Hmm, I have been neglecting this blog for the past few months, but I have legitimate reasons, I promise!
I think the last time I wrote was around the end of March. Since then, quite a number of things have happened. Casa Cares got new volunteers, got rid of some (hehehe), I came back to Hungary, my goddaughter was born, I took those final exams, went back to Italy, and came back to Hungary again.
In more details: At the end of March, Casa Cares got a new volunteer, Linn, from Sweden. It was interesting to have another person there, and now it wasn't the three of us, but four volunteers.
As I mentioned before, I had to leave CC sooner than the original plan. I left May 1st, which wasn't easy. I always felt happy to return to Hungary; I was barely able to bear the wait. This trip was much different. A part of me was happy to return home, to see my family, to see my sister-in-law's belly, to be there for the birth, etc. A different part of me was dreading to go back because of the exams. What if I don't pass (I did! Go me!)? What if I can't go to college? What will I do? What is going to happen to me?? These thoughts were coming non-stop and were stressing me out. And another part of me did not want to leave CC either, because that place became like a home to me. I had a family there. I had my Italian "Mamma," "Daddy," "Pappa," and a brother and a sister. It was so difficult leaving there. I put off packing up my room for days, did most of the packing the day before (well, that's not surprise. That's how I usually do it anyways...). I don't think I ever had such a heavy heart traveling home. I couldn't be completely happy when I arrived, even though both of my parents and Reka came to the airport to pick me up. That was a difficult day.
Ever since I was told that my brother and his wife are expecting a baby, I have been very excited. Their Christmas gift to me was asking me to be the godmother of the baby. So, this baby is very special to me. I was kind of upset at first that I wouldn't get to see the baby right away when she was born, but as my departure date from CC got moved up, I was so happy that I would be there when she is born! Magda, my niece, was a quite willful baby even in the stomach. She decided that she would wants to be born 10 days after the due date. I was lucky enough to see her on her birth day. Oh my goodness. It was so fascinating to realize that that little human being was inside her mother's womb a mere 12 hours ago. And I saw her in her mother's belly two days previous, and now she's there in her father's arms. It's such a wonderful moment. And realizing that my brother is a father is also such an interesting thought. My parents are grandparents! My grandparents are great-grandparents! Ahhh!
Two days after Magda was born, I left for two weeks to go back to Italy. During that time I only saw pictures of her, and was oohing and aahing about how beautiful she is. Yesterday I finally got to see her live! So precious and beautiful!
Yeah, those exams. I passed! I first took the written parts, which I felt pretty good about. Or so I thought. The English was ok, I could have done better in my opinion. But the Italian one was waaaaay worse. I thought, OK, I can still do better with the oral exams. The English oral exam was a piece of cake, got through it pretty well. The Italian oral was a bit more challenging. At the first section, I was barely able to speak, but the second one was so much better. I had to talk about Italian food! ;)
I left for Italy the day after the Italian oral exam, so I kind of put any thoughts of these exams in the back of my head. I got the results yesterday, and I passed both! The English was pretty good, though I was expecting more from myself (what's new), but this exam does qualify as a mid-level language exam. The Italian grade was much better than I was expecting, but I am happy that it's all over now! Now I just hope I get into university here....
As I have already mentioned a few times, I went back to Italy. It was so strange being back there again. There were now three new volunteers that I did not know and the entire dynamics of the Colonica have changed. Relationships were much different, and I suffered because of this for the first few days. Things did settle down at the end, and things felt like when I left.
I did not do a lot of interesting things. I went to Florence a couple of times, to Figline, for the weekly market, and to Livorno, to the sea side, where I got burnt. In the end, I came back with pretty good memories. It was nice to see Rike and Drew again and be with them again.
As for my life here in Hungary? I think it's only about to begin. During the five weeks I was back, most of my time was spent at home studying (or not) and going to dance practices. Yep, I joined the Debreceni Nepi Egyuttes (Folk dance ensemble), and I love it. I really missed dancing during the eight months I spent in Italy and going back was phenomenal. I really can't describe the feeling dancing gives me. I just know that that's what I need to be doing right now.
My plans for the summer are tentative. There are about two things that are for sure, and the rest will come as they come. I will be going to Csillagpont, big Christina youth conference, and an English camp here in Debrecen, as an interpreter. Let's see what summer 2011 will bring!
