This morning I woke up waaaayyy earlier than I would
have liked, but I just told myself that it was my body’s way of preparing for
tomorrow when I have to be up and ready to leave with Virginia by 7:30. Thus, if I get up earlier, I am more tired earlier
and will hopefully fall asleep earlier, thus making it easier to get up. I ate my breakfast in the balcony room, though
the sun had not yet peeked over the buildings, so I had to sit with my blanket
on my legs. It was nice though! I read and enjoyed my yogurt and toastate (1
with jelly…and 1 shamelessly with Nutella).
I am missing my oatmeal though; I miss the way oatmeal fills me up
without having to add too much to it (e.g. truly sweet stuff).
After I read my book for a bit, I decided to do my
bible study. I’ve been doing it (almost)
every day and I am now on day 7.
I have
to say, if you are looking for a good study, I would recommend this study on
David by Beth Moore; given that I like it so much, I might just go ahead and
suggest any study by her, especially the ones focused on David, Paul, Jesus,
and…I can’t remember the 4th!
It’s been amazing how every day it is relevant to something that
happened that day or something I had thought of, etc. I spent time doing that,
reading an old Journey, and listening to some worship music! What a GREAT way
to start the day, and a great replacement for having a church home. Which reminds me, that group was at the hotel
again last night, and I assume they’ll be there today (Sunday afternoon). I did see on the screen that they also sing
in a different language, but I could hear them singing in English! When I walked by and saw them, there were
only a few people there, but they had their heads bowed, eyes closed, and most
had their hands in the air; obvious signs of worship! I want to join!!!
After I finished my bible study, I decided to
stretch my muscles. I have been trying
to do this daily because all of the walking is making my leg muscles tighten up
which is not good for my body, and especially not good for my knees! So, I spent a good 30 minutes trying to
stretch out my entire body, and I have to say that I felt much better and a bit
more relaxed afterward! However, I did
notice a twinge in my right shoulder, which I think is from carrying my computer
bag on it yesterday in the rain! So, I put some stuff on it, “iced” it with my
bag of peas (though this was NOT my intention behind buying them, I was glad I
had them!), and took some ibprofeun; must get AHEAD of the twinge of pain.
After this I laid down to read a bit more of my “Austen”
book (the lady traveling in Latin America doing the book clubs), and I have to
say that I am really enjoying it; though I was not sure at first! It is interesting because she talks a lot
about learning the language and hitting language plateaus, and she also
addresses issues of fitting in where she obviously STANDS OUT!! Hello…ME! I liked this statement she made, “A core
value of multiculturalism holds that there’s no such thing as good or bad when
it comes to cultures- just “different”!”
I have to remember this every day!
I also thought it was interesting that she mentioned that in one of her
book clubs in Mexico, there were a few people who were “devout Christ
followers” and she hypothesizes that they analyze and break down the book
(Sense and Sensibility) differently because of their bible studies (she
discussed the methodical and thoughtful way that they studied the bible). Thoughts?
I thought this was an interesting perspective. While I was reading there was this light rain
coming down, though the sun was shining brilliantly and there was not a single
rain cloud in sight!!
I eventually got up and got dressed to go out and
walk/explore. I decided that I would
take an hour to go and turn down/up different streets than I had taken
before! How else am I going to learn
this city? I have NO map! ;) So,
tempos, t-shirt, tennis shoes, and knee things on, I was ready to go, and
prepared for strange looks. Oh, and once
again Mrs. Malissa’s gift saved the day; I was able to put just the few things
I needed in it and go!
As I started making random turns I discovered old
burnt out buildings, bakeries that smelled amazing, small fruit stands, groups
of locals having their Sunday morning bonding time, and much more!
I walked down a “main” road that I think I
will return to on a week day and/or Saturday so that I can go in some of the
shops; MOST things are closed here on
Sundays. Then I took a random turn and
discovered the best thing. In one of the
few parks I have found here in Cosenza, they were having some sort of dog show
thing.
