It's coming to an end...

"The highest and most beautiful things in life are not to be heard about, nor read about, nor seen but, if one will, are to be lived."

Søren Kierkegaard

So it's happening, in less than 2 weeks I'll be back home, it's weird to think about. Like opening the fridge and grabbing a yogurt and seeing that it's going to outlast you, it's a weird feeling being jealous of a yogurt I don't really know how to explain it. 

Anyways, so last week me and Sofi went to Ostia which is kinda like a "suburb" or Rome, it's about 45 mins away. Yeah so we left wednesday morning and arrived back in Cosenza at i think 1:30am ish Saturday. So after a slightly boring 6.5 hour ride nel pullman, we arrived in Rome and met up with Marta, Massi (short for Massimiliano) and Dafne then later Frad (Francesco D.) met up with us and we just hung our beside a lake for a few hours. We were in Ostia for supper at Marta's house (where we stayed) then after we went to a concert on the beach it was and Italian Raggae artist called Brusco. That was pretty fun, and we ate cornetti at midnight cause Marta and another guy Mauro had disappeared and when they came back after like 30 mins they told us to follow them to the beach next over and they had hidden a big box of cornetti hahaha. 

(Marta, Dafne e Massi)

(Massi e Sofi)

(Frad e Dafne)

(il lago ie lake)

(Marta e Frad)

(Massi e Sofi al concerto)

(Dafne, Marta, Massi, Sofi, Me...idk)

(Mauro, Filipo, e Frad)

(Brusco =P)

Thursday we went to a beach called Zion allday and that was fun, we just hung out and played football (our kind ie not soccer) in the water. The beach was really cool, it was all sandy and enormous and full of rastafarians and african's selling like jewllery and bags, and big sheet things i have no idea what they're called. So we spent most of the day there then we went to Massi's for supper and then to a pub and then back to the house around 12:30 ish. 

(I haveth a tan!)

(The Beach)

(Mauro. Filipo, Dafne, Marta, Sofi, Massi, and me in the back)

Friday we just chilled at Marta's house (Me, Sofi, Marta, Massi, Frad, Fral (Francesco L.) and Alex) and had a BBQ and made burgers and sausages. Then around 4 we met up with the other people and they came with us to catch our bus. 

(Me, Marta, Massi & Fral...don't worry thats a cigarette, but they roll their own)

(Frad, l'uomo delle salsiccie)

(L'uomo e la donne delle salsiccie) 

(Massi e Marta)

(Fral...e un pò pazzo =P)

Sunday was spent at the beach which was incredibly windy the water was nice but as soon as you got out you had to race to your ombrellone to get your towel haha. I've only been to the beach a total of 4 times and I feel pretty brown =P I don't think i've ever been this tan...like i was wearing jeans and flipflops the other day and i looked down and was like holy crap is that really my foot hahaha.  

(Io ed Augusta nel Mare)

(Sofi e Augusta)

uh yeah well i'm looking forward to seeing everybody soon, only 13 more days till Canada! =D

L'anno D'oro

So the main reason I wanted to make this post was to share a, uhm I don't know what you'd call it, but something one of my friends (another exchange student) found on a website about exchange programs. But first just a quick little update =)

So sunday I went to the beach with Sofia and Augusta and Augusta's parents and we just hung around tanned and swam all day and it was just an overall good day =)

(verticale dovunque)

(Sofi, me and Augusta)

(Kite surfing!!! I NEED to try this!)

(A beautiful day!)

Nothing else is really new, still waiting for report cards to come out, and just doing normal summer stuff =) Today I did 2 double backs on tramp I was pretty happy haha since It's been almost a year since i've done them =P uhm idk Wednesday we're going to rome and our bus arrives back in Cosenza at 1 am on saturday we're going to visit Marta and some other people cause it's the last time Sofi's gonna be able to see them until August. And then Saturday evening I'm going to a "manifestazione" with the gym at some beach and i'll get back from that at 2 am sunday, so i'm gonna be pretty pooped haha. And after that it's only going to be 2 weeks... which brings me to this "thing"

L'anno D'oro


Un anno è passato e ora sei sull'orlo di ritornare dove sarai circondato dal paradosso di tutto ma invece niente sarà lo stesso.

Fra poco abbraccerai controvoglia e, combattendo contre le lacrime, saluterai le persone che un giorno erano solo nomi su un foglio di carta

Per tornare dalle persone che hai abbracciate combattendo contro le lacrime al momento di salutarle

Prima di partire.

Lascerai i tuoi migliori amici per tornare dai tuoi migliori amici.

Ritornerai da dove vieni e tornerai a fare le stesse cose che facevi l'estate scorsa e tutte le altre estati prima.

