Allora, so rememeber the end of my last blog, where I said that I might be going to Torino? Well Im happy to report that I got my wish and celebrated my boyfriends 20th birthday in Torino = )
So basically last week was the most stressful and pain in the bum week of my stay so far. It started off with me getting my first and hopefully only bad grade in English. I know what your thinking, how could an American student get a bad grade in an English class in Italy. Well when your at the hardest public school in your region and your teacher is British and give wicked hard exam than yes it is possible. Im relizing more that ever that American grammer and Bristish grammer are very very different!!
The next bad thing that happened last week was that my debit card just stopped working. This was because the bank I belong to in the USA upgraded my card to a visa. Normally there is a 60 day trans-action period where you can use both cards. Well my new card came late from the bank so my old card automaticlly stopped working. Kind of embarassing when you go to pay for something and your card continues to decline over and over.
Last week I had a few big payments to cover for. The first being my hair cut and color at this tre tre chic salon in Milan. My host mom had made the appointment weeks ago for her, my host sister, aunt and I to get new looks together. Sort of a girls afternoon. Anyways I had to borrow money from my host parents for the hair cut. The other thing I had to pay for were my plane tickets to Sicily, and pay for my train tickets to Torino... Luckily the day before I left for Torino a lovely package had arrived at my house with the new visa inside. I think I literally let a big Haaa Zaaa... !!! out because everything was going to horribly and I was so happy to see everything starting to fall into place. So in the end I was able to take care of all my expenses and my mom had stuck in the package Federico birthday present and a new outfit for me to wear. (Thanks mom!!) I also had a nice surpise from my GML- she had sent me a sweet and very pink card for Valentines day and a mini kitkat bar = )

So Saturday I brought my over night bag to school and took a bus to Trevilgio from school but sadly took the wrong bus. I swear me and public transportation arent mixing well here!! So I had to get off a a random stop and walk about 20 minutes to the train station. It didnt help that I had to carry my school bag, over night bag, Federicos present and a small birthday cake that Id made the night before. So of course I missed the fast and direct train to Torino, and had to wait a while for a regular train to Milan then change trains and take the super slow one to Torino. The entire trip from Treviglio to Tornino took about 3 hours instead of 1 1/2. Rats!
Anyways I arrived in Torino safe and sound and spent a great saturday afternoon and evening in Torino with Federico and his close friends. Fed had lived in Torino for almost all his life, so a lot of his close friends are there and they were happy to give me a tour of their amazing city. I wasnt really expecting much, but Torino completly blew me out of the water! I think its the most beautiful cities Ive been to so far. Its surrounded by the Alps, the buildings have amazing arcitecture, so many beautiful plazas, endless museums, and the city had all the same stores at Milan so the shopping was to die for. The other nice thing about the city was that there werent a lot of tourist, homeless people, or street venders. The city was very clean and just had a very safe feeling to it. Definatly one of Italys well kept secrets!!
So after our little tour of the city we had a really nice birthday dinner and after spent all night and most of the morning at a club in the center of the city- very fun. I even ran into a couple of American AFS exchange students who live in Torino. I hadnt seen them since September in New York so it was a really nice surpirse! The next morning we all slept in til 2 in the afternoon, ate lunch and were out the door to catch the evening fast train home. Before we went to the train station me, Fed, and his friends drove to the top of this hill to see the city... it was an absolutely stunning view!!
Now Im back at school but this of school is really different from the others. In Italy they have 3 days where the students run the classes instead of the teachers. Its kind of strange but today was the first day of it and we basically spent 2 hours being divided into large groups and talking about things like drugs, alcohol, will the world really end in 2012, how is the mafia effecting Italy. Just generally things and we sat on desks and just talked openly with each other with having a teacher lecture us. Then the fifth year students had movies set up in different classroom. I think there was about 4 different ones to pick from, one was even playing in English = ) So tomorrow (wednesday) and thursday school will be like this, kind of a nice break from the ordinary. The plus side is that school is sort of optional on these days and we get out 30 minutes early.

This is my last weekend here before I leave for Scotland for a week. Ill probably hang out with some friends that Ive barely seen all winter since Ive been skiing every weekend or in abother city. Im hoping the weather will shape up, Im really getting sick of cold and rain everday and feel like its starting to effect my mood. Then again Scotland is known for is cold, windy and wet weather = P
This past week was definatly a learning lesson- that not everyday or week is going to go according to plan. Also that I should try my hardest not to get all worked up and annxious when things to fall out of plan. Sometimes its best just to take a step back, look at the situation, and figuare out a new game plan instead of having a total melt down. This is something Ive always struggled with and I think Im starting to get a little better at it.

Nothing else to report here, so Until Next Time...

Arriverderci!