Week No. 2

So much has happened in the past week... I meet lots and lots of new people every day, and I must admit, it's very overwhelming. Some get offended because I don't remember their names, but it's hard, because everyone's names sound similar and there are so many to try to memorize! Most are understanding, though.

I've watched several American movies in Italian, such as Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, as well as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Orange County. Luckily, I know Orange County pretty much by heart, so I knew exactly what was going on and still found it hilarious. I do miss watching movies in English, and hearing native English speakers... The language headache has only gotten worse, but I'm learning more and more each day.

I don't like fish at all. Being on the coast, everyone here thinks I'm weird because of it. I've tried to eat it on a few different occasions, but it just makes me nauseous... I feel bad because they often have to make a separate meal for me, but they don't seem to mind. I hope it's not too much of a nuisance. Driving by the fish markets also makes me nauseous... I usually hold my breath until we've passed. We had lamb and potatoes for dinner last night. I figured that lamb would be fine, but oddly enough, it seemed to have a strange taste that I couldn't get over... I tried to eat it, but wasn't able to handle too much of it. Hopefully, I'll be able to adjust to all this new food very soon.

I start school on Friday; I am both excited and nervous. My host brother Giorgio and my host sister Giulia and some of their friends will go to the same school as me, which will be nice. I think going to school will improve my Italian immensely, because I will learn verb tenses and grammar and such... But I'm afraid to take courses such as science and history in Italian... I adore history, so I think that will be enjoyable, but I will be sad to not understand most of it at first. Science will probably be a lost cause... I don't even understand it in English! Oh well. We'll see how that goes.

I've made a few new friends. Ambra is my host siblings' cousin; she's almost eighteen and she lives right next door. We've hung out a few times in the past couple of days. She's wonderful. She speaks English very well, and we have a lot of similar interests. Kylie is another inbound student from Vancouver. She just arrived on Saturday, so she is still struggling to adjust... I hope I can help her out. I think we'll be a good support system for one another, because we are going through a lot of the same emotions. It stills feels strange to both of us to be away from home in a country whose language we still do not quite understand... But I'm sure we will get along fine in time.

Ciao ciao!

Hunter