A Voi / To You All

Questa è una lettera per tutti - per quelli che mi hanno conosciuta quest’anno, per quelli che mi conoscevano già e anche per quelli che non mi hanno mai conosciuta e forse non mi conosceranno mai. Questa è una lettera e la sto scrivendo perché non sono mai stata brava ad esprimermi ad alta voce, ma c’ho così tante cose da dire, le quali vogliono essere dette. In questi ultimi mesi, le ultime settimane e soprattutto oggi, mi sono resa conto che la maniera in cui mi comporto con gli altri non mi permette di andare avanti, non mi permette di avere dei veri rapporti con la mia famiglia, sia quella americana che quella italiana e con la gente che mi sta vicina. Per voi, può sembrare che io sia felice di tornare in America, che per me quest’anno - quest’esperienza - finiscerà l’otto luglio, quando prendo l’aereo per partire, ma non è vero. Mi dispiace assai lasciare l’Italia, lasciare Isernia e tutti voi. Vi voglio un mondo di bene e so che non sia ovvio, che non mostro tanto affetto o tante emozioni, ma ci tengo veramente alle amicizie e conoscenze che ho fatto in questi dieci mesi. Alla mia famiglia italiana - solo adesso sto riconoscendo quanti sacrifici avete fatto per potermi ospitare e che li avete fatti sempre con un sorriso e con le braccia aperte. Guardando in dietro, vedo adesso che potevo fare molto di più per mostrarvi tutti i sentimenti, tutto l’amore che provo per voi, ma spero che ora sia abbastanza chiara. Non avevo mai avuto una sorella e adesso ce ne ho due e anche se abbiamo litigato, Miryam, voglio dirti che ti voglio un sacco di bene e non posso dirti quanto mi hai aiutato a crescere, a farmi sentire a casa e quanto mi dispiace lasciarti. A mia madre italiana - Mamma, qualche volta devo fare un passo in dietro per poter vedere quanto lavori, quanto ti preoccupi di tutti noi prima di te stessa e come hai fatto tutto quello che era possibile (e anche di più) per farmi star bene, per essere una vera madre per me e mi mancherai tantissima, mi mancheranno i tuoi consigli e le tue risate. Sei stata un punto di riferimento per me durante tutti questi mesi. Ai miei amici - Non posso immaginare come sarebbe stato passare quest’anno senza di voi - in classe, le serate, tutti i compiti, amori, giorni e notti che abbiamo vissuti insieme. Vi voglio bene e dovete assolutamete trovare un modo per collegarvi su skype con me e Sabrina in classe l’anno prossimo XD Ero timidissima all’inizio dell’anno e tutto quello che avete fatto per aiutarmi, per conoscermi e crescere insieme a me è stato fantastico. Mi mancherete tantissimo, e spero che quest’esperienza sia stata bella non solo per me ma anche per voi. XOXO In fine, voglio ringraziare tutti professori, volontari, gli altri studenti di Intercultura e anche quelli che stanno in america, per avermi aiutato, più che pensavo fosse possibile, e anche se non riesco dire tutto ad alta voce, spero che questa lettera possa farvi capire quanto vi devo, quanto vi voglio bene, e quanto mi dispiace andare via. ---- This is a letter for everyone - for those who got to know me this year, for those who already knew me, and also for those who have never met me, and maybe never will. This is a letter and I’m writing it because I’ve never been good at expressing myself with spoken words, but I have so many things to say, things that want to be said. In these last months, these weeks, and above all today, I have realized that the way in which I behave with others doesn’t allow me to move on, doesn’t allow me to have truly open relationships with my family, both the italian and american ones, and with the people who are near to me. For you all, it may seem that I am happy to go back to the states, that for me this year and this experience will end the eighth of july when I board the plane to leave, but it’s not true. I am destroyed by the idea of leaving Italy, leaving Isernia, and all of you. I love all of you so much, and I know that it’s not obvious, that I don’t show a lot of affect or emotions, but I care deeply about the friendships and relationships that I have had in these ten months. To my italian family - only now am I starting to recognize how many sacrifices you make in order to host me, and that you made them with a smile on your face and your arms open. Looking back I see that I could have done much mroe to show you all of the feelings, all of the love that I feel for you all, but I hope that now it is more clear. I had never had a sister, and now I have two. Even if we fight sometimes, Miryam, I want to tell you that I love you, and I can’t tell you how much you have helped me to grow, to feel at home, and how sad I am to leave you. To my italian mother - mamma, sometimes I have to take a step back in order to see how much you work, how much you worry about all of us before yourself, and how you did everything possible and more in order to help me stay well, to be a real mom for me and I’m going to miss you so much, your advice and your laugh. You have been a reference point for me during all of these months. To my friends - I can’t imagine how it would have been to pass this year without all of you - in class, the evenings, all of the tests and loves and days and nights that we lived together. I love all of you and you definitely have to figure out how to skype with me and Sabrine next year in class XD I was so timid at the beginning of the year and everything that you all did in order to help me, to know me and to grow with me was fantastic. I’m going to miss all of you and I hope that this experience was great not just for me but for all of you as well. XOXO Finally, I want to thank all of the teachers, volunteers, the other AFSers, and all of my family and friends in America for having helped me more than I thought was possible, and even if I’m not able to say all of this out loud I hope that this letter can help you all understand how much I owe you, how much I care about you, and how sad I am to leave.

