Greenheart Travel

Author: Molly Burtenshaw

  • Arrivederci Italia

    Its over. The endless adventures, amazing food, unforgettable people, and the constant confusion. I know this is a cliche, but it is true that sometimes you dont know what you are missing until its gone. Everything that I thought I was ready to escape while being in Italy is exactly what I miss. Sitting through long dinners in complete Italian and having no idea what is going on, but trying so hard to figure it out. Having to try strange foods like raw hamburger meat and cow tongue. Heather and I getting lost almost everywhere we tried to go and no one knew how to help guide us in the right direction. Trying to communicate with the kids I was teaching and they would just look at me with blank stares. I just miss every single ounce of it!!! (minus the sun never coming out)



    The best part about this experience is that I can say I did it. I went by myself scared shitless, thousands of miles from my comfort zone and dove straight into this new world. I loved every moment of it. The ups and the downs. I think the hardest part for me was adjusting to living with two different host families in which both of them spoke very little to no english. I overcame so many fears of mine and became a better person because of it. I have realized so many things that I worry about are so petty. It taught me to not let the small things in life get to me and to just live! The Italain carefree way of life has transformed me into a more easygoing person (okay…. maybe not completely but im trying!) I feel so lucky to have been given this opportunity to experience living in Italy and traveling to some of the most remarkable places in the world. To anyone who is considering going abroad to teach English after College I highly highly reccomend doing it! 

    Now I am back home. Living in beautiful South Florida, but wishing I was looking out my window seeing the Alps covered with snow. The holidays have passed and its time for me to start putting the pieces of my life together. The job search has begun, but I secretly want to be back in Torino with hot chocolate in one hand and a cannoli in the other. 

    Addio al mio amore <3

  • The Final Stretch!

    As I sit here eating my cookies with nutella I’m realizing that I have to start packing and not just for a weekend trip but forever. The inevitable has happened. It is almost that time to go back to reality. Get a job and I guess become an adult…if that’s possible for me. BUT luckily I still have two more weeks till reality strikes.
    The past few weeks I have had my ups and downs. I was sick last week for the whole week with a sinus infection. Luckily though I got some antibiotics from my host sister and I am finally feeling better. Thanksgiving was hard and I really missed my family but I had a lot of fun because heather and I went to the Torino FC soccer game! It was pretty cool and I also learned some new italian curse words. The weather wasnt so good the past two weeks it rained everyday…I’m not kidding literally every days for two weeks straight. Being from Florida I am not used to not seeing the sun for that long. It definitely had an affect on my mood and made me miss home more. But this weekend we went to Milan and the sun finally came out! Milan wasn’t one of my favorite cities. The only things to really do there are see the duomo, shop, shop, and shop. I can see why milan is the fashion capital…designer brands every where you look. The amount of people there this weekend was also insane because it was a holiday on Monday for the Immaculate conception as well as being the Christmas season it brought many many people to the streets for shopping. I met up with my host family’s daughter who was very friendly and showed us around the city and best areas to go shopping at.
    Our stay in Milan also didnt go so smoothly. We rented an apartment through Airbnb, in which I have never been disappointed with until now! I had previously messaged the guy asking to to have the whole apt and we got there and there were 6 other people in there including a middle aged man whos hair was all over the bathroom. We entered and Momo (our host) handed us the key to our bedroom door and said alright well hope you enjoy your stay. While he was doing this the girl who lives in the room we were staying in was taking some of her belongings out. We walked in and all of her stuff was on the dresser as well as overflowing with clothes in it. The apt smelled like curry and old men. When we asked if we could have a key to the apt to do as we pleased they told us that they would always be there and to just buzz from downstairs…which we found really strange. We left thinking lets just make the best of it then immediately changed our minds because we both were still feeling kinda sick. So we got a new hotel that was affordable and went back and told the girl that it is not what we expected and she was not having it. She stared at us while we left and waited for us to get into the elevator…beyond creepy. I am in the process of trying to get my money back…so fingers crossed!

