Month

Well, I made it through the first month!

The language is coming along. My grammer is aweful and my vocabular is pretty limited, but I can understand people if they talk to me really slow. So I feel like I'm improving.

Now as you all know if you have been reading my blog, I go to school in the town of Lecco. Really a beautiful place, but any way. My school focuses on art. Here in Italy high schools are seperated by what you are interested in. Most exchange students go to language schools when they are on exchange, but my wonderful host mother pulled some strings and I now attend school for art. I absoulutly love it! Now I do have to take regular classes such as math and history, but I also get about 13 hours of art classes a week. Is that not amazing?

So my mother thought it would be a great idea for me to post some of the pictures I have made from the beginning of school. I agree. But no one can make fun of them. I have two diffrent classes, but I honestly can't explain the difrense at the moment. In my first class we have been focusing on our hands. So picture on the top is not actually finished. Nor do I think it will ever be because I got board with that position and my teacher agreed. The second is my favorite only because I think it came out nicely.
In my second art class we have been working on copying a statue of a head onto paper. I finally finished today. This was really fun for me because my teacher showed me a lot of new shading technices.

Oh and I was really hungry when I drew this one with the apple...can you tell?

Thats all I have to report for right now. Thank you all for the suport you gave me this month and wish me luck in the next.

Milan

Ciao Everyone!

It's been a while and I realized I forgot to post pictures of my trip to Milano with my Rotary Club. It was so fun. I met all the other exchange students in my distric and some of the "rebounders" The exchange students who just came back to Italy. It was really great! I got to go into the Duomo, but they wouldn't let me take pictures of the inside so you dont get to see how amazing that was. Sorry. These will have to do. There are many more but I'm really no good at taking pictures so these are the only two that came out nice.

I don't want any of you to worry about me not making friends. These are some of the people I've met in Rotary. I also have a lot of friends around town and now in school.

Now I know what some of you are thinking. She went to Milan! What about shopping?! Well I didn't get to go shopping while I was there with the Rotary Club. But it's all good, about every girl I've met here had offered to bring me back to go shopping with them. I'm sure I'll go one of these days!

Thats it for now. School started which is quite the adventure. I can't understand the teachers because they talk crazy fast. But I have made friends with a girl in my class who sits next to me. Whenever I get really confused she says what the teacher says only really slow and in Italian so I can understand and learn! It's really helpful.

On my final note for this entry. The food is good.

Lecco

I would like to welcome you all to Lecco on Lake Como. It was absolutly beautiful and is the town that I will get to go to school in. Madda, my host mother and I had some paper work to do in the school so afterward we decided to have a very relaxing lunch on the shore of the lake. It has to be the most beautiful lake I have ever seen. It's nestled very nicely between several pre-alp mountains. The day before we had lunch at the top of one of these mountains. Unfortunately my friends host sister accidently deleted those pictures. Oh well.

(Left) Is the view from where we had our lunch. It was also where you can go swimming, a mini beach! ( Top Right) My host mom Madda as we walked around the lake.

Me showing off the pretty archway we found and the housed it belongs to are to the right.

I also attended my first Rotary meeting. This one was only for my club. Here I got to meet the two other Exchange students living in my clubs area. Jay, from the states. And Chris from Germany. Along with my Rotary Counsler. This Sunday I get to go to another Rotary meeting, only for my distric. So instead of just us three Rotary kids there will be all of the Exchange kids from all over. The meeting is in Milano and I'm so insanely excited!

Bergamo

I went on a little trip with my new friend Valentina. She had invited me to go and see the city of Bergamo with her, so away we went.

Bergamo is a city thats been around since the middle ages, is what my family told me. It was absolutely beautiful. There are two parts of the city. The lower, is more modern. A typical busaling city. While the Upper is much older but still just as buisy. Mainly with tourists. You would not believe the benifits of being shown around in a small group. Instead of being in a huge group and seeing only what the tour permits. I got to explore all the random nooks and cranys with Valentina. It was great.

Here is the clock tower
in the lower part of the

city. So pretty

This is the lower part of the city from the gate to the upper part. You'll have to forgive me but I didn't take any pictures of the HUGE staircase we had to climb to get up here. I also neglected to take pictures of the gate its self. Which was very beautiful, with a lion with wings engraved on it. Valentina explained to me that it represented the town and the word of God.

This was just a random street that led to the middle of the upper city. I just thought it was pretty.

The road from the last picture ended here.

This isnt the center of the town but it is just

so old and beautiful I had to take a picture.

Now at first Valentina and I thought this was a church. But when we went inside it wasn't. But we're not sure what it is... Its still absolutely beaustiful

Ciao Everyone!

Good news, I can now successfuly work my camera! So I have pictures!

This is my house! The picture really doesnt do it any justice. Its so pretty! Oh and a picture of the street I live on.

Now, I wanted to share with you my favorite spot here in Carnate. Its the town park where my friend Matilde and I have gilato! Yummy! Then today in my down time I went on a little adventure in the park and found the old tower that my brother had been telling me about. I'm pretty sure it was used as a look out tower many many years ago. Its way up high on the hill, but you cant see it anymore unless you walk right up to it because it's hidden very well by the trees. Lastly, the town church. Every town has one church, (which are all insanely beautiful) Every time I visit a new town I get to see a church that always seems even more beautiful than the last! I haven't been able to see the inside of the church here, but it's on my to do list!

The Park!

The Tower!

The Church!