Red Clay Roots

This is where I apologize for the four months that have gone by since I last posted. A lot of things have happened in these four months.... mostly in the last month, but still. Four months of a ten month exchange is a huge chunk of time. With those four months winter came and went, school was cancelled for weeks, I got at least two haircuts, read a bunch of books, travelled to another country, took numerous tests at school, saw the very north and very south of Italy, and an infinite number of other things that changed my life in imperceptable ways. I haven't avoided writing on this blog just for a lack of time, or the hesitance to write in a language I would like to forget, but because of how difficult it is to put into words this experience, how strange it is to put a pretty little frame around this life that has become mine, that has become hard to see through the lense of a 10 month exchange. In 10 weeks I will leave this country to go back to my other home in the states, and I still can't tell you all what it will be like, what it will be like to leave this life and go back to my old one. It is a change that is surrounded by doubts and fears that regard not only relationships with groups of people on both sides of the Atlantic, but also school, languages, the future. In the past four weeks - the month of April - I had the opportunity to travel not only to England, but also to Turin, and Lecce. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and while I had seen this happen in relation to my family of origin in the states, I didn't know if it would hold true for my italian family. It breaks my heart to say that it's true - that I have become so close to these people, not only my host family, but also my friends here, that I really do *miss* them while I'm gone. In Lecce I also had the opportunity to stay with a host family for a week, and came away from the experience with even more close friends and host family members. Leaving will be the strangest mix of emotions possible, and I can already feel them creeping up on me, with various friends and family members leaving for the summer once the schools finish. And so I am fully commmited to making the most of these last 2 and a half months - whether it be AFS camps, hanging out with friends, dropping a history course that was only causing me pain, or just speaking italian and spending my days with my host family. I'll try and update a couple more times in the next few months, and below I'll attach the open links to all of the pictures I took during my time in England, Turin, and Lecce. Thanks for reading, until next time. - Helen England http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.302633216472815.68985.100001784182164&type=3&l=52a08e63ab http://www.facebook.com/media/set/set=a.302633216472815.68985.100001784182164&type=1&bef=302650696471067&aft=302668659802604&l=52a08e63ab Turin http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.310940315642105.73410.100001784182164&type=3&l=cae3cb15ba http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.310965715639565.73428.100001784182164&type=3&l=917a94b8f1 Lecce http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.318030121599791.74751.100001784182164&type=3&l=305cdb273e http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.318454168224053.74818.100001784182164&type=3&l=c2783c61fb

Echo Interview (in which i realize i can't spell or write grammatically correct sentences)

