So I've been in Italy for a while now and SO much has happened... I honestly don't think I've ever been so busy in my entire life! Every single moment we're doing something fun, it's been crazy! Today is the first time that we're just relaxing at home for a couple hours because it's raining so we can't go to the beach :( but that's perfectly okay with me because I finally have the opportunity to write a post! Hmmm so where do I start... ?
First night with Sabrina and Leo!
Besides the little mishap in Rome, everything else has been great! The moment I stepped out into the Bari airport, my host sister Sabrina ran up to me and hugged me! It was so nice to see everyone after 2 years! It seems like nothing has changed at all. We talked the whole hour long car ride home to San Vito dei Normanni. Just to clear things up though, Sabrina and her family weren't my actual host family during my year in Italy. I stayed in a different city called Torino in northern Italy with another host family but I did a weeklong exchange in the south and that's how I met Sabrina and her family! I loved them so much I went back to visit again that summer for 10 days! We just fit together so well, I feel like part of their family :) Anyway as soon as we got home, as I was expecting, Sabrina asked me if I was too tired to go out with her and her friends that night. The exact same thing happened two years ago when I arrived at her house late at night! Sabrina said all of her friends had been waiting for me at this bar down the street and were so sad when my flight was delayed. So obviously we went out that night to the bar where Sabrina's boyfriend, Leonardo, works. I love Sabrina, she's always so fun and full of energy!
The next day, I slept until 5:30! I woke up and talked to my host mom, Gabriella and Sabrina for a while. Even though I was in Italy for a year in Torino, there's still so much to learn about the country and culture. Especially because the north and south are so extremely different. Anyway, I never knew this but there's apparently no strongly enforced minimum wage in Italy. Sabrina's mom, Gabriella, works at a sandwich shop at night and they pay her 25 euros for "one night" of work (which equals out to 8 hours of work; so 3 euros an hour). Gabriella explained to me that there's very little work in Italy so people are desperate and have the option of working for 3 euros an hour or not working at all. Due to the extremely small pay, to save for college, Sabrina's boyfriend, Leonardo, works 2 jobs, totaling over 100 hours of work a week. However, I noticed that there's also not as many regulations in the workplace. For example, Leo works as a bartender but he can sit and relax with us for a bit while he's at work without any problems.
Anyway, later that night we went out to a discoteca (Italian nightclub) called Torre Regina Giovanna. Teen nightlife in Italy is so different to the U.S. Since the drinking age is 16 for beer and wine and 18 for liquor, it's common to go out to a bar and relax with your friends and smoke a cigarette and drink a beer. Also clubbing until the sun comes out is very normal. We stay out almost every night until at least 3 in the morning.
That night, we went to a city called Ostuni, which is also known as la citta bianca (the white city) because all of the buildings are white. The streets were filled even at 1am. Ostuni is a really pretty, cool city! If you're in the Brindisi area of Puglia, I would definitely recommend spending an night in Ostuni. That day, Leonardo and his friend asked me and Sabrina if we'd want to talk a quick little trip to Naples for one night! It was so last-minute, I've never been to Naples and I was so excited! But I'm not going to talk about Naples just yet because that's what my next post will be about!
Anyway, Sunday night, everyone slept on the beach (it's a tradition in San Vito every weekend in August). Except since we were leaving for Naples at 5 am (when Leonardo finished working), we didn't actually sleep on the beach, we just stayed the entire night. It was so much fun!! Definitely one of my favorites nights in Italy so far. The beach was filled with tents and almost everyone from Sabrina's school was there. We spent the night talking, drinking, laughing and joking around. It was so nice because everyone is so fun and I truly feel accepted into Sabrina's friend group! There was also a huge meteor shower that night so we spent a lot of time laying on the sand watching the sky for shooting stars. The sun also rose right when we had to leave, it was so gorgeous!