I am really really sorry that not a thing has been posted since my halfway mark, but it's justifiable, I was living life. It wasn't always the best, but it was life. I have tried countless times since then to sit down and write whatever was going on, and not a single one of them got posted. I had amazing stories to share, like how I attended an Italian wedding, I got to go to the beach with all the exchange students living in Puglia and Basilicata (two regions in southern Italy), and I made it till the very end. The biggest goal I achieved was actually making it back to Rome and boarding a flight back to JFK on July 6th, and not a second earlier.
LETS GET DOWN TO BUSINESS (to defeat the huuuuns)
Alright, so since I have last posted, I made a major move to the south, in total, it was a nine hour commute and once it was over the only sentence I could form was much like my first day in Italy "Io sono stanca" (I'm tired). I caught a flight from Genova to Rome and spent a few hours at a cafe with a wonderful volunteer who actually spoke english, and caught a four hour bus ride to where I would be getting picked up. On that bus, the first thing that happened was some kid took my seat and caught an attitude with me, for those of you who do not know me, I am quite the sassy person, and since I was tired, I decided to let him keep MY seat. His mother was sitting right across from me and decided to practice her english on me, even though I kept saying "Io sono qui per imparare la lingua" (I'm here to learn the language) but that didn't work. And in that moment I realized I had made a mistake and that I should have stayed in Genova. I much preferred living in a big town where people did not care who you were or whether you spoke english or not. Not once did some stranger out in the open try to practice their English on me. In Genova, it would only occur in school or when I was out with my friends. I was living like an Italian in Genova, it dawned on me that my exchange would make a complete 180 and nothing would be the same in the south.
Enough of the soppiness, I'm going to rush through the next two months. My new school was one level, from the front entrance of the school, you could see right out the back. That was hard to get used to since West Springfield is just a little (I mean a lot) bit bigger. But hey, welcome to Italy! There was a circus in the parking lot of the school.... A CIRCUS! I obviously took a selfie with the giraffe they brought. I went to my first 18th birthday party, but I had a curfew so that sucked having to be home at an early, but whatever. End of stay camp happened and my god I miss everyone so much. Then came that dreaded day where I'd been looking forward to, but hoping it wouldn't actually happen... the US and Germany game. Lol, no, even though that game was intense and I had to watch the game via Skype, but the day I had to go to Rome. Come to think of it, the day before Rome was the last day I spoke only Italian, once I got to Rome we basically all transitioned back to English. After no sleep and tears streaking down our depressed faces, at 4 in the morning, the kids from the US and Costa Rica said our final goodbyes and left for the airport. Now we dealt with overweight bags and final checks to make sure everyone was ready. I managed to get through airport security with a pint size bottle of piercing disinfectant... I guess the Italians really didn't care.
We got on our plane to Switzerland and from there we had a layover and I discovered I managed to live in Italy without my resident permit... oops? We met up with the french semester kids and boarded our next flight. Shoutout to Swiss Airways for good food. If anyone every flies to Switzerland, or anywhere near there, FLY SWISS! The plane ride was long enough for me to start watching the Wolf of Wall Street and fall asleep, wake up and re-watch the movie. It's a three hour film. 'Nuff said. After we landed and settled everything in customs we all went our separate ways. I didn't actually cry until I had to say bye to Makena and Ali, not that the other goodbyes didn't mean anything, but they were the last two people and it hit hard that Italy was actually over. I was back with my mom. I was actually with my mom. I wasn't in Italy anymore.
It's almost time for the semester kids to leave, and I wish them nothing but the best, it's a hard time, but it was an amazing experience. Remember, YOLO!
Peace, love, and I miss Italy,
Shushu!
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