1. I had never really considered studying abroad in high school until I read a book called The New Global Student by Maya Frost. Actually, my mom brought home the book for Ben to read when he was having a really tough time during his... i can't remember if it was senior or junior year at East and they were thinking about alternatives to going to East everyday. Instead, I picked it up, and got hooked on the idea of studying abroad. The book's author talks mainly about Rotary, but also about AFS and YFU which are the biggest exchange organizations. Her daughters had been abroad more than once and she had some first hand experience with what it was like to have kids be on exchange, and how big of a chance it was for them, and how it really helped them decide what they wanted to do with their lives, and how it opened a lot of doors. 2. After that I played around with the idea for a while before talking to my parents. My dad was definitely a little hesitant at first, mostly because of the time and money involved, but I never had a real issue convincing my parents that it was something that I wanted to do, they were definitely quite supportive from the beginning. I looked into a lot of different programs, Rotary because it would have been much cheaper but it got ruled out pretty fast because of their very strict rules and very hands-off approach. Plus, the Rotary chapter in our area doesn't (or didn't) take part in the exchange program. That left YFU, AFS, and the scholarship programs like CBYX and YES. I ultimately decided on AFS because of all of the time they put into orientations, and preparing kids, and the volunteer system, and they definitely had the biggest range of programs, and a great reputation. AFS is the most expensive however - if you're interested in being an exchange student but don't know if you can afford it, I suggest looking into CBYS and YES, even if you think you might not be interested in going to Germany, or one of the muslim nations - they're great programs and I have friends who have been part of them. Once you decide where you want to go and what program you want to go with, it's a matter of finding out what the application process and deadlines are like. Deadlines for AFS year-long programs departing in the fall are around March, I think, and they start accepting applications around November. I was one of the first to turn in my application because I had been thinking about it for so long, but in reality it's a ton of work. Doctors appointments, medical forms, school forms, transcripts, letters of recommendation, letters to potential host families, in-person interviews, photos.... and that's not even including scholarship applications. A lot of people say that 90% of an exchange is waiting, and it's absolutely true. Waiting to turn in your application, waiting to be accepted by AFS-USA, waiting to be accepted by your host country, waiting to be placed with a host family, waiting to leave. I turned in my app in early november, got accepted by AFSUSA in february, got accepted by AFSItaly about a week later (this is extremely unusual, I was one of the very first people accepted by Italy) but didn't get my host family until the beginning of July. I left September 7th, got to my host family on September 11th. 3. I am forever asked by Intercultura (AFSItaly) volunteers what I expected before coming, but about four and a half months in, I can hardly remember. I guess I had that idea of Italy, of the rolling hills of Tuscany, of the canals of Venice, of big family dinners in the sun and teenagers in good clothes and sun glasses, famous works of art and streets paved with stones. Which sounds stupidly stereotypical but if you've never been to a place, just read about it in books and seen it in movies, what are you supposed to think? My life here is definitely very very different from what you see in movies. First of all, I live in the south of Italy, and therefore things are a lot more... simple than in the North. The stereotypes of the south being poorer, simpler, less reserved and less wordly than the north are definitely true. But these aren't bad things, just different from what I expected. With my first host family (I ended up switching at the end of my third month due to some un-resolvable problems) I lived in a small apartment in the old part of town. I think what shocked me the most was that the oven was broken. "What?!" I thought to myself, "I thought all Italian people loved to cook, and ate great food all the time!" But they were a young family with two working parents, and a large part of their meals came from the freezer-section of the grocery store. I also came to realize that even though Italy is, well, Italy, most of the people in our generation are perfectly used to being online and eating microwaved dinners and listening to crappy music. People are people, teenagers are teenagers, cultural standards change but people remain mostly the same. 4. Cultural differences - the umbrella under which all of my experiences can be shoved. I will make a list for sake of brevity and clarity and because I like making lists: - Yes, a lot more people smoke. - Yes, you can buy alcohol if you're over 16. - Yes, everyone drinks wine. But a lot of kids and teenagers have no interest in it. - We only go to school in the morning from 8 - 2 - Kids stay in the same class for the entire day, with the same kids every year. The teachers change rooms, and you have a different schedule every day. - Multiple choice tests do not exist. Kids are evaluated through