Arriverai in città da questa stessa strada familiare, e anche se sono passati mesi, ti sembrerà appena ieri.

Quando entrerai nella tua vecchia stanza, tutte le emozioni ti attravversaranno mentre rifletterai su quanto la tua vita è cambiata e la persona che sei diventata.

All'improvviso capirai che le cose più importanti per te un anno fa non sembrano più così importanti oggi, e che le cose che ti importano di più ora, nessuno qui a casa le può veramente capire.

Chi chiamerai per primo ?

Che cosa farai del tuo primo fine settimana a casa coi tuoi amici ?

Dove lavorerai ?

Chi ci sarà alla festa sabato sera ?

Che cos'hanno fatto tutti questi ultimi mesi ?

Con chi parlerai ancora a scuola ?

Quanto tempo prima che le persone che facevano irruzione senza chiamare né bussare ti manchino ?

Allora inizi a capire quanto le cose sono cambiate, e capisci che la parte più difficile dell'essere un intercambista è di saper trovare l'equilibrio tra i due mondi completamente diversi in cui vivi ora, provando disperatamente di tenerti a tutto mentre cerci di capire quello che devi lasciare dietro di te.

Conosci il significato della vera amicizia.

Sai con chi sei ancora in contatto dopo un anno e chi ha un posto così importante nel tuo cuore.

Hai lasciato il tuo mondo per affrontare il mondo reale.

Hai avuto il cuore spezzato, ti sei innamorato, hai aiutato il tuo migliore amico a superare i suoi problemi, la depressione, lo stress, la morte ...

Hai acceso candele nella grotta e sei rimasto in piedi tutta la notte solo per parlare con un amico che ne aveva bisogno.

Ci sono stati dei momenti in cui ti sei sentito impotente essendo così lontano da casa mentre sapevi che la tua famiglia o i tuoi amici avevano tanto bisogno di te, e ci sono dei momenti in cui sai di aver fatto la differenza.

 Fra poco te ne andrai.

Fra poco toglierai tutte le immagini, e metterai i tuoi panni nella valigia. Finite le ore a passeggiare senza fine. Lascierai i tuoi amici di cui gli indirizzi mail e numeri di telefono ti faranno piangere quest'estate, e magari anche i prossimi anni. Prenderai i tuoi ricordi e sogni e li metterai da parte per il momento, tenendoli per il tuo ritorno in questo mondo.

Fra poco arriverai a casa. Fra poco disfarai la valigia e cenerai con le tue famiglie. Andrai dal tuo migliore amico e non farete niente per ore, senza fine. Ritornerai dagli stessi amici di chi lei mail e chiamate telefoniche ti hanno fatto piangere durante l'anno. Tirerai fuori vecchi sogni e ricordi che avevi messo da parte quest'anno.

Fra poco andrai fino in fondo a cercare la forza e le convinzioni per aggiustarti al cambiamento e per stare vicino a tutti. E così, in un certo modo, troverai il tuo posto tra questi due mondi.

Sei pronto !

So in english;

The Golden Year

A year has passed and now you stand on the brink of returning to a world where you will be surrounded by the paradox of everything and yet nothing will be the same. 

Soon, you will reluctantly give your hugs, fighting back the tears, say goodbye to the people who were once just names on a sheet of paper 

to return to the people that you hugged and fought tears to say goodbye to before you ever left.

You will leave your best friends to return to your best friends.

You will return to where you came from and you'll return to doing the same things you did last summer and all the summers before.

You will arrive in town on that same familiar road, and even though months have passed it will seem like only yesterday.

When you step into your old bedroom, all your emotions will pass through you as you reflect on how much your life has changed and the person you have become. 

You will suddenly understand that the things that were most important to you a year ago don't seem to matter so much anymore, and that the things you hold highest now, no one at home will completely understand.

Who will you call first?

What will you do your first weekend home with your friends?

Where are you going to work?

Who will be at the party saturday night?

What has everyone been up to in these past months?

Who from school will you still keep in touch with?

How long before you actually start missing people barging in without knocking or calling? 

Then you start to realize how much things have changed, and you understand that the hardest part about being an exchange student is knowing how to find a balance between the two completely different worlds in which you now live, trying desperately to hold onto everything all the while, trying to figure out what you have to leave behind.

You know what true friendship means.

You know whom you have kept in touch with over the past year and whom you hold dearest in your heart.

You've left your world to deal with the real world.

You had your heart broken, you fell in love, you helped your best friend overcome their problems, depression, stress, death...

You lit candles at the grotto and stayed up all night just to talk to a friend in need.

There have been times when you felt helpless being so far away from home, knowing your family or your friends needed you, and there have been times when you know you have made a difference. 

