host parents, I'll die if I ski off of the groomed trail... good to know, I guess. We had beautiful bluebird weather, though, so that was nice. 

New Host Family

I changed host families at the end of Christmas break. My new host family is absolutely the opposite of my last--there are three daughters near my age, the house is very lively, and I'm almost never alone. One funny tidbit is that my new family's last name is Merli, which means blackbirds. My last host family was Cacciatori, meaning hunters. So, I've gone from the hunters to the blackbirds. Somehow this is funny to me. Anyway, my new host mom is French, and a French teacher at a university in Brescia. My host father is an ER doctor. Two of my host sisters, Margot and Charlotte, are 16-year-old twins, and the other, Juliette, is 15. 

I FINALLY got to go to Milan with them. I love this picture because it's in front of the Duomo in Milan, which is indescribably beautiful. From left to right is me, Charlotte, Juliette, and Margot. They're all so sweet--I feel much more like part of the family than just a guest with them. 

Rotary teaches us about these stages of exchange:

1. The honey-moon phase; excitement

2. Homesickness; "everything here sucks"

3. Adjustment

4. Reverse homesickness

I'm proud to be able to say I'm finally in my adjustment phase. I'm easily conversational in Italian, I have both Italian and exchange friends, and I'm used to daily life. Everything is finally normal, and I haven't been homesick since Christmas. I have to continue to thank my sponsor club and my parents for making all of this possible, and my friends for supporting me!!! No part of this journey has been easy, but I wouldn't be here without everyone who believed in me. All in all, I'm happy to report that life is really great, la vita è bella.

Thanks for reading,

Nissa

Sam D - 4th month in Steamboat

Hi everybody!

Here is my first article on that blog so I hope you'll enjoy it!
First of all, I want to say thank you to all of you to give me this opportunity, I couldn't be more greatful!
A lot of things happened in for months so I'm gonna try to go over most of the great things I had the chance to do.
The first month I spent here, I did a lot of hiking with Gareth Mensing, I've been on mountain Zirkel,
Hahn's peak, pearl lake, etc.

We had a great time doing all of this!
After that, I went to the Rotary Inbound orientation camp in Douglas, I had the chance to meet a lot of great people from all around the world and created great friendship with a lot of them. The trip to douglas was very interesting because Mike took me in his little plane to laramie an tought me how to "pretty much" fly it, That was so cool!

Next month, it was Homecoming week, we made a lot of great activities an I had a great time. The next weekend, My second host family, the rabesa's, took me to fruita to do some mountain biking, it was amazing!

Not long after that, I went to denver with the mensing's, I loved it, Denver is a great city! A special event was happening on that weekend. A thousand of zombies invaded the 16'th street to walk and scare people, it was crazy, some of the dressed up people were just terrifying!

Halloween is definitly bigger than in Belgium, I had a great time walking in the street with my friends and see everybody dressed up. I was dressed up as the mad hatter from Alice in wonderland.
With me, I had a little worm named Carmelo, he did a great job!

For Thanksgiving, we went to Santa Fe, this was a blast! I met my best friend from Belgium who is doing an exchange in Los Alamos, it was so much fun, we have seen some beautiful backgrounds!

Not long after that, I moved to my second house with the Rabesa's. I also started snowboarding. I'm already addicted!!! I just love the snow!

As a conclusion, I will just say that I am having the time of my life! Thank you so much!
Sam Dossogne

Nissa Parker - 2 Months!

Ciao a tutti,

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

Nissa Parker - Inbound Orientation

Hello all,

This weekend we had our Inbound Orientation in Brescia, a large city about 30-45 minutes from Cremona. We toured the main squares where I saw this biker convention:

This cathedral:

And this Corinthian temple:

We then went to lunch and had a five-course meal at a very nice hotel. After lunch, we proceeded to a meeting where the first order of business was to stand for the national anthem of every country represented, including Australia, Argentina, Germany, Belgium, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Taiwan, and Finland. It was then that I started to feel the spirit of RYE--we gather from all corners of the globe to accomplish one goal, and that is mutual understanding and respect for every culture. After that, we all formally introduced ourselves to the other exchange students and to members of the District. Giorgio Giambiasi, the District Chair, then presented on rules and expectations as exchange students. 

Here are some friends I met that day. From the right: me, Alex from Florida, Ben from Canada, Yelin from Germany, and Camille from Belgium.

These are all of the exchange students in District 2050. All amazing people, I think. 

