50 Things I Have Learned

I have been in Italy one month, and these are 50 things I have learned:

    1. It's more tasty than you could ever imagine.
    2. Pizza still comes in a box here (I don't know why that surprises me, but it did)
    3. Hot dogs still exist here (gross), and people put them on their pizza to eat (gag). They also put french fries on pizza (That is delicious).
    4. They eat cheese by itself here. It tastes okay, but I have never been a big eater of cheese, so it is hard to get used to.
    5. They eat ice cream with bread and fruit here. Like they actually put ice cream inside a brioche. It's like "ice cream sandwich" was taken WAY too literally.
       It's weird but it tastes pretty good.
    6. The Pistachio flavor is my new obsession.
    7. The water is delicious here.
    8. Not so shocking, but I haven't seen a single pick-up truck since I left the States.
    9. Seat belts are optional, unless you are in the front seat of a car that makes an awful beeping sound if you aren't wearing it.
    10. Whatever rules motorcycle riders have are not followed. If there is a four inch gap between two cars, you can bet a motorbike will try to squeeze inbetween
       them to get by. If there is a small tot on the motorcycle, just have them stand up inbetween your legs while you drive (There is nothing dangerous about that.
       (NOT).
    11. At a stop sign, rolling stops are perfectly acceptable. I'm pretty sure the cops are happy if you even tap your breaks at one.
    12. If you are stopped at an intersection, and the cars just keep on coming and you are too impatient to wait, just keep edging forward until one side of traffic
       has to stop for you.
    13. It's totally cool to cut someone off, just as long as you honk your horn while you go by to give them a warning.
    14. Italians are fabulous parallel parkers; I am so impressed by it. I think people in Illinois need lessons from these people.
    15. Jaywalking is totally fine, and is most likely the only way you will get across the street.
    16. When crossing a four lane highway on foot on your way home from school, make sure that once you get halfway across to lean half your body out into the road, so
       that this side of traffic can see you and stop to let you cross.
    17. School on Saturday sucks.
    18. When you obtain books for the classes you are taking, make sure you know which volume to get (somehow, I managed to get the wrong volume in almost every subject)
    19. The kids here know British English, so when they keep referring to "Rubbers," they are referring to erasers. NOT Condoms.
    20. You have to stand up everytime a teacher enters or leaves the room.
    21. If you are trying to translate what the teacher is saying, your brain needs more oxygen so you will yawn. Then, the teacher will yell at you for yawning.
    22. They use commas where decimals should be, so numbers are even more confusing.
    23. They don't use factor trees here. They use some other method that is really long and confusing.
    24. All toilets flush differently. You just have to figure it out.
    25. Graffitti is everywhere!
    26. Mosquitoes are abundant
    27. Zumba is extra hard when you can't understand what the instructor is saying.
    28. You must always have shoes or slippers on. Even at home.
    29. Euros are really confusing
    30. The temperature in Celsius is even more confusing.
    31. The grapes have seeds in them here.
    32. When you have pizza for dinner, everybody gets their own pizza (It's giant and hard to finish).
    33. Granita is the tastiest thing ever.
    34. Watch where you are walking because there is usually dog poop in the middle of the sidewalks.
    35. Perfectly normal for a 14 year old to be in a relationship with a twenty year old (Weirdest thing ever).
    36. Cell phones are all pre paid here.
    37. Scrunchies are perfectly acceptable to wear(somebody call the 1990's back).
    38. The rules of Handball are completely different here.
    39. They don't have central heating/air conditioning.
    40. No Clothes dryer.
    41. Don't wear sweatpants to a restaurant (guilty!)
    42. Catholic mass here is exactly the same, just in a different language.
    43. Nuns are in full nun-outfit here.
    44. People hate rain here.
    45. When writing down your assignments, write it on the page for the day it is due, not the day it is assigned.
    46. Water with gas has to be one of the weirdest tasting things ever when you drink it unknowingly.
    47. Everybody knows "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepson.
    48. Everybody looks at you like you are an idiot if you can't speak Italian well.
    49. It is so hilly here!
    50. The Meditteranean Sea is prettiest thing ever!

One Month Update

Well, somehow I have made it through my first month without any major MALfunctions! My Italian skills still suck; I am getting better at reading it, though. I can't say

that the past month has been all Skittles and Rainbows, but it hasn't been terrible. I have yet to feel terribly homesick. I blame that on the fact that I try to at 

least shoot my mom a text everyday.I have been doing a terrible job at remembering to journal, which hopefully I will improve on soon! I only have nine more months 

left in this beautiful country. Hopefully, this exchange will only get more exciting, and I will eat more delicious food! Happy one monthaversary Italy! Thanks for

not kicking me out yet!

Italian Mcdonald's

So tonight, my host mom didn't want to cook so she decided we (her, my host brother and sister, and me) would go to Mcdonald's. I knew it would be different from the classic American Mcdonald's, not only because it's common sense that it would be, but because all of the billboards they have here have pictures of coffee and a brioche (It's like a biscuit/roll thing. Basically: bread. Last I checked, in America, they aren't that concerned about super freshness. Anyway, we got there and ordered. They don't have nearly the selection we do in America, but they have the important things: Chicken Mcnuggets and French Fries (they both taste exactly the same no matter what country you are in). People in Italy eat a whole lot more food in one trip to Mcdonald's than in America though. I would have been perfectly content with a few Mcnuggets, some fries, and a drink. Instead, we all got our own sandwich (I had McChicken), our own fries, our own drink (I had regular coke. I would have ordered Diet Coke, but I didn't order for myself), and then the 4 of us split a 20 piece Mcnugget! I was stuffed to say the least, but in Italy, it's almost illegal to finish off a meal without a dessert! They have Mcflurrys here, but they aren't in the class of flavors everyone in America thinks of: M&M, Oreo, Reese's, or Rolo. Their flavor options were: Chocolate, Nocciola (it is a type of nut), Smarties (Don't get excited. Nowhere close to an American version of Smarties. These were like hard and oval-shaped), and Pistacchio (what I had).  They weren't classic Mcflurrys, closer to ice cream and a topping just blended together really quickly. Anyway, my entire meal was tasty, but I am more full than I have ever been at a Mcdonalds. If I had to say what I missed about the American Mcdonald's, I would have to say:
1. Snack Wraps-they have been my favorite Mcdonald's food item since I tasted one a few years back)
2. There were no ice cubes in my drink. I expected that when I came to Europe, and I have never been a big fan of cold drinks, but their ice cubes are the best tasting ice cubes on the face of the planet. I'm pretty sure that that is what makes the fountain Diet Cokes so irresistible.
To end on a happy note, I had never eaten pistacchio before coming to Sicily, and I can now say it is one of my favorite flavors. I still have yet to try an actual pistacchio by itself. Ciao, Lovelies!