These Past 4 Weeks (General Life)

Ciao tutti!
Wow I did NOT realize time went by so fast! But now it's somehow December and I have so much to write about, so I might divide it in two parts, one about my STS Rome trip, and the other about life in general, the latter being now.

So this family is AMAZING in every way! They're so nice and kind and good-hearted and they make some of the best food I've had in my life. The brothers are really cool too and I like them a lot. I live literally 3 minutes away from the school and if I take the tramvia, I can go to the center of Florence whenever I want, so I go every day.

Schools... interesting? I mean it's better than Faenza but however like when I told some people what my parents do for a living, they started freaking out and suddenly everyone tried to be my friend which was really just... different. I'm not used to that. But the teachers they actually engage me in the classes and I'm not falling asleep all the time (sometimes but that's just because of my insomnia I drink a coffee every morning). But I have new friends and they're wonderful. But if there's one thing I genuinely miss about Faenza, it's my friends. They were some of the coolest, just relaxed people I knew, and they introduced me to a new lifestyle of not caring what others think and just living life trying not to impress anybody, not caring. I took that with me and I apply it here and I'm doing so much better. Also in Faenza I went out EVERY Saturday, here it's more or less, but I just have to make some older friends too because my friends right now are in my Year 2 class and they don't go out much. I think I'm gonna visit Faenza in January or February to see my old friends. Also planning trips to the Cinque Terre, Venice, London, and Volterra :)

My city in general... WOW. I don't go around Scandicci because there's nothing to see, but I live 10 minutes away from the center (what the commonfolk refer to as "Florence" but I do live in Florence but just not in the center). Florence again is the most beautiful city I have ever been to, and every day I go to the center, it amazes me so much. Every time I pass by the Duomo, I always tell myself how I can't believe last year I was here knowing literally nothing about Florence to living here and meeting some of my exchange friends at the Palazzo Vecchio or the Duomo to go shopping and eat gelato. Speaking of which, I have two exchange friends here! There's Amy (18, AU) who had my family last so I started messaging her on Facebook, and there's Charlotte from Switzerland who I think I mentioned previously. I've been hanging out with Amy A LOT though because she leaves next month so we're trying to squeeze in as many things as possible (including the Cinque Terre next Sunday!) so walking around with her is always fun :) We're going to Bologna on Tuesday the 3rd to see Catching Fire in English, I'm so excited!

But Florence is absolutely stunning and I can't believe I can just casually go to the center after school every day, it's honestly the most humbling experience. In fact, tomorrow, I have to go to the center every day this school week to start buying Christmas presents for my friends and family! I have to ship them out pretty fast, but I'm gonna try and get as many people as many things as possible.

(also a strange thing i've noticed here is that they have condom and cigarette vending machines???)

But that's what's been going on these past few weeks, nothing important other than moving and Rome, which I'll write about later. Ciao! :)

Let's Try This Again

Ciao tutti!

Last night was an oddly nice way to end my stay here? I was at a piercing shop at 3 in the morning watching my friend get his septum pierced which looks very painful. I'm terrified of needles and watching that was an interesting experience to say the least. I got home at around 3:45 and fell asleep. It was cool though because I didn't actually get to say bye to my friends while I was at the Halloween party. It was 1 in the morning and my friends call me like "Hey Elijah, you wanna go around town and just do stuff?" So I agree and they pick me up and then 2 hours later my friend randomly gets his septum pierced. Okay Italy, okay.

This was the center of Faenza. It was beautiful. I always went to this one cafe and this one pizza shop daily :)

So today's the day! At 12:20 I take a train to Florence and I get there at 2:11. I'm so excited! This family hasn't been the greatest experience and while my Saturdays have been fantastic and I've made lots of great friends, it just isn't worth not having a great time 6 days out of 7. I'm all packed and ready to go! Well right now it's 10:03 AM and it's just 2 more hours!!!! I'll update this post as I'm on the train and when I get there!

Here's the pic I took last night and posted on my Instagram (erod47) *shameless self promotion*

Halloween!

Ciao tutti!

So I requested I actually stay in Faenza until November 2nd, because I wanted to stay for Halloween and have one last thing with my friends. I love my friends here so much, I didn't think I was going to get close to them. Oh none of them are in my class, I'm invisible to them. I'm talking about my brother's friends! They all love me and I love them and it's going to be hard making all new friends! I wonder what my new host brother does on Saturdays..
I am definitely visiting November 23 for my friend Nicolas' birthday party. I hear it's going to be a lot of fun, so why not? It's only about 10 euros for a train.

But I never realized what great friends I've made here and I actually am kind of sad to leave them. But I have to remember,  I live with the family, not my friends.

Also today my brother's friend complimented my Italian and said it's really coming along! That was so great to hear because I've really been struggling with Italian here haha. But yeah, today's Halloween! It's currently 4 PM and our friend is going to pick my brother and I up at 11 PM and we're going to a party. No one here dresses up! That's strictly for the kids apparently. Thank god though, I never liked dressing up.

(from left to right) Martina, Maria, me, Romina, and Francesco :)

(I actually forget her name sorry!!!!) Friendsss :)

Luckily today was my last day of school here in Faenza, and none of my class even cared haha they just left the class like a typical day, which was fine with me. But however, there's All Saints Day break which is 3 days, and then after those three days, I have a week off because I'm going to Rome with STS! I think I mentioned this earlier, but I miss all my friends from Milan so much so I'm so excited to see them again! And after Asia, apparently I'm going to Paris, London and Amsterdam in December (with my natural parents!) and Dubai in January and Spain in March????? What. I'm so excited it's just so exotic! I'm shocked I never expected this but I'm surprised this is all happening. And February teachers and students come! I have a lot to look forward to, and starting Saturday, I start Italy 2.0! An all new beginning, and I'm excited what these next 7 months hold for me :)
Still definitely going to keep in contact with my friends here in Faenza though and visit every now and then for parties and just to hang out.


So I kind of update this blog too much, so I'll update November 2nd or 3rd! Ciao! :)

Art and New Friends!

Ciao tutti!

