hehehe

yeahhh, i forgot about this forever!!!

my dearest mommy had to tell me to update!!





well, i'm just going to list things off, because i have a terrible memory.





i went to germany, i saw my wonderfully amazingly wonderful aunt & uncle <33

(don't be jealous uncie wombat!!)



haha, i went there, and saw the beautiful country side, and i saw my lil baby boy, which pretty much made this trip complete in every sense!!!



I LOVE YOU LOCHLANN, KURT & KARA!!

<3



so i went there, and i went to valle de osta.

which i don't think i wrote right, haha.

but i went there before i went to germany, so i missed a bunch of school.

it was beautiful there too.



i've learned a lot more italian.

adesso posso parlare con quasi tutti!

ma, sono sbagliato quasi sempre, ma va bene! ho bisogno per imparare di più!

:]

so something big happened...

i changed families
:D

so, with my other host mom, i never really thought it was going to work with her, but i really wanted to try, she had only ever lived alone and was very set in her ways.

i thought that i would get someone who was willing to accept another culture like intercultura says they will, but she only wanted company in the house.

i don't want to offend her if she reads this, so i'll stop there.

i decided i couldn't do it anymore, so i left.

i left right before the camp with afs.

so i got there a day earlier and relaxed at the resort.

i also turned 17 there, i was so excited that all my afs friends got there that day, it was pretty nice.

then we had the camp, which was nice, because the post was gorgeous, but the orientations, were like all orientations ever, kinda boring hah

:D

&& so now i'm in a new family, who are all really sweet, i already feel at home, i have a sister and a mom and a dad here.

they rock!
:]

hmmm.... &&& what else.

oh i've been going through some phases lately, i've been scared to go home, and worried about what it'll be like, but who really knows.

i just hope it's all good, and that i get home to the ones i wanted to come home to.

i love you guys, and if i remember anything else i'll write it

:]

<3333

almost a month

wow!
i keep forgetting to update this!
haha, sorry everyone!

i'm doing well here, i'm learning still and it's getting easier with time.
:]

sooo...
let's think what i've done in the past month.
i went to sassari for a few days, and saw the city, stayed with a really nice family and had an overall good time.
in the last 2 days i've spent pretty much all day in cagliari, which is so fun, it's so beautiful.
haning out by the sea, shopping and to top it off in the great company of my friend mia.
another american girl, she's really sweet.
:D


she spent the night at my house, and i spent the night at hers.
it's been pretty fun.

i went to the disco with classmates and mia, we danced and had fun.

school is going ok, i really don't like having homework in class because the simplest things take hours to do, and so i'm having some difficulties there.

my house is all good, our downstairs is now finished, stairs and all.
it's really beautiful.
:]

i've been going out around where i live in monastir, with a really great group of people, they are all really nice.
i even spent the day at vanessa's house, she did my makeup and we had a lot of fun, :)

i also bought some cute stuff, i dunno if i mentioned that, haha, but yeah, i got a new sweater and a new tank top and a new purse.

hmmm.....
what else.....

no lo so, forse un altra giorno.
hahah
that is most likely wrong.
xD

well if i remember anything else i'll write it later!!

ciao!!
:]

uncie wombat

i am not dead, you silly man!!!
I LOVE YOUR RIDICULOUS EMAILS!!!
haha, thank you.
:]


SOOO...
i went to the italian teatro, which was interesting, because i definitely didn't understand anything, so i talked and thumb wrestled the kids next to me, because i am a good student.
:D

hmm.. pretty much the same things, going to school, being confused, OH!
i have 2 tests, in history and philosophy, yeah, not so happy about that.
because they're both in italian, about HISTORYYY!!
yeahhhh... i don't know how that's gonna go.

but i've still been taking the bus with the monastir kids, which is fun they're really cool kids, and i went out with them this saturday and hung out talked, listened to music, the usual.

i've still been going to oristano every weekend still, speaking of which i am there right now!
haha, i'm in the newstand type store that the family owns.
it's really nice.

italian lessons are ging pretty wel, i'm learning a lot.
&& forgetting english already.
which is just grand, haha.

ma tutto bene, perche mio piache l'italiano.
yeah, not sure that's right but if i said it you'd understand i swear!!
haha

hmmmm......
to all my friends who are going through rough times right now, i'm so sorry i'm not there with you and giving you hugs and telling you it will be alright.
but remember it will be alright, everything will be ok babes.
<3

&& when i get back expect HUGEHUGEHUGE hugs.
:]


for the record....
i love and miss everyone!
:D

Terralba

I went to terralba for an AFS obligation week.
i had to stay with a new host family, which was really stressful at first, but once i met them i was completely happy, Marta, Andrea and Kristian were the cutest family ever, haha.
Marta spoke english which was very helpful and Andrea spoke italian so i got a mix of both, and the baby was well a baby, and spoke no languages, haha, he was so cute.

so we started teh week off just going to orientation and i went out at night with a friend, Sharon, who is from Alaska and is really flippin awesome, we would go to her host sisters bar and eat french fries and talk, it was really fun.

then one night we went to a discotecha! it was awesome, it was just a big club place and we danced and had fun til i got tired, then we went home.

