being on exchange is like being bipolar.

what i am about to write about isn't easy, both because i have a lot of pride and also because it is difficult to explain. i promised myself, however, that in this blog i would give the full account of what being an exchange student was like, and that is what i intend to do. so just hang in there with me during this post, okay?

i never thought that leaving my home of 17 years for a totally new place filled with a new language and new people would be easy, but maybe i didn't realize how hard it truly would be, and how much it tests every single part of me that i know. there are days when i am on top of the world, hanging out with friends, experiencing new things, eating new foods. there are also days when i am frustrated with doing nothing at school, can't understand someone, or just want to hug my mom or joke around with my dad. on an exchange, you don't know what the next day is going to bring. and that is the truth. i find that you just have to take it one day at a time. i've had a few bad days where i would love to just be alone. but that isn't the point of moving thousands of miles away, is it? you've got to push push push out of your comfort zone and create a new zone that you learn to be comfortable in. sometimes you've got to just know that tomorrow is a new day and just start over. take it day by day. that's really the only advice i can give future afsers, and it really is the best advice out there.

so other than that, italy has been great. i've been going on walks/runs everyday to try and get some air and get out of the house. at school, i get bored learning italian out of a book all the time, so i either write college/scholarship essays, listen to my iPod, or daydream. such is life, i guess. i've been skiing a lot, eating a lot, and shopping even more. even though the dollar-euro exchange rate really sucks, i've been finding deals. i think i'll have to buy like a bajillion suitcases to haul everything back to america. next week i have a week of break, thank god. on tuesday i get to go to the carnivale d'ivrea with a bunch of other afs students, which i am really looking forward to.

this weekend i went to brusson (a little mountain village about an hour from aosta) with maria and her family, and we got to watch these villagers make this bread, which was a cool process to watch, and the picture is below. every town here is so beautiful, but in a way that they all remind me of sun valley. i am super excited to travel to another part of italy next week: i want to try and experience as many different parts of this country as i can in four more months.

so there you have it, and update on the last day of february. i can't believe it has already been a month that i have been here in aosta. it's gone by so fast it really is crazy. i won't lie, i cannot wait until school is over. i really want the winter to be over, and for the sun to come out. life here is good: it has it's ups, it's downs, it's in-betweens, but such is life.