Preparing for Departure

Okay, so this will probably be the last post before I finally leave Jan. 28th! Which is still 23 days away, but here's to hoping it comes quickly:

Departure schedule:

Orientation in NYC Jan. 28.
Fly to Paris, then Rome Jan. 29/30.
Spend 6 months in Italy. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Return to the US Jul 5.

I've been talking to my host sister, Maria Gloria, online a couple of times a week, which is awesome. There's a huge language barrier, so we end up communicating via a sort of English/Italian pidgin, but it's really fun, and I learn sooo much about colloquial Italian from the way she types. About a week ago I got a big packet of host family information from AFS, which included lots of pictures. My host parents, Gianmaria and Daniela, are both retired, but they do volunteer work and manage a garden, and my hostbrother Luca apparently likes to sail. Mom is hoping that it will include a chance to sail on Lake Como, and thus possibly a glimpse of George Clooney.....

Italian keeps becoming easier and more familiar. I feel like I have a handle on most of the grammar (Santina, an amazing woman from Sicily who has been giving Italian lessons to me and Lena, an exchange student from Russia, is officially the world's best Italian teacher), so now I'm trying to build vocabulary. That's probably the biggest problem about only having studied it for 5 months - the grammar follows from Latin, but Vergil never had to use words for pencils or backpacks or cell phones, so there are tons and tons of words I don't know. And I don't usually remember any of the new vocabulary in Vergil anyway....

Still no school assignment, which means there's still no way to apply for a Visa. All of the students leaving are getting really worried - but since no one has been able to apply yet, I'm assuming they must process them reeaallllyyy fast, since it's unlikely they'd be forced to postpone the departure date for all 45 of us. Hopefully? ^^

In other news: while my friends in Providence suggested that I "take my fashion to Milan" rather than trying to adopt more conventionally fashionable attire, I am now thoroughly decked out in new clothing. And it's mostly age appropriate. It's a really bizarre experience to finally buy clothes in a store that (*gasp*) sells hip new teen gear, where every other customer is also a teenager!

Oh, and just to keep track of other ongoing developments - I've been accepted to MIT and UChicago (yay! no more applications! which is terrific because I've turned into a first-rate procrastinator and I'm not sure how I would have gotten the rest done), and now I'm just waiting for Harvard. But I'm also currently having a midlife crisis (albeit at 17 :D) trying to decide if I actually want to do astrophysics. It wouldn't be quite so hard if I hadn't been planning on it since the beginning of fifth grade.... So now I'm thinking maybe I actually want to do something in science/technology in sustainable international development. But I'm not sure. There are very many things to think about, mostly involving the fact that the world is an enormous and exciting place and I'm not sure that 50 or 60 years in academia would really be the most satisfying. So if anyone has advice, I would be happy to listen before I leave!