September 8 2016

The past few days have been very chill. Giuseppe, my host dad, is a doctor and works a lot and all my host siblings are off at school, so I spend a lot of time with Giovanella, my host mom.

We wake up at the house in Marina di Ragusa and drive to the school where she works. I sit and draw or read while she and the other teachers meet. After school we run errands and eat lunch. When we are finished with errands we spend some time relaxing at the Via Roma house. Giovanella's big project this week has been cleaning the house. I stay out of the way by taking long walks in the city. Last night we went out for sushi with Aunt Graziella! 

September 6 2016

Highlights/Summary of the past two days 

Visiting Nonna (With Davide) 

The view of the port from Nonna's balcony


 

Reading in the rain

A letter from my sister!

Making a bracelet while sitting in on my host mom's teacher meeting.

September 5 2016

Yesterday I went on my first solo adventure of the neighborhood around the beach house. My first task was getting out of the yard, which proved more difficult than I imagined. I had to recruit help and be shown which gate to use, and that the electric gate closes automatically. Once I finally made it out of the yard my family gave me all the normal advise. Don't talk to strangers. Watch out for cars. Don't get lost. 

Feeling very confident I took a beautiful hour long walk. On my way home I kept walking back and forth along the same long road because I couldn't find the right turn. Finally I decided it was much easier to admit I was lost than to panic about how to get home. I called my host mom, and within minutes Davide turned the corner on his motorcycle to come rescue me. Turns out I was only about 2 blocks away from home. Because the road took a sharp turn, from the outside it looked like a dead end and I had continuously walked past it. 

Here are some pictures I took of the neighborhood! 

September 4th 2016

The past two days have been a whirlwind of motorcycles and beaches. I am truly living the dream. In Italy it is much easier for teenagers to get a motorcycle license than a car license. Here are a few pictures of one of the beaches I visited with my host mom.

September 2 2016

Today I visited the scientific school where I will be studying starting September 14th. School in Italy is very different than school In the United States. The students stay in one class all day with the same people and the teachers rotate classrooms. I was able to snap a few pictures! 



Also took a quick video of the view out my bedroom balcony!

September 1 2016

Today I was very thankful for a chill day. Despite the excitement of fast paced Italian life, I needed a day to sleep and rest. 

September 1 2016

One thing I have learned about life in Italy is that it moves very quickly. It seems sleeping is something that is only done when there is time. The past few days have been full of new experiences and new people. 

My host family hosted a dinner party the other night for their friends. My host mom, Giovanella and I went to the Pescaria together too pick up all the food for the dinner. While we were waiting for the muscles and fish to be cleaned, one of the other customers asked the man behind the counter if he could taste one of the shrimp. The man said yes, and gave the customer a raw shrimp to taste. My host mom saw my shocked expression and asked if I wanted to try one too. As an exchange student it is always advised to try everything, so I have had my first experience with raw shrimp. It wasn't my favorite but it wasn't bad!



The dinner party was great. The guests arrived at 9pm (because everything is later in Italy/Sicily) and left at 2am after playing guitar and having an intergenerational dance party. 



The next day I was invited to join my host parent on their tire boat. We sped across the ocean and I was able to get a few pictures of the shore line from the boat. 


After the boat ride my host brother, Davide, took me on a quick tour of Ragusa Ibla. It's a beautiful (but also very tourist concentrated) area of the city. I took lots of picture but I took them on my Italian phone which has not been activated yet, so I am not able to send them to my computer.

This is a picture I took from the internet and used as my laptop background for months before actually coming to Ragusa. Yesterday I saw this in real life.  

 I ended the night with a dinner out with my host mom, and was then picked up by Davide, who later dropped me off with my host cousin Anna to meet some of her friends. My host family is so close and so kind and take such good care of me. I am very lucky to have them.