Sorry I didn't update on Saturday, I tried. I had my last weekend here in Faenza with friends and it went out with a bang. We went to a restaurant and we just had a ton of fun around the town, I'm gonna miss these psychos.

Over this week, nothing's actually happened, but so much has actually happened today!
So I didn't know English was cancelled today, so they sent me to the 4A English class. At first I was reluctant to do so, but turns out this class was so excited to see me! My regular class never pays attention to me but that class loved me! They just asked me random questions from my music tastes to life in general, but I had the best time! For my music I had to write my favorite artists on the board and their genres so I had to write like in huge letters "LANA DEL REY - INDIE POP" it was the funniest thing. It felt so natural there, with older, relaxed people. And it was weird because they were so curious about my life, and the hour went by too fast. It was a good weird though! But the teacher saw me a few hours later and she told me the class loved me and thought I was "quirky and funny and relatable." AWW shucks thanks guys. Today I was photocopying a magazine article and like three of the guys came up to me and offered me to go to a Chinese restaurant with them (AND THEY OFFERED TO PAY) tomorrow. Did I mention they offered to pay. I love Italians. I'm so sad though I'm also making new friends and I'm leaving so soon. I promised my friends I'm visiting November 23 for a party and just to catch up.

Also during art today, they had a test (?) And I was excused from it, so in Italian (like a pro) the teacher and I got in a really deep conversation about art. Everything from Botticelli to Carvaggio to Warhol to Pollock to Abramovic and Koons and even Lady Gaga, who we both see as an artist. It was probably the best conversation I had while I was here. That was for about 2 hours and it went by so fast. She then introduced me to a biannual art festival in Venice that's going on for one more month! It goes from June to November 24. I plan to do everything I can to go. She gave me a magazine and it had a section about the festival that was like 12 pages and I read them (in Italian!!! I did have a translator on my phone by me though) about it and it was really thought-provoking, so my teacher and I discussed that after, and I was so glad someone has the same views as I do! I wish I could draw or something, if I could I would want to be a successful artist in life.

Some people discussing some art pieces, it was such an interesting read.

But the other day I called my host mom (who just got back from Dubai what) and she was like "Hey Elijah, we're excited to see you! We're just getting your school ready and you'll be here soon! Oh and by the way, we're going to Asia soon and it would be great if you can come with us! Okay we have dinner, ciao!"

Hold up
ASIA
WHAT????????

Ever since I started learning Japanese in second grade, I've ALWAYS wanted to go to Asia! Now that's coming and I'm so excited!!!! Ahhh it's unreal to me and they casually travel around the world all the time! I just hope I'm here in February because I wanna see my teachers!

But those are some of the crazy things that have been happening in my reckless life. But lately I've just been anticipating new music which has been taking over my life these past few weeks.

I'll update probably on Halloween, a presto! :)

Parties and Leaving Dates!

7 Saturdays of my life (including the one that just passed) with these people. I WOULD have pictures, but I don't really have any because my friend usually brings a camera. So while I'm here, I'd might as well talk about my weekend!

Saturday

Oh Saturday, you never fail to put a smile on my face. At 9 PM, my friend Gallo picked Roberto and I up and it was my friend Romina's birthday party, so she rented a space to hold a club-esque party. That was AMAZING. It was up to me and my friend Minguzzi (by the way people here in this region are referred to by their last name I know almost none of their first names) to DJ for this party, so things actually started at 10, so he chose like 20 songs and I chose 20, and it was just an amazing experience to see people dance and have a great time to the more upbeat songs I just regularly listen too. It was so funny when some of the songs built up before like a breakdown or before the beat got really big I would get so excited I would just be jumping and all this fun stuff. It was one of the better Saturdays. And even though I'm moving, I promised my friend Zannoni to come to a party he's having on November 23. Oh and at this party, I was offered cocaine. Twice. Oh how one can mature so fast in just 7 weeks. Oh and my friend Cantoni (his first name is Filippo I KNOW THAT) went to another club and apparently he got mugged by 3 people from Algeria, and one was armed! I WAS going to go with him, but thank God I didn't. That scared me. Here it's so weird I get offered drinks and cigarettes and drugs all the time, so it doesn't even phase me anymore. I'm just saying this for those back at home. But I DON'T do any of these. Not only am I severely underage, but when I get back home I'd rather not have habits, just saying. I came home at around 4 in the morning, and passed out on my bed since I was so tired. My friend threw up a little on my boots :(


Sunday

Sunday was much more relaxed. I woke up at around 11 in the morning, and I just did my normal things until around 4, where the family and I went to a town called Forli, and they had this HUGE shopping mall! I got really happy over this, and I bought 2 long sleeves from H&M. They're slightly oversized plain white and like a cranberry red long sleeves, they're so comfortable!

I fell asleep in my white one yesterday and I just woke up and went to school in it, still wearing it :)

After that, nothing really happened. I'm just keeping up with music I like and waiting for some albums to come out. By the way, in Italy, they are OBSESSED with the song Wake Me Up my Avicii. I'm not a fan, it sounds too generic, but the people here love it. Along with like 3 other songs, but I don't know their names. With every song I knew at the party (and that was a LOT) I always sang along to it, I always do that it's the funniest thing.

So on November 5th, I'm going to Rome for 5 days with my STS friends again! I'm so happy to see them again, I miss them so much and I still talk to them all the time, so I'm definitely looking forward to that.

Well that's it for now, this post is insanely long. Have a good day, a presto! :)

Interrogazione

Ciao,

So today in science class, there's an interrogazione! That's Italian for interrogation. What they do the teacher grabs one student or several (in my case several) and the teacher asks them various questions on the spot. It's so nerve wrecking watching the kids attempt to answer the questions right there in front of the whole class while watching. They have 90 seconds on the clock while the teacher asks them on specific subjects. It's kind of like an arena right now (I'm writing this in class because the teacher is only focused on them). The four or so students are across the teacher and it's like a standoff. Lucky for me I'm excused from these! Thank god because I'd be freaking out every single day.

Aside from that, class has been boring, but I'm excited for my new host family in Florence! Nothing's really happened around the house or life in general. Tomorrow I'm going to my friend Romina's birthday party! That's it for now, hope y'all have a good day, arrivederci :)

NEW Host Family info!!

