Carnevale!...and other things=))

The other day was a holiday called Carnevale. It's not just an Italian holiday, it is celebrated around the world, and I'm pretty sure it originated in Brazil. It's basically a combnation of Halooween and Mardi Gras. People get dressed up, usually only in traditional dresses, wear masks (there are different masks for differnt regions of Italy. We have the Napoliatan maks) and little kids dress up in costumes. A couple of days before Carnevale(Carnival) little kids run around in their costumes. On Carnevale, people dance in the streets, there are lots of parades and bands. Claudia and I went to a Carnevale party at her frined's house the night before, where we dressed up in costumes with her other friends. Claudia was little red riding hood and I was an Indian. Haha, if anyone from Mr. Zeller's class reads this, you know whatfirst poped into my mind when they put me into the Indian costume...but I figured it wasn't the best time to rant about injustice and genocide. Just shut my mouth and listen to people go on about how the Indians helped the poor Pilgrims grown corn. Hmm.So my Carnevale wasn't that exciting, but it's still kind of a neat holiday.

Claudia and me dressed up @ Carnevale Party
Antonio(the one on the left) is Claudia's boyfriend, and they are dressed up @ the Carnevale Party...I love this picture=))

Not much has changed...except I can't believe, that on Sunday, I will have been here for a month. I've adjusted to a lot of things already...when I ride the train, I don't even look out the window in awe anymore. On Wednesdays Claudia has an advanced English class, so she stays at school until 5pm, while the rest of the class goes home at 12pm. I take the train home. Yesterady I bought my first snadwich in Castellammare (I was pretty proud of myslef...except when it came to picking the cheese...it America, we have chedder. Usually it's between, at the most, chedder, monteray jack and swiss, but here in Italy there are a billion cheese and not one of them do I recognize...except maybe Parmasean(sp?) which they eat in slabs....I really don't like it...only ground, not in slabs. Anyways, I just closed my eyes and picked a cheese, but I said it wrong, and the shopowner corrected me. But everything else went OK.)

Vico....
Marianna working @ Titos in the kitchen...she is the one at the sink with the blue hat on...

Today my AFS coordinator here is picking me up after school and taking me to eat pizza...I guess it should be OK.

Linda's Answers....

1) No, the teachers don't give me grades yet, because the system is very different here. The kids have their book for each subject and they study pages from it, memorize the pages and then give an oral report and it orally tested by the teacher on those pages. I just try and learn Italian...sometimes the teacher's try and involve me in the lower classes, but not often. And at Union Mine (my school in California), I have already completed my junoir year, so I don't need the grades to graduate on time. SO it's OK if I get a 2 in German! (the grading scale here is from 1-10. Claudia who is a VERY good student and studies about 4-6 hours after school everyday, get's 8s usually...)

2) Spell Check: I know, it doesn't have it....I try, I really do, but I gave my mom the Bad Speller's Dictionary...it's in America....I'm sorry!

That's really all that's happened...does anyone have any questions for me? It's a lot easier to answer questions, than try and recount my whole week...

*Mom, can you find out when the AVID reunion is and get Ms. Prior's current email address for me? I don't want to send everything on her school address if it doesn't work...thanks!*

Facts, Answers and Questions....

This post is just to answer Mrs. Hamiliton's questions...I'll post a bigger one in a little bit.

1) No, I don't have a class at school for me to learn Italian. Everyone trys to help as much as they can, and teachers do give Ilze and I (mostly me, because Ilze is getting really good at speaking Italian. She studied it in school for 2 years and had a private tutor for 3 months before she came, so her she can get a lot across.....I can't) excercises, but we are expected to study a lot on our own. After all, the classes we are in have their own agendas and their students already know Italian. Here's a typical day in class (I'll give you tomorrow's schedule; each day I have a different schedule...it's farther down in another post if you want to look at it)

Mercoledi

Math (III AL, Claudia's class) - Really boring. I don't understnad anything....they are studying Analytical Geometry....and everyone who knows me knows that I am horrible at math. I don't understand a lot of concepts at UM, how am I suppose t study it in Italian?! Who ever said that Math is easy because it's the same in every language is a liar....the numbers may be the same, but how you explain the steps is very different. It took the teacher a half an hour, and a lot of gibberish, to tell the class that the interger in the answer must be positive....and WHY couldn't he just say that? Oh well, I copy it all down to look like I'm doing something.

