genova; city upon a hill.

have you ever seen Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants? if yes, let's just say that genova, italy is the equivalent of where lena goes in greece. beautiful old buildings, splashed with the warm hues of tuscan yellow, strawberry red, and faded orange litter the hillside filled with green trees, right at the cusp of the mediterranean sea.

maybe i should explain a little. i went to torino to visit my friend emilie, and then we ventured to rivoli, which is a suburb of torino and where emilie lives. after sleeping there, we caught the first train to genova in the morning. two hours later, i was near the sea. my sea. i've always had this thing for ports and the ocean -- maybe it's from growing up in the foothills of idaho, 10 hours or so from the pacific ocean. anyways, we arrived at about ten-thirty in the morning and spent the rest of the day going to the famous acquarium and just randomly exploring the streets of genova. it was magnificent. this is what i absolutely adore about italy; being able to venture from my house in the snow-peaked italian alps to the warm and fishy town of genova in around four hours by train. it is amazing. in italy, they see four hours as a long time to spend traveling anywhere -- little do they know that just to drive to my aunt's house in california takes twelve hours. so i'm not complaining. for me, genova was my italian city upon a hill -- the only place i've been to so far that has been totally diverse from what i ever see in the united states or idaho. it was my italian greece.

anyways, i really loved genova. it is so different from anything i ever see in idaho, and the idea that a friend and i could just decide to take a day trip to a new city is so inspiring, something i will definitely miss about italy. i literally cannot believe i've been here for three months. it really has gone by so fast, and i know the next two months i have will go by a lot faster. before i know it, i'll be back in idaho. sure, i'll have a permanent gelato food baby and wount bee aeble two speel nethng right, but i'll be back in idaho. the idea of going home to AP classes, my job, and college applications is so unappealing. i can't wait to see my family and friends, but after the inital excitement of being back, i don't know what to expect. will i feel more independant? less independant? will i get back into the same routine? do i want to be in the same routine? all these questions await me when i return home, but for now that is all they will be: questions. if there is one thing i've learned from living here, it is that things have a way of straightening themselves out. with that, i leave you with pictures of genova and "happy easter". i'll update about sardegna soon enough(:

ahhh, genova.

me in front of a pirate ship by the acquarium.

the view of genova from the port.

fishies at the famous acquarium(:

general update.

okay, so i've been blogging a lot about events that have been happening to me and not a lot about how everday life is here in aosta. i figure i'd use this post to give kind of a quick update about everything. i am aware most of my posts are pretty long so i figure i will keep this one short(:

family: i was looking through my blog posts and realized that i've said little about my host family. i like my host parents a lot, they are really nice people. being an only child here has certainly been a different experience, and while sometimes it is nice to have attention, i find myself missing my little sister a lot. being here has made me realize how lucky i am to have her, and i look forward to hanging out with her a lot more when i get home. considering some host family horror stories i've heard from fellow afsers, i feel pretty lucky about my host family situation. elena and romano are very kind people and like traveling, gardening, and spending time together. they give me a lot of opportunities to see different parts of valle d'aosta and surrounding places, and i feel lucky to be having a good experience with them.

school: school has gotten a lot better, and within the last week i have started attending english classes in the fourth and fifth grades. i like it because we study british literature; for example, right now we are reading short stories by modernist writer james joyce. i am glad that i have a chance to expand my knowledge of literature and that i have something to study that i actually understand. other than that, i still spend a large part of the day studying out of an italian for foreigners book or attempting to read harry potter in italian. my extra italian tutoring is going well, but my god, verb conjugations are killing me.

friends: i am still trying to find my groove, and i think that it is something that can only improve with time. everyone is super nice to me, but it is just a matter of finding a few really good friends to get close to. i know it is hard for them as well as me, and sometimes i think that maybe they think there isn't much of a point in becoming friends with me because i leave in three months. hopefully this is not the case. don't get me wrong, i have made some good friends, but it's just a matter of starting to hang out more after school that is the problem. as i said, it's only something that can get better. talking to other afs kids assures me that it is something every exchange student goes through, and our whole afs group has become very close because we confide in each other all the time via facebook.

haha, okay, i will stop. so much for keeping this short. what can i say? i like to talk.
in 22 days (yes, i am counting down) i go to sardinia for my exchange week. i'll update again after that(: