Wow okay so this week a lot of really random things happened! Im just going to start from the beginning and work my way thru!
Allora, (which is Italian for okay/so/now) anyways Tuesday I took a train with my friend Michelle to Milano to meet the new exchange students from New Zeland and Australia who are here for there winter holiday season. They stay here for about 6 weeks, which I think is the shortest amount of time you can do as an AFS exchange student. Anways Michelle and I met our advisor Chiara and got a coffee and window shopped for a little bit then went to the giant Milan train station to meet the new comers. It was the weirdest feeling being back in that train station. Almost 3 months ago I arrived there with the other 60 students, all of us wearing our bright yellow matching t-shirts and huge suitcases. This time there was only 6 new students, they could wear their regualr clothes and had less stuff with them. Only one of them is some what close to me. Her name is Arkiralie and lives in the mountains about an hour away. She seemed really nice, I wish she was going to be a lot closer to me and Michelle and here for a longer time.

After Michelle and I did a little shopping and went to the brand new Abercrombie and Fitch that just opened in Milan. Its the only one in all of Italy, and the prices are three times higher than regular American prices. Total rip off! The least expensive thing I could find was 30 euro so 45 dollars. After we got Mcdonalds so it was a very American like night. Although Michelle and I got a challange from our advisor- to make our way back to the underground metro and then take a line to the gaint train station in Milan, and find a train home. Okay big challange for me becuase I wasnt at all pay attention on how we got there in the first place. And not that many people speak english here, so we had to rely on our crummy Italian. So we found the metro, but got off at the wrong stop. Great. Luckily a very nice metro engineer pointed us into the right direction and told us what stop to get off. So we made it home ay-oh-kay. = )

Wednesday I got back my third year English exam and didnt get the grade I was expecting... my teacher and I thought I was going to pass it with flying colors. I ended up getting a 7.5 out of 10. The kids that arent so great at English got higher scores then me. My teacher explained to me and the class that American English and British English are very different languages esp when it comes to grammer. That exam was so difficult... I later found out that I am at one of the hardest schools in my region. Now they tell me. After I had Italian tutoring with Michelle and met her Candian friend, Ray who is an exchange student for a year as well. Luckily he wasnt French Candian so he cool and normal and it was so good to here a somewhat familar accent. I could also use the words wicked and sick and he wouldnt look at me like I had two heads. = p

Thursday, nothing really to report. Friday I got coffee with Michelle and Ray after Italian tutoring. When I came home my host parents told me I didnt have to go to school the next day since it was a long weekend and Saturday I only have one first year Spanish class. So I was really happy about that. So friday night I went to this disco with some friends. The disco wasnt your typical disco, it was more of a bar/club for people of my American parents ages. Therefore my friends and I esp stuck out. I think I was the youngest person there but my friends always tell me I look 20 so it wasnt a big deal. So we made the most of the night, overall it was a good time with my friends but I dont think ill be going back to that club for another 10, 15, or 20 years.

Saturday- No school! =) A morning of sleeping in very late, watching tv, going online and overall relaxing. I decided to make some brownies since I had a free afternoon. Funny story about the brownies... I mixed up the batter without a problem and pre heated the oven. While pouring the batter into the pan I smelled something odd... Now I dont have the strongest sense of smell, and my lack of sense of smell hasnt really been a problem, until that day. When I went to open the oven smoke poured out... I thought what the heck!? Turns out my mama made pizza dough and put it in a plastic bowl with a huge wool blanket over it so the dough would rise, and she put it inside the oven! Normally its on the counter or something. So I opened the oven and the blanket luckily wasnt on fire but had some black marks. I pulled it out and quickly ran to the outside porch and threw it on the ground. Then I stuck the plastic bowl which wasnt melted, by the window so the dough would rise. The house smelled so bad, I opened some doors and windows and put the brownies in the oven. Lucily no one was home so the icky smell was gone in a short time.
I felt like I was 5 years old and had accidently broken my moms favorite dish or something. Just that embarrassing and awquard feeling you get when you have to tell your parents that you did something bad. When I told my hosts what had happened they both just looked at each other and burst into laughter. They thought it was so funny, Pheew! So the dough rose just fine, and brownies came out amazing so it all ended okay.

Sunday was another relaxing day, I went with my family to a big shopping mall, where they did some Christmas shopping and I window shopped. Later I went out to some local bars with my host brother and some friends. So another good day = )

Monday I took a train with my new friend Ray from Canada to Milano to meet Michelle to hang out in the city for the day. Sadly it was raining and it was wicked crowded in every store but we had a good time. I finally went to the inside of the Duomo and it was so beautiful! I have taken a bunch of quick touristy pictures from the outside but finally had extra time to go inside. We all did some Christmas shopping and explored the area a bit. Normally when we go to Milan were all on a tight schedual and dont really have to time to go into the funky store and look around. So it was overall a very good time. My very cute pink umbrella that I brought over from Boston broke the second I opened it. Rats. So then I had to buy one from a street vendor, after an hour or two that one broke to. Double rats. I ended up having to buy one of those big unbrellas from a store which was the same price as the previous crummy umbrella. Talk about a rip off! We got burger king for dinner and this time we didnt have a problem with the metro and got off at the right stop and all made it home.

Tuesday (Today) I have no school so got yet another morning of sleeping in. When I woke up my mama made me a big cup of hot herbal tea and gave me little tea cakes while she and my papa made home made lasanga. And when i say homemade I mean they made the pasta themselves! It was so yummy! Today we are decorating the house for christmas and putting up our tree = )

Tomorrow I have a field trip to Milano, im not sure exactly what class the field trip is for, why were going and what were going to to exactly...

This Sunday is going to be wicked fun because AFS has organized a trip from all the kids in our region to go to Brescia for this big festival. Im not sure what the festival is about but im just happy to see all my friends that I havent seen since the Aprica orientation. So im excited for this weekend! = ) Ill fill you all in on what exactly my field trip to Milan and about my AFS trip to Brescia! Until next time....

Arriverderci!