    School has been going well for the most part or at least when people understand what I am saying. One of the secondary teachers I work with has been absent because she has really bad back pain, so I have been doing the lessons by myself. It has been difficult because most of the time the students look at me so confused and the teacher with me only speaks Italian, so I just start doing what I do best…charades. I have been doing Christmas carols with the younger kids and everytime they try and make me sing alone, which trust me I am the absolute worst singer ever (all my family and friends will agree). After we all sing it together though this one kid always looks at me and says bellisima and smiles 🙂 He’s also the same one that bought be a bracelet from Accesoriez and made me and American flag picture with it. Its a blue beaded bracelet with a diamond star on it. He is obviously my favorite now and its probably obvious.
    This Friday I am leaving for Interlaken, Switzerland!!!! Heather and I decided to drive cause its only 3 hours away and no worries we got a GPS so fingers crossed all goes well. Then its my last week and I’m off to Amsterdam then back to the states!

  • My Life: dazed and confused

    Where to begin?!

    On November 8th it was move out day and time to go live with another italian family in a town called Riva Presso Chieri about 10-15 minutes from Chieri (my previous town). Being a girl I have accumulated more and more things since I  arrived here and struggled fitting everything in my suitcase and backpack. I had to carry my coats and put the stuff that didnt fit in a shopping bag. Needless to say I need to buy another suitcase or wear half my clothes on the plane ride home. The sad part is can’t stop buying things. I have a problem. Other than that the move went very well! It was sad to say goodbye to my previous host family, but it was not difficult to adjust into my new home at all. They have been more than welcoming. My host mom speaks a little english very very little, but it works for us! She also takes english classes once a week and I help her with her homework. My host dad cannot speak english but does try! We mostly do charades and google translate has become the fourth member at the dinner table. They also have two daughters. I have met Serena she is doing her residincey to be a surgeon here in Torino and she comes home about twice a week for dinner. She speaks english pretty well and is so nice!! Their other daughter is Arianna and she works as a lawyer in Milan with her boyfriend. I will be visiting Milan the first weekend of December with Serena to visit her sister. Oh and I cannot forget the best part of the family is their cute cat named nonna. She is fifteen and the sweetest cat! She reminds me of Marshy and having her around makes it feel a little more like home. 
     
    The first weekend here in Riva, they had a teacher named Paula and her family come over for dinner. She is an english teacher I have been working with and is very nice of course. She has two daughters one is 15 and the other 18. I met the 18 year old who is studying languages, so I had someone to talk to at dinner haha. The dad also spoke a little english and is a volleyball referre. At dinner we had about four courses I would say. The first course were slices of sirloin steak, then after that we had salami and sopressta, and then my favorite part….cows tongue. I was in the process of chewing it when the daughter told me it is a piemontese specialty called cows tongue…By my suprise it was not that bad but not something I love. The sauces we put on all the meats were amazing. After all that we had lamb with potatoes, and then turkey. So I basically ate every animal. For dessert we had frozen yogurt, that tasted nothing like our frozen yogurts. It was 100000 times better! There were many toppings such as chocolate, caramel, coconut, and marmalade. We also had this apple crisp that had like a cream in it. The whole meal was to die for. Afte 4 1/2 hours of sitting at the table eating, I got up feeling like I had just gained at least 5 pounds. 
    The next day I woke up and went for about a 5 mile run with my host dad. Their whole family is very active and into running, hiking, and working out. I recently went to the gym with the host mom and did a step class, which was a lot like aerobics in the beginning. Thank God for that aerobics class I did in college, but really….I would have had no idea what to do. 
    After my run I went into Asti with Paula’s family to get some chinese food. I know chinese food in Italy?! But it was really really good and a really nice chinese restaurant. It was also nice to have a change from all the carbs. But I still have not gotten sick of all the Italain food! Maybe its the Italian in me 🙂 Asti was a very cute quaint town. It was Sunday so all the shops were closed, but there was a market in the center of town, but it was a rainy cold day so not too many people out and about. Rainy cold days are very common here and something that has been difficult for me. I do miss my sunshine and palm trees!
    On Monday I started my first day at my new school in Riva, where I am teaching Primary and Secondary school. It is definitely nice to teach secondary, because the kids can understand me a lot more and it makes it easier to teach them. They are also able to talk to me more and ask me more questions. For example one of the boys on the first day asked me what my dream guy looks like….and then proceeded to ask me if I have a boyfirend…so ya the only boys that want to date me are 13.  
    As for the primary kids they are just so adorable! They made me big welcome signs on my first day. On the first week it was just introductions and I showed them pictures of my home, family, and friends. This week I have been teaching the secondary students about the American holidays. Thanksgiving, Halloween, and Independence day. Talking about these festivities definitely made me realize how much I am going to miss celebrating thanksgiving this year with my family 🙁 But I guess I will just have to make an italian thanksgiving! 
     
