Phones in Italy!

Ciao tutti! :) 

Okay, so phones here are a little different... For example my phone number is +39 345 726 9156

Weird right?? Yea, it's totally different. But I'm pretty proud of myself that I memorized my number within the first two days I got it AND memorized it with Italian numbers. But anyway, I have a blackberry, which are very popular. Some people have iPhones here, but they are about the equivalent of 1000 American dollars. (about 600-700 Euros) It's absolutely crazy. I would NEVER pay that much for a phone, but hey, they're Italian ;) They also do't buy very good cases for their phones, so they don't look as nice as they do in America... 

A lot of people also have the INDESTRUCTIBLE Nokia phones. I haven't seen one in so long, it's quite refreshing. I crack up every time I see my friends texting without a full keyboard. It's just been so long since I haven't had a keyboard... I guess I'm spoiled like that :) But anywayssss, hope you were interested in the technological side of the cultural differences. :) I will write again soon!!! :) <3 

 Love my Converse! <3 ALLSTAR FOR LIFE!

 So true. Receive my money, then realize i have to buy something expensive... :P

 Oh yes <3 Check-mark!

 heeheee <3 Cute :)

 I refuse to let this happen. THAT is why I am officially on a diet and I have started Athletics (cross country)

Yes, I, Shelby Kenville, am running for a sport. I know, it's incredibly surprising... 

~Shelby Kenville <3

The Differences in the Bible!!!

Ciao tutti,

Recently, I saw a children's  Christmas book quoting the Bible. I noticed that it said "Matteo" and I figured that that must mean "Matthew." I decided to search for all the Bible Chapter names on the Internet and was shocked by what I found. Read for yourselves!!!!!! ;)

English:                                     Italian:

Genesis                                      Genesi

Exodus                                       Esodo

Leviticus                                     Levitico

Numbers                                    Numeri

Deuteronomy                              Deuteronomio

Joshua                                        Giosue

Judges                                        Giudici

Ruth                                           Rut

1 Samuel                                    1 Samuele

2 Samuel                                    2 Samuele

1 Kings                                      1 Re

2 Kings                                      2 Re

1 Chronicles                               1 Chronache

2 Chronicles                               2 Chronache

Ezra                                           Esdra

Nehemiah                                   Neemia

Esther                                        Tobia

Job                                            Guiditta 

Psalms                                        Ester

Proverbs                                    Salmi

Ecclesiastes                                Proverbi

Song of Solomon                        Ecclesiaste

Isaiah                                         Cantico

Jeremiah                                     Sapienza

Lamentations                              Siracide       

Ezekiel                                        Isaia

Daniel                                         Geremiah

Hosea                                         Lamentazioni

Joel                                             Baruc

Amos                                          Ezechiale

Obadiah                                      Daniele

Jonah                                          Osea

Micah                                         Gioele

Nahum                                        Amos

Habakkuk                                   Abdia

Zephaniah                                   Giona

Haggai                                        Michea

Zechariah                                    Naum

Malachi                                      Abucuk

-                                                Sofonia

Matthew                                    Aggeo

Mark                                         Zaccaria

Luke                                          Malachia

John                                           - 

Acts                                           Matteo

1 Corinthians                              Marco

2 Corinthians                              Luca 

Galatians                                    Giovanni

Ephesians                                   Atti

Philippians                                  Romani

Colossians                                 1 Corinzi

1 Thessalonians                          2 Corinzi

2 Thessalonians                          Galati

1 Timothy                                  Efesini

2 Timothy                                  Filippesi

Titus                                          Colossesi

Philemon                                   1 Tessalonicessi

Hebrews                                   2 Tessalonicessi

James                                       1 Timateo

1 Peter                                     2 Timateo

2 Peter                                     Tito

1 John                                      Filemone

2 John                                      Ebrei

3 John                                     Giacorno

Jude                                        1 Pietro  

Revelation                               2 Pietro

                                               1 Giovanni

                                               2 Giovanni

                                               3 Giovanni

                                               Guida

                                               Apocalisse

I just thought that this was so interesting!!! I mean, I never really thought about the Chapters in the Bible would be different. Well I guess you learn something new everyday!!! :)

Thanks for reading!! :) <3 <3

~Shelby

Pictures.

Hello everyone! (figured I would change my introduction up a bit ;)

So this post is basically going to be pictures... Today, I went to the Picasso Museum! It was so incredible to see the paintings that Picasso himself painted!! I never would have imagined that I would see something so significant and historical! Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed... After that, I went to the Duomo di Milano but not just the outside; I went to the top and inside. It was absolutely breath-taking. Lastly, I went for a two hour walk just by myself around a little part of my town taking pictures of the beautiful Autumn trees! :D 

 Breathtaking. 