I did not catch the full gist
behind it, but I got to see some cute dogs, and their proud owners! I saw big dogs, little dogs, medium size dogs;
I saw mutts, I saw fullbreads (SP?!?!), etc.
My FAVORITES were the 3 dalamatians I saw!
They were nowhere near as pretty as my
Freckles was though! Their spots were
not as perfectly placed and they did not look as pristine as she always did;
she was a human being after all; she was never treated like a dog, nor did she
act like it! So, I stayed and watched
for a bit and watched some of the cute dogs interact. It was beginning to make me a bit sad because
I was missing my Chilly (& Bella Puppy too), so I decided to walk on. As I was walking away though, I heard them
playing, “We are the Champions!” Nice,
twice in one week! Roll Tide! It made me
tear up a bit, thinking about home and missing my dogs and having missed
another week of football, and not know the score at this moment; though I knew
Auburn had lost, I could only assume that we had won! I was thinking of the greatest time I heard
this song; right after we won our 13th National Championship and I
was witnessing it all inside the Rose Bowl!
What an amazing memory!
So, with memories swirling around in my head, I took
off to explore some more! I knew before
I left the apartment that I would get strange looks for my knee things, but I
will say that they were much nicer looks than I got I Florence!! I ended up in
familiar territory and then just walked for the sake of walking, and seeing
everyone taking their Sunday morning passeggiata. As I made my way back to the apartment, I saw
so many people sitting at the few open cafes/bars having their coffee and
pastries. There were a lot of men
sitting and talking and/or reading the paper.
At one bar that I’ve noticed to be quite popular, there were only men sitting outside. For once it was nice to be downwind of them
because I could smell cologne and NOT smoke!
Note that these were all older men who looked like they’d probably had
this same tradition for years!! There
were people out walking that were clearly out walking for the sake of being
see; there were families walking; there were groups of women/girls catching up
with each other! It was nice, though it
does make me wish that my people were here to participate in such a simple, yet
wonderful tradition! I was heartbroken
at this point to look down at my wrist and realize that the flower on my
bracelet from my Avery girls was gone! I
knew it was sort of barely hanging on, and I had tried to secure it, but
apparently I did not do a very good job because it was gone! I looked around the apartment a bit later,
but it could have fallen off anywhere!! I
was so sad! I suppose I’ll cut the
string and still wear it because it is still beautiful, but I was sad!
 |
| WEIRD!!!!!!! |
When I returned to the apartment I had about an hour
and 15 minutes to write a bit, stretch my muscles, eat a small snack because I
knew it would be a late lunch (had a yummy fresh peach and a little bit of
yogurt…I’ve been eating the yogurt in the little caffe cups here…they are
tiny…but make perfect portions of yogurt for a snack!), take a shower, and get
dressed. I literally dread taking
showers here because I FREEZE to death; not cool!
There is this sort of game that you end up playing
here; I think of it as, “how little electricity can I use?!?!?” It is amazing how little you actually
need! On a sunny day the apartment is
lit up with no need for lights. Even
today there was enough sunlight through the bathroom window that I didn’t need
any light to do my make up! I like this
because it is saving money, and it just gives the apartment this beautiful
naturally lit look and feeling!!
I decided to wear a cute sundress, sandals, and my
peacock headband that I bought just before I left the US! I was pretty excited, but had to leave my
hair down wet because I obviously couldn’t sleep on it, and I don’t have a
hairdryer yet; haven’t really needed it either.
Lilla buzzed the apartment just as I was finished getting ready and
sitting down to turn off my computer! When I got downstairs she was SHOCKED
that I had wet hair; she said that I should never have wet hair because it
wasn’t good for me (though I didn’t get the full explanation until later).
The ride to Lilla’s apartment was nice! She is such a sweet person! When we got there I sat with her mom for a
few minutes and talked to her! I am
excited to say that I understand 90% of her Italian and can answer! YAY;
sometimes a rare thing!! I was also able to understand some of the tv show that
she was watching; granted they were speaking slowly, but that’s how I best
understand!! Lilla came and sat down
with us, but when she noticed that I loved the sunny view of the mountains, she
took me out on to the big balcony to show me the views! GORGEOUS!! They have views of La Sila
(mountain range) on one side, and these other hills (forgot the names) on the
other! She helped me orient to North
(Nord), South (Sud), East (est), and West (ovest).