German (III AL) - I have to buy a book for this class soon because the teacher wants me to take tests with Claudia's class...urgh. I vented in an earlier post....that's all I really have to say on the subject. Am I getting better...yes, I now know the words for "yes" "and" "my name is" and "Good Morning"...will I be ready for an oral exam in a month...niene.

Individual Lab (with Joaquin and Ilze) - This is with the teacher who is tutoring the foreign exchange students, she's not the best teacher, but I am learning some things. We just study words, how to buy things, conversation topics...

P.E. (III AL) - There is no teacher for this class...it's not structured like the classes in the US. Kids come into the gym, decide if they put sweatpants on or not...some grab a volleyballl and play...most sit on the floor and chat with their friends. Because it's the only subjects I can actually participate in without speaking...I usually grab abasketball or a volleyball and try and convince Ilze to play with me. It's like pulling teeth though, she doesn't like any physical activity...so either a coule of guys join me in shooting hoops (no one but Ilze know how to play a game, and she, of course, doesn't want to) or a couple of girls hit the volleyball back and forth with me.

Italian (2BL) - I usually do excercises in this class on the computer, while Ilze reads a book. The teacher is our Italian tutor...she told me to buy a book soon, so I think I will get the first Harry Potter book, I've read it enough times....

...And on Wednesdays we get out at 1pm...not the whole school, just our class. Each class has it's own schedule and they get one day where they get out early. Because Claudia stays until 5pm at school for an advanced English clas, I come home alone on the train.

2) No, we don't have a library at school. No Libraries period. Everyone buys every book they need...in fact, I have to buy a couple...one for German (£22), one for one of my Italian classes (£9,50), an English Literature (£18) and my Harry Potter one (not sure how much it will cost).

3) Titos...well, here are some pictures to help. It has a main restaurant, full bar, tavern down below, and small space upstairs with a fireplace. No specialties...cooks whatever...by far the nicest restaurant in Vico. It has a huge full screen TV, which plays football games and live music on the weekends...

4) A typical lunch is whatever the cook makes for us (gnocchi is my favorite), bread, wine, water, cheese. Sometimes we have cake and most days we have coffee afterwards...and, by the way, Mom, Dad, don't make fun of me...I like american coffee with sugar, but I also drink Italian espresso without anything...so HA!

5) Lunch is a big meal, but dinner is the same too. My family really isn't a typical family...most Italian families have several courses, with pasta first, then meat, and salads....we eat only one course. Which is fine with me...they eat huge servings anyways...I don't think I couldhandle more servings. Lunch is at 14.30 and dinner is at 21.30, usually.

so...that's it. I'll post more about Carnevale, which was today, later=))

Another week.....