Yesterday some of the Cremona exchange students and I climbed the clock tower in Piazza del Duomo. It's the tallest brick building in Europe and shows time, date, lunar phase, and astrological phase. It was a fun way to hang out and get to know the other exchange students. 

We start school on Thursday, which I think will be interesting. I think my Italian is getting better because I am understanding more and responses are coming quicker. The Cremona exchange students all speak English and we will be at the same school, so I think that will be very fun, but I also need to focus on learning Italian and not just speaking English.

Otherwise, I'm doing great and I'm loving Cremona. Everything is awesome and beautiful and I'm so grateful to be here.

Peace and Love,

Nissa

Hope Nelson's Video of her France Rotary Exchange Experience

Nissa Parker - Sono qui!

Ciao!

I made it safely to Cremona last night after a long two days of travel. The flight from Denver to London was very long, but I managed to sleep for most of it. London Heathrow is a crazy, huge, scary airport but this isn't the first time I've gone through there alone. London to Milano is only two hours, but I slept for most of that flight, too. My host father, Fausto, and host sister, Caterina, met me at the airport and we drove the two hours to Cremona. The descent into Milano by air is beautiful--you can see the Alps in all of their glory and there are a bunch of little towns nestled in the valleys, just like Steamboat.

I took this photo out of the plane, but it doesn't do the actual landscape justice.

When I touched down in Milano, I realized how little Italian I know. I've been studying on my own very hard but I have a long way to go. It's a very humbling experience to barely be able to communicate without English. My host sister and host mother speak beautiful English, but I know that can be a trap when I'm trying to learn Italian. I will need to buckle down and force myself to speak Italian. 

From what I can tell out of the windows of our house, Cremona is beautiful. It's a nice sunny day and  the sounds of the city are clear through the open windows. Unfortunately, I have no idea where any of my host family is right now, so I'm sitting in the kitchen alone, blogging. I know I got up late, but I was just so tired. I don't feel great because of jet lag, but I'm sure I'll get over that soon. 

I start school at a science high school on September 12th, and I'm pretty nervous about that. I know there are a bunch of other exchange students at my school, though, so that will be fun. We have an orientation in Brescia (I think) on Sunday the 8th, and I'm looking forward to meeting all of the exchange students in my district. Otherwise, I have no more news but I will update once I do.

Peace and Love,

Nissa

Nissa Parker - Ciao!

Hi everyone!

My name is Nissa Parker and I am headed off to Cremona, Italy for the 2013-2014 Rotary Youth Exchange. I swear, if Disney had to make a set for the perfect little Italian town, they would build a copy of Cremona. Cremona is also the violin capital of the world, being the home of the famous families Guarneri, Amati, and Stradivari. I am so excited because I'm a cellist, and guess what? My first host father is a violin maker! He's arranging a cello for me so that I can play while I'm there, thank goodness!

I have been working hard on my Italian, but in all reality, I know next to nothing! I have studied Spanish my whole life and now am practically fluent, so it feels weird to be going back to the basics of learning a language like greetings, counting, and easy conjugation. However, Italian and Spanish are very similar so I'm hoping that will help me once I'm in country. I have been chatting with exchange students around the world as well as Rebounds from Steamboat. The most common pieces of advice I've gotten are 1. Learn the language, and 2. Be open to everything. So with that in mind, I've been working hard on the first and mentally preparing myself for the second.

I am so grateful for this opportunity. Thanks so much to the Steamboat Springs Rotary Club and District 5440, as well as to my loving and supportive parents. I am scheduled to leave September 1 and the date is creeping up so fast. I'm excited for the adventure, but nervous about the unknown! Sometimes I think to myself, how was I so crazy to suddenly decide that I wanted to live in a country (where I don't speak the language) without my family for AN ENTIRE YEAR?!?! The enormity of the whole thing is finally dawning on me. This is something that will change who I am and how I think forever. It's even bigger than that, though. Exchanging is about making connections among countries to spread peace and goodwill throughout the world. In Cremona I will have to strip myself of my American ideals and habits to integrate into a community that is completely foreign to me. Not only will I be exposed to Italian world views, but also those of places like Argentina, Sweden, Australia, and Thailand as I connect with the other exchange students in District 2050 Lombardy. I have to do what I can to show Steamboat, Colorado, and the U.S. in the best light possible while simultaneously assimilating myself into a different culture. It will be challenging, but so worth it. The exchange isn't about me, though. It's about ambassadorship, world citizenship, and mutual respect and understanding among cultures, and that is what I've made my goal for the coming year.

Peace and Love,
Nissa