CARNIVALE

Mahlon, Kari, Shana, Trish, Heather and I all enjoyed a night out in Acireale this week for Carnivale! Carnivale is celebrated all over Italy, and is a special time for fun and indulgence before Ash Wednesday and Lent! It's like Mardi Gras, only without the drinking. Carnivale is a family event and there are lots of kids in costumes...little princesses, kings, super-heroes and fairies running around in the streets. Vendors line the streets selling food, candy, toys, masks and hats. A lot of Italians were wearing big, crazy hats...and many of them were American hats featuring stars & stripes!

Besides the parade, the greatest thing about Carnivale is the mess. All the kids and teens (and some of the adults, including us) carried around bags of confetti and cans of silly string, and would sneak up behind people they didn't know to attack them with it! We got really into it, and were actually in an all-out war with some of the kids and teen groups. Despite the language barrier we were all playing together with them and laughing like crazy. It was so much fun!

ALL HOT, NO COLD IN ITALY!

Katy Perry gave audience at the San Remo Song festival in Italy a big show recently with a striptease! The Sun reports that she came out on stage in a white jacket, then threw it off to reveal this black & blue striped getup in honor of her fave soccer team, Inter Milan.

MY BIRTHDAY LUAU

My awesome friends threw a party in honor of my birthday, Hawaiian style! It was great! We had fresh fruit, veggies and kebabs, so yummy! There was even a grass skirt going around, and though a few people wore it over the course of the evening, no one rocked it like Mahlon!










I got some great presents too! Mahlon got me a big stack of Disney DVDs! My girlfriends pitched in some $$ so I can take the Italian lessons I wanted, and also signed us all up for a night out for Carnivale in Acireale next week! It was everything I wanted! In fact, when I blew out my candles, I didn't know what to wish for. I couldn't think of a thing! I've got everything I want. I'm a lucky girl :)

SAINT AGATA FESTIVAL

Last week was the big festival to honor Catania's patron Saint Agata! My friend Amber and I got a chance to take the bus there to enjoy the festivities. It was so exciting! The whole city was decorated in lights! There were giant candles for sale everywhere to help the people to show adoration to the lovely Saint. Street vendors were everywhere with special candies, fruit, doughnuts and the wonderful Nutella-filled crepes! People in the Piazza Duomo in Catania were packed in like sardines, dressed in white robes with little black caps and wearing ribbons featuring Agata's portrait. Here's what the Piazza looked like:







Amber and I were lucky enough to meet a great Italian family who spoke English well, running one of the little "Saint Shops" in town. These are the stores that sell statues of the saints, necklaces, bracelets, rosaries, you name it! Ornella and Joseph were a great couple who ran one store. They were there with Joseph's mother, and together they told us the remarkable story of Saint Agata!

CLICK HERE TO READ HER STORY

When Agata's statue came out of the church to be carried around town, the people cheered and shouted "You're so beautiful!" to her. They waved white handkerchiefs at her and fireworks went off. It was amazing!