    FIRENZE!!! Where to begin with one of my favorite cities in Italy so far….
    This past weekend I visited the beautiful Florence. Heather and I left on Thursday night and got into Florence around 9pm. Once we got there we realized we had three options 1. take a taxi 2. take the bus (our air b&b guy told us which one) 3. walk about 15 minutes. So we figured walking for us usually takes twice the amount of time because we always get lost, then we are cheap and didnt want to take a cab, so when our bus came we hesitated then impulsively jumped on it last minute. Had no idea which direction it was taking us or if it was the right direction. Well by the 3rd stop we decided to get off, considering it kept going further away from populated areas. As soon as we got off we went on the hunt for a taxi! Could not find any. Literally none. So we walked into a hotel and asked the kind man to call us one. Once we were finally at ease in our cab we realized he was passing the train station, which means we literally went the complete opposite direction! Honestly it wouldn’t have been normal for us to ever get somewhere and find our apt right away, because we are challenged when it comes to directions…very very challenged. 
    Anyways on to the amazing places I visited in Florence….or just all the shopping I did 🙂 
    On Friday we spent about 4 hours in the leather market. I swear you can get lost in there for hours!! I got a beautiful leather handbag as well as a going out bag. The scarves were also so beautiful I could not resist. I also did some shopping for family members, so get excited guys! Next to the leather market is mercato centrale, an indoor food market filled with the best smells. I really wanted to have lunch at the restaurant in there but it was too crowded. After that we took a much needed lunch break then continued our shopping addiction. We had planned to go see the sunset on friday cause it was the only nice day but again we of course got lost…we went to take the bus and it never came. As usual google maps failed us, along with the lack of wifi everywhere. I think the one thing I miss most is my 4G!!! Dear 4G, I will never take you for granted ever ever again.
    So we just changed our plans and decided to get some food but for some reason anytime we are looking for something its impossible to find and then when we arent looking for it we find an abundance of them. For example, so many amazing dessert places but no restaurants…we finally found one that ended up being amazing! It also had the best view right in front of the duomo, doesnt get much better than that. We sat outside taking in our gorgeous view and enhaling our pasta dishes. I got spaghetti carbonara which I was more than pleased with. Then for dessert we got this tart that had nutella on top then a cream in the middle and the crust on the bottom..it was to die for. Also my new obsession is nutella. I want to buy a stock in nutella. I want to live in the nutella factory. 
    Sorry I’m going on and on about all the food I’m eating but its basically the highlight of my days. After a few glasses of wine one day I highly considered going to culinary school so Heather and I could open our very own American Brunch cafe in Torino. Who knows….it might just happen..
     
    Friday night we went to a pub that many American students go to and put their college shirts on the ceiling and sign it. They also had college shots, where I added College of Charleston’s to be fireball. I wanted it to be SoCo and lime but some other stupid school took it. Sorry Katie if your reading this. The bartenders there loved us I mean who wouldn’t? They ended up giving us many rounds of free shots it was lovely. 
    Saturday was the day of rain. We were able to go to the top of the Duomo before the rain started. The climb to the top was not easy but oh so worth it!!! As you climb up you also get to go to the top of the Duomo inside. It was one of my favorite parts of the trip. The view was bellissima! We also went to the Academia Galleria to see the David. He is HUGE! And he was quite the looker back in the day if you ask me. 
    Anyways then our italian friend from Rome, Diego, came in to visit us and we went to this restaurant my friend cara told me about, where we had this huge bottle of red wine, mind you it was not a bottle more like 3 bottles put into one. Then I tried chicken liver which in my opinion tastes like wet cat food…sorry. But I had really good strip steak that was so bloody. It was to die for. Basically still mooing on my plate. 
    On Sunday we went to the top of Piazza Michelangelo. Just when I thought nothing could top the view from the top of the Duomo, Piazza Michelangelo did. It was incredible!!! We then walked through Ponte Vecchio and looked at the little jewelry shops wishing I had someone to buy me diamonds….a girl can dream. The ABSOLUTE best part about Sunday was that I found pajama bottoms!!! The hunt for these was unreal! All the bottoms here for women and for men are loose then tight on the ankle….I dont get it but I hate it. Thanks to Diego we stumbled on this pajama store where I bought mens pajama bottoms since all the womens pajamas are tight fitting. I am so happy and have to say one of the highlights of my trip.
    On Sunday I did not want to leave at all. It was such a great trip in such a beautiful city. There really are countles picturesque cities in Italy. 
    Alright I am off to Torino to get apertivo with Heather. CIAO!!!
     
