Family Vacations :D

Hello everyone!!

So, my family here in Italy and about  other families have little campers for vacation. About a month ago, I went to Torino and this past week I visited some cities in the Providences of Tuscany and Umbria. It was absolutely gorgeous. I took over 400 photos of all the charismatic little cities. Us, the 6 campers, were able to visit so many things and have so much fun in just 5 days and 4 nights. 

During these trips, since we are Italian, we are forced to go to the grocery store to buy fresh bread (though since I am on a diet, I do not participate in the fresh bread eating.) Being Italian is expensive food-wise. They always have fresh bread and cheese!! But, it's very delicious!! 

Having these little campers is so handy because you can pack up and go anywhere!! There are places for campers in all the little cities and it is so much fun. I am really able to bond with my family on these little trips!! 

 LOVE this picture :)

Tomorrow, I am going to my first New Year's Party and then we are off to the Alps!! Whoohoo!! 

Thanks for reading! Happy New Year!!

One of the campers in my group!! :)

~Shelby

Christmas in Italy

Merry Christmas Everyone!! or in Italian, Buon Natale!!!

So, Rotary tells all the exchange students that Christmas is the hardest time for us exchangers. Well, I can say, that I had a wonderful Christmas. I spent a lot of time with my family here in Italy and about 2 hours skyping my families in America. I got to see my new baby cousin of three months for the first time, and I got to see my dad and his girlfriend for the first time since I got here. It definitely made my Christmas Day complete. SO, now I will try to describe how Christmas works in Italy. 

First I could describe basically how it works in 2 words: FOOD, and PEOPLE. 
Yup, that's it. I had 15 people for my Christmas Eve dinner and 16 people for Christmas day lunch and dinner. It is always so loud, but surprisingly, it's not that chaotic... 

So, Christmas Eve, there was a very beautiful dinner :) It was very very delicious! :D After we finished dinner, I played UNO with my cousins and taught them a magic trick :) I absolutely adore them!! I'm super bummed that i won't be able to see them grow up!! Hopefully they will always remember me, because I really try to make sure to give them attention and answer their questions about America. 
After dinner, my family (and all the adults) went to a Christmas Eve service at the Church. It was really cool. It started at 10 and the first hour was singing and the second hour was normal Mass. (don't worry mom, I'm still not converting to Catholicism) it finished at about 12 on Christmas Morning ;) 

So, I got home and went to sleep at about 1 am after saying Merry Christmas to A LOT of people. This consisted of two kisses on the cheek for everyone! Wow, I was tired :P

Then, I woke up at 9:15, because everyone wakes up a little earlier than usual on Christmas morning :)
We opened presents and everybody was really happy :) Everybody liked the presents and home-made cards I made and I was satisfied with my presents. I got two scarfs, gloves, a hat (because I am always cold!) Italian-made perfume, and nail-polish. Everything was very thoughtful :) 

After present-opening, we ate the BIG Christmas lunch. Here in Italy, their main courses during holidays are during the lunch hours. There was so much food it was insane :) Even I helped cook there was so much!! There was like 10 different appetizers  two main courses, and then fruit/dessert. So much for my diet on Christmas day :) Oh well, I am allowed to cheat on Christmas... My family even has a special drink for digestion so that when you drink it, you are not as full 5 minutes later :) I thought that was funny :)

So after lunch, my sister and all the kids played Just Dance 4 (one of the kids presents) for about 4 hours. This made me feel less bad about how much I ate at lunch :) Then I Skyped with my Grandparents and my cousins in California for about 20 minutes!! Thanks for the iTunes gift card grandma Dee! :) <3 After that, I went downstairs and ate a little bit of dinner. I still was not very hungry from the lunch. :D  After all the Christmas meals were done, I brought a computer downstairs and had my mom, step-dad, dad, and dad's girlfriend Skype with my whole family! It was soo much fun!! Everyone was screaming and running around and very excited to meet my family, even though they couldn't really communicate because of the language barrier. I had to translate a lot of the times :) 

After going upstairs and talking with my family for another hour and a half or so, I packed and then went upstairs and watched a movie with my family. Then, Christmas was over and I was off to bed. 

Today I am headed off to Parugia in the region of Umbria. :) We are going with about 6 other families in our camper (everyone has their own camper of course!) and hopefully, after my New Years Party on the 31st we will be headed up to the ITALIAN ALPS! Wow, now THAT should be an awesome experience.

 Christmas Eve Dinner

 I helped make the places :)

 Well, that was good :)

 Getting ready to chow-down. The kids ate pizza, while everyone else ate fancier stuff :)

 Christmas MORNING! 

 My presents!! Grazie tutti!

 Christmas LUNCH

 My name has a place here. I hope that my name will forever be in this family <3

 Appetizers!

Fruit! haha. My favorite :)

Overall, my Italian Christmas was filled with family, fun, and food. <3 
Thanks so much to everyone involved who helped make my Italian Christmas special :) 

~Shelby Janae <3 <3

School Work.

Ciao tutti, 

The school work is a little more intense here in Italy. They have a lot of oral reports and interrogations. Speaking of which; I am very nervous for this Friday!! I have to do an 'interrogation' for Philosophy. Here a lot of the assignments are oral. Very different from America. I hardly ever have oral assignments, and as a result, I am now very very nervous. I am going to be talking IN ITALIAN, for three minutes about the origin of Philosophy. Great. That should be fun. And I have a Chemistry test... The week of school before vacation is never fun. I am sooo tired, I need my Christmas, and there are so many tests!! oh well, I'm an exchange student ;) Wish me luck on my test! 