Soon you will leave

Soon you will take down your pictures and pack up your clothes. No more endless hours walking around aimlessly. You will leave your friends who's random e-mails and phone calls will make you laugh and cry this summer, and hopefully years to come. You will take your memories and dreams and put them away for now, saving them for when you return to this world. 

Soon you'll arrive at home. Soon you'll unpack your bags and eat dinner with your family. You will go over to your best friends house and do nothing for hours on end. You will return to the same friends whose random e-mails and phone calls have brought you to laughter and tears this year. You will unpack old dreams and memories that have been put away this past year. 

Soon you will dig deep inside to find the strength and conviction to adjust to change and still stay close to everyone. And somehow, in some way, you will find your place between these two worlds. 

Are you ready?

End of Stay Camp-Ischia!

So last night I got back from the end of stay orientation camp in Ischia which is an island near Capri off the coast of Naples and I have to say, it was a blast! I still think and will continue to think the best part of exchange is the moments you get to spend with the other exchangers. Everything is just so awesome even thought a lot of us hadn't seen each other since October, we all act like we've been together all year and that we've been friends for like ever =).  Yeah so I don't wanna bore anyone and write like everything that happened so i'll try and do my best to make a short summery

Thursday after arriving in naples by train we took a boat to Ischia and holy crap it was horrible the water was SOOOOOO rough like the boat was jumping, and it was a ferry like it wasn't tiny! yeah so we got to the hotel and that day we did a few activities and played some games and just hung out with all the other exchangers. That night we did this activity where we had to say something about our experience and then we each got to light a candle. Then we did the Banana dance which has become a tradition at our camps =)

(the candles once they'd all been lit)

(Go bananas, GO GO BANANAS!)

Friday morning after breakfast we went to the beach but they waves were really high so we couldn't actually go swimming, we just stayed like up to our knees and got knocked over my the waves and ended up with sand filled bathing suits =P We went back to the hotel and went in the pool and had chicken wars and stuff and lucky me ended up getting burnt haha wooo! In the afternoon we hung out and had more activities one of them was like evaluating out experience and we had to like move in and out of this square depending on what we thought. That night we all sat down around some candles outside and the volunteers read us a story which was more like not a story but like imagining what it will be like to go back home to get on the plane and say good bye and to get off and see your family and to be back home in your room and stuff we all had to close our eyes and everyone got all emotional. after we'd all recovered, Pigi did his infamous Bidet act and we learnt come si fa la cacca e usa il bidet in tutte le parte del mondo =P

(Il Mare)

(La spiaggia)

(big waves!)

(ahahah caught off guard =P)

(handstands =)

(just chillin)

(canada represent!)

(chicken wars)

( the 2 extremes, thai, serbian, american, turk)

(il bidet haha)

Saturday was more activities and games and discussions one was where there was a + and a - taped on the ground and we had to move to either one depending on our opinions but it was all like world issues and serious stuff but that was cool to get to see everyones point of view. Saturday night was the talent show which was pretty awesome, some people did traditional dances or sang songs, others did skits and played musical instruments, me and some of my friends did MAGIAAAAAAA! haha with the magic chair =P One person read a poem that they'd written in their language and translated into italian about being an exchange student, then at the end the volunteers did a skit about the "typical" Neapolitan family. We laughed lots and i think it was a good last night.

(our curves showing the highs and lows of our experiences)

(say cheeeeeeese!)

(Maja with her flute)

(The chinese plus 1 thai singing a chinese song)

(Thai dance)

(Turkish dance)

(Napoli groups song)

Sunday we got up and after breakfast packed our bags. In the morning we read everyones letters that they had put in the "post" some were funny and others were really touching. We also had to write a letter to ourselves that AFS will send to us in december. I thought that was pretty cool, we had to write about like what we were thinking about going home and stuff about how we thought it would be to be back home and stuff. Then we spent the rest of the time just hanging out taking pictures and saying goodbye to everyone. Me and the 2 other girls had to leave early to catch our train and it was kinda sad, cause we don't really know if we'll get to see each other again, we'll only have one night in rome and there's gonna be like 400 some people s it'll be hard to find everyone...They trip back was pretty good, the boat ride was a lot nicer haha

(getting my flag signed =)

(Patarapa-thailand, me, Marie-germany, Amr-egypt)

(Post)

(Lindsay-USA, me, Marina-France)

(Asia + Franzi =P)

(Canada)

(Keita after being thrown in the pool haha)

(Ischia!!!! =D)

Oh and so, yesterday was 28 days till i'm home...exactly 4 weeks...it's kinda crazy, i honestly think i'm more scared/worried to go home than i was when came here...oufa Il tempo rimasto non è abbastanza =(