    Baci <3 

  • Six week mark?!

    Where has the past 6 weeks gone?! I am sitting here realizing that I am half way through the program, and it is very bittersweet. I guess the saying really is true, “Time flies when your having fun.” Because I am having the time of my life here! Yes it has its ups and downs. The homesick part definitely hit me last week when I found out my cat, marshy had passed away 🙁 but I always remind myself that I am in Italy and being able to travel to so many places in Europe, which I’m sorry but its pretty awesome. So when I put it into perspective the homesick part starts to fade away. This has been an amazing experience living with an italian family and really being immersed in the culture. I hope the next 6 weeks dont fly by as fast as the first 6 did! Now onto my recent travels and life in Italy!!

     
    On the weekend of October 24th I stayed in Torino and finally took the time to explore the city not just by shopping 🙂 On Thursday night Heather and I met up in Piazza Vittorio for an apericena, where the spread of foods was so delicious per usual. Then on friday we met up with some italian friends we made through my host family for another apericena. What can I say I think I’m obsessed with apericena. After apericena they showed us the entire city and told us all about its history. Heather and I thought there is no way we could get lost anymore since we just had a whole guided tour, but once we left them we of course got lost for 30 minutes. The story of our lives. Then on Saturday we went to the Cinema Musuem in Torino, it is located in the Mole Antonelliana, which is a symbol of the city of Torino for those of you that dont know. I have never been a fan of going to musuems but I have to say this musuem was so interesting. It featured pre cinematography devices, earlier and current film technologies, as well as stage items from previous italian movies. They had stages for certain movies such as dracula as well as honoring Sergio Leone a famous italian film director who started doing western films also known as “Spaghetti Western.” He is also known for a “Fistful of Dollars,” which made Clint Eastwood famous. I really enjoyed going through this musuem and seeing how much film technology has improved and how many great movie stars and film directors have changed the way we see movies today. We also had an amazing lunch at Eatly in the museum. I had a hamburger with buffalo mozzerela and potato wedges. Sounds American but the way it was seasoned with herbs and olive oil made it to die for. (I am adding the food stuff just for you ange!) 
    On Sunday we saw Palazzo Madama. It was the first Senate of the Italian kingdom, where Duke Charles Emmanuel II, Christine Marie of France resided. Then Marie Jean of Savoy lived in the palace, she then acquired the nickname of Madama. She asked architect Filippo Juvara to design a new Baroque palace in white stone, but it was never finished completely. It was extremely beautiful especially to see so many different styles of architecture, from old Roman ruins to the Baroque style. 
    To finish of the weekend in Torino we went to this restaurant for lunch where I had the best raviolis of my life. They were stuffed with fig and dressed in sage butter and oil with Parma proscuito slices covering them. Mouth watering. 
     