Ciao tutti!

So today's Sunday and we're just relaxing and I went to another party last night with some friends. I have so much fun there, the only thing is like everyone smokes! So I always come home with my clothes smelling like cigarettes and I'm always coughing when I wake up and yeah I don't like it. But it's okay.

So thank god, but I got my NEW host family information! I'm going to be living with the Turrini family, in FLORENCE! That was my number one city, and I was so excited to hear the good news of my location. So there's the mom, Silvia who's a travel agent, the dad, Massimo and I think he's a firefighter. They also have 3 kids. There's Filippo, who's 18, Stefano, who's 16, and one who's 20. I forget his name though. But they live in a 3 story house just outside Florence on the hills. This family is perfect for me! They love to travel all around the world (The mom called me yesterday an hour before her flight to Dubai okay) because Silvia's a travel agent. They also love to cook and bake and play tennis and that's exactly what I love! It's like this family was made for me :)

It's such a nice change from my current family, who's all currently out and they never tell me where they go. And the dad's here playing computer games like he always does (?). As usual, I woke up to fighting with the host family, with the younger kids making these inhuman noises and as usual,  I woke up in frustration, wondering why STS placed me with them. I'm having the worst time here, and being here makes me want to return to Los Angeles so badly. However, the mom's in Dubai until the 22nd,  so nothing can happen until at least then. I'm not sure how much longer I can take this family. Also in school, none of the teachers really do anything to help me, so I just lay there trying not to fall asleep because I have no idea what's going on. I just don't like anything here at all and I'm counting down the days until the mom returns from Dubai so we can finally set this whole host family thing up. I'm more excited than ever to switch. I'm just imagining the amazing times I'm going to have with everyone, and I just need the 22nd to come faster!

Okay an hour just passed by and the family came back, much to my dismay. Everyone's fighting. Again. What else? I'm just here in my room every day on tumblr because none of the family really interacts with me and when I try to they either switch back to English or they always sound uninterested to talk to me. I'm so tired of this place. Tired of this negativity and tired of this place bringing me down constantly. October 22nd, please come faster. If I'm able to last a month here, I can make it through 9 days. Things are really going to look up, and I'm excited :)

UPDATE: Today is October 14th and because I was 3 minutes late the dad starts screaming at me and almost hits me and the older brother starts screaming at me too and I nearly got out of the car to walk home. I am so tired of this place and I nearly started screaming at the brother and nearly started yelling and cursing at the dad but being raised the way I was, I decided to keep quiet and just keep the anger inside. And I never even think of cursing unless I'm seriously furious or overwhelmed. It's blatantly obvious that the dad doesn't like me, and everyone knows that. Whenever he eyes me, he always has this stone cold look on his face, a look of disapproval, and whenever I try to do something, he always pushes me aside and does it himself. I'm 15, not 2. Can I really last another 8-12 days? I don't know. This place is stressing me out more than I can imagine. But the dad just left the house to I don't know where and I'm starting to finally feel at peace for the brief time I can. The 22nd is so far away, yet so close. I need this more than anything else.

Oh and it turns out my class is full of THIRTEEN YEAR OLDS! I learned everything I'm learning right now! I confronted my host family about this. Their exact words "oh we signed you up for that so you don't have to do anything. This is a good thing! You can do nothing and sleep!" But the thing is I need to LEARN while I'm here for junior year! And I actually have a crave to learn things, not review everything from 8th grade. So before my new mom left for Dubai, I asked her to put me in year 2 or 3. Are you actually kidding me right now? Oh and the mom encouraged me to dye my hair and get piercings or tattoos while I'm here!! I do want some tattoos, but only things that mean the most to me and when I'm in my 20s, NOT when I'm 15 years old. And piercings, forget about it I'm terrified of needles beyond belief. This family is not a good influence..

Spot the differences! And Host Family news!

SO GUYS I'M CHANGING FAMILIES YAY
This family was such a negative atmosphere and I was just not having a good time and it just wore me out every day. Long term this would have been HORRIBLE for me, so I couldn't be more glad that I'm getting out as soon as I am.
Also this location, I just can't live in the country.
They're now looking for a family in Milan or Florence for me! I'm so happy that things are looking up :)

But anyway, I've just had school this week but a few days ago I went to Torino and Lugano, Switzerland! Both places are WAY north. I can't believe I went to SWITZERLAND like I just casually went to another country! Aside from the 4 hour car ride filled with fighting, I just put in my headphones and listened to my songs and the hours went by pretty fast. :)


So life here in Italy. There's so many differences! vv


1. Italian blow their noses in class. VERY LOUDLY. (Update: Also at home when I'm sleeping)

2. People seem to wear the same shirt at least 3 times a week?

3. In my school we have to wear uniforms, NOT HERE! Thank god, I can finally express myself every day however I please :)

Me channeling my inner Los Angeles-ian with the ever so famous "mirror selfie" before class.

4. You stay in one room. For hours at a time. It is so boring.

5. The room is all white! There are no decorations except a world map because the teachers switch rooms

6. Everyone in class talks or is on their phones. I am guilty of the second one.

7. School is only 3-5 hours????? Today (a Saturday oh look another difference) I got out at 11.

8. During the 15 minute breaks, everyone smokes outside, it's strange. Pretty sure I'm basically a smoker with all the secondhand smoke there is.

9. Everyone looks so much younger with me! I'm not even going to lie I saw some of my classmates riding their bikes the first day and I thought they were fifth graders. I'm serious! I'm like the oldest-looking one in my class!

10.  Usually after school everyone goes out to the piazza, or town square. I do. Every day, I buy a kilo (2.2 pounds) of really yummy grapes that were from a local vineyard for only 1.50 euros!

11. PEOPLE DRINK A LOT. I only have wine with the family occasionally but it's purely out of pairing it with a meal and keeping up with Italian traditions.

12. The boys here are a little masculine and everyone is very traditional. I told a person in my class I like dancing and he looked at me weirdly and told me "that's so girly, that's not very Italian." Well that's HIS judgement and I don't care! I've never cared what people thought of me. Italians need to loosen up a little bit with that kind of thing, like not EVERY guy plays soccer and likes Italian music. Here, I'm apparently "different."

