I got the wrong host family...

BUT NOW I HAVE MY NEW ONE!!!!

And they are seem like such a better fit than my old one!

So, my host dad, Giuseppe, is a dentist. I have a stay-at-home mom, Battistina, and they have three kids. I have two sisters, Magda and Egle, who are 16 and 14 respectively, and I have a brother, Silvio, who is 11. I'm going to live in an apartment right in the middle of Cosenza right next to a really pretty church.

Now I'm really really excited! I don't think I've ever wanted the weekend to be over so badly before... xD

Ciao Ciao!!

I GOT MY HOST FAMILY!!!

So, I my computer crashed today. I had my email open for the past three days because I wanted to see if I got any news from EIL, and then it crashed about 20 minutes ago. I think it may have crashed because my computer just received a super, amazing email and it just couldn't handle it's awesomeness. I know this because just as this happened, my mom brought me my blackberry saying, "HEY!! YOU JUST GOT AN EMAIL ABOUT YOUR HOST FAMILY FROM EIL!!"

So I'm going to be living with the De Benedictis family in Belvedere Marittimo. I don't think I have a host mom because the email didn't say anything about a mom, but I have a host dad who works as a store clerk and I have two host siblings. My host sister, Rosella, is 23, and my host brother, Aldo, is 26. But I don't know if they're going to be living in the house or not because of their age. I can't help but be kind of worried because I'm not going to have a mom and my siblings are so much older than me, but I know it's going to be great.

Well, I leave in 4 days, and I'm super excited! Our program doesn't let us bring laptops or anything, so unless my family has a computer I can use, I'm not going to be able to update this blog until I come back. In case that does happen, I'm going to keep a journal when I'm over there and post it all when I come back.

Ciao Ciao

Pre-departure stress = NOT FUN

RANT

I just feel like writing something for the hell of it... Soo stressed out... I'm preparing for my three exams on tuesday and wednesday which includes a crap load of studying. I have a 6-hour long chemistry review thing and then too many tutors on Monday...

And because of all these exams, I haven't been able to get ANY sleep from studying, so I'm absolutely exhausted, but I can't sleep, because I NEED TO STUDY SOME MORE!!!

And now I have a 102.2 fever, so I can't play in the concert I have tommorow, and the conductor is gonna be pissed cause it's the last concert of the year. I feel like crap, even though I'll probably be fine in a day or two.

And on top of all that, I haven't even started to pack for Italy, even though I leave in about a week. My mom won't even be able to help me because she got surgery the other day so she can't bend down or anything. I need my dad to help me find some suitcases in the attic because only he knows where they are, but he just got a new show that he's working on, so he's been coming home really late, which really sucks...

END RANT

I know that I probably make this week sound a lot worse than it actually is. I can't wait for tests to be over. There's only three left, which I'm happy about.

I've started to slowly say goodbye's for the summer to some people that I won't see 'till I get home, which is pretty exciting. I promised everybody that I would send a postcard or two from Italy. Maybe I should write them in Italian...

So all I've pretty much been doing lately is studying for my exams and learning some more Italian, which hopefully will give me a head start. Even though I leave in about a week, I haven't heard anything my host family, though I did hear that we'll find out before we leave.

As I'm writing this, I'm shocked to say that I just found a silvery-whitish hair (my hair is dark brown) which is really messed up, because I really shouldn't be getting grey hairs at my age. Maybe it's all this pre-departure stress. Oh well. xD

Ciao Ciao

Host Cities and Itineraries

Hey!! I kind of disappeared off the face of the Earth... but I'm back now! And while I was gone, as my title says, I got my host cities and my itinerary!!

Orientation - Rome (3 days)

Language Training - Cortona, Tuscany (8 days)

(insert 7 hours of traveling here)

Homestay - Cosenza, Calabria (16 days)

Travel - Ravenna & Venice

Departure - Venice

And now, random stuff about my city, Cosenza (as copied from wikipedia -.-)!!!

Mayor: Mario Occhiuto

Total area: 37 sq km (14.3 sq mi)

Elevation: 238 m (781 ft)

Coordinates: 39°28'00"N, 16°25'00"E

Population: 69,603

Demonym: Cosentini

For anybody who's curious, it's near the toe on the boot of Italy.

Well, that's pretty much it for now...

Ciao Ciao!!