Riley’s Journals

Right after I finished my last journal, Rotary organized a trip with my district and another district near us to the a mountain called Bardonecchia. There we rode a manual rollercoaster (basically you controlled how fast it did or didn't go and it was honestly terrifying), went sledding, and built snowmen. It was a lot of fun and I'm only sad it didn't last longer.

Then, I went to Sicily for Christmas break to visit and celebrate with my host dad's family. We landed in Palermo and went immediately to tour Monreale. We visited Piazza Vittorio Emanuele which had a cathedral, built by many different countries in a combined effort to promote peace- especially among the different religions- that was truly one of the most incredible historical places I've ever been, rich in both history and architecture. Afterwards, we hit the road for a bit and made a pit stop at Cefalù, a beach town in the north of Sicily about an hour from Palermo. After the detour, we made out way through the mountainous countryside of Sicily to a small village named Gangi where my host dad grew up. I met my host grandparents and many friends of my host family that night. The next day we explored a bit and then celebrated a birthday with the same people who came to visit many months ago in October. The next day (the 23rd) we went back to Palermo and met my Dad's host brother and his family briefly before touring around. The weather in Palermo was an unexpected surprise (whether it was a good one or not is yet to be decided, although I appreciated the rarity of it) that included hail, rain, torrents of wind, and sun (only the two times we were inside, of course). The next day (la Vigilia or Christmas Eve) we explored more of Palermo and had dinner at my host Dad's brother's house. We stayed until after midnight which is when we opened our Christmas presents and celebrated. The next day was spent entirely at the brother's house eating and playing many games. We went back to Gangi 2 days later and I got to spend more time with the friends and family there.

The night of the 27th we went to see a live presepe (directly translates to a nativity scene but you can just look it up because that doesn't mean much to me, either). I thought it was just people standing there pretending to do things- like cutting wood, for example- and the audience would walk around them and appreciate the scenery. How grateful I am that I was wrong. The presepe was a live action remaking of the birth of Christ and it was truly one (if not the) most beautiful and impactful things I've seen in my life. Well, to be fair, I've never seen anything like it in my life. They blocked off a whole section of the city and led us through the streets, pausing at some parts to act out a scene before leading us through streets that were decorated with items and people who played part in making it seem as if it were actually 2000 years ago. Not to mention that the city was a perfect fit for the reenactment- all the streets are cobblestone and it is built on a hill so there are walls that nearly look like a fortress, all of which is complimented by the narrowness of the streets and overall medieval feel the city has. I took videos of the entire show and edited them into a short film I uploaded at the bottom of the blog to check out if any of you are interested.

At this point, unfortunately, my time in Sicily was coming to an end, and after an early flight, we all arrived home once again. The rest of the holidays passed in a blur of small trips with other exchange students to places like Milan and Como and a small party for New Years with some Italians and exchangers. Soon enough, the holidays were over and school started back again.

Over the past month, I've kept busy with a slew of activities ranging from a one-time exploit to a temporary commitment to a permanent part of the schedule. I've visited my friend Sofia's home and explored her city, gone shopping (twice) with my host family, and held a big dinner with my new host family and the exchangers so that they could meet. In terms of temporary commitments, I started a 4-week ski course I'm currently 2 weeks into that basically includes 6 hours of skiing (3 of them are the course) every Sunday. I'm really grateful that I have the opportunity to do it because skiing is something I really enjoy however is difficult to reach from Georgia. For my permanent addition to the schedule, I have now joined a volleyball team with my host sister which I go to every Friday. My new team members are all very nice and welcoming and I am very excited to play with them for the rest of this year!

I have met a lot of new people this month between Sicily, my new host family, and the new activities I'm going to, and I am so grateful for all of them. This exchange means nothing without the people in it, whether they are the people at home or the ones in Italy, so I thank all of the people I've met here and I hope we can forge or continue our relationships for a very long time to come. If any of the outbounds or potential candidates have any questions or concerns about the exchange want to talk, I'd be happy to help. 

And as always, there is more to see and read on my blog:

https://rppared.wixsite.com/simply-italy

And here is the link to the video of the presepe!

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0f6COgdtrVV2obTfPEvXHoqog

Thanks for reading!

-Riley