Undescribable

Here it is, the moment that for months I alternated between feeling would never come and dreading the day it did. June 4th was always just a date I prebooked a couple of weeks after I got here, never really thinking about what would happen when it did. Of all my experiences in Italy, the main thought that remains is that I have been incredibly, undescribably blessed more than my wildest dreams. More than anything I want to thank my host family and friends, because I made friendships here that not only helped me to understand the world around me, but helped me understand how great it is to have people who really support you. After 8 months ( and at least 3 without a blog) I had planned to write some big, huge post about what a fantastic time I had and how thankful I was, but in the end, decided that pictures would tell the story better than I could :) I hope you enjoyed reading this this year and I can't wait to see you all again soon and to see you at home for those Americans reading :)

Dinner with my host family

When the Belgians came to visit for an exchange

Us in London

4B in Paris 

Ascoli around Christmas time

New Austrian and Italian friends

c'est magnifique, une semaine à Paris!

Hey everyone! I was so excited to write this blog post because of how much I fell in love with Paris a couple weeks ago :) I went with a class at my school, and all of them are such sweet people and were so welcoming to me while we stayed abroad. We stayed for 4 days on the outskirts of Paris and took the metro every morning into the city. Though I don't remember everything, a few things really stood out to me:
1. Notre Dame: I spent some time wandering by myself inside, and I swear, "I Can Only Imagine" was playing in my head the entire time. Every window is stain-glass and it's amazing how the churches of Rome and Paris have completely different feels. Notre Dame was elegant, but at the same time had a welcoming feeling that seemed like a warm bed when you come home weary and dispirited.
2. The Eiffel Tower: At night, the lit up tower is magnificent! We all went up to the second floor at 10 o'clock PM and the view of the monuments illuminated below mixed with the haze over Paris and the steel beams that flashed blue every 5 minutes is something I will never forget.
3. Versailles: Last year I studied the French Revolution at Franklin. As we continued to study, the more fascinated I become. I loved the absolute power that Louis the 14th strived to achieve, the clever way he drew the nobility into his web, the way the democratic idea showed cracks when Robespierre became the most powerful man in Paris, the spirit of the lower class during the Tennis Court Oath, when they decided they deserved a better life than what Louis the 16th and Marie Antoinette were providing. All of these facts swirled in my head as I stood in awe walking through the Hall of Mirrors, and all the rooms of Versailles, this symbol of power and royalty in France. The gardens that stretched for miles and had numerous paths and fountains and lakes, all of it was the kind of thing I had only seen in movies and textbooks, never comprehending that these places do really exist.
4. The Louvre and Musee D'Orsay: First thing I thought about the Mona Lisa: it is set up in room completely unlike the movie "The Da Vinci Code" and there is no way that the museum curator could have died and positioned himself the way he did in the movie, it's impossible. That aside, the amount of famous works blew me away. I walked down a hallway among Caravaggio's, Da Vinci's, Botticelli's and Raffealo's works. We went to the Spanish and Italian wing, stayed for 3 hours and still couldn't see everything. What a collection. I never imagined that history would become so real for me as it had this trip. As much as I enjoyed the Louvre, the paintings that really stood out to me were those in Musee D'Orsay. These works were mainly by impressionist artists. We had some time in every room to explore and get to know what was present and I consistently found myself getting lost in the colors of Monet. The bright and relaxed paintings took me to blanket under a willow tree, sleeping the warm breeze of summertime. I loved the colors and the emotions the paintings projected.

We saw so much that trip I couldn't explain them all like this, but I wanted to hit the highlights :)
Not only was Paris on the program this month, but I also got to meet some family in Rome for a couple days. I had been to Rome with my host family and was looking forward to showing my family around this time and having them experience it and love it the same way I did. So I took a bus at 5 am March 1st, just after learning my family wouldn't arrive until 5 pm, if I was lucky. I was planning on them arriving at 10 am, not 5 and didn't plan for a flight trouble or staying by myself in a city as large as Rome. My host family and I had planned a route the night before and I knew how to get to the hotel (I was going on foot), but I was still terrified. Big city, speaking Italian and I didn't know anyone who could help if I needed it. Well, once I got off the bus, it turned into the best day I had had in a while. I found the hotel and began to explore. I bought a cappuccino at a bar near Piazza Cavour, went to Piazza Navona, saw Saint Augustine's Church (where there is an original Caravaggio) and then (this is something I have wanted to do since I left 4 years ago) walked to Vatican City, grabbed a piece of pizza and ate on the steps of Saint Peter's Square. Talk about perspective. I realized that since I got here, I have wanted to have the confidence to walk by myself through a city, speak with the locals in their language and watch people on the steps of Saint Peter's Square. I could not have been more blessed and this month showed me that there are always things to marvel at and that I do have the confidence to do whatever I want to do. It was most definitely a month to remember :)
PS my visit with my family was awesome, I had some great conversations and am so glad they got a chance to see what I've been doing these past couple months. I also was excited that they got to see Rome and experience it like I had before.

