Lunch

Lunch, or "pranzo" in Italian, is one of my favorite parts of the day. During school, we get a 15-minute break to gets snacks or drinks but it's not really school lunch like we have. Instead, we eat lunch at home after school, which ends at 1:30. Typically, we have pasta for the first course, like spaghetti bianco (spaghetti without sauce, but lots of butter), or lasagna, or noodles. Then, for the second course, we have chicken with potatoes or steak, or pork. I'm always full. Then we usually end lunch with fruits, such as apples or mandarin oranges (which are very cheap and popular here).

Thanksgiving

No Thanksgiving. 'Nuff said.

Breakfast

Unfortunately, in Italy, breakfast is not an important meal. A typical breakfast (if any), is bread with Nutella, a chocolate spread that's very popular in Italy. I like it, but having it for breakfast every day gets a little old. Most other Italians eat breakfast at cafes. Here you can buy a cappuccino or a croissant. Cereal is not a common breakfast item and they stare at me like I have lobsters coming out of my ears whenever I talk about eating bacon and eggs for breakfast. They are repulsed by this. Oh well. Fortunately, my mom has sent me a box of Raisin Bran and I have been living off of that. Just kidding. Cereal for Christmas please! Although, what they lack in breakfast, they make up for in lunch in dinner.

Language

Italian is a very difficult language. There are far more grammar rules in Italian than there are in English. Fortunately, my classmates, teachers and family are being very helpful. It can be very frustrating to want to say something, and not be able to simply say it. I've gotten far better since I first arrived, but I'm not quite fluent yet. Luckily, I have English class three times a week and the teacher will only speak English during the lessons so now my classmates can see how I feel all the time. I spend much of my afternoon studying the language.

Halloween

Halloween is not near as popular in Italy as it is in the states. There is no trick-or-treating. The holiday is more for teens and adults as an excuse to go out for the night. For Halloween weekend, I went to Teralba, a city in the middle of Sardinia, and stayed at an old farm house with the other exchange students from America, Australia and Norway. We got to milk cows and get a tour of the farm. We even ate a baby pig. Sad, but delicious. We went out for Halloween night with the daughter of the exchange program representative. She took us around town and we didn't return until 5 or so in the morning, a late night but very fun.