So a week has offically gone by since my last post, and I thought you all might like another! My schedule hasn't changed much...each day Claudia and I wake up at 6:30 and get ready for school. I take a shower everyday, something that Italians really don't do. Claudia and Mariannna only wash their hair once a week, in fact tonight Marianna tried to convince me to stop washing my hair everyday (it's actually very good for you not to wash your hair everyday. The natural oil is good for your hair, but my hair gets very oily, very fast and I always feel really dirty when I don't wash every day.) But the showers every morning are horrible...the warm water runs out after 5 minutes, so I have to shampoo and condition very faster before it gets cold. I can towel dry my hair, and it takes only half an hour to completely dry naturally...which is nice. But it is frezing here. FREEZING! My family doesn't have a very insullated house, with wood floors and no rugs makes for a very cold morning. And the window in the bathroom I use doesn't lock, so if the wind is strong, it blows open. It's cold here all the time....and the wind! Oh, most of the cold is probably wind chill. Anyways, after getting ready we eat breakfast...nothing very Italian, yogurt, nutrition bars and these weird, but delicious biscuits. I've actually taken to drinking this Peppermint tea with sugar in the morning and...Mom, Dad you guys will never believe this, but coffee. Not so much the Italian espresso, but caffe americano con lette e zucchero (which is American coffee with milk and sugar). I actually like it...and it's warm=)) Then Claudia and I hurry (sometimes run if we are REALLY late) to catch the train because we are usually behind schedule. We meet Claudia's friends at the train station, usually only 2 or 3, and her boyfriend, Antonio. He is nice, but he doesn't speak any English and he speaks a lot in dialect, which I don't understand any of. Claudia's grandpa speaks only in dialect too and he's determined to have Claudia teach me, but I think I need to learn Italian first=)) We get to Castellammare and walk to school (I was so proud of myself the other day when I walked from school to the train station in Castellammare and took the train home, then walked home...all without Claudia. She had to stay after school for 5 hours. I remembered the way, got my ticket and got on the right train! It was exciting. And now I can navigate most of Vico on my own too!) After school Marianna picks us up at school and takes us to Titos for lunch. Claudia's uncle and aunt own it with Marianna and they all work there...they are both very nice. Whenever they see my at lunch or at night, if we go in, they usually automatically bring me a coke...except sometimes I drink coffee or beer (last night I had my first Italian beer and I didn't really like it that much, but Claudia told me that there's some other that I might like. Mom, I fill up a little glass, I don't drink very much at all. It's ok.) Last night I bought my first cigarettes (sp?) too..they were for Marianna and Claudia's uncle (who's name is Benji, not Tito...I'll explain that name later.) We go home and Claudia studies for hours and then sometimes we go to the gym or walk around Vico. Laely it's been to cold. I promise to get pictures up as soon as I buy batteries for my camera.

School...ahh. Some more negative and depressive people that I know might call it hell, but I only call it that sometimes=)) Sometimes I am very happy and sometimes I feel like crying or screaming. Italians are very friendly people, you say hello to everyone and give everyone hugs and kisses, it's nice. Very intimate and friendly, like they really care about you. But the other day was not one of those days....first the German teacher decided that he wanted the new American foriegn exchange student, who doesn't even understand most Italian, to learn German. And not just start learning German, but catch up on the 4 months of German the class had already learned. I almost lost my head....I don't cuss. People who know me, know that if I do, it's because I mean it....Ilze could only stare at me when we got out of class that day. I think my Facebook comment line that day was "WTF!", I was so mad! I have to translate the textbook from German to Italian with the German-Italian dictionary, turn around and translate from Italian to English with the Italian-English dictionary. There's something wrong with that picture. But that's life, and I....am studying German. Oh, but that's not it....the Math teacher decided that even though I don't understnad any of the math, I am taking tests with the rest of the class....Argh!! That was a bad day. Actually bad is an understatement.

Yesterday was better. We had P.E...it's nice. I like to play different sports when I'm not forced to run and do structured things. These classes are a joke. This lesson, the teacher sits in the corner, 5 kids surround a ping pong table and the others sit and talk...that's it. Sometimes kids play volleyball, but they really aren't very good. They slap with an open hand and it's pretty bad. Ilze doesn't like to do anything...so I found a basketball and started shooting by myself. It felt great....at home I shoot hoops when I feel lonely or just need to think and it felt like my little bit of home. I was all by myself, for some reason nobody plays much basketball here, for awhile, but after an hour two boys who were playing handball joined me. It was nice to just shoot and not have to talk...although I was better than them. They weren't very good, and seem pretty surprised when I made shots they couldn't make=)) And I'm not very good at basketball. So new friends...I even saw one of them in the hall later that day and said hello! Yay for friends=))

