What's out of the box.

I think that the thing that has a bigger impact on me during this exchange year is the fact that you're not only making friends in a different country that will probably stick with you for your whole life, no matter how distant you are...but you're making friends that are from all around the world. The other day I went to Chick-full-a with a bunch of friends and at some point I realized that we were 8 people sitting at the table: me, Katie (the only american), an exchange srudent from Germany, one from Denmark, two from Thailand and two from Sweden. It was amazing how there were 6 different countries sitting at that table. People who were born and lived in different parts of the world were all together that day, eating the same thing, speaking the same language to understand each other, sharing the things that makes us different. Sharing our cultures, our languages, our holidays, our memories and talking about our home countries. This is what I'm learning right now. That it doesn't matter what country you're from or what language you speak. We all experience things in the same way (even if we all react differently), we all feel the same emotions, we all define friendship as the same bond.
It's something that makes you bigger, and fuller, when you realize how varied the world is and how rare and special it is to have the opportunity to share and exchange with other people the little things that make you, you.
When I realized this, while I was sitting there eating my chicken sandwich with three different continents, it almost made me cry. Because I also realized that I will probably remember that single moment for the rest of my life, and that just sitting there, talking with those people had such a big impact on me. Those are the things that make you learn. Those are the things that make you grow and make you more conscious of how big the world is. It also makes you feel small..but not unsignificant. You realize that you are extremely important. Because you're changing the lives of those people, just as much as they are changing yours. And that is what I will always be grateful for, thanks to this experience: to know for sure that in some way you're making the difference in someone else's life. Someone that you would have never met if it wasn't for your insanely brave idea to "leave the safe harbor, and catch the trade winds in your sails" out, to the open ocean. To those insecurities and fears which you know that after all, they won't do anything if not make you stronger and braver.
And even if it's hard sometimes, even if when I am alone at night and I start thinking about home and I feel a little empty, wishing that my friends and family where here with me (expecially in those special moments that I've been waiting for years and I never imagined that I would have seen that special movie or read that special book without the friends that I spent my life with); I have to remember what brought me here. 8715.450 kilometers from home.
Curiosity. It pushes you to the point where you are ready to leave everything you've always had to get something that is not guaranteed. Break the boundaries and step out of the comfort zone. Walk into the unknown. Out of the box. Leave your home to find another.
And that is the point. We call home the place where we feel comfortable. Where we have friends and a family. Where we feel safe. Where our heart is. So home, after all, is not a place on a map. Home is the people that make you feel like it. And right now, Idaho is home for me just as much as Italy is.
I haven't forgotten where I came from, and I can't wait to know where I'm gonna go. But now I perfectly know where I am. I'm living every day knowing that I won't have any chance to get it back, once that it is passed. Life is made of finite moments, and the fact that every single one of them just hits you and then it's gone forever sometimes makes me sad and scared. The only things that remain are the memories that will keep alive those moments. So let's do our best to make every second unforgettable. Let's change lives. Let's explore, let's dream, let's discover.

"I'm gonna make this place your home."

It has been a lot since I haven't posted anything in the blog, so I'm gonna talk about the last two weeks, because I had so much fun and I didn't have time to write.
Last week on Friday we had our last performance with the Colorguard and it was kind of sad because I wish we could perform more, since that we're getting pretty good at it (even if I dropped the flag at my first toss, but that didn't distract me, I immidiately took it again and started the exercise pretending nothing happened). Then right after the game I came home because we were having an Halloween Party at our house at it was just the best thing ever. All my friends were here and we did some crazy stuff (just gonna mention that at some point I was locked in the closet with Eddie and Katie and it was pretty creepy...) and then they moved things around and had fun like crazy people do and we acted like everybody was drunk but of course nobody drank so it was so funny, I guess it's just american people, they are out of their mind, but in the best way. We jumped on the trampoline singing at the top of our lungs and then we layed there watching at the stars and having deep conversations about our exchange year and our secrets and fears and hopes and dreams and it was seriously one of those nights that I will remember forever.

Then last Saturday we had the Sadie Hawkins dance and it was so awesome that I can't even describe it. We had the long week-end because it was teacher day on Friday so I had time to go out and look fot t-shirts with Sabrina and Devan and we ate at IHOP with Eddie and Katie and it was so good that it should be illegal. Unfortunately Sabrina found out on Saturday morning that she had kidney stones, so now she's fine, but she has to rest, so she didn't come to the dance. And for that reason I spent the entire day looking for a girl for Justin and in the end we found it, so he wouldn't have been alone and everything went right. Me and Ryan were wearing a Red Sox t-shirt and of course red socks. We danced all night and had the time of our lives and they also played two Taylor Swift songs and I was fangirling so hard that I almost feel guilty. (forgot to mention that on Wednesday there were the CMA and it was so amazing to watch them with Victor and Helena on the couch on the big screen in HD...)

Sometimes there are moments when I feel like I really miss my friends and family but I'm happy because I'm so lucky that I have amazing friends here and an amazing host family that makes me feel like home. I'm so thankful for what I have every day, and right now I'm just trying to enjoy every single moment and to see the good even in the hard moments. I'm trying to remeber that every day is a challenge and I'm always learning new things and growing and changing in so many ways that I can't even describe it. And at the end of the day, I realize that no matter what, I will always have a second family and a lot of friends on the other side of the world that I will come back to see. And I will always have a second home, and Idaho in my heart. Because "home is where your heart is".
I will forever be proud of myself for my choice to live this scary adventure that will make me fearless and more confident and aware of what another piece of the world looks like. And I'm realizing all these things only after 2 months, so I can't wait for what is to come.
Because I learned that to grow you have to step out of the comfort zone, break the boundaries and destroy the walls.
"Explore. Dream. Discover."