Amy
Renes and her "twin," Jessica Manzo, and other classmates
and their twins stand in front of the church in Tindary.
April – 2005
Amy
Renes and her "twin," Jessica Manzo, and other classmates
and their twins stand in front of the church in Tindary.
The arrangement was for my whole class, the level called VWO 5, to be split into three groups and to go to different countries. This included staying with a host family and going to school with a host brother/sister. The participating schools were spread across the continent of Europe: Ibiza, Spain; Palermo, Italy; and Nyiregyhaza, Hungary.
My country of choice was Italy. Since Italy was my original choice for my whole year’s foreign exchange, I decided this would round out my year nicely. I was still very curious to see Italy, especially Palermo, which is on the sunny, Northern coast of Sicily. This was my chance, and one week was plenty for me.
Our Palermo group was made up of eighteen students and two accompanying teachers. The whole idea and theme of the exchange was “Making Europe your Community,” igniting the idea to bring Europe into a more complete and chummy group of countries.
We really did want to get to know our Italian hosts. We climbed Saturday night onto our plane very noisily and excitedly, and most of us were anxious to meet our new host families. I had a curious feeling about going to Italy; I had expectations, but I was also a little clueless.
Visiting
Tindary, Sicily, provided some new sights for Amy Renes.
In the car, I started to search for my seat belt, but my family informed me that I did not need to use that in Italy. Later, while driving, I was wishing I could use it. This was my first impression of Italy; the roads are crazy, fast, lane less, and there is a definite lack of rules. Actually, I need much more powerful words to be able to describe the effect Italian driving has on the stomach.
Other impressions we received throughout the week came up right away. Our host families were very generous and hospitable, giving us warm beds and big meals. They were very serious in their task of making sure our stomachs were always bulging with pastas, meats, fruits, and sweets. Everything we had was delicious and classic Italian.
They also made sure we were taken everywhere we needed to go. Because of the rain on Monday and Tuesday, this meant getting to school by a taxing car ride on the hectic streets of Palermo. For some students, transportation meant sitting on the back of their “twin’s” moped. Arriving by whatever transportation, each morning we were busy in school with all the students from Italy, Hungary, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands. Most attended and gave presentations over various subjects concerning Europe as a whole, while I was conveniently placed in a group putting together a magazine for the week. We were mostly antsy to get out of school and see Palermo, but while in the school, we were able to meet more Italian students and look around the building.
On
the last day during the exchange trip to Sicily, the students held a
Gastronomy Fair, in which they shared foods from their home
countries. The Dutch table featured all the best Dutch foods, lots
of oranges and real-life Hollanders.
Some extra things we were able to do during our stay included visiting catacombs, lying on the sandy beach on warm days, and touring the historical buildings. Some of us also had to become accustomed to late nights since our twins would go to hang out with friends till the early hours of the morning. In addition, supper was eaten around 9 or 10 o’clock. In any case, our week was packed full of activities.
My favourite excursion was a trip to a little place along the sea called Tindary. First, we took a two hour bus ride along the coast of Italy, where photo opportunities were aplenty. Upon arrival, we visited a grandiose church and gawked at the beautiful sea. There, I witnessed a shade of azure in the water that I am sure I have never seen before.
Of course, we were able to do and see a lot more things during the week, but time sped by, and soon we had to eat our last gelato, ice cream, and say goodbye to the friends we had made. We had also become a lot closer among our Dutch group, going through the same things together. We spent a lot of the week talking about our reactions to everything and our hilarious experiences. A lot goes on when you are an exchange student. My exchange week to Italy was like hog heaven for me because in one short week, my entire Dutch class had a quite accurate and somewhat painful idea of what I have gone through during the year as an exchange student. They also saw how much fun it could be, and, of course, we did have a blast during the week. It is one of those experiences that is branded as special. Only in Italy.