Sports in Italy

Ciao a tutti, 

I hope everyone's spring is going good!

This post will be about sports and exercising. 

For the most part, people here are pretty good about sports and exercising. Most kids participate in at least one sport, and if they don't do one sport, they will go to the gym and workout. 
Of course, there are some lazy people that don't do anything, but that is just like America. :P 

I personally know a lot of people that go running. I guess that is because I am getting pretty involved in running. I really enjoy going to Athletics and I currently go Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I also go running in the park by myself most Sundays. 


Sports wise, a lot of girls are involved in volleyball, boys and girls are involved in karate, and boys are involved in soccer and sometimes, basketball. 
Here, basketball is called simply, "basket."

Soccer is the major professional sport of Italy and a lot of other countries. Everybody has their favorite team and they are pretty good at following them. My current family has a routine of watching the game every Sunday night. They get so loud and crazy when a goal is scored. It is definitely interesting to see them cheering something other than American football since that is really the only popular sport in America other than baseball. 

Thanks for reading!

~Shelby Janae

Birthdays

Hey everyone!

So, today is my 17th birthday. I figured for this blog, I would write about how Italians celebrate birthdays.

Parties: Last night, I had a party with about 20 friends. We went to what can be considered a "bar." How it works, is you pay 7 euros for a drink and unlimited food. There are a ton of little appetizers, but you can eat as many plates as you want. The food is absolutely delicious! We spent most of the time talking and taking pictures. I even opened a couple presents that they got me <3
Italians usually celebrate birthday parties at these things called an "aperitivo" or they go to the disco. I chose having this party because I wanted to bond and talk with all my friends. That is quite hard to do at the disco.

Friends/School: In Italy, they believe it is major bad luck to say "happy birthday" before the actual birthday. My friends were a little iffy about me having the party the day before, but I really had no other choice because I'm going to be in Rome next week. So anyway, at school, the whole class chips in 1 or 2 euros and someone buys a gift and they all sign a card. I was given a really cute shirt from my class and then my other friends (from athletics) gave me a necklace, shirt, and bracelet. From my old host family, I was given a really pretty heart-shaped necklace. 
Also, the day-of or day after your birthday, you are supposed to bring in goodies for the class. Today, I am going to the grocery store to buy some chips, soda, and other snacks for my class to enjoy tomorrow. 

Family: Unfortunately, today my family and I aren't going to do anything. It is POURING rain. However, they got me some really nice little gifts. My host mom got me some stuff for my nails and my host dad surprised me with a bouquet of flowers. It was super sweet :) I think that for dinner tonight, my old host family is coming over to my new house to have dinner, but I'm still not entirely sure. 

Anyway, I had a really great 17th birthday and I'm so glad I got to celebrate it with my friends and family in Italy <3

 My flowers <3

 My flowers are sooo pretty :D

 My birthday party <3

 Me and the boys :P

:)

Thanks for reading!
~Shelby Janae

Buildings

Hello Everyone!! 

I hope everyone is doing fantastic. I am doing quite well myself. I am counting down the days until I have to return to America (In both good and bad ways). It is about 51 days... I can't believe how fast time has gone by. It really doesn't make sense. 

Anyway, I wanted to write about buildings in Italy. In America, hotels and office buildings (and any other buildings for that matter) start with floor one and continue up, always skipping floor 13 and replacing it with 14 (even though we all know it is still floor 13). 
In Italy, the floor numbers start at ZERO or "piano terra" which literally translates to earth floor. So, their second floor is our third floor. Confusing, right?

The buildings are also a lot smaller. For the most part, the buildings go up to about Italian floor # 7 or 8 and American floor # 8 or 9. You really don't have to crane your neck to get a good look at any buildings because they are much smaller than the skyscrapers people may see in New York, LA, or Chicago. 

Hope you enjoyed reading! Have a good week! :)

~Shelby Janae <3

One Bike, Two Bikes...

One bike, two bikes, red bikes, blue bikes. Old bikes, new bikes, yellow bikes, purple bikes.

Hey everyone! This post is going to be about bicycles. 

Pretty much every family in Italy has at least one bike. They are a very popular mode of transportation. Unfortunately, they haven't been used the past couple months because of the crappy weather. Just now, they are starting to come back out. 

All the bikes are different. I have yet to see a bike that looked the same as another. Everyone has a different color, style, or age. I have seen everything ranging from white and covered in rust to new and a shiny, metallic blue. 

One thing that all "bikers" have in common: the horn. Everyone has a cute little bell/horn on their bike handle bars. This is used to basically tell people to get out of the way. When a bike wants to get by, they ring their little bell and the people in front of them automatically move to the side; almost like trained robots. Whenever someone hears that bell, they know exactly what it means.

Anyway, I wish I could line up all the bike styles, ages, and colors throughout Italy. It would be like a rainbow! :)

Thanks for reading! 