P.S. I am broke. I am paying ahead for a New Years Eve party and I haven't recieved my allowance for the month yet... I have ZERO money.. Oh well. I'm an exchange student <<< Love this excuse ;)

 Rotary Exchange students for life <3

 They made us sing... So we went with Jingle Bells and Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer. 

 :)

 We are always laughing ... :D

 Lights in the Center of Milan.

NEVE/SNOW!! <3

Thanks for reading! 

~Shelby Kenville

Sorry for the delay in posts!!

Ciao tutti!

I have had a lot going on in the past couple weeks, so I am very sorry for not posting in so long. I will try to catch you up the best I can. 

First, I have went to a Holiday Concert inside the Duomo di Milano. It was very beautiful. There was a little orchestra and a choir. It was very long and cold inside the church, but very beautiful none-the-less. 

Secondly, I have officially seen the painting by Leonardo di Caprio "The Last Supper." I, Shelby Janae Kenville, have seen this incredible painting inside a church with my own two eyes. It was such an amazing thing to see. The painting itself is a miracle considering that during the bombings, this wall with the painting of Jesus and his 12 disciples was the only wall left standing. I am very honored that I was able to see this painting and learn some cool things about it's history. 

The rest of the week just consisted of ice skating and hanging out with my friends. I still can't believe I'm really here and having this experience. I have met so many awesome people and I hope that I will be able to maintain relationships with at least half of them :)

I do have to admit that this experience is very complicated for me. I have had multiple problems within the three months this year. I know there has to be a reason for these unfortunate series of events, and hopefully someday I will figure out what it is. But I am still loving it here despite the difficulties. I REFUSE to go home early, I REFUSE to let anything keep me from learning Italian to the best of my ability, and I REFUSE to let anything ruin my time with my friends here. Hopefully soon, all of this will pass, but for now, please pray for everything to get smoothed out, because there are a lot of complications. Thanks so much for reading and I will update with pictures when I can. 

~Shelby Janae <3

First SNOW in ITALY!! :)

Ciao tutti! :)

So yesterday, I was with my friend and it started to snow for the first time!!! :D It was so exciting!! I have seen snow fall before, but just seeing it in Italy made it so much more exciting and beautiful! 

I just had to buy a winter coat because I walk around the city with my friends so much that I was always freezing!! There went another 40 Euros. Haha :) Well, here are some photos of the snow!! :D

 Eating Gelato in  0 degree weather. (Celcious) I'm intelligent ;)

Grazie! Ciao!!! 

~Shelby

3 Months in Italy!

Hey everybody, 

I have officially been in Milan, Italy for 3 whole months. I arrived September 5 and it is now December 5. I still wake up in the morning and can't believe I'm really here. I am really learning a new language and culture and making a ton of incredibly amazing friends! It's so surreal! I have laughed uncontrollably and I have cried. I have wanted to just curl up on the couch and watch t.v. in ENGLISH with my mom and I have wanted to stay out until 3 in the morning (wait, I did that ;) But this experience is so amazing and I can't imagine what I'm going to be like when I'm finished. More confidence? I don't know. But I do know that my Italian is developing very well and I will have friends and family here forever. 

With the Christmas season starting, I know this is going to be difficult, but I hope to push through it and have a great Christmas with my family!! 

 Albero di Natale!

Pretty, huh?

Merry Christmas!!!

~Shelby <3

Daily Products in Italy

Ciao tutti! :)

Okay, so I know before I arrived here almost three months ago, I was asking myself questions like, "Do Italians use Q-tips," or "Do Italians only have wine glasses?" I thought they everything, even little things were completely different. But, for the most part, there are only subtle differences. 

1. The toilet paper is colorful!!! There is pink, purple, blue, and white with blue flowers!! I just think it's so cute. It's just like American toilet paper, just colorful! 

2. Other Toiletries: Toothbrushes, toothpaste, Q-tips, make-up remover pads, make-up, perfume, and soap is the same. They don't use anything super freaky for toothbrushes (or not brush their teeth at all;) It is all pretty normal. Deodorant and feminine supplies are different however. A lot of people use spray of deodorant or the liquid deodorant; it also is mostly 'nature' smells, there isn't anything (that I have seen at least) like, my personal favorite, Cocoa Butter Kiss, or Vanilla, or any scents like that. Feminine supplies: (not meant to gross anyone out, this is only for informational purposes.) Here in Italy, most women do not use tampons. Pads are the supply of choice. I don't see the normal 'Tampax' commercials on T.V. but commercials for pads instead. Just a different cultural thing I guess...
The main thing with Products in Italy is the names. All the names are different. There is no Crest or Suave here ;) 

3. Jeans: Oh my gosh, I am in love with the jeans here!! They are so comfortable!!! I can't explain the difference, but I definitely prefer Italian jeans to American jeans.

4. Around the house wear: Here, everyone wears slippers or Crocs around the house. They don't go around in just socks or with nothing. It's very different, but I have just started doing the same thing!! Now, when I go back to America, I need to buy some slippers!



I recently just realized that the Italian word for conditioner is "Balsamo..." Now, this is weird because my town included the name Balsamo. Just thought I would add that little tid-bit in here ;)

Well, I am still loving it here in Italy!! I am really really developing in my Italian and I cannot wait until I am fluent!!!!! :) <3 <3 <3

Apparently footsie pajamas aren't normal here. Thanks mom. 

 This is going to be me soon. Senza i baffe... ;) (<<Without the mustache)

Grazie per la lettura, 

Shelby Kenville