Naples, Pompeii and Herculaneum

Since soon after I arrived in Italy I've been taking part in an Italian night-class which is run by the community for foreign immigrants. Ida and I had been attending the classes twice a week and recently our friend Madi (USA) who is in Cesena with Rotary has started going along with us. A while back our teacher Monica told us there was a trip to Napoli planned and we would also get to go to Pompeii! This was a dream come true for me because I have always wanted to visit Pompeii because I can remember my Grandma telling me about it when I was younger. All three of us signed up and it was an amazing, fast-paced weekend that I'll never forget.

I liked Naples as a city - sure it was dirty and crowded just like people say but it had something special about it. Many of the streets were super narrow and as well as the streams of people pouring through each one there were Vespas trying to get through. It was hectic but hectically, interestingly, beautiful if that makes sense... hahaha.

Pompeii and Herculaneum were my favourite parts of the whole trip because I'd dreamt about visiting them even before going to Italy. It was incredible to hear the history and see it all in person. At Herculaneum there were even skeletons left exactly where they had been found - in a cellar type area where people had gone to hide when Vesuvius was erupting!

Coincidentally at Pompeii Madi saw one of the other Rotary students from her town in the US! It was so unbelievable when we heard someone yell out "MADI" from behind us. The boy told us that there were also Kiwi Rotary students so I got to meet them too. It turns out they were all of the Rotary students who were on exchange in Belgium and were on a trip to Italy at the time.

Exchange Week - Sardinia

AFS in Italy organises an exchange week for us students to go and experience another part of the country, with another family for a week. I chose Sardinia which is an island off the mainland of Italy. It was the best choice that I could have made because I had an absolutely amazing week and met some people that will forever be in my heart.

My host family was incredible; I had a host brother and a host sister around my age and they introduced me to quite a few of their friends as well. They lived in Iglesias which is a city in the southwest of the island. Throughout the week AFS had organised different trips such as a gazillion museums (too many if you ask any of us... hahaha), trips to the beautiful beaches and tours of different towns such as Calgiari - the capital of Sardinia. The other exchange students who had travelled to Carbonia-Iglesias for the week were all so lovely and we bonded immediately! We were such a mixed group coming from all around the world - China, Costa Rica, Germany, Turkey, Canada, Mexico and New Zealand. It was the perfect group and I enjoyed every minute of the week, I'd have to say it was one of the best weeks of my whole exchange so far and I would love to go back one day.

The culture in Sardinia is surprisingly different to where I've been living this year. In my opinion it's a lot more open and relaxed - but I can't say much after a week haha. I've heard many times that the culture in Italy varies a lot region to region but I didn't realise how true that was until my week in Sardinia. I thought that the culture was much more similar to that of New Zealand which could be something to do with it being an island nation I suppose. This made me feel so at home and relaxed! When I took a trip to the coast with my host siblings and our friend, Alessia one day I had to stop and look out to sea for ages because it was just so amazing to see the ocean after all of this time!!

Another random thing that I loved about Sardinia were all of the abandoned buildings! Iglesias used to be a mining town and now all of those buildings are left abandoned and it's absolutely incredible to see. My host siblings were teasing me for the amount of photos I took of abandoned buildings but I seriously couldn't help it - they were beautiful!

Family Trip to Rome and Kazuyoshi Nomashi Exhibition

At the end of March/beginning of April I went with my host family and some of their friends for a weekend in Rome. We did the whole journey in the car and then stayed at one of the many nunneries which are a very popular form of accommodation in Rome. I personally really enjoy staying in them because it adds more to the experience in comparison to an ordinary hotel - plus they're way cosier!

It was quite a flying visit but we managed to see quite a few things that I missed on my last visit (such as the Trevi Fountain - I even did the famous coin toss with my host sister!), as well as visiting a photography exhibition. The exhibition was truly amazing! I'm not one for really appreciating art but this exhibition was so incredible; we spent quite a few hours looking around. The exhibition was called 'Le Vie Del Sacro' and it was by the Japanese photographer Kazuyoshi Nomashi. It had photos from so many countries around the world showing real traditions, religions and general aspects of different cultures. I would definitely recommenced checking out his website because you won't be disappointed!