    Onto Barcelona! Where do I begin to explain our travels through Barcelona. To start we decided to basically have a farewell italian dinner in the airport which consisted of proscuito and mozzerela paninis and cannolis. We got their late Thursday night around 11:30pm. We checked into our hostel, which was a room with all men. Two were 29 year olds with no future and the other group of 4 were study abroad students, which were of course like every other study abroad student we have met obnoxiously loud and annoying. No offense to study abroad students, its just been the ones we have encountered so far. Anyways other than the hostel life which really wasn’t that bad I’m just being dramatic, we had an amazing time in Barcelona. We started our Saturday with a quest to find some American breakfast and failed and ended up having sandwiches and pastries. Not complaining. Then we went to Sagrada Familia. I absolutely LOVED it!!! Some say it isn’t that great on the inside….and well I think they are crazy. It was completely different from any other church I have ever seen. For those of you that don’t know it is not completely finished and the people of Barcelona donate to the construction to finish it. Gaudi died tragically by getting hit by a train. When he died he had left his plans for the Sagrada Familia. Inside the columns look like trees, it makes you feel as if you are in a forest. They say that it is estimated to be finished in 2020, which is the perfect age for me to get married there and after touching Juiet’s boob in Verona I think I have a chance of falling in love by then. Even though that sounds impossible, I mean I think I’m worth it. 
    Gaudi’s architecture is all throughout the city. We also saw Park Guell and Casa Batallo. Later that night we celebrated Halloween at the bars by the beach and dressed up as the three blind mice, and just pretended we lost the third. I have no recollection of the name of the bar we went to but it was lots of fun!
    The next day we finally found an American breakfast!! Thanks to my friend Cara who told me about this place called Milk. We did have to wait about an hour but it was worth it. On Saturday we had a series of unfortunate events. First we went to La Boqueria, which is this awesome outdoor market that was closed for All Saints Day. Then Heather had a sinus infection and ear infection so we decided to spend our Saturday night in the Hospital of Barcelona where they proceeded to be useless, and she ended up having to go to the doctor again when we got back to Torino. We still managed to have a great time, by eating our way through Barcelona. That night after the mexican dinner we had in Spain we went and got hot chocolate and churros, and I opted for a crepe instead. It was amazing. The next day we explored the beach area and Las Ramblas, as well as going to see Montjuic at night that overlooks all of Barcelona. Barcelona was without a doubt a memorable trip! 
     
    This weekend I am switching families which is also bittersweet, because first of all I do not want to pack up all of my stuff again in fear it will not fit, secondly my host family has been so welcoming and nice to me it will be sad to leave. On the other hand I am excited to explore a new school and get to know a new family. Today I said bye to a few of the classes that I may see briefly on Friday, but the little kids are just so adorable I don’t want to leave them! Last week a few of the little boys wanted my phone number and at first I said no then I gave in cause I figured it doesnt work here anyways. So far I haven’t received any random italian phone calls/texts. I am also going to miss all the girls in this one class who take me around the school teaching me italian everyday. 
    The new town I will be in is about a ten minute drive from Chieri, its called Riva Presso Chieri. I will be teaching primary and secondary school, but they are both in the same building. For the secondary school I will be making lessons about American holidays and culture. 
    I still cannot believe I only have 6 more weeks here! So much more to look forward to. I will be going to Florence next weekend then Rome after for Heathers birthday! The rest is to be continued…
     
    Xo,
    Sarah 

  • Bologna/Verona

    Ciao everyone!
    It has almost been a month since Ive been here, time is flying by! I want to hit pause. 
    This weekend I traveled to Bologna Friday night till Sunday morning, then on Sunday I headed into Verona for the day and came back to Torino late Sunday night. Both cities were very charming. Bologna was a fun University town, populated with many young people. We climbed to the top of the Tower of Asinelli and overlooked all the red roofs that make up the city. We also went into the Church of Santo Stefano known as the “Seven Churches” but it has now been changed into four churches. We also went into the Cathedral of Santo Pietro. The Cathedrals are extrodinary it is so amazing how much detail is put into them. Sorry dad but I have officially decided I’m getting married in Italy.

    The night life in Bologna brought me back to my collge days, even though that was only a few months ago I am still grieving. It is a city surrounded with students having a good time. Saturday we did an Apertivo from 7-9, then took our drinks and walked around the city. For those of you who do not know what an Apertivo is I feel bad for you. It is so much better than happy hour, because for just 1 euro you get to feast on a buffett of food. Another reason I loved this city was that many of the bars we would go in would give us free drinks just for being American. Other than the drinks being amazing the food was out of this world! I did not have one bad meal. For lunch on Saturday I had fresh pasta that resembled a manacoti with ricotta cheese and fresh herbs on the inside and melted cheese all over it. It was to die for. From the pastries to the paninis to my late night cannolis, I was beyond pleased with the food, people, and overall beauty of Bologna. 

