*there are captions on some of the photos and you have to rotate the phone and click the photo to see all of it
Sorry, it's been a while since I last wrote, but I'm back with a new and (hopefully) engaging blog. This last month and a half have been packed with travel, holidays, food, and changing host families. While I had some doubts about changing host families at first, it turned out to be one of the most worthwhile and fulfilling moments of my exchange so far.
To be honest, changing families was daunting. The days leading up to it were filled with anxious thoughts and questions that I felt completely unprepared for. Before I left for Italy, I had time to process what I was doing and I was prepared to leave my family behind and start anew. However, this time was different. I had just gotten used to my current host family; I finally had a routine and life I could depend upon, and suddendly it was all taken out from under my feet. Unlike my real family, I knew I wouldn't be going back to live with them again, and unlike my real family, I hadn't had years to affirm to myself that I loved them and I could move away and come back and I would love them all the same. With my host family, I was just starting to realize they were like a family to me, that my host mom didn't feel like a stranger or maybe a friend that I was just staying with for a little bit but a real mom I could rely on; that my host sister wasn't just a person I spent time with out of obligation but my best friend and biggest helper; that my host dad wasn't just the cook, he was someone I really enjoyed spending time and talking with. And now, I had to leave. I had so many doubts: what if I didn't get along with my next family like this one? What if we do different things? What if they are very busy? What if I don't get along with my sisters? How will I explain who all of my friends are and what I do every day all over again? If not for my host family and familiy and friends at home, I'm not sure I would have had the courage to go, even if I would have been forced to anyway. At the start of the exchange, I thought changing families was a good idea to experience new ways of life and open yourself to new opportunities, and I still had this mindset when I was leaving, but I was doubting it. Could anything really be better than what I have now? I didn't want to leave. But I'm so glad I did.
After one day of being with my new family, I knew it was the right choice. (Okay, it wasn't really a choice since it was happening whether I wanted it to or not, but I can at least act like I had a say in how open I was to the new family once I moved.) The first morning I was there, we went on a walk with their dog through the fields/woods behind their house that leads to a small village (emphasis on small- take note that the city I live in has 5000 people on a good day and this village is smaller) which was really peaceful and helped me feel a lot more comfortable. Walking through the town and the nature near it helped me feel happier that I had moved and more hopeful for what was coming. However, the day was far from over. We ate lunch at my new host dad, Cesare, 's brother's house because it was his birthday. There I met pretty much everyone in my host family, which was a bit overwhelming but they were all very nice and the food was very good (unfortunately for me because we had a dinner right afterwards.) We went home for a moment after the lunch and then almost immediately went to see my new host mom (Linda) 's sister and all of her family to watch a game of soccer and eat pizza. Her sister has 3 children of ages 8, 1.5, and 4 months who are all very sweet. My host family, but especially my host sisters, helped me introduce myself but, more importantly, helped me learn the dozens of names being launched at me. Since that day, I've been adjusting well and have begun lots of new activities. But before we get into all of that, let's see what happened in the second half of December.
Right after I finished my last blog, Rotary organized a trip with my district and another district near us to the a mountain called Bardonecchia. There we rode a manual rollercoaster (basically you controlled how fast it did or didn't go and it was honestly terrifying), went sledding, and built snowmen. It was a lot of fun and I'm only sad it didn't last longer.
Then, as I excitedly told many of you, I went to Sicily for Christmas break to visit and celebrate with my host dad's family. We landed in Palermo and went immediately to tour Monreale. We visited Piazza Vittorio Emanuele which had a cathedral, built by many different countries in a combined effort to promote peace- especially among the different religions- that was truly one of the most incredible historical places I've ever been, rich in both history and architecture. Afterwards, we hit the road for a bit and made a pit stop at Cefalù, a beach town in the north of Sicily about an hour from Palermo. After the detour, we made our way through the mountainous countryside of Sicily to a small village named Gangi where my host dad grew up. I met my host grandparents and many friends of my host family that night. The next day we explored a bit and then celebrated a birthday with the same people who came to visit many months ago in October. The next day (the 23rd) we went back to Palermo and met my host uncle and his family briefly before touring around. The weather in Palermo was an unexpected surprise (whether it was a good one or not is yet to be decided, although I appreciated the rarity of it) that included hail, rain, torrents of wind, and sun (only the two times we were inside, of course). The next day (la Vigilia or Christmas Eve) we explored more of Palermo and had dinner at my host Dad's brother's house. We stayed until after midnight which is when we opened our Christmas presents and celebrated. The next day was spent entirely at the brother's house eating and playing many games. We went back to Gangi 2 days later and I got to spend more time with the friends and family there.
The night of the 27th we went to see a live presepe (creche in English but if you are like me and don't know what it means in English either just look it up). I thought it was just people standing there pretending to do things- like cutting wood, for example- and the audience would walk around them and appreciate the scenery. How grateful I am that I was wrong. The presepe was a live action remake of the birth of Christ and it was truly one (if not the) most beautiful and impactful things I've seen in my life. Well, to be fair, I've never seen anything like it in my life. They blocked off a whole section of the city and led us through the streets, pausing at some parts to act out a scene before leading us through streets that were decorated with items and people who played part in making it seem as if it were actually 2000 years ago. Not to mention that the city was a perfect fit for the reenactment- all the streets are cobblestone and it is built on a hill so there are walls that nearly look like a fortress, all of which is complimented by the narrowness of the streets and overall medieval feel the city has. I took videos of the entire show and edited them into a short film I uploaded at the bottom of the blog to check out if any of you are interested.
At this point, unfortunately, my time in Sicily was coming to an end, and after an early flight, we all arrived home once again. The rest of the holidays passed in a blur of small trips with other exchange students to places like Milan and Como and a small party for New Years with some Italians and exchangers. Soon enough, it was time to switch families, but I think I covered that pretty well already.
Over the past month, I've kept busy with a slew of activities ranging from a one-time exploit to a temporary commitment to a permanent part of the schedule. I've visited my friend Sofia's home and explored her city, gone shopping (twice) with my host family, and held a big dinner with my new host family and the exchangers so that they could meet. In terms of temporary commitments, I started a 4-week ski course I'm currently 2 weeks into that basically includes 6 hours of skiing (3 of them are the course) every Sunday. I'm really grateful that I have the opportunity to do it because skiing is something I really enjoy however is difficult to reach from Georgia. For my permanent addition to the schedule, I have now joined a volleyball team with my host sister which I go to every Friday. My new team members are all very nice and welcoming and I am very excited to play with them for the rest of this year!
I have met a lot of new people this month between Sicily, my new host family, and the new activities I'm going to, and I am so grateful for all of them. This exchange means nothing without the people in it, whether they are the people at home or the ones in Italy, so I thank all of the people I've met here and I hope we can forge or continue our relationships for a very long time to come. If any of you want to talk, hang out, call randomly on a Friday afternoon, or need anything in general, I hope you know that I'm not only here for all of it but I would be happy to do it with you. Bye for now!
-Riley
P.S. I actually think I am losing my English you guys didn't see the first draft of this but I genuinely spelled architechture "architetcher" and bye "by". But if you see any errors it's just a typo I swear
And as promised… the video of the presepe (I know I’m not great at editing but I hope you get maybe a little bit of the video if you know anything about the story)
*if this doesn’t work please tell me
Now… for the food photos
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