The little things

Yesterday, as I was walking down the street with a chocolate gelato in hand, happily walking to the grocery store, a (obvious) group of tourists looked at me and said "GELATO.. Where??" And I smiled, at how much it reminded me of myaelf, and went on to tell them that I speak English, and I showed them where they could buy gelato, and where some nearby clothing stores were. It, for some odd reason and some reason that I cannot clearly identify, made me incredibly happy. I was happy to help someone, and being able to practice my English fluently could have contributed to this short feeling of fleet.

On the other hand...

So.... Stress. I'm feeling that. I have been a lot lately. I'm trying my hardest in school. Trying to grasp what they are saying, but it is mentally (and physically) exhausting. I am attending school (in a language I don't understand) full time. I've also been taking online English and Civics, so I don't come home illiterate and with no Social Studies credit.
Other than that, things are okay. I've been trying to keep myself busy, mostly. I started taking a Modern Contemporary dance class, which I really love.
On the weekends I'm usually out with my host sister and her friends, going out for "parties" (where we pretty much just eat Focaccia; a square pizza, and hang out.)
Other than that, I haven't really been up to much. The weather is still too hot for me to call fall, and the Mosquitos are still out. (Fortunately, right?)
This weekend I have plans with some girls from my class to go out for dinner for one of their birthdays! And next week is halloween! Thankfully, I got invited to do something. I got invited to the disco! (Which is the equivalent to an American club)
I'm not sure if my host mom will allow this, and if not, I will be spending the evening with my host sister.
Also, in Italy they do not have school November 1st or 2nd, I'm not sure why. (I'm kind of always out of the loop because of the language barrier) so it will be a nice long weekend! I hope to possibly show my host sister some American halloween movies, (if I can find some online.)
And as far as settling into the lifestyle here, I'm honestly having a little difficulty. I'm used to having so much me time, private time, time I can appreciate for myself, while here it is necessary I spend lots of time with my host sisters and family. It's a different thing for me, as back home it's just my mom, brother and I.
As far as homesickness goes, I'm doing okay. I honestly miss objects, more than my home itself. Such as my comforter I've used since I was little, or hearing the sound of my creaky door as I open it in the morning, or carpet. (They don't have it here!) And sadly, as American as it makes me sound, I really miss American food. I miss having variety, as here it is all Italian food, All. The. Time.
I obviously miss my family and friends the most, but am afraid if I touch too much on that topic, I'll get too upset- I've just avoided thinking about it.
Also this month I went to Palermo (the capital of Sicily) with all the other AFS students on Sicily, and we had a 4 day break from our host families, and had a nice time catching up on where everyone was at with the settling process. They had mandatory private interviews for each student, and mine was- a little emotional to say the least.
I was asked if I was truly happy here, and I just broke- I started crying in front of a complete stranger that hardly spoke any English.
And she had me explain, which took me a few minutes because of the tears. I felt silly and childish for telling her my reasonings, but all she did was hold me, and rub my back, which essentially made me miss my mom, and made me cry even more. But my interviewer was extremely sweet. She wanted the best for me, and kept telling me how she wants to see me in June extremely happy.
And that's where I intend to be.
Happy.
I'll keep you updated on my progress in doing so.