13. Contrary to what people think, Italian youth is not fashionable. Like people my age dress literally like some kids in my elementary school. but THOSE YEAR 5 KIDS THEY ALL LOOK LIKE MODELS I MEAN

14. Italians drive like mad people! ESPECIALLY MY HOST DAD. He literally almost hit like 4 children today and two car doors and I was scared to death. I don't get how 2 cars can pass each other on the rode, these rows are so narrow! Eh whatever works for them...

15. Privacy. There is none. All the doors are always open and the lights are always off? It's really strange. I'm scared that I'll be like changing and BAM someone comes in! Also when I'm sleeping it's really strange the like to leave the door open!!!
I hate that.
So I wake up to either fighting or just other people somehow being up at 9 in the morning. I am so not a morning person.

16. Everything is SO high quality here! Everything you hear about Italian food is true!!! Everything, even the water is delicious!! I'm actually drinking water here, and I usually hate water. And the fruit! It's SO cheap and it's so delicious!

17. While school is only 3-5 hours, it feels so much longer because the teachers just talk. That's it. Talk. Nothing else. I've fallen asleep multiple times and it feels even longer than school in the states.


So I haven't really had a lot of fun either. All my friends from the STS course already have their group of friends and I have NONE. I don't like school. Nothing's working here, I can't wait until I leave schools and families. I think next try is going to be so much better. But I DO have my host brother's friends! And they're taking me to a disco in an hour!

But here's some pictures of what's been happening!

I had never tried mussels but the little ones are actually really good!

Ravenna, and an AMAZING church :)

This is a daily thing. God bless this country.

A church on a hill in Torino :) 

I spied with my little eye some oil pastels so I got to work and I made the single cover for  "Applause" by Lady Gaga because it's just a cool photo in general! I don't look at it as a single cover, but as art.

Also I'm so glad I got a Samsung Galaxy S4 a week before I left. The camera is AMAZING on it! It's 13 megapixels with a ton of focuses and everything and I haven't used my actual camera yet.

Well that's what's going on! I'm going to try and update every Saturday and hopefully next time will be sooner because hopefully they'll find my new family. Ciao! :)

Host Family..

Ciao ragazzi!

So I'm with my host family! And to be quite honest, I'm going to switch.
I have nothing in common with anyone in the family except for traveling.

I asked for a city, I live in a vineyard. I asked for an artistic family, they're all obsessed with video games and sports, I have nothing in common with anyone.

I'm going to give it until November or October and if it's still the same, I'm going to switch families. The people are nice, it's just extremely boring because they work all day and we don't have anything in common.

Also the family is such a negative influence. Everyone screams and hits each other and curses and I had a COKE BOTTLE thrown at me when I was sleeping! I've woken up every day to arguing and screaming. It's horrible and it wears me out every day as if I've been arguing with everyone when I'm just there existing.
It's not normal and I can really go in detail but I prefer not to. I told STS and they themselves said it was legitimately concerning.

Also NO ONE SPEAKS ITALIAN WITH ME. We always end up speaking it for like 5 seconds and we go back to English! I'm trying my best to speak italian and I've told the family multiple times not to speak English with me, and they refuse to listen, and I'm barely learning anything.

My town is okay. I mean it's not great, but I could do much better, like my friends, so I asked to switch families.

But yeah. That's my life, for now. Hopefully it'll change soon.

Prep Course!

Don't worry guys, I'm alright in Italy!
It's much harder keeping a blog updated than I thought! So much is happening!

This prep course.
AMAZING. I met so many people from all over the world! I met people from Australia, Switzerland, Sweden, and Canada! It was only 15 people so we became a family, especially about 6 of us. We did SO much this week.

One day, me, a guy named Kayde (Sydney), a girl named Sanna (Stockholm) a girl named Astyn (Melbourne) and a guy named Ben (near Ottawa) and Tameka (Auckland) all went and got lost in Milan and we bought a ton of things and we really discovered Milan outside the touristy area and it is such a beautiful city. We found an old man dancing to Cher with his huge amp, we found a man who makes amazing animals made out of vegetables, we found breakdancers who twerked with a 4 year old boy, and we just did everything we can and honestly it was the best week of my life.

I took about 800 pictures in total and I had more than so much fun with everyone. One day we went to Lake Como, and it was honestly one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to.  I will never forget any of them I can't even put it into words, but i can put it into pictures.

Astyn and I (with Sanna) at a cafe in Como

THIS IS MILAN LOOK PRETTY

I bought this for only 3 euros!

From front to back: Me, Tameka,  Meredith (Canada), Ben, Kayde, Astyn

THESE ARE VEGETABLES

I MADE IT

Well,

I’m here

In Milan

After 6 hours at the airport and 15 new friends from around the world, I’m in Milan for a week and we have language class in an hour. Yesterday I arrived actually, I was just too tired to write. Yesterday, we walked around Milan, saw the Duomo and it was so beautiful. I miss everyone already. Now, it’s 6 AM since I went to bed at 8 PM last night because I was exhausted. I’ll update this post as the day goes, see you later! :)

The Big Day

Well,
This is it
I'm leaving today

Yesterday I said my final goodbye to my brother and I tried my best to keep a good face on and I did, but later last night I kind of lost it. I hate crying because I just hate feeling in general. Personally I just don't like emotions and they cause nothing but trouble and disappointment, well at least for me. So I keep everything bottled up and to myself.
But today I've been keeping an adequate composure of my emotions as we drive from Boston to NYC to hang out with some family before I leave. So here are my flights...

I fly from JFK to Paris. That takes 7 hours and I have a one hour layover.
I fly from Paris to Linate in Milan. The people at STS (quest's parent company) pick me up at noon so I'll have 3 hours to get my SIM card and whatnot.

