First Day of School

Well today was very interesting... Fun, but so so so so different from American schools! Here's the story:

I woke up at 8, ( school starts at 9 the first day, and its a 20 minute walk) got ready, had a delicious Italian espresso, and a not so delicious muffin, and started walking to my new school. It was a beautiful, drizzly morning, but i like the rain so i was happy. It kinda hit me as i was walking down the street that i was actually going to school in another country for a whole year. It was a very exciting feeling! As i got to the entrance of the school i did start to feel nervous because there was hundreds of kids outside, half smoking, all talking Italian and i stood out like a sore thumb. A lot of people were looking at me because it was obvious i was a new student and very blonde and white. Luckily i saw a group of people that were in my same class, and thank god because with out one of them to follow i would have gotten so lost in the chaos that followed.

A few moments later, the doors or the school were opened and people started running to get inside first. i realized later it was because you have to get to your classroom first if you want to pick out the best seat for yourself, or save a place for who you want to be your desk mate. So i had no idea where my classroom was, i was being squished between tons of people all running to god knows where, and at the same time i was trying to keep an eye on at least one person from my class so i could actually get to Class 4 F and not get lost! well i finally made it in side after running up and down stairs looking for the right room ( every year they change the area of the classes so you never know where to go until the first day.)
The classroom is completely bare or anything except for desks and a white board in the front. Even the teacher doesn't have their own desk, its just another student desk but facing the rest of the room and not the front. so we all find out seats and are all chatting. the first teacher is supposed to arrive at 9:00am but sometimes they re late so i guess this is normal. time goes by and still no teacher. finally an hour has passed and no one had shown up! so we had on class period free to do whatever. then the bell rings and we wait for the next teacher....another hour goes bye and o on! so we had 2 hours now of no teacher and hanging out, talking and messing around! i asked my class mates and they said it wasn't normal. we also found out later it was because out class had not been assigned an English or history teacher yet so there was no one to teach us on that day!
Then the math teacher showed up, ( for the next week, we only go to school from 9-12) so for the last hour she told us our schedules and all that stuff and i actually understood a lot of the Italian which is great! i didn't think i would understand as much as i actually did! Now i have to study the whole first chapter of my math book and go out and buy a whole bunch of books too! so i will update you later with how the rest of the week goes!

Bye Bye! :)

Procrastination

So i know i haven't written anything in a while, but don't worry, i haven't been doing anything too crazy. For some reason i just have not had the urge to write anything! so sorry about that! Here's a few updates!

School: My school starts on Thursday (tomorrow) and i will be in Class 4 F. Schools in Italy are very different than American schools. You stay in the same class room all day ( 8:00am to 1:00pm) and the teachers switch. So the people who are in your class are the only people you will be with all day, every day! A few days ago, some one in my class contacted me and they got a whole group of about 20 people just from my class to take me into the city center and get gelato! They were all so nice so i am very glad i will be spending almost every day with them! I have seen them a few time since that day and i am slowly making friends which is good because i have been doing nothing all day for the last 2 weeks! just studying Italian, sleeping, or Facebook. I'm glad i have started to make friends of my own age.

Tour of Rome: My host mom has a very close friend who is an archaeologist and also a tour guide around the center of Rome. They thought it would be a good idea if i tagged along on one of her tours and of course i agreed! The tour cost 80 euros, but i got to go for free! we went all around Rome, ( about 4 hours walking around in the sun was very draining.)  But anyways, here are some pictures with information of the amazing in-depth history i have learned!

One of the billion beautiful fountains that are scattered throughout Rome.

An old Greek church that houses the famous Bocca Della Verita. Its a round large stone plaque on the wall that looks like some crazy gods head with its mouth slightly open. The legend is, that if you put your hand in the statues mouth and tell a lie, your hand will be bitten off. This was built in the 1st century!

These are the beautiful ruins that once made up a magnificent castle that housed many of Romes emperors! imagine that this used to be covered in marble, beautiful detailed paintings, and gorgeous statues! I wish i could have seen it in all of its glory.

And here, just in front of the castle, there used to be a huge oval arena that housed all of the chariot races. In the middle, there was a raised island that was called " Earth" because back then, they believe that the the whole universe revolved around the earth. there was 4 gate openings that symbolized the 4 seasons, and there would always be 7 people racing at one time.. one for each day of the week and the planets they were named after. 

What remains of an ancient roman gate, the whole top half was torn down by Mussolini in the 1930's.

This is underneath a church. the church was built on top of old roman roads and now what was once in daylight are the burial grounds of people.

Real human bones...

This is a half circled theater that was used to perform plays..its not the Colosseum..i know it looks similar.

The only part of what remains of a beautiful building.

The Jewish area in Rome. this is were the Jews were sent during WWII and almost all of them were killed. this is still left as it was back then to pay respect to all the people who lost there lives at the hands of cruel leaders.

This is where Julius Ceaser was murdered." E to Brute?"

A statue of Jesus built by Michelangelo!

Beautiful houses

An old obelisk that is very narrow, but actually has a small spiral staircase going up! ( you cant use it any more though )

So that was a little bit of the information i learned while on this awesome tour. Comment or message me on Facebook if you have any questions :)

Ciao Ciao!