 So tall and elegant!

 Great day visiting. So worth walking up a million stairs and 7 Euros!

 <3

 The floors inside the Duomo

 A beautiful window!

 Inside... 

 Great tree!!

 Pretty leaf!

 So incredible!

 <3 I love Autumn! 

 Even in Black and White it's beautiful!

 Happiness!! :)

 No one can ever change what this experience has done and will do for me!

                                       

Friends <3 <3 <3 

Thanks for being so loyal to my Blog!! :) Can't wait to keep documenting how everything is going here in Italia. Love you all! :)

~Shelby Kenville

Just an Update :)

Ciao tutti, 

I hope everything is going well for everyone. I am starting going a little downhill on my exchange emotions. As Rotary said, the first two months were awesome, but the next two months should be hard. After Christmas, the rest of the months are supposed to get better and better. So far, Rotary has been right, so I can't wait until after Christmas!! :) 

Right now, I am really missing my dogs!! I'm used to everyday after school getting a big kiss from all three of them. I really miss that even though I did not appreciate it at the time. I can't wait until I get a kiss from them when I come home! :D I definitely miss watching Pawn Stars and all the other shows with my Mamma and Bonus Dad. I miss the phone calls to my grandparents and my Daddddyy. But, I know that this is a once in lifetime experience and everyday I try to smile and remember that I am UNDERSTANDING and TALKING to my friends in ITALIAN !!! 

Can't wait to rush through these next couple hard months and enjoy myself even more than I already am!! :)

Thanks for reading/Grazie per la lettura,

~Shelby Janae <3 

 I have to remind myself to keep smiling :)

What my friends do when I accidentally say words wrong ;)

Thanks for my footy pajamas Mom and Bryan <3 

Happiness

Ciao tutti, 

Below is an assignment that I had for Italian class. Of course the other students did the task in Italian, however the teacher had me do it in English. The assignment was to write a short response about how you feel about the pursuit of happiness, what happiness is, etc. So here is what I wrote.

Felicita – Happiness

            Happiness is a very complicated emotion. You can feel happiness when you receive your food at a restaurant or from getting married. People react differently to different types of happiness: some laugh, some cry. Most people associate happiness with well, being happy. Getting a good grade in school, a family dinner at Christmas or going to church on a beautiful Sunday morning can all make a person happy. However, some people pursue happiness from all the wrong things: money, alcohol, drugs, etc. I pity those people that rely on worldly objects to make them happy. They are searching for something or someone to fulfill their emptiness, but they do not pursue the proper things. In order to fulfill the unhappiness, you must have family, friends, and God.

            To me, happiness is going out with my friends and acting silly: laughing until our stomachs hurt and going to the mall to trying on dresses and high heels just because. Happiness is having deep conversations with your family and hugging until everything is better. Happiness is coming home after school and curling up on the couch with your dogs and watching a movie. Happiness is hopping on a plane and going to a foreign country to learn a new language and culture. Happiness is knowing that all you have to do is pray and believe that everything will okay in the end no matter what is going on in your life. I hope my life is filled with moments like these; laughter, tears (because you can’t be happy without crying every once in a while,) hugs, and conversations. To me: THAT is felicita.

In Italian, felicita (with an accent on the 'a' means happiness) Well, I hope I get a good grade ;) 

I can not wait until I am able to do the assignments in ITALIAN!!!!!!!! :) It will be so incredibly excited. My Italian is progressing very very well, along with the relationships with my friends. I really can't imagine this experience without the help of my BFF's here in Italy. <3 <3 

 Jenniiii <3 M.A.P.S

 All my friends LOVE american candy!

 Wrestling. 

Jenni ALWAYS does my nails super awesome and pretty :D

Well, I'm off to Cremona tomorrow with Rotary!! Should be a fun Sunday trip!! Thanks for reading!! :)

~Shelby <3 <3

Plants :)

Ciao tutti, 

This particular blog is dedicated to my grandma and grandpa. My grandpa is an amazing gardener and my grandma is a nature-lover!!! Love them both so much and I can't wait until I return to America and see them again! :D Anyway, I'm not very knowledgeable on trees and plants, but here it goes. 

