la dolce vita....

My time here is now really coming to a close. I leave May 25th. It's so strange to think about coming home and at this point placerville now seems more unfamiliar than italy. It's going to be so strange to go back to speaking english and i know i will miss speaking italian. It's so funny because now sometimes when i speak english i pronounce the words like the italians do :) I have been truly having a wonderful time here now and just enjoying the life. I have been so busy here lately and it doesnt hurt that the last 3 weeks of school we have only had 3 days of school per week. Right now is the festa di san nicola the saint of bari. It's been great to go see a festival so particular to my area. I've also just been having fun chilling with friends i've felt like i've been able to really open up and be myself because i'm so far past the language barrier now. We always go out and just get caffe and drinks in the piazza where there is always people. Today I went out on my friend Alessandro's boat which was amazing and I got to see the boat where there was the statue of san nicola. My friends are having fun teaching me barese dialect which sounds so strange. Also today I went over to my friend Nico's house where he has a huge thing for dj-ing which was fun. I think Sunday i'm going to a friend Alex from the 4t years party.
tanti baci

i can't wait to see everyone!

Hey everyone,
I can't belive this year is starting to come to a close right now im trying not to think too much about the end just living up the rest of my time here. I think i'm going to be back th end of may so i can take a summer class and catch up. Right now here everything is going amazingly well with friends,family, italian, and school haha not so much. The weather has been really nice lately so we have been able to go sit by the beach :) and i also have a bunch of time off from school in the next couple of weeks for the elections and also italian independance day. I can't really think of anything else thats new hope all is well in the states
xoxo

Ciao amore miei,
I just got back from England Sunday and it was an amzing trip. I went with about 60 other kids from my school. It was really fun getting to know more people and getting closer to some of the acquaintences i already had. Our luggage got lost for 3 days so the first few days were interesting haha. It was nice seeing everything in English and speaking some English but I still spoke mostly italian cause I was with all my classmates. England felt so much like being in America i got to drink starbucks and enjoy McDonalds breakfasts and drink Dr.Pepper :) basically just stocking up on all the things i've missed. It was so weird being in a country that actually has strict laws again haha. Wheer i stayed for most of the trip salisbury is absolutely beautiful I really miss it and London was amazing. Now i'm back at school and as we say in italian scuola rompe le palle (school breaks the balls). Now im just trying to get closer with my schoolmates everythings so much easier because i can actually speak and understand everything now. I'm sure by the end of this year i'll be bilingual.
un bacio forte forte

p.s. here's the link to my photos
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31278&l=53a3f&id=719185951

Ciao tutti,
I just got home from a wonderful trip to the north of italy. My family in he north was absolutely amazing and i'm sure we will stay in touch for a while. I visited Padova,Verona,Ferrara,Rovigo,and Venice!!! My favorite city was Verona it was absolutely beautiful and exactly the italy you imagine. Sunday I leave for England I am so loking forward to everything being in english for a week.
tanti baci

here's photo links

http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30263&l=f8eb9&id=719185951

http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30227&l=81d2a&id=719185951

http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30226&l=f281d&id=719185951

it looks ike the same link but it's really 3 different albums :)

Ciao everyone,
Its been a while since I last wrote. Things don't really seem exciting enough to ever write about because it's just normal life now. My report card for school come sout next week and I'm pretty sure I passed everything with at least a 6 like C's in the american grade system. Everything is much easier at this point because the language is starting to become 2nd nature. I now find myseòf thinking and dreaming way more in italian. One of my really good friends here left to go back home early...I'm really really happy for her she's really content at home now. The most exciting news is in this next month I'm going to be doing a lot of travelling. Next week I go on my weeklong exchange to the north of Italy Rovigo but we are visiting Verona,Padova,Venice,and Ferrara. Then I have one week at home and the next week i go to England with my school to Salsibury and London for 8 days. After that I am just going to travel to visit some of my friends around my region in Taranto and Lecce I think. I send lots of love from Italy.
tanti baci

Everything is really good in my new host family I'm really enjoying myself and getting to know all of them. School starts again tomorrow and I'm not looking forward to it back to chemistry,physics,italian,math,english and biology. I think in three weeks I have exams and then my report card. Over the last month my italian has gotten so much better in my dreams now Im speaking on both english and italian I've started reading novels in italian I really believe I will be fluent by the time I leave. Over the break if I have learmed one thing its that every celebration is just another excuse to stuff ourselves with amazing food. I think I have eaten enough panettone and pandoro to last a lifetime. My new family is amazing and warm and loving and I'm so happy to be beginining a new year with them :)
tanti auguri,
Tess

Buon Natale

Cara amici,
I hope everyone is having a great time preparing for the holidays. The biggets news for me is after a long and stressful process with afs I have decided to stay in Italy. Right now I am staying with a temporary family because my real family is in Trentino(the mountains) for vacation and it was too late for me to go with them. I have met the new family and they seem really sweet. The mom is an english teacher, I have a 15 year old sister, a brother who is away at university in milano, and a father who works in Rome. I will have my own room :) I am hoping this new situation will be much better than the last one. Christmas for me this year is going to be very odd since I am away from my real family and not in my new one here yet. I am just thankful though that everything worked out.
And now for some lighter news...
One of my good friends Renee from our first orientation is coming down to Bari to visit her relatives for christmas. We should have fun going out shopping and to the bars. Its so funny whenever I go out with friends they all ask about the drinking age in America and when I tell them to legally be able to drink you have to be 21 they just get a look of shock on their face. Another cultural difference is on thursday we had a party in school and the kids are allowed to bring champagne to toast and celebrate for a school party I just laughed because it's so different than in America. Its going to be awkward because I am still going to be going to school with my ex host sister but I change classes every hour so it should be ok. I have finally reached a point with my italian where I can basically understand everything when people are speaking at a normal speed and I am getting way better at expresiing myself. The other day I was speaking and I used a verb I didn't even know i knew how to conjugate and after i used it i was surprised haha. About 2 weeks ago it snowed in Bari for the first time in years and everyone was going crazy. The kids at my school are so cute and they were like Tess did you see the snow did you see the snow!!! Right now 6 more months here feels like forever but i know it will all be worth it in the end I really belive I will be fluent in Italian by the end because right now my italian is so much better than my spanish was. I miss everyone and lots of love to everyone in the states.
pace e amore
-Tess