5 months down and I can barely believe it

Hey everyone! I know it's been so long, I tend to forget about writing sorry! Although, it has been snowing like crazy here (We're on snow day #8) and it's a perfect time to update the blog :) First off, I realized this morning that a week and 3 months from now I will be returning to the States. It's blows my mind to think that this experience is already half-way over. So much has happened and so much is yet to come. I have been blessed with a host family that has a passion for travel and in the next 3 months I will be going to Paris (on Wednesday, ahh! :), Rome, Florence, Austria and maybe a couple other places.
Before all the traveling starts though, I thought I'd fill you in on what has been going on the past couple months. After Christmas break, school went back to normal and though nothing super noteworthy happened, I did notice that speaking is becoming easier. Now I speak to my host family almost solely in Italian and am beginning to understand movies without subtitles, which is much more difficult than I anticipated. We watch movies here almost everyday, and I'm finding that it's one of the best ways to keep learning a language, just by watching and listening all the time. It's such a great feeling to finally be able to start communicating well after 5 months. I noticed it much more this month, like when I see friends or stay with the family, I can have conversations that aren't one-sided and confusing anymore and that has been so encouraging :)
I know this is short, but I'll keep everyone filled in these next couple of months and hope everyone here and at home is doing well!
Best,
Kailey

Death Penalty Essay (For a scholarship)

This is an official entry for a scholarship through The Law Office of Joshua Pond. Thank you for reading.

Seven Minutes

            Seven minutes. A few words that carry with them the finality that comes with knowing nothing that is said will change the circumstances. The amount of time from a death row prisoner’s last statement until the time he is pronounced dead. In the land of the free and the brave, this does not seem like a fair way to treat citizens. America is the land of second chances, which our government throws away in seven minutes. No matter what the prisoner has done, they deserve what this country has promised them: an assurance that they have a right to life.

            It is understandable why many states still have the death penalty in place. It helps with overpopulation in the prisons, reduces the risk of a prisoner escaping, assuring that the person who did wrong will forever be a memory and shows our justice system will deliver the punishment the people see fit. What it doesn’t bring is an end to the suffering of the victim’s families, the bills that keep piling up (execution is not cheap), and the heartache of the prisoner’s family, that sees everyday on the calendar an end date to their relative’s life. As for the prisoner himself? A life in prison is far more deteriorating than serving ten years of a sentence before being killed. The way America setup, it is not right to still be in the age of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” Instead of the having the death penalty, our society should be focused on helping prisoners realize the depth and seriousness of their crimes and spending their lives in prison turning their lives around. Death row inmates should be commuted to life sentences. While this doesn’t help overpopulation in prisons, it would greatly improve America’s report with the European nations who are so against this policy, and show that American government is not going to take the risk of murdering possibly innocent or mentally challenged people. The question is not what to do in place of the death penalty, the question is how to work with what we already have, which is the life sentence with no possibility of parole.

            Now is the time of reform. America should consider abolishing the death penalty and show that life in prison is a worse consequence than being put on Death Row, that during a life sentence, it is not waiting to die for these prisoners, it is a way to realize the severity of their crime and spend their lives contemplating that. The victim’s family will be assured that the vivacity of their relative’s life is realized and it is not forgotten what they have done and the pain they have caused said family. Seven minutes will no longer be enough to repent, to say everything that needs to be said, because some things need a lifetime. 

 This blog post is an official entry for the <a href="http://www.joshuapondlaw.com/scholarship">Law Blogger’s 

Venezia, Verona e Roma :)