Speaking of which, I can bring my new galaxy s4 with me! There was so much stress over phones yesterday, all I'm going to say is that we switched to Sprint and they lied to us so we went back to Verizon and the guy had to unlock my phone without telling his boss. After this year, I'm going to sell my now-unlocked galaxy s4 for about $500 :)

But right now I'm actually writing this post from my phone as we're in a rented car and we're about ninety minutes away. I've been totally on and off with my emotions. One minute I'm crying and the next minute I'm completely normal, I don't know. I'll do that when I'm alone on my own time, probably in the airplane bathroom. Why am I listening to songs that remind me of my brother and I?

But other than that, it's been such a hectic week and I'm more than ready to actually sleep more than 8 hours for the first time in ages. I'm an insomniac.

That's it for now! I'll update you later! Arrivederci :)

Leaving California!

Ciao,

I write to you as I'm about 2 minutes away from LAX because I'm going to Boston to drop off my brother at college and help him move in! He moves in in a few days and I leave in 6 days!

6

Days

As in less than a week.

Is this really happening?

I'm honestly just appreciating the signs in English and appreciating what's around me because I won't see it for a year. I already said bye to my dogs yesterday and my best friend which got me kind of emotional yesterday. I'm going to miss California so much and my house and my friends and everything. We actually just arrived, so I gotta help with the bags and everything. See you in Boston! 

Approved!

So I went to the Italian Consulate today by surprise. And I got there expecting more drama, but everything went so well, and I got my visa approved! They just have to mail my passport back with the stamp thing! It's official, it's really happening :)

Strange Visa Troubles

Hello!
I haven't posted in a while because nothing's been going on. Well currently we're trying to get our visa through but the lady says we didn't have the right insurance even though our insurance is the exact thing as the one they recommended, Also apparently no one in the consulate know what she's talking about but she's the only one picking up the phone, and it's really stressing my mom out. So now the lady's going to mail the insurance to make sure that our company's legit? Things are complicated and my parents are keep telling me that if it doesn't happen, "it's meant to be." Whenever people say that, it makes me angrier because THAT DOESN'T HELP AT ALL In what way is that supposed to help, like I know reality but you don't have to shove it in my face. So now I'm honestly not sure if I'm going and I'm terrified because I told everyone at my school I'm going and when I go back it'll be the most embarrassing thing in the world. Well currently I'm rather busy this week and today I'm seeing YouTube comic Miranda Sings perform today!

Hopefully the Visa will be processed and this whole mess gets cleaned up and hopefully I can go.

Crushed Hope

Hi. So as by the title, I'm obviously not in a good mood.


Well, the biggest reason I went with Quest was that I was able to go home for Christmas

And now I can't even do that.
If I wasn't able to go home in the first place, I would've gone with AFS or something like that

I don't know what to do. I'm not sure if I should go through with the year now. But I did tell everyone that I'm moving to Italy for a year, so I have no choice.

I'll just go through with it and see what happens, hopefully I won't have too bad of a time.

Summer and School!

Hi! Just a summer night here in LA, in other words 4:40 AM. Anyway, I got my official school info!
So I'm going to be in


Grade 1?
I guess it's because I'm about to turn 15 so I'm young for my age. But grade 1 doesn't directly translate to freshman year in USA so I'm not doing my freshman year again, nor will I come back as a sophomore. And I start September 16 and end June 7. Like I said before, even with Saturdays, I still have less school than I do here! And also, I start a month LATER than everyone else and only get out one week later. Now I'm just filling out my Visa and continuing with Italian. Other then that, nothing's been going on! I'm just in tennis and I start English online so I can get my credit. By the way, there's no Honors! YES. So I start that July 8th. Other then that, just normal summer things! See you soon :)

June!

Hey there!
First of all, happy June everyone!

So this exchange is coming closer and closer and I'm gonna be honest I have been having some second thoughts, but I'm still gonna do it! They're just doubts. It's just weird that I won't be able to joke around with my friends the same way I do with the Italians, I won't be able to use, I guess American slang? (I use words like basic and ratchet 100% jokingly to make fun of them) because they won't know what that is. It's just weird that EVERYTHING's gonna change. Like I go on the internet like all day, so it'll be weird cutting that down. Everything's gonna change, and it's certainly gonna be scary. But it'll all be worth it in the end. For sure, I'm not gonna cancel this IN ANY WAY (also since everyone wrote in my yearbook have fun in Italy) but the experience is going to be so worth it in every single way, and my fears are mere minor issues.

But on a positive (and not exchange-related) note,
There's two things I'm looking forward to this month,

A game called Animal Crossing: New Leaf comes out June 9! THATS THREE DAYS AWAY AND I AM SO EXCITED I've been playing this franchise since I was 4! It's so pleasant and calm and I love it so much! I've been going on all the tumblrs for it and everything, I'm obsessed, I'm not even going to lie, it's an incredible franchise. I even did a really bad drawing in like 10 minutes out of excitement. I'm such a 5 year old in the inside not even kidding

This says とびだせどうぶつの森 (tobidase doubtsu no mori, or the game's title in Japanese)

But also, MY BIRTHDAY. It's June 26! Either then or before I leave (to see if the new iPhone comes out then) I want a new phone. My contract ends in August (but I can get a new phone early) and I need a global phone I can use there and back. I'm deciding between the Samsung Galaxy S4 or the new iPhone if it comes out then. But I just love my birthday, it's basically 6 months away from Christmas, so every 6 months I get presents! It's equally balanced, and it's wonderful :)

But yeah, nothing's been going on besides anticipating the events and already missing my brother. He's going away to BU in August and he goes out so much, I miss him a lot already..
But my life in completely uninteresting besides hanging out with friends occasionally and going on tumblr! I'll probably blog next on my birthday or something, see you all later!

SUMMER

Hey there,
Yesterday was my last day of school!
So all of my senior friends (including my brother) graduated yesterday and I was distraught with emotions, seeing a lot of them for the last time for a REALLY long time..
What a bittersweet feeling.
But also, I said bye to everyone (well I'm going to hang out a lot in the summer though!) but it was so weird saying "See you Junior year!" like I'm not going to be there for sophomore year. Reality's sinking in. But I'm still as excited as ever! So I brought my flag yesterday and I didn't get a whole lot of signatures, because the seniors were at graduation rehearsals and I didn't wanna cause a whole thing about leaving the school for a year. But however, I'm gonna use that extra space to get signatures from the Italians and people from Quest when I leave!

