Pictures from Varese

My family in Varese and I

Lugano, Switzerland

The group. Left to right: Raffaele (Veit's host brother), Allie, Maria, Veit, Me, Perin, and then random guys from the art school

Perin and one Varese volunteer at the parks

a church in Torino. Once a year, light comes through this hole in the ceiling...it is the light from god. People travel from all over to see this light.

The group again at the Museum of Films. Left to right: Veit, Me, Perin, Raffaele, Tina, Rachele, Max (a Varese volunteer), Chris, Maria, and Allie...yes, we are sitting on toliets=))

Me in the Matrix film at the Museum of Films

Rodolfo Vatentino had A LOT of pictures in the Museum of Films (one of the days I actually remembered to bring my camera=))

Hi everyone! Sorry if I made some of you nervous...I have just been very busy. In the past month a lot of things have happened, not leaving me a lot of chances to relax, let alone write here! All right so in a nutshell: School, school, school. Then I found out (even though my parents and I didn't think I would be able to go because most spots are for the annual students, not the semester ones) that I would get to go on an exchange trip. They told me that I would be going to Varese, a city near the border of Italy, between Milan and Switzerland. But in order to go, I had to find an American fable ( much harder than it looks, we steal most of our fairytales from other countries) and translate it into Italian, find 2 reciepes (American, of course) and translate them into Italian, then make a presentation about an American artist. Oh, and pack, book my tickets for my flights, and fill out forms. I found all of this out 9 days before I was scheduled to leave.... But things were ok...I'll give you a quick recap of each day I was in Varese (Jessi, don't read this...most of it is in your letter I am mailing you...) Oh, and by the way, I chose "Three Billy Goats Gruff" (not American, actually it's Norweigian, but I really needed a story I knew already), Pancakes and Rice Crispy Treats, and Andy Warhol.

Wednesday, March 25th: I had already booked a flight online (I'm just now finding out how quickly things move when you have a credit card=)) packed my luggage, and said goodbye to Claudia.I had to take the bus from the train station in Vico to the airport in Napoli (Naples) at 6:50 in the morning. Got to the airport, read "New Moon" (in English, thanks Mom and Dad) and drank coffee for 3 hours until my flight left. An hour and a half later I landedin Milan and was picked up by Riccardo, an Interculturà (European AFS) Varese volunteer. He took me back to his house where I met the other foriegn exchange studnets who were going to be with me during the week. Veit (pronounced "Fight") from Germany and Perin from Turkey were annual students (by the way, Veit's a guy, and Perin's a girl.) There was also Allie from Canada and Maria from Argentina (they were both semester students.) Those guys all lived outside of the Varese area, like me, in other places in Italy. Allie: Livoro, Maria: actually don't remember, sorry..., Veit: Cosenza, and Perin: Sicily. There were also two annual students who lived in Varse, Tina from Norway, and Chris from Hong Kong. Perin was telling me stories about the famous Sicilian mafia. She said that they go into stores and say they are collecting money for the church (although they never actually give it to the church) and then they give you a reciept saying you paid. This happens monthly. If you don't give them money, they destroy your shop. She said sometimes you see cars burning. Normal occurences. I thought the mafia in Naples was bad. Apparently, there's a part of Naples that is famous for being very dangerous. It's called the "Spanish Quarters." When Marianna took me to Naples, we only walked 5 feet into the alleyway.....It was creepy. She just said that it's not safe to go into. Then of course, there was the man who was shot...but you all already heard that story!

Thrusday: Oh, I forgot to talk about my family in Vares. I had a mom, a sister, Rachele who is almost 17, and a brother, Pietro who is 11. They were all very nice and, even now when things are getting better, I enjoyed their company and way of living more than my family in Vico. We went to a cooking school where a boy took my recipe for Pancakes and cooked them. He let Allie and I cook some, but we burned them. The Rice Crispies turned out a littl weird because they didn't have Rice Crispies only Coco Puffs and the marshmallows were colored. Stephano, the boy who was helping us, left them in the freezer a little to long....so they turned out to be hard and brown.....not the regular Rice Crispy treats.

Friday: We went to Milan! We wen to the Museum of Science and Technology. It was interesting, but I wish I could have stayed there longer. And then the blind institute. We all walked around a room with black walls and no light. You couldn't see anything and they wanted to re-create how a blind person feels. I could barely keep up, because they spoke in rapid Italian, guiding us along the course. We went through crossing the street, climbing onto a boat and ordering at a bar recreations. I realized how much we rely on our eyes. And how much I didn't enjoy not haveing them. Thursday night we went to a Chinese restuarant. Chris, one of the Varese students, taught me how to say "Good Night" in Chinese ("Cho Tai") The Chinese food was pretty good.

Saturday: We got in pretty late the night before (1AM), so I spent Saturday morning sleeping. In the afternoon, we went to watch a water polo game. Rachele plays water polo (not this game) and she was really into it. It's not my sport, but it was nice. That night we all went to a bar called "Jamaica." Allie and I both had strawberry margaritas, which were pretty tasty.

Sunday: We went to Torino, where apparently the Olympics were held awhile back. Anyways, we went to the Museum of Films. It was mostly boring, but some parts were neat. It was all about how movies are made and older films. I'm more of a new age movie person. But it was better than staying home.

Monday: We went to a children's school, and the kids got really excited when I told them that my neighbor has a cow. They asked if we ate the cow or only used it for milk. You should have seen their faces....how could I tell them that we slaughter the cow every couple of years to eat as hamburgers?! I'm a coward; I couldn't. After we went around the parks with another Varse volunteer.

Tuesday: We went to an art school where I made a diasterous(sp?) presentation about Andy Warhol. They knew more about him than I did. I did meet a guy from Napa, CA. He moved to Italy 9 years ago with his family. Later we went to Switerland (Lugano)! We went to the Museum of Chocolate. It was wonderful, authentic Swiss chocolate!

Wednesday: I went home, and now I miss everyone=((

So, that was my Varese adventure. Other things have been happening at home:

1) I have some problems with my family. Things are slowy getting better, but somedays, like today, things happen and it slips right back to being a problem. We try and resolve things, but sometimes unexpected thigns happen.

2) My friend Ilze, the Latvian foreign exchange student, is being sent home. She cut her wrist a month ago, and theat's why they are sending her home. We are both pretty broken hearted about it. I'll miss her alot, but I think home is the best place for her right now. She needs some help and I don't think Italy is the right place to get it. Home is better.

That's really it.....of what I can think of....I'll post a new post in a little bit with pictures...

Oh, and the earthquake was northeast of Rome, nowhere near me...thanks for everyone's concern. It meant a lot=)) I don't know too much about it, but Italy is trying to put the town back together right now.

Miss you all! - Kaitlyn

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