I can't believe how fast time has gone. I officially have 13 days left in Italy!! Less than 2 weeks. I'm literally in shock. Though out my exchange I have imagined this point time and time again, but I never expected to feel like this. I feel like I'm being pulled in two completely opposite directions. On one hand, I am very excited to come home...to see my family, my friends, sleep in my bed, go for bike rides, work at the Grill, backpack...I miss Sun Valley so much, and I can't even imagine how it is going to be to drive through main street in Hailey for the first time in 10 months. Yet on the other hand, I don't want to leave my life here. I love all of my friends, my family, and the life I have created for myself. I can't imagine not speaking Italian everyday, not chatting with friends, seeing my host family, biking through the Italian countryside. I love everything about my life here and I'm not ready to leave it yet.


My next 13 days are packed with activities...everything from a school play to shopping in Milan to slumber parties with friends. In the blink of an eye it is all going to be over. I'm going to be on the plane home feeling like I just made the flight to Italy a day ago. But so much has changed since September 5th. Or rather, I have changed. I am completely different from the girl I was when I left 10 months ago. It is hard to explain how exactly I've changed. It's not the fact that I've learned Italian, made friends in a foreign land, or found a home in Italy. Its that I've discovered myself. Who I am.


When I arrived in Italy, I had just come out of the worst part of my entire life. Mononucleosis. It stripped me down, not only health wise, but mentally and emotionally. At the end of the summer I was at my lowest low. Although the physical aspect of mono had for the most part past, the emotional aspects still had a tight grip on me. I was unable to separate Adelaide from Mononucleosis.


I arrived in Italy with nothing. Literally no understanding of the language, no friends, no family, and no sense of myself. I had to start from ground zero and work my way up. I left the mono behind me and began working on figuring out who Addy was. Now, 10 months later, I look back on who I was when I first got here, and I can't believe how much I've changed. I'm no longer the little girl from Idaho. I'm a woman of the world. I have lived in Italy for a year, during which time, I've learned the language, made a great group of friends, traveled through Europe alone, and discovered who I am.


I am so grateful to my family and to the rotary for giving me such a wonderful opportunity. I left home completely lost, and now I'm coming back with my life in order. I know where I want to go and what I want to do with my life. It is a wonderful feeling to have such clarity.

13 days left. It's been an amazing year. I know that no matter what roads life takes me down, this year will live on inside of me forever. The friends I've made and the memories we've created will keep my Italy alive. I'm sad that I'm leaving, but I know that I will always have my Italy to return to...if not in an airplane than in my thoughts and memories.

Can't wait to see everyone. Love you all
Ciao Ciao...
Adelaide

Paris.
So I just returned from my class trip to Paris. All year I have been looking forward to this trip, and I wasn't let down. We left at 6am last saturday in a bus and arrived in Paris at 9:30pm that night. The anticapation had been building for the entire bus ride. The entire bus was silent as we reached the outskirts of the city. Suddenly someone in the back of the bus spotted what we had all been waiting for...The Eiffel Tower!! Although still far away, we could make it out clearly twinkling like a star in the darkness. The entire bus erupted in screams and cheers.
The weather was wonderful. Everyday was hot and sunny. We hit all of the major spots including the Musee d'Orse, the Louvre, le Defance, Versaille, and the Tour Eiffel. I have never walked so much in my whole life. The teachers gave us much more independence than they would in America, telling us to meet at at a square in Paris at a certain time, and to have fun. So I spent the whole time roaming the streets with Feda, Laura, and Rosella. It was all so amazing. I got to know a lot of the people in my class much better, and my friendship with the three I mentioned above really grew. Each of them is so wonderful in their own way, and I found myself wondering how I can love them so much when I just met them 7 months ago.
The 6 days in Paris went so fast, and before I knew it I was on the bus heading back to Italia.
But the excitement isn't over yet. My next few weeks are completely full.
Hans arrives in 6 days. Then my family, my birthday, Zoe, and later Eric.
My time here, which at one point seemed to be endless, is drawing to an end. So much has happened and so much has changed. This has been such an amazing year, and I am sad that it is almost finished. For me Italy is no longer just a name on the map. It is happiness, tears, people, family, school, memories.
It is my life, my family, my friends, my home.

CARNEVALE IN VENEZIA

A day of shopping in Milano

My New Host Family

In the up hand left corner is the Pope

Where has my year gone. Suddenly I find myself entering into my last three months and struggling to hold onto whats left of my stay here.
I went to Rome a few weeks ago, and all I have to say is that it is the most amazing city I have ever seen. I was constantly in awe of all of the art and history the city held. It is a city where the past and the future collide. Where a building or sculpture is older than my country. Where millions of people have walked before me and millions will walk after me. I saw the Pope, the Colosseum, the Vatican, the Sistine chapel, and basically all of the major monuments of Rome.
The day after I got home from Rome, I chugged over to Venice for carnevale...the Italians Halloween and the french Marti Gras. Venice, which is know for the most extravagant costumes in all of Europe, did not let me down. Everyone was in costume and I had so much fun photographing the different people.
And now I'm back in school. Next week I am heading to Paris with my class. I am really excited to go on this school trip and I know I will have a blast. Then a week after I return Hans arrives, and then my family. And before I know it I will be on the plane home. I guess the only thing to do in these last three months is to eat as much food, see as many things, have as much fun, and basically soak up as much of Italy as I can. And I will love every minute of it.
Baci a tutti!!!!!

So, I've been very busy since my last post.
Christmas in Italia was really fun. For christmas eve I had a huge family dinner where I ate some wierd fish stew and polenta. I was feeling a little homesick, but I was happy to be with my Italian family. Before I went to bed, my host mom gave me some beautiful presents(chocolate, earings, a sweater, and a scarf). Christmas day was very relaxing with only one meal at noon. Unfourtonatly, that night I got what the Italians call the 'American Influenza' aka the throwup flu. Luckily it only lasted for 2 days.
For new years(Capodanno) I went to one of my friends houses in the mountains. We stayed up all night and had a great time. In my last days of vacation, I went skiing in the Alps. All I have to say is...ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!!! I had so much fun. Although this year there is a major lack of snow, the Alps are incredible.
I changed families about a month ago. It was really hard to leave Emanuala (because she is the best host mom I could ever have), but we talk almost everyday. My new host family is ver nice. My host mom is German. She teaches piano and is a professoresa of German at the local university. My host dad works for a steel company and is always gone on buisness trips. He speaks Italian, German, English, Spanish, and French. I have two host sisters (Anna Paula and Barbara). Barbara(19years old) studies in Venice and is rarely at home. Anna Paula (17 years old) goes to a highschool near mine. They are both very nice.
It was hard to change families, but I'm doing better know. I know that this is part of the experience.
I just recieved my plane tickets home. I arrive in Boise on June 12th at 7pm. I can't believe how soon that is. My life here, which in September seemed endless, all of a sudden has an expiration date. As excited as I am to come home, I am going to miss this place so much. It is my home now too. These people are my friends and family. But I always know that I will have someplace to come back to. A home away from home.

The Italian Disco is unlike anything I've ever experienced. I arrived at the Disco around 11pm. There were already a lot of people there, but no one was dancing yet. Then at midnight, the DJ hopped up onto the bar and shouted, 'Who's ready to get this party start?!' Everyone cheered, the music began, the lights went down, and people flooded onto the dance floor. The bar and tables were cleared of drinks, and people jumped up onto the tables and began to dance. The music didnt stop for 5 strait hours. I made the mistake of wearing my new red italian high heels. By the end of the night, I had could barely stand up my feet hurt so much. Italians really know how to have a good time!