Monday, May 19, 2014

Guess What? I met the Pope!

   On Saturday, May 10th, I left my host town, Torre Annunziata, for Rome at 9:00 am. I went with other students from the 4 schools in Torre. From my class, there was Anna, Martina, Elisabetta, and me. We arrived in Rome around 12:30 pm. We got to the Vatican and ate our sandwiches quickly because we needed to get a good spot. Already at 12:30, there were many people. On top of that it began to become extremely hot. My classmates and I tried our best to get good spots and we did. We were about 3 feet from the railing. We had to wait a long time to see the pope. There were people singing for the kids but not everyone was interested because it was so hot.
   Anyway, then the moment came. The pope came out in his "Pope Mobile" and started greeting people and kissing the babies. He finally got to us and I got one picture that wasn't very good but when he passed the second time I got a video. Also I gently threw a rotary banner, which made it in the pope mobile!!!



My classmates and me.

The bad first photo.

The good photo of 'Papa Francesco'


*Fun fact - The pope is a Rotarian*

Sunday, May 4, 2014

A late update about Easter!


     I know it's May and I'm just now posting about Easter but it's better late than never! 
    Anyway, I spent Easter with my host family's family if that makes any sense. (My host parents were in Florida visiting their daughter Renata Ricciardi.) I was with my host mother's sister, Laura, her husband, Mariograzio and their twins Claudio and Mafalda and Claudio's American friend, Mark. We went to their second home which was in a town called Praia a Mare in the region of Calabria. The rest of the family was staying elsewhere and Nonno was at Cinzia's brother's home. 
     The day of Easter was great to be honest. We all did what Italians do best; eat, eat, and eat. We ate many different types of food typical of the regions of Campania and Calabria. 
   Also during this weekend, I went to the beach for a little one day, but it was too cold to swim. Claudio, Mark, and I went to drive/walk a bit up a mountain we saw. We actually did it! 
    Above all, this weekend was absolutely wonderful. It will definitely be a holiday in Italy that I will never forget. If I could do the holiday again, I would! 

Torre Annunziata - my host town 
Praia a Mare - where I was for Easter

From the house. - Praia a Mare 

The mountain we went up is the one on the left. 

On the mountain. 


Me on the mountain! 

Selfie! Haha 

The beach! 


Thank you all for always reading my blog! 
Arrivederci! (Goodbye)