Seasons in Italy

Happy Easter Everyone! :)

This Easter, I am with my fqamily in Milan. We plan on going to a Restaurant and eating Easter lunch together and then just relaxing at the Hotel. We have been very busy the last couple of weeks. 

Anyway, I wanted to write about seasons in Italy. Here, they have all four seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. 

Winter: It's pretty cold during Winter. Especially this year. There has been a TON of snow and cold rain. I had to buy a new coat when I got here because mine was not sufficient.

Spring: It is still pretty chilly this year for spring. It has been rather rainy, but somtimes there are still beautiful blue skies. The flowers and the leaves on the trees are just starting to come back. I am looking forward to getting closer to summer. 

Summer: Summer (at least the end of summer that I experienced in September) was hot and humid. There were also a lot of mosquitoes. 

Fall: This season was really nice here. It was a little chilly at times but it was very gorgeous with all the different color leaves.

Overall, Milan is very similar to Ohio weather. Some days, the sky will be blue and it will be warm, the nect day it could be freezing and snowing. Some may say, "Bipolar weather" :)

 A summer sunset

 A summer day :)

 Autumn <3

A cold winter day! 

I haven't yet hit another summer day yet. Hopefully I will before I return to America in two months! :)

~Shelby Janae <3

Italian Bathrooms

Hey everybody!!!

I want to write about Italian bathrooms. Unlike what you may think, they are quite different from American bathrooms. No, the water still flushes in the same direction.

Toilets: Usually, the handle for the toilet is different than America. There is not a handle that you push down. There is either: a big button paired with a little button, a handle that you spin counter clockwise until it is done flushing (similar to a shower handle), or even a button on the floor that you have to push down with your foot. 

   The big button is for poop while the little button is for pee....

Unfortunately at school, toilets look like this....

Bidet: Some people might not even know what a Bidet is. Is is like a shower and a toilet. You use it for after the toilet to wash yourself. It is very highly used in Europe. It is used to keep somebody clean after using the toilet because toilet paper still leaves a lot of germs behind. It can also be used to wash feet, clothing

   The Bidet and toilet in my bathroom!

Showers: Showers in Italy aren't too much different than America. A lot of times, however, there aren't shower heads stuck to the wall. For the most part, there is a hand-held portion. 

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this!! I'll write again soon.

~Shelby Janae

Italian Parking

Hello everyone, 

For those of you who don't know, right now, I am on vacation with my American family!! :) Our trip plans include Milan, Venice, Florence, Pisa, Rome, and Verona. We just got to Florence and we have already visited Milan and Venice. It is so nice to see my grandparents, parents, and family friend! I am so excited to see more cities!

This blog entry will be about how the Italians park. Pretty much EVERY parking spot is parallel. If you can't parallel park, you could not survive in Italy. It is a necessity. 

The cars are usually parked so close together, I don't even understand how they get out. I do have to admit that the Italians are very good at parking. Yes, sometimes they get bumped, but I don't think it's a big deal like it is in America.  

This is an example of some "Italian" parking. Good luck... 

So, thanks for reading! If you ever plan on driving in Italy, make sure you know how to parallel park! :)

~Shelby

The Pope

Good morning/afternoon/evening, 

I hope everything is going good with all you bloggers :)

This post is going to be about the Pope. 
As I'm sure most of you know, Pope Benedict XVI resigned as Pope on February 18, 2013. He was the first Pope to do so since Pope Gregory XII in 1415. The Pope claims that his resignation was due to being the ripe age of 85.

The voting process for finding a new Pope is very interesting. The Sistine Chapel is closed down and St. Peter's Square in Rome is filled with people awaiting the unveiling of the new Pope. There are about 150 candidates to choose from in this election. When the members of the College of Cardinals have decided who the new Pope shall be, they burn a fire with white smoke so that the citizens outside know if they have made their decision. If the smoke is black, the people know that the college is still deciding. 

March 14, 2013 was the date of the election of the new Argentinian Pope "Francis I" (the first). He is a grand 76 years of age. 

If you want to know even more about this very detailed process, here's a link :)
http://people.howstuffworks.com/papacy3.htm

Fun Fact: Statistics show that only about 6 Popes have resigned.

Anyway, I am super stoked that they found a new Pope. He seems like a very nice guy :) and this means that when my family arrives, (MONDAY!) our trip to Rome is not ruined <3

Thanks for reading! :)

~Shelby Janae

Transportation

Hello everyone!

In America, it's safe to say, every family has at least one car. Cars are pretty much essential in America. However, public transportation is much more popular here in Italy. I do believe that most families here have a family car, but public transportation, walking, and biking are MUCH more used.

There are a lot more sidewalks, one-way streets (safer than big highways), and parks that are used for getting around on bikes and on foot. Many people, especially when the weather is nice go for walks, jogs, or bike rides in the beautiful parks!! A lot of people even set up picnics. Here, you always see people walking their dogs, even on rainy days... I think this is because very few families have backyards and therefore, their dogs need exercise by going for long walks!

Buses: There are also many many different bus routes. Sometimes, you need to take more than one bus to get to your stop, but most people have a very good idea of which bus bring you the closest to your desired destination. Most bus routes lead to at least a small train or underground metro station so that you can take the metro (or train) to the bigger city.

Cars: The cars here are mostly pretty small. There are those few people who have bigger cars though. They don't find very good parking spots.... The center of Milan is where you find the nicest cars, but for the most part, the cars are pretty average. There are a lot of very cute cars that I wish I could buy and transport to America!! Unfortunately, I think that would cost much more than it would be worth.


So anyway, that is basically how European transportation works! Sometimes it can be scary, confusing, and frustrating! Especially when you miss the bus and have to wait up to 30 minutes for the next one!

Thanks for reading!

~Shelby Janae <3

Two (random) Observations

Hello everyone! 

This entry will be about two quite random observations I have made and are kind of interesting.

Chemistry: Yes. I knew that Chemistry would be taught in Italian. But I was not expecting the periodic table of elements to be different. I mean, I though it was so universal. 

 Tavola Periodica degli Elementi

 "Hydrogen" is pronounced "idrogeno"

 "groups" and "periods"

 They are still separated by "non metalli" semi-metalli" and "metalli" or in English, non metals, metalloids, and metals.

In houses: This is another observation I have made. When Italians paint their walls, they do not paint the whole thing. They leave a line of white across the top. 

Well, I just thought those were two interesting little tidbits of information. 

Hope you are enjoying my blog! :)

~Shelby Janae <3

Playing Music

Hello everyone!!

I just went skiing again in the Alps!! It was sooo gorgeous! :) I did a lot better at skiing this time, but I still am no professional ;) Hopefully, I will continue to ski even when I return to America. 

Anyway, in Italy, when someone plays an instrument, they do not use notes like we do in America. They only use "Do" "Re" "Mi" "Fa" "So" "La" "Ti" "Do." I mean, I honestly don't get it! How can you play the piano without having F# or Bb?? I don't get how you can play with ONLY "Do" "Re..." etc. 

That is something I guess that is just very culturally different.

Also, when listening to music, Americans usually listen to English music and that's it. Here, there are a lot of different language songs that are popular: Latin, Spanish, Italian, English, and some other types. It seems to me, that they are more musically open. Even though they don't understand the other languages, they are still willing to listen to the music. 

Anyway, I hope everything is going good in America or wherever you are! :D

Ciao for now! 

(Hopefully) The last snow of the season here in Milano! <3

~Shelby Janae