Oh it was funny, there's this Italian boy who went on a foreign exchange trip to Alaska last year and I met him the other day. Now anyone who speaks english here doesn't speak very good English and they have that Italian (or in Ilze's case, Lativian) accent. So when this guy started speaking English with an American accent and American slang, I felt like hugging him! I was so happy! Hopefully I get to talk to him more=))

Oh and I know someone is going to ask me this question sometime...the guys here are not that cute. Sorry, the stereotype is wrong. And maybe it's just me, but they all look alike. Tall, dark hair, tan, scooters and leather jackets...all the same. Some are cute, but I personally prefer American guys. There's my 2 cents and now no one has to worry about my runing off with some Italian guy. (First of all, I would walk away with them, not even to trust getting in the car. Claudia's friend's boyfriend who took us to the party on Friday was a good driver, but I don't trust any of these other guys...no way am I hopping onto a scooter!) I've got some friends willing to take pcitures though for Rachel and Nicole...I'll get them to them for the AVID DBACK)

Tomorrow's Valentine's Day! Hmm...does anyone have any questions for me? I promise I'll get pictures up for everyone soon! Miss you all and have a fantastic Valentine's Day! Oh and they don't have bagels here! -K

***This doesn't have spell check...sorry if things are misspelled****

Scipero

Today we had a strike, and it's so different from the US that I thought I would write and tell you all about it. Claudia and I were getting ready and running out the door to catch the train this morning, like we usually do, although we were on time this morning (we are no often on time...the other day we almost lost the train. But teachers here are pretty relaxed about tardiness, especially when you are a good student, which Claudia is.) Anyways, hen we go to the station, there weren't a lot of people there. Usually the place is swarming with teenagers waiting for the train (there are at least 6 different high schools in Castellammare, so every teen in Vico takes the train.) Claudia told me it was because there was a strike, and many people had skipped school to go the strike. But she doesn't usually agree with the reasons for strikes, so she doesn't go very often. Our class gets good grades and they don't skip school very often because they want to study and take the tests. Today's strike was different....a couple of days ago a man was killed by the local maffia (Ms. Hamilton was right=)) in Castellammare. He was shot in his car on in front of his 15 year old son....Mom, it's ok, Claudia said this rarely happens. It is, after all, Castellammare, not Naples. A safe little city. And the man was involved in the mafia in the first place. But it was still big news here, because it doesn't happen often.

So Claudia got several calls from friends in class telling us that they weren't going to school and when we got to school everyone was standing outside the building, even though it was 8:30 and school starts at 8AM (the train was late.) There was a paper put up in front of the school telling everyone tha the strike would begin at 9AM. Of course everyone was happy that we didn't have to go to school. I learned how to say "I am happy that I don't have to go to school" in Italian, so I could answer when people asked me why I looked so happy. Then we entered the square where everyone was at...I'd say at least 300 people, kids from all of the high schools, shop keepers didn't even open their stores so they were there. I even saw one of my teachers! People were carrying flags of each town around and the mayor spoke, then we all walked in a loop around Castellammare. I'm tired, but it was interesting. Claudia said this strike was a quiet compared to others, when people are usually shouting and singing. She said that this one was different because we were paying our respect to the man who died.

So that was my first strike...and I didn't even have my camera! It was Eureka's last day, the foreign exchange student from Malaysia...and I helped Ilze discover Edgar Allen Poe (I know you are proud, Meri)...because we had to read "The Black Cat" ("Il Gatto Nero") in Italian out loud in class...my turn was horrible, but the teacher was insistent that I read. And it was year 1 kids...

