The Little Things

Alright...so I sent that lovely letter to my family earlier this month and Marianna (my momma) sent back a response on Christmas Eve ( a pretty good Christmas present=)) She gave me some insights to (or should that be for? Oh well, grammar was never one of my strengths=)) my life in Vico Equense.

1. I will definitely be on the coast. Something new to me=)) I've always like visiting coasts (at least warm ones, like Santa Cruz) and my house is a couple miles from the beach. In fact my school is 5 blocks away from the beach. And the water is clear! I'm a bit (alright, more than a bit) afraid of the ocean. Why would anyone ever walk into an enormous pool of water, when you can't see the bottom? There could be man-eating fish and unknown holes and drop-offs; it's creepy. So it's GREAT that the water is clear!

2. School: Claudia (which is actually pronounced Cloud-ia) will be in the same grade as me, even though she is a year younger than I am, due to the Italians have 5 years of high school. We have school 6 days a week , Monday through Saturday, from 8AM to 2PM. Short days, but school on Saturdays will be horrible=))

3. Vico Equense has about the same temp as California (my Papa and I actually followed the parallel latitude lines on the globe and my peninsula lines up with Chico.)

4. Both my momma and Claudia speak English....so I'm not in that bad of a fix. I'm still going to cram as much Italian study as possible into the next month.

So, those are the little things that make me happy=)) I only have a month left.........

One weekend, a LOT of surprises

Wow, this weekend I got a ton of surprises! So get comfortable....it overwhelming!

Number One! As you all know, I got my host family! I am very excited to get to live in Vico Equense with the Di Martinos. We've scoured the internat looking for pictures and more information about the town. There's not much, but between the links about hotels, so we've gathered that the town is a little costal village, right on the water. My mom sees it like the Monterey Bay; Naples is at the top of the Bay of Naples, Vico Equense towards the bottom of the curve.

And....now I got my travel information! Here's my international flight iterniray:

1/29/2009 Departs New York/Kennedy Airport 7:15PM

Arrives Paris/Charles De Gaulle Airport 8:40AM on 1/30/2009

1/30/2009 Departs Paris/Charles De Gaulle Airport 11:15AM

Arrives Rome/Fiumicino Airport 1:20PM on 1/30/2009

7/5/2009 Departs Rome/Fiumicino Airport 7:20AM

Arrives Paris/Charles De Gaulle Airport 9:30AM on 7/5/2009

7/5/2009 Departs Paris/Charles De Gaulle Airport 1:30PM

Arrives New York/Kennedy Airport 3:35PM on 7/5/2009

It basically means that on July 5th, I'll be pulling a very LONG overnighter=)) And as most of you all know, I LIKE to sleep.

I have to be a the Doubletree Hotel JFK Hotel in New York at 4:00PM on 1/28/2009 for my orientation before I leave. That means my last day of school will most likely be Monday Jan. 26! Only a month and a half!! YAY!!!!

GUESS WHAT?! I now have a host family.....wow, I'm a little too excited to talk. And the most exciting thing, my advisor didn't think I would find out until January! Here's the details:

City: Vico Equense
My Family: Mamma : Mrs. Marianna Di Martino
Nonni (Grandmother): Mrs. Giovanna Costabile
My Sister: Claudia Di Biagio

I just emailed them this letter:

Ciao famiglia

Come state? Sono molto bene! Mi chiamo Kaitlyn Fuqua, io sono di Placerville, California, Stati Uniti d'America. Io ho sedici anni. Non parlo italiano molto bene. Sto cercando di imparare l'italiano. Per favore mi dica su di voi. Avete domande su di me? Sono molto eccitato per vedere tutti voi!

sinceramente Kaitlyn

In English:

Hello family

How are you? I am very good. My name is Kaitlyn Fuqua, I live in Placerville, California, USA. I am sixteen years old. I don't speak Italian very well. I am trying to learn Italian. Please tell me about yourselves. Do you have any questions about me? I am very excited to see you all!

Sincerely Kaitlyn

Whew....I really am SOOOO excited! Does anyone have any questions for me? Just comment on this blog....I'm leaving in a month and half!!!!!

Love you all, Kaitlyn

***Revision!** To all who have asked, I DON'T speak Italian that fluently. I used a translator=))

Hi everyone! I know everybody is as anxious as I am to find out about my host family...but we are all going to have to wait a little longer. However, I do have some news:

1) I received Visa information and applications. Once I give it everything to AFS in a couple of days, and they will return my passport with my visa in it when I arrive in New York for the 2 day pre-departure orientation.

2) I won't receive host family information until a month - 2 weeks before I leave. Rest assure that I will definitely tell EVERYONE about my family when I get one!

3) I fly into Rome on January 30th....which happens to be my birthday! I fly out of Rome on July 5th. My parents are a little disappointed that I won't be with the family on my 17th birthday...but I can't think of a better b-day present! than flying into Italy!

So that's it for now.....I'll update soon!

First Post

Kaitlyn Fuqua’s Italian Blog -

Foreign Exchange student with AFS spending 5 months in Italy (Jan.-July ’09)! Blog will be updated throughout my stay in Italy, along with new developments before my trip, such as preparing for Italy and news on host family. This blog will save me from a life of carpel tunnel – which I am bound to get if I write everyone of my family and friends! I’ll update as much as I can, including pictures. Thanks to everyone who has helped me!