interrogations, which are oral exams where you basically have to memorize huge chunks of the text book and lecture notes and recite them back to the teacher. As you can imagine, this is quite difficult when you don't speak the language. - Every week you have one hour of religion class, and there's a carved crucifix in every classroom. - Almost everyone is catholic, even if they don't practice. - Schools don't have sports teams or theaters or clubs. - We go to school on Saturday. - Kids go out every evening from around 6 to around 7 or 8 - Everyone goes out on Saturday night, just to walk around with friends and get something to eat, or to go clubbing or dancing There are definitely a lot more concerning politics, consumerism, family life, but these are some of the most obvious ones that involve high school students. I don't know if this has "influenced the opinion of my experience" since the fact that things are different is the major part of my experience. But yeah, things are different. 5. I really don't know what it will be like to come home. I think about it sometimes, and they say that a lot of the time it's harder to come home than it is to go away due to reverse-culture shock. I am definitely neater now, and a lot better at living with other people, since at home in Chapel Hill it has just been me and my parents for the last year, and I pretty much got left to my own devises, whereas here I'm constantly around the other people who live in my house and have to share a bathroom with three other girls... stuff like that. As for cultural differences I've definitely learned the value of slowing down - of just taking a step back and thinking about what you're doing, if you're getting worked up over something stupid, if you're rushing even though you have nowhere to be. Indepence is also another big thing. It's not that I have more independence here - at the beginning I definitely had less because of the language barrier and unfamiliar places and a different family dynamic. Now that I'm confident in the language and have an established routine and group of friends I do stuff on my own most of the time, but even now I have less independence than in chapel hill. But it's not that kind of independence that matters, it's knowing that after this you'll be able to do anything, it's about learning to just man-up and ask questions, even if you sound stupid, it's about being able to realize that you've made a mistake, to admit that you don't know the answer. And those are the things I'll keep with me when I come home. 6. The academic style here is completely different, and I have spent a huge amount of time thinking about it in the past four months. (I even wrote a four page paper on it in Italian. No big deal.) It goes beyond the fact that in italy we have a different schedule, or different classes, or specialized high schools. The expectations that the teachers have for the students are also different. The system is so much more hands off than the one we have at east. Kids are told they are going to have a test, that the teacher will be doing oral exams, that they're expected to know something - and that's it. The students study or they don't, it's their problem and if they totally bomb a test or an interrogation then it's over. There are no make up tests, no extra credit, no going to the teacher during lunch to get something explained or study halls to do research. You do it or you don't. There are no honors classes, no AP courses, just third year italian or fourth year history, so on and so forth. The obvious problem with this is that students sink or swim, and those who sink are left behind. The grading scale is also much different. Theoretically, everything ends up out of ten - but ten does not exist. The only way you could get a ten would be maybe on a math test if you did ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING RIGHT AND SHOWED ALL YOUR WORK but even then you'd probably get a nine. And so, a seven becomes a good grade. anything below a 5 is "insufficient" 5 is the lowest "sufficient" 6 is OK, 7 is pretty good, 8 is super good, 9 is super human, and 10 is godly. (I would like to point out that I have at least a 7 in all of my classes. Get at me.) Even though I won't be getting credit for the classes I'm taking here, and I'll have to take APES as a senior and possibly repeat a year of math, I find myself enjoying school and trying hard, just because when else are you going to get to read Dante's Inferno in italian or take 6 hours a week of french in italian and get so confused you have to take tests with two huge dictionaries on your desk? It's definitely made me realize how hard I can work at school, and how much help we have at East. 7. If you're interested in studying abroad - do it. If you want to do it in college, cool. if you want to do it in high school - make it happen. It's a ton of work even to get through the application process, but I promise it's worth it. Even when you're having the worst day ever, 6,000 miles away from your family and your friends, you're still in another country, having an entirely unique experience. don't worry about SATs or college applications or not graduating with a ton of APs - sure, I sacrificed my junior year credits to study abroad, but i'm still STUDYING ABROAD. the number of kids who study abroad compared to those who take the same ap classes and extra curriculars as everyone else is going to make you stand out, I promise. Also, the first time you honest to god can't remember how to say something in english is pretty awesome.