In Parco Nord, a very beautiful park very close to my house, there are a lot of Norway maples, field maples, wild cherry trees, ashes, sycamores, birches, pedunculate oaks and small-leaved elms. There are also a lot of various flowers that i do not know the names of... A lot of people have a ton of flowers on their decks. Because a lot of people don't have yards, they can only have gardens on the deck. But it is very beautiful non-the-less.

 pretty flowers on my deck :)

Parco Nord

Mmmmmm, Berries <3

I hope you enjoyed reading about the different types of plants!!! Until next time,

~Shelby Janae <3 <3

The Progress of my Italian :)

Ciao tutti! :) It's been awhile since I have written because I have been going out with my friends a lot. I am really able to have conversations with them now. It is very excited. 

Friday, I started Athletics, which is similar to cross country. I have never done cross country in my life and I am not a very good runner, but I really enjoyed it. I can't wait to get better and faster!!! The whole practice (two hours) I was talking to a girl that I had just met in Italian!! At first, she didn't even know that I was American. I told her after a couple minutes and she was shocked!! I was so happy! :) I am having a lot of people right now tell me that I am speaking Italian very well!! It is so encouraging :) However, I know that I am not done learning, and I still have a lot of work to do.

At school, I am starting to understand a lot more!! Right now, I understand what the the words the teachers are saying (for the most part) but they are going fast, so its hard for me to comprehend what they are saying. In other words, I understand but I can not register it in my brain enough to take notes or anything yet.  Hopefully in a couple months I will be able to take notes just like all the other students!! My school is an art school, but since I don't like art, I have switched my classes so that I only have one day of art whereas before I had four days of art along with the normal educational classes. Now I have all math, science, italian, and english classes. In English class I translate a lot and explain to the others what stuff means and what not. It's very difficult to translate English to Italian, but Italian to English is much easier. I am still making a lot of new friends, but it's very hard to remember everyone's names because they are so different than American names, and there are a lot of people. It is overwhelming sometimes, but I am loving it!!

Thanks for reading!! Maybe in a little while I will post a blog in Italian ;)

~Shelby Kenville! <3 <3 <3 :)

2 Months in Italy TODAY! :D

Ciao ancora!! :)

So, I know this is my second post today, but I must point out that today is the mark of my second month. I can't believe it is going by so fast! I have about 8 months left of my exchange! I have had a very short dream in Italian, I am able to communicate with my friends and family, and I am starting to really mix the language up with English. I think these are all good signs! :) 

I have shown all the symptoms of a foreign exchange student. I have spent wayyy more money on clothes than I ever would in America (and I am NOT done yet), I have gained weight, and I have fallin in love with this place. I feel like I belong here. I have my routine and I have my friends and my family. I can't see myself leaving this place anytime soon. 

Thank you Italy for a great 60 days and thank you for reading! :D <3

Love my flag! :D <3

~Shelby

Suggestions :D

Ciao!! :) 

I hope everything is going good in America!! I know the election is coming up soon! I can't wait to hear the results and I hope the person I want to win wins! :P Haha.

I am starting to run out of things to talk about!! I am getting so used to the culture it is hard to think of differences. Please comment with some suggestions for future topics!! Thanks so much :D

My first spaghetti stain of the year after two months. I am pretty proud. 

~Shelby

First Family Vacation and Italian Dream!

Ciao tutti! :)

Well, this weekend my family, and three other wonderful families, visited the cities Rocconigi and Torino, Italy. Torini used to be the capital of Italy before Rome. Both of these cities were so gorgeous. I visited so many different museum, and CASTLES! Yes, I went to actual castles, were Kings lived! :D It was so cool. I saw so much art, that I was afraid the creative side of my brain might possibly explode. Everything here is so detailed and beautiful! I think it is some secret law that all ceilings have to be gorgeous. They are detailed and incredibly beautiful. 

I also got a lot closer to my family this weekend. I really love my family. They treat me like their own!! They feed me, buy me gelato, tease me, the whole deal. I am so appreciative of them and I don't think I can ever say "grazie" enough! 

Now, about my dream. I was in Italy, but my family lived in a castle. Everyone was at work and then Bryan, my step dad, drove up (in english) and told me I ad to leave Italy. I was really upset, but he said we had to leave right away. Now this is where the Italian comes in. I called my host dad and told him I had to go, but I couldn't say goodbye. He was upset but we said goodbye. Then i got in the car and it was over. I woke up right afterwards, and it took me awhile to go back to sleep because I was so excited!!!!!! A very sad dream, with only a little bit of Italian, but still! This means that I am on my way to becoming fluent! :) 

 My flag <3

 Best gelato and homemade whipped cream ever!

Overall, I had a great weekend!! 

Thanks for reading! :) <3

~Shelby