A New Beginning

Hello!

So there have been a few changes in the last week. And by a few, I mean a heck of a lot of changes.

For those of you that I talk to on a regular basis, you know how unhappy that I've been in recent weeks. I was overwhelmingly unhappy and decided I needed to try some new things, because I wanted to have a positive experience rather than a negative one.

As of Wednesday, I've been living in a new family.

It wasn't that I didn't like my old family, because I did, and it's really hard to explain this to someone who isn't an exchange student, but things just didn't click right. The bottom line is, they were wonderful, but it wasn't the right situation for me at that point. There were parts that I could have absolutely handled better, and I wish that things were left on happier terms, but as of now, I am no longer with them.

And here is how the story goes....

I have wanted to switch things around for a while now (This wasn't an impulsive decision) and I talked to some volunteers before camp this last week.  .....I will tell you more about camp in a minute..... and so I was on my way home from camp on Wednesday, and instead of hopping on a bus to come home, a volunteer picked me up in a town called Nuoro, and informed me that I wouldn't be returning home. We drove to my old house, and I packed in a hurry. I spent that night at a volunteer's house, then after school on Thursday, my new family picked me up! I have been here ever since, and I can't even begin to explain my happiness. It's everything I could have asked for. I have 3 host sisters (8, 22, and a 16 year old who is in the US with AFS right now) and one host brother who is also 8. I live in a town called Tertenia, which is only about 30 minutes from where I was, so I still get to attend the same school! Everyone is so nice, and I already feel at home here :) So in the least, it has been an extremely exhausting week!

Thanks all who have supported me and helped me, it means more than you will ever know!

And camp! the camp was in a town called Terralba, and we stayed with other host families for the week!
Thursday
So we started our journey to Terralba early last Thursday morning...6:30.... and we first went to Nuoro by bus. After that, we ran to the train station with all of our luggage, scrambled onto the train, which took us to Macomer, waited two hours, and grabbed another train to Terralba. All of this was happening with empty stomachs and little to no sleep. We then met up with all the other AFS students I LOVE YOU ALL (that was for my amazing AFSers) and waited for our host families to pick us up.
Friday
Early morning yet again. I met my friends for breakfast at a Cafe....caffe ginseng... and then we walked to the school where the orientation was being held. I really don't remember exactly what we did at the orientation friday, but I'm almost certain we split into groups and discussed our experiences, then practiced for yet again, another talent show. Dinner was spent with the family, and then bed.
Saturday
Early morning.. I met up for breakfast at the same Cafe, and after we went to ANOTHER orientation, we discussed problems, and the curve that every exchange student experiences. You can't escape it. We went home after, but later that night was an AFS party! We showed off our talents, some were better than others, and then we all went out after. It was tons of fun!
Sunday
Family day. We had a family lunch, then I slept, and slept, and slept. I was exhausted. Still am.
Monday
Monday we went to a few museums which were pretty cool!
Tuesday
The biggest day of them all! First we went to Sartiglia, which is an event where men ride on horses and try to catch a metal star on the end of their swords. It's difficult to explain, but was very cool! There were men from a lot of the towns near Terralba! Another event is where there are two horses, and three men. They are all standing on the horses, and one in between! It was pretty cool, but there were so many people it was difficult to see.
After Sartiglia, it was Carnevale. For those of you who don't know what carnevale is, it's pretty much a huge party with the entire town. There is definitely more to it, but I'm not going into it. My friends and I went dancing and had a ton of fun:) Foreign kids are the coolest!
Wednesday
We headed home around 2... It's definitely one of the saddest times of the experience, saying by to all the amazing exchange students that you've become so close to in such a short time.

Sorry for the messiness of this post! I'll post pictures soon. I just haven't unpacked my huge suitcase yet which happens to have my camera charger inside!

Thanks for reading,
Arrivederci
Rachael