il Sindaco di Trani e qualche altre cose

I was officially welcomed into Trani by the mayor himself! Last week there was a meeting for me with the Sindaco (mayor) and many other important people, both from my school and from Intercultura... and of course my family. it was so amazing, that all those people took the time to welcome me into Italy, with a silver-plated plaque and an amazing foto-filled book of the history of Trani. The only reason this welcoming was after I'd been in Italia for two months was so that I could hopefully understand the language and speak a little, which i can! its amazing, in fact I was interviewed in Italian! if you are interested in reading the article, it's here!  http://www.traninews.it/articoli/9736-progetto-intercultura-il-sindaco-di-trani-incontra-una-studentessa-16enne-californiana-.asp yes yes yes, it's in Italian, but its easily translated in google translator:) It was really an amazing experience to have the opportunity to meet the Sindaco and communicate together. I am so grateful for Trani! an amazing place to live!
And it is surrounded by amazing places to visit! this last weekend i took a 3 day trip to Gravina in Puglia, a little town about one hour away by bus, where my amazing friend Leah Sharaby lives. she is another Intercultura student, and we met in New York, hit it off extremely well, and thank goodness we live so close! we took an amazing 3 hour long walk through the historic center of Gravina and almost got lost a lot... but thank god for my directional sense, we were never too lost:) Gravina has this beautiful section with a huge reservoir and grasses and trees and so much green and its hilly and everything is so antique and rustic and gorgeous. we traversed the hillside and crossed il ponte... a super old and stone bridge. being such marvelous adventurers, (considering that all students who go on exchanges are marvelous adventurers!) we ambled off the beaten path... (literally) and found a lovely sunny place to sit with an amazing view of the bridge, the valley, and the historic gravina... it was amazing! of course i did a bit of yoga:)