    Sunday we had a very short trip into Verona, but still managed to see the main attractions that Verona has to offer. We had some difficulties making our train since we were struggling from the night before, but were able to catch the one an hour later than planned. Once we got into Verona we went straight to Juliet’s house, where there is the wall with the letters to Juliet. We also partook in touching the statue of Juliet’s boob in order for her to bring us true love. After that we went to the Arena, where they have outdoor operas. It was built in the 1st century and is still used today. After all that I was really exhausted and just wanted to sit down and eat again per usual, and of course finish it off with some gelato. I think my stomach is starting to stretch because I feel like I am constantly hungry here, because everything is so good I have to eat it! 

    The bambini (children) have been getting even more adorable every day. I have a collection of art that they have all made me along with these bracelets that they make. They are constantly sharing their snacks with me at break time and giving me presents. There is one little girl who takes me around the school everyday teaching me italian, she loves being my little italian teacher. We play tons of games with the children to help them learn colors, animals, numbers, and objects. Some classes are more proficient in english than the others. I have to say my job is not bad at all. I get to go to school every day and have all these children tell me how much they love me and how beautiful I am. It is quite the confidence booster. 

    I also could not have been more lucky with the host family I ended up with. They have been very welcoming and warm. The food has been awesome and they have been very accomodating to having a stranger in their house. I wish I could communicate in italian more though! I so badly wish I knew what was going on at the dinner table sometimes haha, but each week I feel like I can understood italian more and more. Last Thursday they took me to their friends house for dinner. They have a daughter who is an au pair in New Jersey, and a son who spoke English very well. His friend who was there also spoke it well. I was shocked at how good it was. The whole time at dinner my host parents were so happy to see me being able to speak English with other people who knew it so well. I could tell cause my host mom would keep smiling at me and staring, she is seriously so sweet. Their friends were extremely friendly and the food was of course amazing. I can honestly not think of one bad meal I have had since being here. My friend and I are looking into taking a cooking class so that I can go home with their cooking skills. 

    Baci! 

  • Is this real life?!

    I am at a lost of words for all of the events that took place this past week.  I have so much to tell all of you! So as you all know I went to the Amalfi Coast this past weekend for four days, it was beyond breathtaking. We stayed in Sorrento and went into Capri the first day. We woke up bright and early at 6:30 and took the ferry into Capri where we then got onto a boat that took us to the blue grotto. We had to get onto a small little boat to go into the grotto. It was a little scary at first going into cause its such a small whole, but once you get inside it is by far one of the most incredible things I have ever seen. It was a little cold for the floridian in me but I got in, I mean who passes up a chance to swim in the blue grotto?! After swimming in the blue grotto we went into the green and coral grotto, and they gave us a little tour of the whole island. After our boat tour we got back to the town and went to the highest point of Capri called Anacapri. If you are petrfied of heights like me it can be a little terrifying but the view makes up for it. Once we got to the top we got some lunch. I got one of my favorite dishes linguine and clams and of course a few glasses of wine. Then I got myself a pair of shoes that they custom make for you. These shoe stores are all over the Amalfi, as well with limoncello, two of my favorite things 🙂

     
    On the second day we went into the beautiful Positano, again another breathtaking place. The black sand beaches, which I must say consisted of stones that we layed on, where like nothing i have ever seen before. It surprisingly was not uncomfortable. After laying out for a few hours we then walked around Positano. They are known for their lace so I of course bought a very cute dress! Later that night we went out in Sorrento, but before we left we had a bit of an issue in our hostel. There were ants covering all of the walls it was absolutely disgusting. The best part was when we went to complain the man just handed us a bottle of stuff to kill the ants, but it was a white powder not a spray. Once we solved our ant problem, which wasnt exactly solved we went into Sorrento. I have to say there is deffinitely a difference between the people in the South and the people in the North of Italy. I feel way more safe in the North. The men are beyond annoying, constantly saying things to you on the street and lots of beggars during the day, as well as the vendors who do not leave you alone.

