I Reduce, Reuse and Recycle in Italy

Hello, everybody!

So, as you probably already know/assumed, I'm going off to college in the fall. I'm not sure where I'll be going yet. I applied to six schools. I've gotten into four so far and I'm still waiting to hear from the last two. In order to pay for college I'm applying for several scholarships! Luckily, being an exchange student in Italy hasn't made it too hard, because almost everything is online.

Right now, I'm applying for a scholarship that's all about ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle on http://www.castleink.com. (Anyone else looking for scholarships should totally check it out!) And for part of the application I'm doing this blog post about a way I like to do this.

The "Three Rs" are an incredibly important part of keeping our world healthy and beautiful. I take part by tossing my paper, cans and glass in the recycling bin, as everyone should, but I like to get a little interesting and crafty with it, too. It doesn't have to be something boring, it can be fun!

I'm about to show you my most recent crafty-recycling endeavor. One store where I like to shop has the cutest cloth bags for carrying your new clothes home. For a while, I used one of these bags as a purse, but the sheer material quickly began to rip. I guess it was better suited for carrying light-weight clothing than the sorts of things that go in purses. Not much can be done with a ripped bag, no matter how cute it is, so I decided to give it new life in a different form. I ripped it into shreds, which I braided into bracelets. They turned out really cute.

I'm very excited to now how have a bunch of new pretty little bracelets. I'm thinking they'll make good "friendship bracelets." I can give them to all the new friends I've made this year that I'm going to miss when I go back to the States. Yay for reducing, reusing and recycling!!!

I'll be back very soon with a blog post about my trip to Ireland, as promised. I am hoping to get it posted before I go off for my week in Sicilia on the 24th. Until then, I hope I've inspired you to get crafty! Reduce, reuse and recycle!

~Chandler

A City of Masks and Exciting Plans

So, I know I have been doing a seriously pitiful job of keeping up this blog lately, and I do apologize but I'm not going to waste time going on and on about how sorry I am, because there isn't any point.

Lots of interesting things are going on. Monday and Tuesday I had no school because of Carnevale and on Monday I went to Venice with my friends Asena from Turkey and Ursi from Australia. Madalena from Portugal was going to come too, but her host family wouldn't let her.

Venice was absolutely incredible. I decided that it's my new favorite city in the world. I guess I just love the mysterious, magical-ness of it and the fact that it's not like anywhere else. What other city has canals instead of streets? I'm pretty sure I'll be going back to Venice more while I'm here. Going is really very easy. The train takes just under two hours, which isn't bad at all. 

So, in short, here's what my day in Venice consisted of:

• Dancing with a very old, very Italian man on the train
• Eating a delicious lunch at the Trattoria alla Madonna, a restaurant once featured on Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods
• Buying a pretty, sparkly mask
• Having tea at the beautiful, frescoed Caffe Florian
• Exploring Piazza San Marco
• Taking lots of pictures

(Piazza San Marco)

(Caffe Florian)

(Masks with Ursi)

(Gondolas with Asena)

Venice even inspired me to write a poem which you can read by clicking here. I don't usually rhyme when I write poetry and I don't usually share much of the poetry I write, so it's a bit different, but there it is all the same.

If you want to read more about it, go have a look at the articles I wrote for the Herald. I had so much to say, I decided to split the trip into two articles. As of now, only the first one is out. You can read it by clicking here. And I'll give you a link to the second when it comes out, which will probably be this Thursday.

I've decided I'm kind of too lazy to routinely copy and paste each article into a blog post. I apologize. I think I'm probably trying to keep up too much at once right now between this blog and my tumblr and my twitter and all the articles. (I'm having too much fun making words into links to the things they're talking about.) It isn't that it's too much to do, it's just that after almost 6 months I still haven't figured out where to post what. And often I'm too busy actually doing all the wonderful things to keep up with telling about them. Oh well, though. It's not such a big deal. The people who are crazy to hear all about everything (specifically, my family) keep up with everything I post everywhere anyway.

Okay, so in some SUPER EXCITING NEWS I am leaving for a trip to Ireland the day after tomorrow. With my class. I've known this trip was happening for quite a while, but for the longest time it looked like I wasn't going to be able to go, because my Permesso di Soggiorno (or residence permit) hadn't arrived yet, and without it I wouldn't be able to come back into Italy on my visa if I left. The whole policy is quite confusing to me, but it turned out not to matter because I got notification last week that my Permesso di Soggiorno would be available to pick up at the Questura on February 24th. That was yesterday, just three days before the scheduled departure. I am super super super lucky. 

According to the program they game me at school, I'll be in Dublin, Belfast, Howth and Dalkey, seeing Trinity College, the Guinness Storehouse, the Troubles Front, James Joyce Center and other things. I am quite excited. And they speak English in Ireland! Not just English, but English with an Irish accent dialect! It will be such a relief to hear my native language again for a while! And I won't be forgetting Italian or anything because I'll be there with my class and speaking Italian with them! So perfect.

Anyway, I'm particularly excited about this trip to Ireland because I've been thinking about how many incredibly talented people are from there. Like Glen Hansard who was in my favorite movie Once, not to mention in the incredible music groups The Swell Season and The Frames. Then there's Lisa Hannigan, and Damien Rice. Then all the writers! Oscar Wilde! JAMES JOYCE! (I've been reading his story collection Dubliners and it is excellent. Makes me want to read Uylsses, and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. And maybe even Finnegan's Wake sometime when I'm feeling brave. He writes sentences like "Moments of their secret life together burst like stars upon his memory" and "But my body was a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires" and "The space of sky above us was the colour of ever-changing violet and towards it the lamps of the street lifted their feeble lanterns." Ahhhh.)

You can definitely expect a post about Ireland when I get back. Until then!!

Snow

All day Tuesday, the sky was heavy and low-looking. No single clouds could be distinguished from the mass.

The sky was all one color - almost pure white, touched gently with gray.

I watched it throughout the day, expecting snowfall to begin at any moment. Someone mentioned to me that this week is, according to the newspapers, the coldest Brescia has seen in 27 years.

I remember thinking that I had to keep looking out the window, checking for precipitation, because there'd be no pitter-patter announcement. It would fall quietly and beautifully.

I have always loved snow. I never outgrew it like some people do. It was never about getting out of school, either. Snow has never been a nuisance to me, or a mess. I love the way it turns the world into a winter wonderland for a little while.

So when, around dusk, the snow finally started to fall, I was thrilled. My host sister, not a fan of snow, was grumbling " che schifo," which roughly translates to "how disgusting," but my excitement could not be curbed.

Tuesday's snow wasn't just any old snow for me; it was my first neve (snow). Like many "firsts," it came with a bit of thinking and reflection.

My host family and I braved the cold and went out for dinner at a nearby restaurant. Nonna and Lucrezia's dad joined us. The drive to the trattoria didn't last any longer than five minutes, but it was long enough to see the streets I've come to know so well and the mountains above caked with white.

What really struck me was how beautiful it all was. When covered with snow, everything is more beautiful and, more importantly, beautiful in a different way. Impressed by this new beauty, I was able take in and realize once again the beauty that is always there.

Italy's beauty amazed me at the beginning of this year. Then I started thinking about other things and at some point got used to it, but there it was, five months into my stay here, beautiful as ever, made new by a sprinkling of snowflakes.

What I'm saying is that people invariably grow accustomed to beauty and amazement. The people who live in the world's most breathtaking places often stop appreciating what's before them, because it gets to be normal.

In New York City, the only people staring up, marveling at the splendor of skyscrapers, are tourists. And without even realizing it, I got used to living in a picturesque Italian city.

I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing. Maybe by accepting incredible beauty as a regular part of our lives, we somehow become a part of it, at one and in sync.

Then again, I feel more like it's a mistake. Perhaps it's a form of giving in and becoming numb to all the joy the world offers.

It took a snowstorm to open my eyes again. I've been thankful for this experience all along, but I can assure you that for the next five months, until I come home in July, not a day will pass without my looking at these mountains, these painted buildings, piazzas and red tiled roofs, and appreciating every facet of their gorgeousness.

The last thing I want is to be numb to beauty. I have a feeling that after this snow, I'll be finding it everywhere - in Italy and in South Carolina and wherever else I end up going.

When I get home, I'm going to really look at everything as if I've never seen it before - the azaleas in the springtime, the Spanish moss of the Lowcountry, the rows and rows of peach trees.

It's easy to forget how beautiful the world is when you're seeing things without looking. The important thing is to truly look every now and then.

...

Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/02/02/3710178/first-snowfall-refreshes-perceptions.html#storylink=cpy

On Music in Italy

So, as you probably know, I write a weekly article for The Herald my local newspaper back home.


Usually, I put different things on my blog from what I write in the articles. I'm thinking, though, that with how rarely I have a chance to update this blog, maybe I could use the same material for both. Like, after The Herald publishes an article I could post it here, too? That way this blog wouldn't be so dead all the time and people who don't read the paper can still see my articles! I'm trying it this week, since I particularly liked what I wrote for this one. If you have a strong opinion as to whether I should keep the articles separate from the blog or not, let me know in comments. And don't worry, I'd still be doing regular blog posts from time to time that are more "personal" than what I put in the paper.

Another thing I'm thinking about doing is Italian translations for my posts. It would have what I write in English at the top and below my translation into Italian. This way, my Italian friends could read more easily if they wanted to, and I'd get some good practice.

The paper called this week's article "American music rules Italy's Airwaves, says Rock Hill teen." It's about my take on the music that's popular here.


Here goes!


I’ve noticed that Italy’s popular music -- what they play on the radio stations and in the discos -- is mostly American music.


Most of their hits are songs that were on the American charts anywhere from a year to a couple of months ago. Sometimes a song will be popular in both countries at the same time, but the US always falls in love with the song first, then Italy follows suit.


I’ve asked some friends for Italian music suggestions. I thought listening to some might help improve my Italian. 


The song “In Italia,” by rapper Fabri Fibra, always seemed to come up in the conversation. While not my style, it’s undeniably catchy. Most people I asked, however, told me, with a tone in which I could detect only the faintest disappointment, “There isn’t really much good Italian music being made today.”


After that, they’d perk up a bit. “It’s alright, we prefer American music in English.”


Of the songs that get super big here, I’d estimate seven of every 10 are songs in English. To give you an idea, the ones I hear the most right now include “Paradise” by Coldplay, “We Found Love” by Rihanna, “On the Floor” by Jennifer Lopez, “Give Me Everything” by Pitbull, and “Titanium “by David Guetta and Sia.


 Then, about two in 10 are in languages other than Italian or English. There’s the bilingual Spanish and Portuguese song by Puerto Rican singer-rapper Don Omar and French artist of Portuguese origin Lucenzo called “Danza Kuduro” and Brazilian Michel Teló’s Portuguese “Ai Se Eu Te Pego.” Only about one in every 10 “big” songs in Italy is in Italian. The only one I can think of that’s really big at the moment is Tiziano Ferro’s “La differenza tra me e te.”


The reason for the lack of Italian music in Italy is unclear. Here’s one theory I’ve come up with: Italy’s population was 60,483,521 in 2010, according to World Bank, World Development Indicators, and the USA’s is vastly greater at 307,006,550 in 2009, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Maybe it’s only natural that more famous music would come from the US since we simply have a larger population, a larger pool for talent, so a greater likelihood. That theory is even more plausible when considering also the added populations of other major English-speaking countries. The population of Australia is 22,374,370. The United Kingdom has a population of 61,612,300. There are 4,294,350 people in New Zealand. Not to mention that English is considered the “official language” of more than 50 countries in addition to these. So of course a large part of the world’s music is in English, while much less is in Italian.


I don’t think that fully explains, however, the scarcity of Italian language songs that get popular in Italy. This country, though struggling economically and with an abundance of problematic issues, is very patriotic. There’s no denying that Italians are almost always fiercely Italian. They are proud of their style, their openness, their food, and it seems usually that they’re proud of their language. I’ve heard Italians speak so fondly, passionately, even, of their language, their bounty of words to catch the smallest differentiations in what they’re describing. Why wouldn’t they search out songs to dance to in their own language?


My friend Sasha from Russia once told me very simply that when people want to make something sound cool and sophisticated in Russia, they give it a name or title in English. I think that’s a bit of what’s going on in Italy. I notice sometimes that the names of shops are in English, even chains originating here in Italy. Storefronts often boast advertisements in English and t-shirts have phrases in English more often than in Italian. These phrases and advertisements are usually well-stated, but from time to time make absolutely no sense. The fact that they’re in English seems to be enough.