BUT NOW IT'S SUMMER I GET TO RELAX! I literally napped for so long my brain is so tired from all of these finals! My finals were so easy!.. except for my English final where I couldn't focus because I was SUPER SICK. So much as going on in my body I couldn't focus. But that's okay. It's over! Now my brother leaves for Boston University on August 27, and I leave for Italy August 31! In the meantime, I'm going to be going to Boston once (maybe twice) and Chicago for my cousin's sweet 16! I've known her ever since I was born and I am SO CLOSE to her so I'm so excited! :)

Here it is!

But yeah. For now, my cousin and his fiancé from NYC are here and we're just hanging out. My school starts August 16, BUT IM GOING TO ITALY SO I START A MONTH LATER HA. Well I gotta go, I'll update you guys later!

My flag!

Hi! So I've been stressing over finals and everything because they start in 5 days! Aside from that, I've been talking to my host family and at yesterday Melrose Avenue, I bought an Italian flag finally! Would it offensive if everyone was to sign it? I wouldn't let them write anything obscene, just wondering if it's offensive to just mark a flag in general. But anyway, here's a photo with me and the flag :)

Aside from that, nothing's really been happening, I'll update on my last day of school (May 30) See ya soon :)

Just a little update.

Hi! Just found a few details about when I leave.
So I can't go to Sicily because the agency won't be liable for any injuries and stuff like that :(
Sicily looks so nice!
Maybe it's meant to be. But however, it's back to leaving August 31! I'm either gonna have to fly from Los Angeles to Milan (for the Preparation Course) or Chicago to Milan (I go to Chicago every summer to see family), so I've just been looking at a ton of flights.
I found the school I'm going to! It's called Liceo Scientifico Torricelli! It's a really old building and IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL.
The school. Is older. Than the USA. The building's been in use since 1544. That's right, 469 years old.

Here's the auditorium

Just a typical hallway. It looks like a museum!

One of the main staircases. This can't be a school.

So we go Monday through Saturday (yeah not excited for that) from 8-1. I did the math and I still have less school in Italy than here 5 days a week! I don't have a ton of details, I just know I'm going to the same school as my older host brother, Roberto. Also, I've been doing Google Street View with my town, it actually looks a lot like Florence but with less people! And I adored Florence. It was meant to be, a truly Italian Florence, with me probably being the only American. But that's all I have for now! See ya later.

Oh and here's a nice photo I took of the Vatican :)

HOST FAMILY

I got my host family!
They live 30 miles east of Bologna

 So I requested Rome or Milan because I was looking for a city life, and this was my biggest worry I would live in a country suburban area, and that happened. Well, Faenza's kind of a big city, but yeah.I mean I'm okay with it though. There's Pietro, who's retired. My host mom is Amalia, who's an employee at a catering company. She loves animals and nature and she's super outgoing I hear! I already love her. Then there's Roberto, who's 17, Marzia who's 10 (turns 11 May 5, happy birthday!), and Valerio who's 7 (turns 8 on May 9!) The PDF Quest sent me makes them sound super sunshiny and nice! :)

THEY LIVE IN A HOUSE YAY THAT MAKES ME HAPPY so I'll be sharing a room with Roberto. I haven't shared a room with anyone since I was 4! I wonder how that'll go! There are advantages though. It'll be truly Italian because I doubt anyone's heard of Faenza! ALSO WE LIVE BY BOLOGNA WHICH IS THE FOOD CAPITAL OF THE WORLD. We could go there a lot! I hear they travel a lot like short trips and all, and I live 40 minutes away from the beach, SO BOLOGNA (AMAZING FOOD) AND THE BEACH A LOT HOORAY. 

I didn't get my school yet, that's gonna come soon! Hopefully I don't get out at 2 PM like some schools, but 1 or maybe even 12! The family sounds gracious and everything is perfect, except that dang location. I can live with it though :)

So here's one of the piazzas. I mean it's not bad looking, like I said, it'd be truly Italian without any tourists, but it has it's pros and cons. I am, however, truly grateful that they even found me a family.

UPDATE: So I can't find anything about the town other than the fact they make fancy plates.

But I searched "Faenza" on youtube and I found this!

LOOK AT IT ITS SO PRETTY

I HOPE THIS ISN'T THE WRONG TOWN YOUTUBE DON'T LIE TO ME

THEY SENT ME AN EMAIL TODAY. Sorry for tons of caps, I'm just so excited! Roberto and Lia emailed me and they're so sweet! They travel a LOT (YES) to the big cities and all over Italy. The dad has relatives in Rome so we're gonna go there a lot! So they want me to meet them around August 20 in one of their vacation homes in Sicily! I went to Sicily for a few hours it was pretty interesting. It smelled like citrus. But they love going to the beach and around Italy and it sounds great! So Faenza is over 10 times bigger than my town apparently! Maybe it's meant to be to not live in a huge city. Someday! I was kind of freaking out yesterday because it was a place I've never heard of plus it looked really boring but I explored it more and it looks really nice :) 

I can't wait to communicate more with my host family. Bye! 

Reasons and My Story (2/2)

Now, my story, but more detailed than in An Introduction

I then went to high school (the middle school and high school are joined but different buildings by the way) and I already had a few foreign friends, but I found one from Milan! She's really pretty. But I also made more friends with the exchange students, and I hang out with them when I don't hang out with that group. They were saying what an experience it is here and how much they love it. Then just for fun, I started looking at study abroad choices just because.
But however, this turned into something serious. I started reading up blogs about those who studied abroad, so then I somehow brought up the huge topic to my parents and they were surprisingly calm about it. This was about November 2012. I asked for brochures from AFS, YFS, Rotary, Greenheart, and none of them satisfied me. I couldn't go home for Christmas or choose the city for any of them, and a lot of them just didn't seem... human.
On page 17 of google, actually, I see Quest International Exchange, and thinking it'd be another failed attempt, I didn't even click on it. Who knew that'd be the program I'd choose! 2 days later luckily I remembered the name and went on their website. I looked at it, and I was able to go home for Christmas (I mean the kids at my school can so why wouldn't I be able to?) and I could CHOOSE THE CITY it was small like I wanted! I asked for a request sheet thing, and before I knew it, I received all the information and an application! Over 4 months this happened. Over this time, my parents and I were debating because they wanted to send me to England because it's English, or France since I know French, or Spain to learn Spanish. But I insisted on Italy, and I think I gave them a pretty convincing argument. Also, it was spent talking to the academic deans of my school (2) and they were totally for me going and they loved the idea! Lucky me!
Now this is late February. This time I was starting out my application. I needed all my teachers' signatures, some signatures from Admissions and a letter of recommendation (Thanks Mrs. Hacker! You're the best). 1/3 of the app was required to be filled out by the doctor. So we faxed it and he said it'd be back in 2-3 days. Okay, no problem.
ONE WEEK LATER IT COMES.
We ship it the next day (March 11)
I got my acceptance April 4!