Holiday Post Part 1 (Christmas and Internet Struggles)

Well, this is it. The last day of 2011. Tomorrow it will be 2012, and I will start a whole new year in this paese di merde (Roccamandolfi, IS, Italy). To be fair, Rocca is very beautiful, and I enjoy seeing all of the mountains and ice and snow and such - from my seat next to the fire. As a friend of mine put it when I told him I was in Rocca for the holidays, he said "Oh! Mia migliore amica sta lassù.... è una pecora." (Oh! My best friend lives up there.... she's a sheep.) It is an incredibly, incredibly small town, dwarfed even further by the huge mountains surrounding it. We got here Christmas Eve day, and ate the customary dinner of fish and other seafood before opening presents and eating panettone. I got some great junk food and fuzzy sweaters from my family in the states, and some earrings, a scarf, a hat, some perfume, and a photo album from my italian family. The photo album was a really great idea that my host mom had where she took some photos my dad had sent her and printed them out and put them in a photo album that is half empty, waiting to be filled with photos of my italian family and me :) Speaking of photos, I really haven't been taking photos recently. It's beautiful here, and it would be nice to document all of the stuff that is happening (or not happening) but it has started to feel strange. Part of it is the increasing out-datedness of my camera, but most of it is the feeling that there isn't a need to document this, it just feels so much like everyday life. Which i guess is good for me, but not so good for everyone who wants photographic documentation of my life in italy. Sorry guys, I'll try and get back to it. I also went to midnight mass on christmas eve, which was cool. Mostly it was just strange, even more so since it was the first church service I had ever been to in my entire life - but a priceless cultural experience nontheless. There is a lot of standing involved. A lot. Especially in the middle of the night, when it's freezing cold. For the past few days I've just been hanging around the house or the town with Miryam and Anna, who is her (our) cousin who's a year older than me, and who I have some classes with at school. But Anna is in Prata tonight so Miryam and I have been left on our for New Year's and we're going to some... thing in town. The whole concept of new year's is quite different from anything I experienced in the states. In america, it's more about hanging out, having drinks, waiting for the ball to drop. I mean, people definitely go out, go clubbing and such, but in Italy.... oh jeez. People go big for new years. Pretty much every one aged 16 - 30 goes clubbing, or dancing. The big clubs have special events these nights, and tickets to get in range from 20 - 45 euros, more or less. The whole idea of clubbing, dancing, getting drinks with friends is still kind of weird, but four months in the wierdness is wearing off and I'm starting to master spending hours in heels. Oh! I got a haircut a couple of days ago, and opted for the crazy italian haircut. Well, i dunno about opted, more like just let the hairdressed do what she wanted, but I know have awesome spiky punk-rock hair that makes wearing cardigans difficult because of the incongruity. Pictures to follow in the near future. Well, tomorrow I'm off to the house of Miryam's dad where we're staying until the fourth, and then it's back to Isernia and civilization. Hooray! Now to start on all of my homework that I have to finish by the ninth.... Happy Holidays everyone!

The Immaculate Conception and Other Things I Don't Understand

Well, it's Tuesday morning and I'm currently on one of the couches in the upstairs common room, surrounded by a mountain of tissues. That's right folks, I have once again succumbed to sickness here in the land of long life and red wine. I think it mostly has to do with changing houses and new living arrangements and food and stress, but chissa, maybe I'm actually turning into Marvel's new superhero, The Nose. I am taking advantage of not being at school to write this blog post (obviously) and to study for all of the tests and interrogations that are happening before break and the end of the semester at the end of January. I was trying to think of what to write about, and I really liked Chandler's blog post that included random snippets from her journal that she's keeping while abroad. I'm also keeping a journal/diary/dayplanner/scrapbook while abroad, and I'm getting pretty close to filling it up. The first time I wrote in this journal was the 30th of August, and I can hardly believe how much has changed and how far I've come in about 3 and a half months. 9.8.11 I'm sitting on the plane as I write this somewhere over the atlantic, and according to the pilot, south of newfoundland. Because we're flying Swiss Air everything is said in English and then repeated in German and French, and being able to understand the French makes me feel a little better about my lack of Italian knowledge. (....) In about six hours we'll be in Zurich! Then we have a 90 minute layover until our flight to rome, it's still surreal. 9.9.11 There are distant fireworks in the background, and i wonder if there is a holiday or celebration in Rome. There is still so much I don't know about this place. (...) A crowd of people is playing clapping and singing games outside, and I feel a little alone in my contentedness. Things to Remember: Sometimes you will cry yourself to sleep whiile trying to read an Italian book on Aristotle for your philosophy class, and sometimes you'll be flying through the countryside singing along to Frank Sinatra's Mack the Knife - everything has its ups and downs. 18.9.11 The weather changed today. the clouds moved me to the window where silence settled as my fingertips soaked up the condensation as it fell, fell. 26.9.11 It's raining here again. I can see it out the open window of four D, blurring the windows and laundry lines of the apartment building across the street. (...) I spend so much of my time taking pictures, but I feel like they can not capture the strange beauty of this place. (...) Drinks here are never served cold, and I would kill someone with my bare hands for a really good ICED americano. I've had good espressos here, but it's always a top, a five second diversion from where we've been and where we're going - i desperately miss spending hours at driade, or weaver, or opene eye, nursing a drink and reading or writing. 26.10.11 Just read three pages of my french grammar book before realizing that it was in italian, not french. ohjeez. 27.10.11 I miss you most bare-foot and blurry eyed, watching my breath curl out of my open window and wondering what impression i left on that town. i miss you most with cracking fingertips and scuffed boots - wishing for someeone to wish for. 4.11.11 Today my italian teacher spent 15 minutes explaining to me what a sonnet it. I've never been so frustrated in my life. 4.12.11 You never quite know what vicious lengths listening to The Fray will drive you to until you're stuck in a car with four small children with nothing else to listen to. 7.12.11 Today is the three month anniversary of leaving home to study abroad in Italy for my junior year of high school. Today is also the first time that I've ever eaten lungs, but that's relatively insignificant if you're not my conscience or digestive tract. Well. Those are some choice extracts from my journal, although the full effect of all the doodling and highlighting and randomness that goes on get's lost when everything is re-typed into a blog. Alas. Oh yeah, if you didn't know (by this point I just kind of figure everyone does) I changed host families last Wednesday. For a lot of complicated reasons, most of which stemmed back to a difference in cultures and lifestyles that was too large to mend, I left my first host family and am now spending the rest of my exchange with another family. They live in Isernia, and I attend the same school. The family consists of Anna-Maria (the mom), her mom and dad, Lorenza (her 9 year old daughter), and Miryam (her 14 year old daughter who goes to school with me). Things are good - they live in a large-ish house with a big yard, and they keep a lot of animals and grow a lot of their own food. Miryam and I like a lot of the same books and television shows, and I'm helping Lorenza learn how to read sheet music. Anna-Maria works a lot but the grandparents are always at home, and I'm in good spirits (except for the being sick thing). Well, I have a lot of studying to do for all of my various tests, so, until next time. Ciaociao Helen