then we went to carnavale, ohhhhh carnavale how i love you so.
it was a huge parade where everyone was dressed up as some kind of animal or something and all the AFS kids had to dress as pirates, which at first i was not happy about but then i just embraced it and had fun.
it was so amazing, we walked for like 5 hours and danced and had a great time, i was getting sick so i went home right after, everyone else went out and had fun.

then the next day we went to oristano for sartiliga which is basically guys on horses trying to get this tiny star that hangs from a string.
it was so exciting to watch, it was so intense, i got to see 3 people get it! it was epic.
then we had to leave and go back to terralba for a second parade.

the second one was a lot crazier, because a lot more people were drunk and they all love the AFS girls so it was really funny, but really scary at the same time.
they kept asking for kisses from the girls, haha, it was funny.
that night i wasn't as sick so i went out with sharon and we went to martins and ate french fries and we danced around, it was really fun.

then the next day we went home to our extended living places in sardinia.

and this weekend i might go back to go to another parade!
i'm so excited!
:D

i miss everyone at home.
i love you guys.

so.

everyone keeps telling me that my blogs aren't detailed enough.
so here it goes, haha.

this is a day in the life of carissa in italy.
:]

so i wake up at 6:30 or 6 if i have to shower, then i get dressed and ready for school. then my neighbor andrea and valentino come and pick me up, they walk with me to the bus stop and then we all get on the bus. when we get off the bus we go to the tabacco shop so that they can get a pack, then to mcdonalds we go, i normally have already eaten, so i just wait til their finished then i walk to school and they go to theirs which is close to mine. then i go to school and don't do too much because i still don't know italian, so i normally just study my italian book, or talk with someone in the class. starting this week they're only going to speak italian to me, so that will be interesting, haha. after school i either take the bus home with the same group or rita picks me up, then i go home and do stuff around the house, watch tv, read, whatever opportunity i have that day, i take. a lot of the time i end up going with andrea and everyone to a local caffe and hanging out, playng fooseball and just hangin around. i also have italian lessons somedays after school and i really enjoy them, because afterwards i know a lot more italian, which i enjoy, haha.
i normally go to bed pretty early because i've been really tired since i got here.
then it starts again.

on the weekends i normally go to oristano and visit rita's sister and her daugher, nicole, they are really nice people, and they feed me very well, haha.
it's really pretty here, there is a lot of green, it's similar to tucson because it has mountains and beautiful sunsets, which i really like.

driving here is really fun, because it's faster than the states and is a little more chaotic which i like, haha.

hmm...

oh, P.E. here is interesting to me, because i'm so used to rigorous activity at home, with tennis and tae kwon do.

we're currently running, jumping on a trampoline to do a 360, i did it on my first real try, which was stressful to the other students, becuase the teacher was really excited about it, i guess it was a culture shock for me, because at home i would be doing so much more.. haha.

it's been cold here, it even snowed in oristano on valentines day, which was exciting to me, haha.
it's been rainy but when the sun comes out it's stunning.

i really miss home and all my friends and their nonsense, but it's not too long till i'm home.


i love you guys!!
<3
:]

hey you!

it's ma bloggg!!


i'm still in italy, still alive [even with all those stairs] haha, i'm in oristano right now, which is further north and is really beautiful, i'm going to take tons of pictures, but i'm only going to upload them when i get home, i don't want to overload the memory here, haha.

i went to an italian party, and hung out with my friends, they are all so easily excited when i say something in italian, haha.
it was fun, just like an american party but less crazy drunk people.
xD

hmm... school's good, i'm not learning too much because of the language barrier, but it's all good.

friends are really fun and silly here, just like at home.
don't worry no one is replaced.

the ciao and kisses still confuse me, i always make it awkward, it's my expertise.
:]

hmm.... my host mom is really nice and cool, we still have trouble communicating, but now i'm going to italian classes to improve my italian so we can communicate better.

everyone here talks faster than me.
:D

haha


hmm...

i miss everyone and i love you.

i can't think of anything else that's happened.
xD

Hey everyone!!

i know im expected to update more often, but its been busy here, i just unpacked everything in my host moms house.

i dont really know how to use this keyboard so pardon the errors.

well so far ive managed to get boogers all over my pants, re-name someone raspberry sauce, confuse my entire host family, fall down a flight of stairs, fall asleep and remain in the middle of a conversation, learn how to say sheep in italian, pecora, ohh yeahhh, i went to a traditional carnival with my family, it was people in costumes playing trumpets, it was raining, the flights were all good, nothing too exciting on them, hmm.. im trying to think of everything, but my hands are cold... haha.


umm its been raining, but the hills are really green and lush, its been interestante.

my host family is really sweet, they are all very understanding of my lack of italian,
i really appreciate what theyre doing for me.

to my friends and family
i miss you, io nostalgio, which means im homesick.
but im not ready to come home, im just sad because its hard being here without you.
but i know im ok, and i hope youre ok.

its been hard, but i know that it will get better and be worth it.


i love you guys.
more to come later when i have more feeling in my hands,
maybe even pictures.

:)