Italians like English in their shops and in their music because they think things sound intriguing in our language. We do the same thing, just not to the same extent. We say “foie gras” in French because it sounds a whole lot better than “liver of an overfed goose.” People will pay much more money for something called “haute couture” (another French phrase) than they would if we translated it to “high sewing.” “Hors d'œuvre” beats “appetizer.” We’d rather refer to our noodles in Italian as “al dente” than call them “chewy.”

So I believe the reason the radio stations here favor music in English and sometimes other non-Italian languages is simply a variation of the old phrase “the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.” Things sound more magical and enchanting in a language that isn’t your own.


Whether I’m correct in my guessing of the reason or not, this is the way things are here. It works for me. When conversation is too complicated to follow, I at least have the small joy of understanding the lyrics to the song that plays in the background. When my Italian friends sing along at the top of their lungs to songs they don’t quite understand, we can chuckle together at their funny pronunciation. If they want to know what a particular line means, I can translate.


And, on a final note, my quest for Italian music in Italian did end in success. The AFS volunteer who taught Italian lessons earlier in the year compiled a list for me of 33 singers and 11 bands, who while not the “big hits” she considers notable. So far I’ve only skimmed the surface of the list, but it seems promising. I’ll let you know how it turns out.


La differenza tra me e te (Italian)

In Italia (Italian)

Danza Kuduro (Spanish & Portuguese)

Ai Se Eu Te Pego (Portuguese)

Selections from My Notebook

A few days ago, I was skyping my mom. I showed her my big notebook which I'm a few pages from filling up. She said, "You ought to take a break from writing in that and UPDATE YOUR BLOG! Your daddy's about to go crazy waiting for you to post something new."

So. Here we go. I've got this whole notebook bursting with words. I figure it's time to share. This blog entry will consist of the best (and when I say best, I don't mean highest quality writing, I mean what I feel like typing up as I go through reading it) from my notebook, accompanied with real images from its actual pages. I'm sorry if this isn't interesting, but I'm sure it's better than nothing. Ready? Go.

October 26th: ... Another thing that is making me sleepy is the weather. Yesterday and today have been one because onstage during (I have no idea what I was just saying there) The sentence was supposed to be: Yesterday have been very rainy and gloomy. (Oh my gosh, what's wrong with me?) I mean "Yesterday and today have been very rainy and gloomy." Okay - YES. Gosh, I can't even write a simple sentence and I know it's because I'm so sleepy.

November 3rd: ... One of the most relaxing times of my daily routing here in Italy is when I ride the bus home and listen to my iPod. The best is when the bus isn't that busy and I actually get a seat. I can gaze out the windows at the passing scenery and play relaxing music and it's great. That time of day is approaching. I'm ready for it now. Come on Philosophy class. End already!

November 4th: I got to miss Physics to help my English teacher in class 1L again. They read a text about Halloween. It got some facts wrong, like it said that in the United States kids always wear their costumes and masks to school on Halloween. I explained that that was wrong and told them some about what it's really like. They wanted to know about my costumes from past years, so I ended up having to explain what hippies are, which led to an explanation of the Vietnam War and all that.

November 10th: I've been using my Italian mini-dictionary a lot lately and trying to always answer in Italian, no matter what language people address me in. I've been here two months as of yesterday and it feels like way more and way less at the same time. They say you'll probably start understanding everything by the time you finish your third month, but I don't feel like I'm learning fast enough to be that far that soon. It's hard, and I'm learning so so much, but it's an entire language and I can only learn so much at a time... 

... I really want to go home for just a week. I want to eat a good hamburger, some goat cheese, peaches, a ham and American cheese sandwich on plain old wheat bread. My mom's squash casserole. Campbell's soup - bean & bacon, chicken noodle, creamy tomato. I want cream of chicken soup with rice. I want (cheddar) cheesy grits, because polenta is similar, but not the same. I want Mexican food: chips and salsa, pollo con crema from El Cancun, quesadillas from Moe's. I want curry chicken and beef & broccoli from that Chinese restaurant by the grocery store. I want honey-baked ham and deviled eggs and asparagus with hollandaise sauce like we have on Easter. Stouffer's macaroni and cheese. Aunt April's macaroni and cheese. Chick-Filet. A Wendy's milkshake. Baked potato salad from Jasmine cafe. Oh gosh. A starbucks frappucino. Chocolate chip cookies. Daddy's Love-You-Long-Time noodles. OHHHHH GOSH.