And Winter Slams Its Fists Against The Windows (Old post re-posted)

Well, it's me again, coming to you from Isernia (as always). It's Tuesday and I have a lot of studying to do for a test I'm undoubtedly going to fail, and an interogation I'll prolly do okay on. I find interogations to be the lesser of the school evils, since you have lots of time to prepare for them, and it's hardly ever analysis, just rote memorization (which I was known for in elementary school. Those poetry recitals didn't know what hit them). The afformentioned test is for History, and the teacher said she wasn't going to make me do an interogation, just a multiple choice test - on 100 pages of material. 100 pages. In Italian. That, as of Monday morning, I had not read. I trucked through 30 pages last night, and am on course to being psuedo-finished by class on Thursday. But yes, school. School is cold. Ohdio how cold. Schools in southern Italy are in general, not the finest institutes of learning. Graffiti is everywhere and the walls and windows are neglected. And there are old fashioned radiators in ever room, but they're turned on very infrequently, and for some reason some teachers make us open the windows - therefore losing any heat that might have accumulated. I've been building up an assortment of warm, fuzzy layers. Currently the older of my two younger host sisters is in the process of dressing to go to the theater for her lesson. This looks a little something like a monkey trying to put a sweater on a wriggling slug while a tiny bird flies around the house in search of... I don't really know. Maria Claudia (the younger) is in the first year of elementary school, which means she's learning to read. Her sounding out words is one of the funniest things in the entire world. Trust me. This afternoon I've also promised myself I'm going to start christmas shopping, since all of a sudden it is halfway through november and most of my purchases will have to be shipped 6000 miles across the ocean. So yeah, christmas presents for my real family, and a birthday present for my mom, and a birthday present for my brother's girlfriend who's turning 20, plus christmas presents for my host parents and siblings. Whew. Lots to do. I feel like I'm constantly losing time here, which makes everything kind of alarming until you realize that even though it's 5 oclock the stores are just opening and dinner is still three hours away.

Quick Quick

Ciao a tutti - Just a super quick blog post this afternoon, as I have homework to do and things to get in order. It's Monday, and technically Halloween, but it really isn't a big deal here - people are going out tonight, but only because tomorrow is All Souls/All Saints and everyone is off from school and work. The girls and I are also off of school on Wednesday, and it sounds like we might go into Rome tomorrow for a day or two but Gaia and Oreste have conflicting work schedules and it's still not clear. So, the last day of October. I've been here for about a month and a half. Italian is coming along nicely, school is difficult, Isernia is beautiful. As far as pictures go, I have been posting on Facebook, and I know that not everyone has access to those pictures. I tried setting up a Picasa account for public sharing, but the internet and the computer I'm using were making it take ages to upload photos. I'll keep working on putting them up, and for now you can just picture me - in lots of winter clothes - eating a lot of food and doing a lot of homework. In Italian. I'll write a longer post later this week, and if you're truely starved for details you could call my parents and pester them - they're clued in :) A presto Helen