So more news..... we are going to a party tonight! Claudia calls it an "18 and over party" but really it's an birthday party for a girl who is turning 18. I don't know the girl, but I think I know some people who will be there...Claudia says that tomorrow we will be very tired in school, which leads me to believe that we will be out past midnight...Urgh, I don't want to go to school tomorrow. Can you believe that when they say "weekend" here, it just means Sunday? Isn't weekend suppose to be plural????

Oh, I said I would post some differences about schools here and school in California....
**When I say "0ur, I mean Californian",
1) Our schools are a lot nicer, which leads me to believe that our school get a lot more money than the schools here
2) There is a statue of Mary in the hallway, where everyone make a cross and bows to...I don't, but then I'm not catholic....
3) They have 6 periods, which they call hours, without all breaks at all, including no lunch....we get out at 2pm, then we go home and have lunch
4) The students stay together all day in the same room, and the teachers change rooms....
5) Everyone here looks so old! Cladiahad a friend who was in year 4 (if I knew Italian I would be in year 4) and I swear he would pass for 20 in the US....they look so old....

Well, that's it for now....hey, my friends...give me updates on what is going on at school! SATs...have you taken them? If not, you better be studying you butts off....

Oh, wait, one more thing! Here are some trips that I know I am taking.....

March - exchange week with AFS ( I get to go toanother family for a week in another city) and I am hopeing to go to Venice!
April - one of my classes that I have without Claudia (but with Ilze) is takeing a 4 day trip to Florence (Firenze)
June - Claudia, Vicky and I are going camping in June in Sardina! Not exactly camping, Vicky has a house there, but Sardina!
Sometime....- Claudia's dad lives in Rome, so we will go there a couple times this year....especially for Easter.

Ok, that's really it...we have to go to by a present for the party...oh, no, I don't do well without sleep........

Pictures Update

Pic # 1: sign in Paris Airport, #2: another sign, #3: my internatinaol dinner on the flight, #4: the cabin we were in on Air France ,#5: Mail box at the Paris Aiport,#6: A picture of the story of Romulous and Remus...but we all decided that it was too racy of a picture to be in the US, so we must be in Paris. Believe it or not, it is actually an add for espresso...you can see the tiny coffee cup in her hand=)),#7: Us at the airport in Paris, #8: the toliet in our hotel room in Rome...the back of toliet is on the wall a couple of feet above the actual toliet. It's very odd.,#9: Rome, #10: Another toliet picture, #11: Kristen and Jessica looking like stupid tourists in the Paris Airport, #12 - #13: The Alps lining Italy through my window on the flight from Paris to Rome, #14 - #15: My hotel room at in Rome, #16: there's your bidet picture, #17 - #18: Rome, #19: A little puppy showed up in the hotel in Rome...he was very cute until he peed on the floor. I'm just glad it wasn't on us!, #20-#26: Rome

And the novel continues......

Where was I.....oh, the rome oreintation.....so, there's this girl who is from Reno, Sparks area and she is very picky. Btw Mom, she isn't as bad as i orginally thought, but the picky thing gets me. She has specific rules: Only dry salad, no meat other than turkey, no alcohol (absolutley none...not a single drop), no tomato sauce (that's suicide in Italy), no mushrooms, if there's anything she doesn't like it can't be touching something else.....The only thing i saw her eat at the orientation was bread and chocolate sauce on it (I forget what's called) and an american pizza at the airport. She got sick on Sunday and didn't know why. Everyone pratically screamed at her "It's because you didn't eat!" I really don't know how she is going to make it here......See, Mom, you are truly blessed that Kyle and I eat most things=)) How dare you call us picky!