November 12th: Here's something I'm learning: An exchange student can't be passive. I might learn Italian eventually just from listening and saying what I need to say, but I think it's a whole lot better if I actively try to push it along. This means in spare moments I need to take out my notes from Italian lessons, take out my dictionary and teach myself something. More often, I need to do what I just did and try writing a sentence and then get a classmate to either tell me it's right or help me correct it. I need to look up words I've been wondering about, write them down and learn them.

November 14th: Last night, all I had for dinner was a cup of hot tea. While I drank it, I watched a cooking show and I still did not want anything to eat. It was the first time in my life I can recall watching chefs prepare glorious gourmet meals and not wanting even a single bite. But I wasn't sick or losing my mind or turning into a different person. I was just still completely full from The Greatest Lunch Ever.

November 17th: One good thing in my life is that yesterday I bought some nail polish in the center and I painted my nails and I like the color and the way it looks. It is a soft, muted shade of purple. 

November 18th: I just had an Italian lesson with 1L. We mostly just sat and talked and they taught me some Italian. I like going to that class because they make me feel like a celebrity. When I walk in they explode into "CHANDLER! CHANDLER! CHANDLER!" It's neat. Maybe something of it has to do with the fact that they're younger than the other classes. They aren't "too cool to get excited about the American exchange student" yet. We talked about things like discos and Harry Potter. There's this one kid in that class who cracks me up because every time he starts a sentence in English, he begins with "First of all..." I am in a much better mood today than I was yesterday, even though this morning I did PE and it was horrible. I'll tell you all about it when I feel like complaining... This evening I am going to the theatre with my class. I think I might have aperitivo or dinner or something with some of the girls beforehand, so that's exciting!

... An observation: teachers just love BANGING on the desk to get attention or make a point or display dissatisfaction. They BANG on the desk with their fists. It always startles me.

... I just helped my friend Sara write a letter in English to a university in Milan that she wants to go to. I helped make it SUPER good. Hopefully they will be extremely impressed. I hope she gets in because she seems to want to go there very badly.

December 1st: ... When I am totally finished with college applications, I'm going to start reading again. I'm going to start reading again. I was doing well for a while there. I finished five books within a couple weeks. But lately I've been so busy and I only get few a few pages at a time before I'm distracted by the realization that something desperately needs doing. I miss reading when I don't read. I want to read a book in Italian. I saw that Rijuta was reading one. I think she must be more advanced with Italian than I am. I don't want to be behind. I know everyone learns at different speeds, but maybe if I pushed myself a LITTLE harder, I'd learn faster. I can't explain how much I'm dying to be fluent in Italian. I know there isn't an exact definition of fluency, but I want to be able to speak and understand without any problems. I am so terrified that I'm just never going to catch on and I'll have to go home before I get as advanced as I want to be...

 Alrighty, that's it for now. There's still plenty more but I'm tired of typing and I wouldn't want to do too much at once. Perhaps I'll do some more selections another time when I feel like blogging but don't know what to say. Hopefully you'll be hearing from me more frequently in the future.

Ciao! -Chandler

Quick, quick

Ciao, tutti!

First little tidbit of information, now all my articles for the Herald can be accessed from one quick and easy link: www.heraldonline.com/chandler/ 

So, at the moment I am frenzied, flustered and frustrated with the stressful labors of applying to college. It's annoying, but really not as bad as I expected, if I'm being honest. The good thing is that I can work on my essays, resumes and such during school, while the rest of the class is studying Latin, physics, or some other lesson I wouldn't understand even if they were taught in English because I didn't study them in the States. Since there's nothing else of much interest to do, it's easy to buckle down and focus on what I need to get done.

Sometime soon, though, I'm supposed to stop taking these classes that don't do me much good. I talked about it with the AFS school coordinator and now my English teacher, who's the one that helps me and makes sure everything is going well, is making me a special schedule. I will get to move around instead of staying with the same class all day. I'm going to miss 5B, but I think I'll still be with them quite a bit and besides this way I get to meet way more people at my school. I'll be taking Italian on a less advanced level, and going between several English classes to help teach. I won't have to do Latin or physics and I'll probably find a math class that is similar to something I remember learning back home. It might be confusing at first to move around so much, but I think this is going to be much, much better for my language-learning. I'm excited!

I know this is a very short post, but I'll try to blog again very soon. I have Monday and Tuesday off from school this week, so I ought to have a chance. Ciao for now, though, because I'm going out with some of my wonderful AFS friends!

 xoxo, Chandlerwww.heraldonline.com/chandler/

Mia Famiglia & Mia Casa

Ciao, everybody!