    The last day we went to Pompei. I am not exactly into looking at old ruins, but it was interesting to me that they are preserving these ruins that they discovered in 1748. In the states we have nothing like this at all, which does make it interesting to see. We then got back on our bus which was just so luxurious, no leg room and no air conditioning for three hours! It was horrible. The only downfall of the whole trip was that we did it through a company called bus2alps that works with students studying abroad. I did not realize how much I do not have in common with college kids anymore until this trip. They were mostly all juniors and very immature. And everyone had a go pro, not kidding literally everyone. Regardless of that the trip was amazing!

    Sunday night the bus took us into Rome. It then took us forever to get to our b&b because everyone kept giving us the wrong directions. It ended up being literally right next to the metro and we had walked about 30 minutes. Once we made it we met up with some of Heather’s friends who go to the University of Rome. They took us to dinner and then showed us the Colosseum and Saint Peters Basillica. They also brought us to the highest point in Rome that showed the whole city. We then left early the next morning, so I spent a total of 12 hours in Rome. I deffinitely want to go back and really explore the city.

    Other than my travels, teaching has been lots of fun. The kids are so adorable and sweet. I have a collection of these bracelets that they keep making me. I taught one of my classes Yankee Doodle and they loved it. Most of the children I work with are around 7-10 years old so they are not that advanced with english, but we play lots of games with colors and numbers. I also help them with their pronunciation since they are not used to hearing an American english accent. They are also taught british english, for instance they say I have got two cats, which sounds so wrong to me. Today all the girls in class took me around the school again for an italian lesson and just kept pointing to things and naming them in italian, it was so adorable. I think that I am actually starting to understand italian a little little bit better, if you talk really slowly to me. When the children are all talking to me I take out my phone and have them talk in the microphone on google translate so I can understand them. It definitely does not happen over night, but I am trying my best. I am often lost at dinner with my host family because I have no idea what they are saying, but they have a lot of patience and try to explain things to me in English and are also helping me improve my italian. The teachers at the school also help me when I sit in on their italian classes for the little kids.

    I am off to Bologna this weekend! And then going into Verona on Sunday during the day. Cannot wait to share with all of you the rest of my travels.

    Xo
    Sarah

  • My First Week of Teaching English in Italy

    This week was my first week of teaching, which I have to say the Italian children are for some reason 10 times cuter than American kids. I work at two schools Bonello and Fea. I rotate every other day. The kids at both schools are so welcoming and adorable. They are between the ages of 7 to 10. In one of the classrooms the kids just kept running up to me and hugging me saying that they love me and how beautiful I am, and I was not sure if that was the only english they knew but I took the compliments. They also asked me so many random questions about myself that I did not even know the answers too. For example, what is my favorite American football team (dont have one) and what is my favorite band (they were all obsessed with one direction). They also love Coca Cola and they do not have any other sodas that I have seen at least. Also one of the teachers asked me how many stars are in the American flag, and I blanked for about 5 seconds then was like oh ya i think 50 and then 13 stripes. I think the teacher was a little worried when I did not know the answer immediately. The other day three of the little girls took me around the school trying to teach me italian by pointing to things and saying it in Italian, and the entire time they spoke to me I just said non capisco, (which means I do not understand) which is one of the few italian words I know by heart. I had no idea how difficult learning italian would be.

    This past Tuesday my friend Heather and I decided to try this Italian course that she had heard about from one of her teachers. Well to say the least it was extremely difficult, and I was so lost during the entire class. Whenever she called on me or directed a question to me I would just smile and laugh. She only spoke in Italian the entire time, which is basically my everyday life now. When I would ask her what the meaning of a verb was that we were conjugating she would act it out, so the entire class for me was basically italian charades. Heather thought it was too easy cause she took italian in college and knows the basics, and I thought it was the hardest class of my life so we opted to not sign up for it. Now I have been doing italian lessons with my host brother, Andrea. He has a lot of patience because I cannot pronounce anything for the life of me. One of the teachers Anna has also been helping me. She gave me an italian book that she uses with the kids and lets me sit in on her italian class with the young ones. Those who say italian is so similar to spanish are so wrong. They’re pronounciations are so different, which is what makes the transition so difficult. I constantly find myself responding in spanish instead of italian.