We did get to go to the Vatican City which was really neat. Jessi, tell Meri that the Vatican guards are not that impressive=)) Kristen (the girl from Nevada City), Jessica (the picky one), and I went around inside St. Peter's Catherdral. It was amazing....I can't describe it. Google it and you will see...the most holy place I've ever been to. Nana, Papa and Kyle, I sent you postcards. I had my first culture mistake......my friends and I were trying to find the tombs and we went around the church asking "Dove Crypto?" which was all we could remember in Italian. Every guard pointed us in a differnt direction. We finally got to a station where the guard told us the tombs were at. We had to pay 5£ each and walk up 372 steps (and they were huge steps.) Suddenly, we found ourselves at the top of the church looking out over the top of the city. It was great......but not the tombs. I never did get to see the tombs.....oh well, there is time to go back someday. Another hilarious story about Jessica: a sercurity guard really liked her. This middle aged man got really excited when he saw her and kept telling her that her eyes were very, very beautiful. He kissed her hand and her cheeks. Alright, some might find this weird, but he was kind, not perverted about saying she was beautiful. And Italians kiss ALL the time! But she took it the wrong way and got really scared and nervous....the guard didn't speak english so Kristen and I had to calm her down and tell the guard why she was scared. Apparently, she doesn't like guys... at all. Very strange for a teenage girl, let me tell you. But she get scared and nervous when any guy gives her attention. Our orientation volunteer suggested getting some beer to calm her down, but Jessica and her rules said no. We went back to the hotel and everyone took trains or flights to their hots families.



I took a train to Napoli (Naples) with an AFS volunteer and another girl who was staying in the city. Then my liaison, Camilla, took me on a train to Vico Equense, because Marianna, my host mother, was busy at work. Claudia and Marianna took me home, and Marianna was sick so she went to bed. This was at about 8pm. I finally got throught o my parents and we talked on Sype for a little, then Caludia invited her friends over for dinner and we all ate pizza. I met Claudia's ex boyfriend, Antonio, her best friend, Vicky (that's the Asian looking one in the photos, Mom. She is actually from Ukraine, and she moved to Italy 4 years ago. I thought Kristina might like that=)) Any way, Caludia invited 3 more of her guy friends (I don't remember their names), but Claudia and Vicky are the only ones who can speak english, so they had to translate a lot. They wouldn't talk a lot, only about Italian football (soccer), but they really light up when Vicky told them that I knew something about Valentino Rossi...you're right Jessi, they REALLY liked him. One of her friends told me he would help me get a poster for you=)) Anyways, we didn't go to bed under 12:30 and I was very tired for school the next day. We took the train from Vico to Castellammare di Stabia, where our school is at. School was....

School was both a nightmare and interesting. Even after my Italian studies, I knew nothing. The day is a blur of kisses (Italian's kiss eachother on the each cheek when you say hi and goodbye, it can add up to a lot of kisses when you meet a lot of people) and "ciao"s (also hi and goodbye) and Italian. No one can ever say that I don't know what it's like to enter high school and know no one....I know exactly what it's like AND I didn't understand a word of what anyone was saying. A few people managed to get a few words in english...about as much as I can ask of someone who speaks spanish. It's exhausting.....I really don't understand very much. I'm starting to pick up some words, but today wasn't much better....they speak so much, so faster. And Italian on paper is a lot like spanish, spoken, it's nothing like spanish. Spanish also has a more literal translation to English....Italian has little words that pop up in sentences, and the end of the word changes a lot.

First day....Claudia and and went to the headmistress's office where some teachers introduced me to Ilze (pronounced ill-zay), who is the foreign exchange student from Latvia and she does speak english. She lives in Castellammare and is very sarcastic....a lot of fun to hang out with. We have the same schedule. She knows a little Italian and understands a lot more than I do. Anyaways, we went to class...and I didn't understnad anything. It's very frustrating, but I study Italian as much as I can. Here is my schedule:

Lunedi (Monday) Inglese (English), Italiano, Matematica (Math), Italiano, Matematica, Filosofia (Philosophy)
Martedi (Tuesday) Chimica (Chemistry), Inglese, Ed. fisica (P.E.), Tedesco (German), Matematica, Italiano
Mercoledi (Wednesday) Matematica, Tedesco, Lez. Individual (Italian for the foreign exchange students), Ed. fisica, Italiano
Giovedi (Thursday) Italiano, Inglese, Italiano, Inglese, Chimica, Italiano
Venerdi (Friday) Italiano, Italiano, Chimica, Lez. Individual, Arte, Matematica
Sabato (Saturday) Italiano, Matematica, Chimica, Italiano, Tedesco, Religione (Religion)

They seperate the subjects into hours. Most of my classes are with Claudia, but some are with the year 2 kids, and other year 3 students.....There are many differences and I'll put up a list in my next post.