It's been awfully too long, I know. Here's why: I get a little behind, then more and more keeps happening, so I can't catch up. So I'm scratching every lousy attempt to sum up everything thus far. The main points and most exciting things have been covered in the articles I've written for my local newspaper back home, The Herald. I'll give you links to those. Enjoy: my first article, my second article (fashion show), and my third article (flash mob). If you haven't read those already, please do, because I believe they'll get you more or less caught up.

Okay. So.

I have a host sister named Lucrezia and a host mother named Daniela. Lucrezia is one year younger than me. She's very nice and very beautiful. We get along quite well, I think. It's awesome having a sister. Sometimes she lets me borrow her clothes, which is fun. Last night, for example, I was going to an 18th birthday part for one of my classmates and she picked out a gray ruffly dress from her closet for me to wear, as well as a pretty Prada purse. With that and my new 12 centimeter high heels, I felt wonderfully Italian! Lucrezia also invites me to go hang out with her and her friends on a pretty regular basis, which I enjoy. Even though we're both high school aged, we don't go to the same school. She goes to Calini and I go to Luzzago. So her friends are a different crowd from the friends I've made at school, and this way I get to meet way more people than I would otherwise. It's awesome. Another awesome thing about having a sister is that there's someone around to watch Italia's Next Top Model or whatever with. And she helps me with my Italian, too!

I get a ton of Italian practice from Daniela because she only speaks Italian. I think that's good for me. Lucrezia can help out if there's something important that I'm not understanding, but through attempting to communicate without any English at all, I learn a bunch. Daniela is an elegant lady. She has a shop in the center where she works, which sells pretty jewelry and antique things. She's very organized and helpful and on top of things, which helps our household to always run smoothly.

The other person who makes our house run smoothly is Clara. I'm not sure what the word for her job is, but she tidies up the house and does laundry while we're at school and Daniela's at work, and she makes us lunch when we get home. She is super sweet and I like her a lot.

We live in what I guess you'd call a townhouse, although I don't think that's exactly the name. It is connected to other homes, but it has its own front door, yard, garage and everything. I like it a lot. There a three stories. On the bottom is the garage, the laundry room, Lucrezia's bedroom and Lucrezia's bathroom. The middle has the living room and the kitchen. The top has my room and bathroom and Daniela's room and bathroom, as well as an extra bathroom and a little sitting room. My room is cute. There are lots of shelves on the walls. Some hold Lucrezia's old books, all in Italian, of course, some of which I read in English when I was younger. I might try to tackle one in Italian when I get to that level. (Right now I could probably only handle the simplest of simple baby/children's books.) Other shelves were cleared out for me and now contain my laptop, books, jewelry, nicknacks and some clothes. The rest of my clothes are kept in an armoire in the hall. Besides the shelves, my room has my bed, a desk, a lamp, a row of hooks for hanging purses, and a bulletin board with my AFS event schedule, some pictures of my friends and family back home, and a few little notes from my mom, dad and brother that tucked into the packages of clothes they sent.

There's another member of the family that also lives in our group of connected houses: the grandmother, or Nonna. She pops in and out often, and she makes us lunch on Clara's day off and sometimes comes for dinner and brings something she's cooked. Like Daniela, she speaks only Italian, but it is harder to understand her, because she talks fast and in complicated sentences. She's really cool, though, and it's nice to know there's someone else nearby that I can ask for help if, for whatever reason, Daniela and Lucrezia aren't home.

And there's more family too! Lucrezia has an older sister named Chiara who's grown up and has two kids. There's Luca, who just turned 14 and goes to my school, and there's Alessandro who's 3. They live about 5 minutes away by car. Alessandro is probably the most adorable guy ever. He's got the curliest light brown hair and the cutest giggle. I played with him a lot the other night when we went over to celebrate Luca's birthday, and it was super fun and a bit exhausting. He likes to be pulled around by his ankles on the floor and tickled, and he has a TON of energy.

I really like this whole family a lot and I am super lucky to have been placed with them. I can't imagine it could be any more perfect than it is. Now, I must go to sleep! I'll try to start updating this more regularly, even if that means just doing quick posts instead of trying to cram every single little thing in. Ciao ciao!!