NOW I'M WAITING FOR MY HOST FAMILY AND LOCATION WHICH I AM SO EXCITED FOR.
When I get that info, I'm going to go all out. I'm gonna see the cafes nearby, the shops nearby, schools, how the neighborhood is, distance from there to certain places, I'm gonna do everything

Wow this post was LONG sorry for boring you, but I felt I had to tell literally every detail about like everything, my bad. Next time hopefully will be an update on my host family and location, unless I have another urge to blog about nothing whatsoever. The Crazy Thoughts of Elijah Rodriguez: An Autobiography. Have a good week, see you later :)

Reasons and My Story

Saturday night, April 13. On the couch, as the amazing taste of Penne Pomodori flows through my tastebuds while Paramore is playing on the speaker. As I'm reading other blogs, I really started to think why I want to do this. There's reasons because of school, culture, and growing up, and I'm going to divide the first two reasons into paragraphs, and say my story but in greater detail (that's in part 2)

School

There's the diversity aspect of school and the typical teenager drama stuff

Diversity
So my school is about 90+% caucasian. There is very little diversity in my school which I really don't like, Everyone looks the same, it's kind of ridiculous. Europe, while yes it's caucasian mostly, actually has culture. Italians have so much culture compared to kids of the USA for the most part.

Typical Teenager Drama Stuff
I hang with a group of kids. They're the artsy kids. I love my friends in that group to death. However, there's some kids in that group that are just catty, rude, judgmental, and bring such a negative aura into the room. They just annoy me a lot and there's more to it but I'll stop now from sounding like a typical angst-filled teenager.

Culture

Ever since I was little, I've always been fascinated with different cultures. When I was little (around 2nd grade) I was in LOVE with Japanese culture! I learned basically everything there is to know about Japan and started to learn Japanese. I got a Japanese picture book and a dictionary. I got into sushi and everything Japanese, I completely immersed myself in Japanese culture and it went so well. Now I know Japanese and I can answer anything about Japan and say any fact about Japan! Japan is wonderful. In fact, this year I had to do an oral on Japanese culture and I didn't even write it. I did everything off the top of my head and I got an A! I still love Japan, not as much, but that flame is still there.
Over time, I started moving towards European culture, and specifically French culture. In 7th grade, I had to start a language. Originally I was going to do Chinese, but yeah that wasn't going to turn out well. So I did French!... much to my parents' dismay since they wanted me to learn Spanish, since my last name and all that fun stuff. Now I know some Spanish! I still take French, but I also do individual outside studies and I consider myself near-fluent if not fluent.
Anyway, then there was this amazing opportunity to go to Europe in February 2012! I took that opportunity and counted down the days since 5 months before, and before I knew it, I woke up with my dog on me, put a scarf on her and hopped in the car to LAX where I would go on an 11 hour nonstop flight to Paris with some of my best friends. We then took a 2 hour flight to Rome, where 10 days later we would return to Paris. It was such an amazing time being there, and from there, I had such an urge to go back, and I got kind of depressed seeing how boring Los Angeles was. I really started to realize how uncultured LA was! It was such an eye-opener to me, and I couldn't thank God enough for opening my eyes to this. I just love everything about Italian culture so much. It's so beautiful! The language, THE FOOD, even the air there. When I was there, the air felt so fresh and it smelled really good too! Oh and the women but I won't bore you with those details.

I didn't want to make this too long, so check out part 2!

Some Worries

Hi, hope you're having a good day
Due to my inability to get a normal amount of sleep, I usually spend that time late at night/early in the morning imaging myself in Italy.

MY NUMBER ONE FEAR is grades this year. My parents said I have to get everything above a B- in all my classes or
I
Can't
Go.
This worries me horribly. I have a C+ in honors history, a B- in honors bio, and a B- in math. We barely have any school left and I fear that I can't raise them. It's been causing a LOT of tension.. It's horrible. It's actually eating me alive thinking I wouldn't be able to go cause I have a B- in biology or something... I can't even describe the feeling..
So I'm extremely paranoid about that, so I'm now working as hard as I can to see if I can go for sure, but I'm not super hopeful :(

So sadly I found out I have to take Honors Rhetoric and Style from my school here in the US which I HATE! I hate the English program in my school because it's extremely rigorous. I mean I have a B in my current honors English class, but still I've always hated English at my school. It's diction and syntax which I DESPISE, but for the whole course. The whole online course, on the one thing I hate. Wonderful. And now since I'll be living in another language and using different grammatical structures and whatnot, how will I write the 437328948 essays I'll have to do for the class without TONS of mistakes later in? I'll be completely immersed in Italian and most likely forget some English in the process, so I'm extremely worried about that.

Another worry I have is my placement. What if they can't find a family for me or something like that? I chose Rome or Milan like I said, and I said a few of my little preferences (likes to travel, I HAVE to play tennis, really artsy, etc.) and I'm just scared I'll get a family I don't like. I really don't want to change families sometime throughout the program. My biggest fear is probably having a family who's overly conservative. I am Christian yes, but I'm not totally devout, and I wouldn't want a family who's like, super devout, and I mean those who, say, will restrict what music I listen to, or won't let me watch shows like shows meant for my age and things like that. I'm totally okay with a religious family, just not those like Ned Flanders on The Simpsons. I know it sounds a little dumb, but everyone has their own slightly shallow fears for their host families. But I'm super excited for my family though!

