i have arrived, and so much has happened

ahh what a journey it has been. let me give a recap of all that i have done.
it was really hard saying goodbye to my family, and i was very emotional. Then I headed for the airport in Arizona, and left all that i knew. The night before my departure to italy i was in a state of mind of What in the hell did i get myself into.

Thankfully I wasnt alone in the airplane to New York, I was with another AFSER Julia. Ahh thank God for that, I dont know if I could have gone all by myself.

Then we landed in New York, oh too bad I wasnt able to explore the città. hahha each and everyday I am adding italian words in my vocabulary.

Anywho, Julias lovely grandmother was there to meet us and to show us where to go.

Then we met up with AFS volunteers and all of the other AFSERs who were going to italia as well. amazing people

We headed to the hotel, and we were able to meet all the americans going to italia.

Dopo, we had an orientation, and it was quite boring, but I loved being able to meet all the Americans going to italia.

The next day was basically a day to relax at the hotel, and were able to mingle, then we were off to the airport to go to switzerland. ahhh what a lonnnnnnnnnnnnggggg journey it was, but i must say air switzerland is kick ass. We were frequently served meals, and the flight attendants were so hospitable. People are not lying when they swiss chocolate is amazing. ahh and the amazing views i saw of the beautiful mountains over switzerland. then we landed in switzerland and we had a 4 hour layover, ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, dopo we were off to Roma.

We landed and headed off to our orientation in roma. The americans were second to last to arrive, which was very sad because we didnt have time to talk to others, and i was deprived of so much sleep all I wanted to do was sleep. That night we had dinner, and I sat at a table with Thai people. oh how generous they are. There wasnt much communication because of the language barrier, but i loved there presence. The next morning I got up early to say goodbye to the companions i had met, because everyone departed at different times depending on where they were going. i unfortunately was one of the last ones to depart, in which i departed at 330 in the afternoon. anxiety, excitement, nervousness over took me, because in about 2 hours from my departure i was going to meet my famiglia. ahh and having so much time to spare made the situation even worse. finally, all the afsers who are in my local chapter, oristano, went off on bus to the airport, and then all 10 of us anxiously went on the plane to olbia.

it was nice to not be alone, and have 9 other people there with me on the plane feeling the same feeling as me.

Then we landed in olbia, molto bello, which is a village nudo in sardegna. .....................

we all went to the bathroom, because we were so nervous..
we claimed our baggage..
then we went through the doors, and all our famiglie were there.

And I cried. I still dont know what over took me at that moment. I replay that moment everyday, and I still cant come to a reason why I cried. I suppose I was overwhelmed with basically no sleep, or seeing them made me think of my family that I left for 10 months. I still dont know but that moment was special. A feeling I cant describe. I saw mamma, babbo, father in sardo dialect, Irene mia sorella, Chiara mia zia, Sara and another gal , who are friends of my famiglia. They gave me flowers, and a tweety stuffed animal, ahh I felt so welcomed. And of course molti baci, it was like I had known them all my life.

I know I have written so much, but I must speak about the Italian culture. I absolutely adore, respect, and admire this incredible cultura. They are so loving , affectionate, caring, hospitable etc. Ahh since the first day here oh how much love I have gotten. Its a culture that you must see for yourself. They care so much about famiglia, amici, new people like myself. It makes me triste that Americans are more distant, and not so affectionate like these people. oh yes, i get a kiss on the right, and a kiss on the left countless time, tutti giorni. how i love italian people.

where was i.......... oh yes................we of course had to take tons and tons of pictures. molti molti baci. they were calling me giggia, tesoro, bella, all these names of endearment , and I had only known them in person for a few minutes. Saying they are wonderful is an understatement, they are... beyond it. They were all so affectionate, and host mamma holding my hand in hers. I thought the car ride would be awkward, but it was amazing even though i couldnt speak a word of italian. Chiara, mia zia parla un po di inglese e spagnolo. I am not sure if that is correct , but hey i tried. So she was the translator. It was nice to for her to be able to translate so that through her I could communicate with the others. I dont recall everything that was said, but I did feel at home when they played American music. they love american music. The first question that host mamma asked me was if I wanted to call her and host babbo by there names, or mamma e babbo. I said mamma e babbo. Something about that in a way made us closer. Then she grabbed my hand, and said something in italian.

Dopo I arrived home, I had no expectations, and it was good that I didnt because then some expectations would be made, and it would upset me if things didnt meet my expectations. I love my house, it is so modern and big, and I have my own room which is great. It gives me some alone time. Once I take more pictures, which I hope to download them soon. I love my house, and yes it is true, basically all italian houses have tutti suo famiglie living with them. ahh I love it. The house is a maze to get to the connecting house where my zia Chiara, and nonna e nonno di mi babbo live. nonna e nonno sardo dialect. Downstairs of my house live my lovely zie. Ahh they make me laugh.

So I got settled down, and was ready to sleep, but mia famiglia asked me if I wanted to go to a wedding reception. I wass sooo tired it was unbelievable, but I thought to myself, you have to do everything you can, sleepy or not. So I obliged. It was adorable, host mamma wanted ever to meet. molti baci, and it was nice meeting the people. Then there was dinner, which I dont recall, but it was buono. Dopo. I thought we would go home, but Italians love staying up, and there was a dance hall. ohhh I was so tired, if I would have been wide awake i would have been way more enthusiastic. So of course Mamma e irene took me to the dancefloor. They got me to dance, but at first I didnt get into it. I was to preoccupied that people would think that I couldnt dance, or if I did something wrong, and I was also tired, but I thought to myself stop complaining and have fun. So from there I danced the night away. Then I slept.

a quick funny story. So I arrived sabatto, and I went to sleep very late. On Sunday I woke up at 100 pm. Oh i felt so bad, but I was sound asleep and that it had only been 10 in la mattina. Then Chiara told me that my zie told them to check up on me , because they thought I was dead. I was laughing hysterically, ahhh how cute they are! I knew them less than a day, and they were worried that I had died.

Well it is September 17, 23 59 , 11 59 our time. I am very stanca. tired. Oh how i would love to write to you all that has happened, but that must wait because I have much to do tomorrow! i hope to talk to tutti soon! buonanotte. I miss you all, and hope all is well.

Arrivederci,
love always,
giselle