Hey guys! I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and New Year's! Certainly, my holidays looked a little bit different this year, but I will always remember how special it was surrounded my family and friends from Italy and America. One of my favorite holiday traditions here is that on Christmas Eve, there is a big dinner with the whole family, that goes from 8:30 until midnight and at midnight, everyone stands up and kisses everyone's cheeks, wishing them a Merry Christmas, I just thought it showed the spirit of the Italians. On Christmas Day, my mom and sister flew into Rome and decided to spend a Christmas meal with my host family and I. Me, Giorgio and Aurelio drove to the bus station to pick them up and I can't describe how great it was to see my family for the first time in 3 months. Introductions were made and we all talked on the way home, getting to know each other. Once we got home, dinner was set for 17, everyone was celebrating together and my family blended right into the craziness. For dinner there was pasta and 3 types of meat and dessert and it truly was just  like those Italian family dinners we see in the movies. After dinner, there was singing, dancing and talking.
The holidays were especially fun for me this year because of all the traveling I got to do. With my mom and sister, I went to Venice and Verona. Venice is a city unlike any other. Beautiful buildings in all colors, no roads and only canals by which to travel by boat. Though Venice was beautiful, it was Verona that made an impression on my family and I. We saw Juliet's home and museum from Romeo and Juliet and it was gorgeous! The whole town had this welcoming feel with wide streets, open markets, food stands, and ancient ornate churches lining the streets. It was by far one of my favorite places I have seen ever. After my family headed home, there were a couple days of rest before I went to Rome with my host family. I have seen Rome before with the Latin club at my school, but was blown away by how many new things I learned this time around. I saw the village where Mussolini lived (now a park with running trails, with Mussolini's house and buildings still remaining as a museum), the Trevi Fountain, Saint Peter's Basilica, where the President and Prime Minister live, a planetarium, Piazza Navona (always my personal favorite) and Castel Sant'Angelo (where there's the path to the Vatican, the one in "Angels and Demons"). We walked a lot too and so many things I saw on foot that I'd missed before. Although all the sights were fantastic, it was the speaking in Italian and understanding the people that I enjoyed as well. A couple people asked me to take pictures of them and I was so excited that I understood when the asked without even thinking. All in all, a great break :) I hope everyone had a great holiday!!
-Kailey

Natale!

It's almost Christmas! :) I know it's been forever since I've written and that is colpa mia (my fault). There's some things I want to catch you all up on, starting with my birthday. So being here, I never expected anything special, I am so happy and grateful just to have a family to stay with and to be accepted at school, that when I woke up to my host father singing "Happy Birthday" in Italian and a breakfast of only chocolate pudding and Nutella, I was blown away. When I got to school, my friends all kissed both of my cheeks (the custom here) and wished me a happy birthday, then surprised me with a party! My teacher came as well, and we had a blast, talking and laughing and eating. There were so many typical Italian desserts and I had a food coma by the end of the day. After school, my host family had a lunch for me with my favorite pasta (penne pasta with cream, mushrooms and proschuitto) and some of their family came as well, and it was fun to celebrate with everyone. In the afternoon, my friends took me shopping to get some clothes from here,  I still hadn't been shopping if you can believe it, and it again occurred to me how blessed I was to be here. Then my host family and I went to see my host father play guitar at a bar near town, and I learned how to play the Italian version of BS and some typical card games, and for the first time, spoke into a microphone, thanking my host family and friends, in Italian for all they had done for me and how happy I was to be here! The Italian speaking made me so happy. Speaking of which, that's going much better as well. I can understand a lot, and speak a little bit, and it's always getting better. It surprises me when I think back and realize 3 months ago, I couldn't understand more than ciao, and now, for example, today, I spoke Italian all through the day almost, the bus ride home, at lunch and with my host family.
The homesickness is still there for sure, and Christmas isn't helping, but I'll be home in June, and really, I'll have plenty of time with them when I get home. I love my family and friends and miss you guys like crazy!
In unrelated news, I got my first college acceptance and scholarship to Johnson and Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island! Woohoo! It was my first choice and I'm praying I can go (as long as Jesse comes too!).
I hope everyone is doing well and has a fantastic Christmas! :)

I know things get better

Hey guys! So I just realized it's been almost two weeks since I've posted anything, so I figured today was the day to get back on it :) These past couple weeks have been a lot of ups and downs for me. There was rarely ever an in between happiness or sadness, it was either one or the other. About three days ago, I was really down. I never showed anyone except my family in America and was discouraged about learning about Italian and struggling to fit into this culture that I had loved from afar at home. That night was a Saturday and I didn't make any plans to go out, since I personally wanted to wallow and watch A Walk to Remember. Well, after 2 hours of wallowing after lunch, Fiorella (my host mother) came in to my room and said, "I called your friends, they'll be here in 20 minutes." So I get up, put on some makeup and something cute and try to feel better. Before we left the house, I told Fiorella that I was sorry for being quiet and seeming sad and am working on it. She told me I could quit, go home and forget about Italy if I wanted to. Honestly, it was tempting for all of about 2 seconds, I knew quitting was not an option, so I swallowed my tears and thought happy things that related to Italy (still didn't want to think about America). I met my friends in the piazza in Martinsicuro and we went to the huge street fair that is held in Grottamare (a city near my school) every year in honor of Saint Martin. God knew I needed to be encouraged that night and He delivered :) I had the best night with my friends, laughing and eating nutella crepes and meeting tons of people from school. Then, on the train home, 2 people asked me about directions and stops on the train in Italian and I could understand and respond!! I was thrilled and couldn't wait to find Fiorella and Giorgio (my host brother) and tell them about what had happened. Slowly I'm picking up more Italian and feel much better about living here this year. I even got "The Notebook" in Italian to try working through. It's the little things that make a difference :) Hope everyone is doing fantastic! Till next time,
Kailey