~Shelby Janae <3

Italian Candy and Snacks

Good morning/afternoon/evening,

Here in Italy, they eat tons of chocolate. They have so many different brands and types of chocolate it’s crazy. It really sucks for a girl that doesn't like chocolate. Every day, someone asks me if I want a piece of chocolate and every day I get gasped at because I don't like chocolate. Pretty much everyone thinks I'm crazy.

They do not have Reeses Peanut Butter Cups but they have Nestles candy and many other brands.

Some major brands are TUC, Milka, and many others.

The kids here (and the adults) eat chocolate pretty much every day! They definitely love their sweets!

They do have lots of really good “sour” candy, but it’s not very sour. It’s more like sweet. But the gummy candies with the “sour” flavoring are very yummy!

I still prefer my American candy though... <3

Thanks for reading :)

~Shelby Kenville

Venezia

Hello readers,

This post is going to be all about Venice.

Venice is quite an interesting city. It is built entirely on water. There are no cars or anything on the street. The streets are literally water. They have boats as cars and even stop lights directly water traffic. It is basically a maze. It is incredibly difficult to find one’s way around when navigating the streets. I got lost multiple times. Haha.

In any case, many people, including myself, don’t really understand the foundation of Venice.

It is literally built ON the ocean. The buildings of Venice are constructed on closely spaced wooden piles. Most of these piles are still intact after centuries of submersion. The foundations rest on the piles, and buildings of brick or stone sit above these footings. The piles penetrate a softer layer of sand and mud until they reach a much harder layer of compressed clay. Submerged by water, in oxygen-poor conditions, wood does not decay as rapidly as on the surface.

Unfortunately, after so many years of being on the water, Venice is slowly sinking and is flooding more and more often. However, there are restoration projects going on. 

Hopefully, all of you will at some point in your life be able to visit this amazing city on water. 

Thanks for reading!

~Shelby Kenville

American Family Vacation (In Italy)

Hello everyone!

As I have previously mentioned, my American family (my mother, step father, family friend, and my grandparents) flew to Italy to meet up with me after 6 and a half months. We had a HUGE Italian trip planned including Venice, Florence, Pisa, Rome, and Milan.

First Stop: Milan.

This day, I took my family into the center of Milan and we ate at famous Luini’s for calzones. It was super yummy. Then we went to see the Duomo di Milano. Everyone loved it. My family got to meet my Italian friends. My friends were so excited to see my family. They were awestruck by my whole family. We even went to dinner with my friend Jenni and her mom. I, of course, acted as the translator. My mom would ask my friend’s mom a question and she would tell me in Italian and I would have to translate it into English. Overall, my family really enjoyed the hustle and bustle of Milano.

Second stop: Venice.

Venice was great! It was so beautiful and we had so much fun! We got to ride in a Gondola and see a real outdoor fresh food market. It was so cool. There were raw fish, vegetables, fruits, and everything else you can imagine. Venice was absolutely gorgeous and we stayed in a really nice Bed and Breakfast.

Third Stop: Florence.

Florence was very beautiful. It is such a charismatic city with so many lively colors and people. We saw the Statue of David, Fransician Monk Churches, and lots of gorgeous jewelry stores.

Fourth Stop: Pisa.

Unbelievable. That’s all I can say about Pisa. It was a small city with not a lot to do, but seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa was soooo incredible! I got to climb the Leaning Tower of Pisa! It was so much fun. It seemed like it would fall over, but it was really cool. Then, we had the BEST dinner ever at a restaurant called “Bruno’s.” It had the best food ever. There was T-bone steak with truffles, Porcini mushrooms, Spaghetti with clams, Octopus, Lamb, and tons of other incredible foods. I will have to return to Pisa if just for the purpose of eating at Bruno’s

Fifth Stop: Rome.

Rome was absolutely incredible. We had some bumps in Rome – getting ripped off by a taxi driver and a restaurant trying to sell ice cream for 12 Euros! But, Rome was a dream. I mean, I never ever though I would see the Colosseum or the ancient Roman Ruins or the Vatican City. It was one of those places I figured I would only see in movies. I absolutely loved Rome :)

Home Stop: Milan.

Coming back to Milan, I got to meet a very special person on a day trip to Verona :)

My family and I also spent Easter together at an AMAZING restaurant Barbagianni. It was an incredible 4 course meal that took about 3 and a half hours to eat (with about 25 minutes between each meal) It was such an amazing Easter day as my family and I were welcomed into this homely restaurant.

Anyway, this was an amazing adventure that I am so glad I got to spend with my family. Thanks so much Bryan and Jennifer Jackway, Jenna Peitz, and Beverly and Kent Bergstrom for coming to visit me in Italy :) <3

~Shelby Kenville