No much has happened.....Claudia and I watched the movie Chocolat yesterday. The sound was on english, bu the subtitles Italian, so it helped both of us. Because I don't know much is frustrating and scary a lot of times, especially without Claudia and at school. And I wish everyday that I could be back in my own bed at home going to UM in the morning....it would be so comfortable. But I chose this and I am staying...I will be fine as soon as I learn Italian. So I study my butt off, unless I am writing on here=)) Miss you all like crazy....and if you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask! Love, Kaitlyn

New Update

Well, thanks mom for the update.....

New York - 1/28
I flew to New York for my first oreintation. The day was so long...I had to get up at 3AM, get to the airport in San Fran at 4AM, and take a 5 and a half hour flight to New York. At this orientation all of the AFS students from the US, who are going on the Italy, Austria or France programs, are gathering at the hotel. There were about 40 for Italy, 19 for France and 2 for Austria. This orientation was very boring! I realy didn't learn anything at all.

My big downer for the trip: I was sick. I really should have taken Airborne befoe I left, but I procraistnated and look what happened. It wasn't horrible though, I just had major sinus issues. It's not fun flying when you have to blow your nose every 5 seconds.

All of the other kids are really nice. I haven't found anyone who lives near me yet....except for a friend in Nevada City. I met her at the pre-departure orientation and it's good to hang out with her.

Paris - 1/29-1/30
The international flight we took was a lot of fun. I love Air France! We had comfy seats, diner and breakfast (both within 3 hours of each other. We left New York at 8pm, hence the dinner and arrived in Paris at 7AM - their time- so we got breakfast too!) They had about 15 movies to choose from, it was great! Everything on the plane was repeated in French first, then English...it threw me for awhile, considering I couldn't understnad any of it!

I was thinking that I would sleep on the international flight, I had it all planned out. But I got ahold of all the movies and before I knew it the time had passed. The girl in the seat next to me was going to Italy also and she got realy excited when sh found out it was my birthday=)) We landed in Paris when it was 7AM (their time.)

Rome - 1/30 - 2/2
The oreintation in Rome was wonderful compared to the one in New York. They basically gave us some phrases in Italian and fed us. Lots and lots of food....we had 3 course meals for lunch and dinner. It was all good, and not little courses. I felt bad everytime I left food on my plate, but the waiters wouldn't listen when we told them we didn't want any more. They just waved us on saying "No, no, you eat!"

I have to go now, but I'll update again as soo as possible, and let you all know what my family and school is like. Miss you all! - Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn is in Italia!

Hi everyone!

This is Nancy (Kaitlyn's mom) letting you know that Kaitlyn is in Italia with her host family. I am writing this short update as Kaitlyn won't get a chance to for awhile and I wanted you all to know that she is in Italia.

We talked to her for about 30 minutes today on Skpe. We even got to see her on the webcam. It was really great to talk to her and see her! After spending two days in Rome at orientation she took two trains from Rome to Naples to Vico Equense today and met up with Marianna and Claudia. She sounded happy but tired. Her sister, Claudia, had some friends over to meet her and they were getting ready to eat pizza. A highlight of her orientation was a trip to Vatican City! That was one place that she really wanted to visit on her trip and now she has done it! Tomorrow (actually as I write this she is probably already up getting ready) she will be going to her first day of school. That's about it for now, hopefully the next update will be from Kaitlyn herself! Thanks again for all your support and interest!