Aside from the little worries, I'm just getting by in school. We get out May 30, so only 36 school days left! I'm thinking of buying an American flag and bringing it on the last day, and having all my friends sign it, then bring it to Italy to hang in my room. Then when I leave, I'll buy an Italian flag and have my host family and friends abroad sign it, then hang both in my room. Or I'll use one Italian flag for everything to represent coexistence between my groups of friends halfway across the world, and use an Italian flag instead of our flag so represent my departure (my USA friends' messages) and my home for a year. I'll figure it out.

Sorry for boring you with this post, so here's a few photos of Italy I took last year on my phone c:

My first gelato in Italy! Vatican strawberry lemon gelato is wonderful.

Some really cool buildings (one of my favorites I took) (this is actually my background on my laptop!)  (This is the photo above)

More buildings!

The Coliseum! (One of my favorites as well)

Oh hey Milan.

Florence! I originally picked Florence because it's to me the most beautiful city in Italy, and maybe even the world, but it's too small, which was a deal breaker. I'll be better off in a big city, and I LOVE Rome and Milan too! I plan to study abroad in Florence during college (and Paris, London,Tokyo, and maybe Dubai and maybe Berlin).

Oh look it's me in Florence on top of the Duomo.

ACCEPTED

GUYS I GOT ACCEPTED IM SO EXCITED I CANT EVEN BREATHE. Today I woke up at like 1:30 (don't judge okay it's spring break) and the guy sent an email saying I GOT ACCEPTED! I immediately went downstairs and my mom almost started tearing up and I comforted her. But yep!

LOOK AT IT (this is actually what woke me up)

So that's all I have to say. Now to look forward to my host family and location (hopefully Rome or Milan like I requested)! See you later :)

WAITING

So a week ago (3/20/13), I did an interview over Skype with the head of the program and it went really well! We clicked easily, and it was such a fun interview! The guy said it would take two weeks for the letter to come to determine my acceptance and I'm kind of going crazy for the letter to come haha. I can be really impatient sometimes! So I'm just currently waiting for my results, checking the mailbox right when I get home. Hopefully it won't take the full 2 weeks for my determination to come in the mail. Hopefully it's like 3 more days! I don't think I can wait another full week haha. But for now I'm just getting through school with Spring Break coming up, so for sure it's gonna come during Spring Break. If I get accepted, it'll make my break for sure. I'm gonna stay optimistic and believe that I get accepted though. So for now I'll pass these few remaining days of the application process with the wonderful invention of tumblr :)

If you'd like, follow me on one of my Instagrams at @italylife (or if you'd like my personal one at @erod47) I'll start posting pictures in late August about my exchange, and maybe a few before. Also, you can friend me on Facebook at the link below, and you can message me about anything about the exchange, or if you're on one, or if you're with other programs, if you wanna be an exchange student, anything. 

http://www.facebook.com/elijah.rodriguez.374549
(if it doesn't work, give me the link of your facebook account or something so I can find you and friend you)

An Introduction

Hi, my name is Elijah Rodriguez. I'm currently 14 years old (15 by the time the program starts) and I live in in the suburban San Fernando Valley (I prefer not to say the town I live in, just going to say LA). It's in the Los Angeles county, so it's about 20 minutes away from the city. I go to Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village and boy is it a blast there (sarcasm). I'm a freshman. I was born in Chicago and moved to California when I was 6 months old, and I've lived in my current home for 11 years. In a way I like living in in my town because it's a small town on 67,000 people and everything is 2 minutes away (or about 5-20 minutes away by walking) so everything is accessible. In a way, I hate it here because I'm a city person (Both parents were born and raised in Chicago and we go there all the time) and nothing ever happens in LA, so I always persuade my parents to go in the city whenever we can. Before I write an autobiography, let me tell you about what this blog is really about.

I applied to Italy this month in March (March 11th to be exact). I chose Italy because I went there in Feb. 2012 (and Paris too!) and it was beautiful to say the least. I wanted to know how it was to live like a native and see how it was to go to high school there. How did I get exposed to studying abroad in high school? One of the good things about my school is that tons of kids study abroad to our school. I have friends from China (if you're reading this Cathy, hi!), Korea, and even one from Italy! I'm totally sick of living in California and since there's no sign of us moving any time soon, and I love Italian culture so much, I figure why not study abroad in Italy? I LOVE traveling. I've been all around the USA and Italy and France and Canada and a few other places. I hope this experience makes me find myself because right now I'm kind of confused about what my point here and I don't wanna get all philosophical on you. Basically I really want to see what it's like to live with an Italian family, and just to have different parents and see a different lifestyle, one of many in the world.

I have a more detailed backstory of why I chose to study abroad in my post (Reasons and My Story, in April)

The program's called Quest International. It's smaller, but seems more personal and friendly. I chose this one because I can visit family during Christmas (if the exchange kids in my school can go home for Christmas, why shouldn't I go home for Christmas?) and I can choose where I want to go. I said either Rome or Milan so I can live in a big city like I strongly desire. I've been talking to a representative of the High School abroad part of the company (also there's summer programs and language immersion) for like 4, 5 months now? He's super nice. 
Check it out! questexchange.org

Anyway, I play tennis, I'm in the UN club, Asian club, Skip 1 (community service) club, linguistics club (I have a thing for languages; I know English,  French, a lot of Italian, Japanese, some Spanish, and some German!), and several other clubs. Other than tennis, I hate sports. I wanna try dance. I attempt to juggle 7 or so clubs, tennis, languages, school, family, friends, sleep (LOL sleep okay I'm a total insomniac) and the bits of free time I have but yeah it doesn't work out that well. Oh I'm Puerto Rican (hence going to Chicago a lot and New York sometimes, I have tons of family!), and I love food! :)
I hope to learn to cook there!

Well this blog is getting kind of long, so I'm gonna go watch SNL now (a favorite Saturday night tradition with family) so I'll get back with you to see if I get accepted or not!

Oh also there's no good pictures of me lately so here's some with me and my fellow yearbookers (blue shirt, the only guy)