Jessica Beavon - QLD to Italy (2nd Update)

Thu 23 Oct 2008

Jess Beavon Reports on Her Summer Holidays

Ciao tutti!

I have been in Italy for almost 9 months and it has been such an adventure! I won’t deny that the first few months were difficult, as I came over here with no knowledge of the Italian language (understanding was difficult enough not to mention trying to speak!) However as time has gone by this experience gets better every day.

We have just finished our summer holiday break (which went for 3 whole months!) and I was lucky enough to go to Sicily with my host family for two months. We rented a house which was only about 100 meters from the beach and we could see the beautiful beach sunset every night when we all sat out on the veranda for dinner. Everyday we would go to the beach in the morning and swim in the amazingly crystal clear water, return to the unit for lunch and then return back to the beach until it was time for dinner. We also made trips to some of the other nearby beaches and swimming holes, visited famous 1000 year old towns, trekked along coastal mountains for 8 kilometres in a Natural reserve park, visited Selinunte (an ancient Greek theatre) and even hired a boat to travel along of Sicily’s northern coastline.

The Sicilian people are famous for their ‘homemade touch’ to everything, from growing their own vegetables, producing their own wine and of course producing their amazing sweets! Our neighbours even had their own special oven at the back of the house where they would make there own bread and pizza (I was lucky enough to help them a few times) and every Sunday dinner consisted of eating brioche and gelato (a sweet croissant filled with ice cream…so delicious.)

Sicily is so different to the north of Italy and so I am grateful that my family took me to see another part of Italy and of course experience an Italian holiday!

Now I am back at school until the end of my exchange (November) and I am looking forward to experiencing my last few months here with my host family and of course all the friends I have made here. It is fabulous being able to communicate with people but it still feels awkward being able to watch and understand movies, American TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy, and even listen to songs in a totally different language. It is definitely an experience that I know will keep getting better every day…

A dopo!
Take care
Jessica Beavon