    On the other hand I am having an amazing time. I went to dinner this week with one of my teachers, Anna and her family. They were so welcoming and the food was incredible per usual. I had my first limoncello in Italy with them as well as finding out that this area of Italy is known for their honeys. They had three jars of different types and I have to say at first I thought it was strange to try it but it was the BEST honey I have ever had and I am not exactly a honey person. Her husband teaches at the University of Turin and spoke english very well, since he goes to California a lot for business. Her two children Francessca and Riccardo were so sweet and kept trying to teach me italian which I swear is impossible.

    This weekend I went into Torino, Friday night to meet up with Heather. We went to Eataly. They have one in Chicago and New York as well. It is this awesome grocery store and restaurant too! We sat outside and ate and had a bottle of wine, while the people around us stared as we spoke english. Even when we were walking around people were staring and trying to listen into our conversations.

    Now onto the amazing trips I have planned so far! Heather and I booked our trip to the Amalfi Coast, Capri, and Positano. We will be flying into Rome this Thursday night then using the program bus2alps to go into the Amalfi. They will be having many activites planned for us some include, taking a boat from Amalfi to Capri, getting in small boats and going through the blue grotto, doing a limoncello tasting, and many more! Then sunday we get back to Rome late in the afternoon, which leaves us with enough time to explore some of Rome, since our flight does not leave till Monday morning. We also booked our trip to Bologna and Verona for the weekend of October 17th. I literally cannot wait to start exploring!

    Stay posted, more adventures to come!

  • My First Impressions of Italy

    I cannot believe that I am finally here in Italy doing my first blogpost. It is so surreal.
    The past few days here have been so crazy and non-stop moving. I do not know how I am still awake. On Thursday I arrived in Milan at 12:15pm (italy time) then took a two hour bus into Torino to our hostel, changed and went to explore the beautiful city of Torino. We were all extremely jet lagged that my friend and I ended up just getting gelato and sittiing in the Piazza, which is a center that they have all over the city. Then we had pizza and wine, and headed back to our hostile. When we got back to the hostile we ended up hearing another guest talk about the bed bugs she had experienced. That made going to sleep so much easier (not). I survived and did not have any bed bugs! Thank God!

    The next day we woke up at 8 and went downstairs for breakfast, which basically consisted of nothing but cereals and stale bread…YUM. We then had orientation and got to finally meet our host families!! As soon as I walked in the room my host mom ran and gave me a huge hug and two kisses (which is a thing here that I did not know). So I looked so confused and did not know to go left or right, quite awkward. I then realized my host mother did not speak much english at all and neither did my second host dad who was also there with her. My host moms friend Marilena spoke a little bit. They were all so extremely welcoming and friendly. They took me by the school I will be teaching at and I got to meet the teacher I will be working with Rosanna. She was also very welcoming and friendly. I started to panic a little because I was realizing no one spoke english and if they did it was very broken english.

    When I got to my host families home in Chieri I was amazed at how beautiful it was! So many beautiful hills, nothing like I am used to in Florida. And the weather here right now is unbelievably perfect! My host family is so sweet and welcoming. It is my host mother Milena, host dad Antonio, then two host brothers Simone and Andrea. The two boys speak a little english, which makes it a little easier to all communicate.

    The food here is incredible! For breakfast we eat cookies and there is always nutella on the table and breads, as well as cereals. The lunch is usually served around 1pm and we all sit down and have an abundance of food, nothing compared to America. So far I have had pasta for lunch everyday. The first day with mussells and the second with mushrooms. And of course always bread on the table. Carbs, carbs, and more carbs. They also always have wine out for lunch all the time. Today with our pasta we had melon and prosucitto then a spinach frittata.

    Last night I explored the Torino night life with Marilena’s son Frederico. Marilena works in the school I will be in and is also friends with my host mom. I met all of his friends, some spoke good english and he spoke broken. It was so much fun. We went to a part of the city where you can just walk around with your drinks in hand, which is very uncommon in the states. The bars there also stay open till 4am!

    So far this has been quite the adventure with a rollercoaster of emotions. I know that the first few weeks will be difficult to try and communicate with my family. And it is definitely a culture shock when you are constantly listening to italian and having no clue what is going on around you, but it is getting easier. Tomorrow I start my first day of teaching! Cannot wait to meet all the kids I will be teaching!

    Questo e tutto per ora, ciao! (thats it for now bye!)