Food:
Not too long after this her niece arrived, and Lilla said it was time to
eat. I knew this was going to be a big meal, and boy was I right. We started with pasta that was baked with
pasta sauce and cheese (she gave me a reasonable amount, but was still more
than I would have normally eaten…I ate all but a few bites). The second course was salad, potatoes with
peppers (I didn’t eat the peppers, but enjoyed the flavor it gave the sliced/peeled
potatoes…wish I could tell you how they were prepared), and then this meat
thing. The meat, I later found out was
beef, looked a bit like meatloat, but one had ham and cheese in the middle
(like Chicken cordon bleu) and the other had ricotta cheese and spinach in
it. I ate most of it and it was really
good! **I will be asking Lilla for the
recipe for the meat and potatoes (sounds so uniquely
American when I say it that way!).**
Lilla and her mom informed me that the potatoes were uniquely Calabrian (Calabria is the
region of Italy that I am living in). I
had just a little bit of this weird wine with my lunch, but mostly just had
water. Next up was fruit (all of this
was seeming familiar from Florence). I
had just a few red grapes and was hoping that we were done with the food. Of course, Lilla has a sweet tooth, so she
had made this “cake”! I use quotations
because it was round and more like a poundcake type thing…I don’t really know
how to describe it! Her mother said it
was too dry, and I agreed that it was a little dry, but it had a good flavor!
She said she had made it because she had a guest coming, me! All of this was
followed up by the ridiculously strong “coffee” (i.e. espresso) that they
have. She was gracious enough to pour
just a bit of milk in mine so that I could stand it. She told me on the way to her house that here
in Calabria they have coffee after lunch, but it’s not as traditional to have
it after dinner like it is in other areas (Florence family usually had it). 
 |
| Me and Lilla |
Not too long after this I got to meet Lilla’s
sister. She was nervous because she
doesn’t speak English, but apparently is about to start classes because of some
new Italian education thing she has to start learning it. I was pretty excited that I understood a lot
of their initial conversation in Italian before she addressed me; even then I
understood 95% of her Italian and was pretty excited about it!!! They told her
about Massimo and she too said to never let him in my apartment or
anything! She also threw out the word
stalker as a “joke”! Okay people, that
is NOT a joke to me! She agreed that I
should be fine if I just distance myself! Her sister also said that there was a
lady that lived in the building who spoke English and was Christian; they are
going to ask her about where she goes to church; this came after her sister
asked if I was catholic. I was pretty
excited about this!! The lady is Canadian and lives in the building with her
husband and children! Oh my
goodness…what if there is a church/group of people for me to spend time with
and to worship with?!?! I’ll be so very excited; her sister made a comment
about the HUGE smile on my face when they mentioned it; a smile that I could
feel was ear to ear! She and Alessandra left just after this (Alessandra had to
nap before studying). It was great to
meet her! She said that I should go with
her and her friends sometime, and I enthusiastically agreed and said that I
would love that!!
When they left, Lilla wanted to sit down and plan
our first lessons together. I was unsure
of how this would go. It was a little
difficult and confusing. We settled on
me starting with family; me introducing myself and my family and then asking
them about theirs. She also wants me to
talk about families in America (so right up my alley); though all I could think
about was how I needed April to come do that talk!! She had me make a list of
questions I would ask the students, and on the spot I was having difficulty; I
defaulted to some of the questions I asked in my interviews at home. She then had me talk a bit about my family so
that she could type it out. This was a
bit weird for me, but I did find out that Lilla is very intelligent and quite
insightful.
Then the truly difficult part came. The textbook they use talks about bullying,
which she refers to as bullyism. She was
tying this to social conscience and wanting me to ask them questions about social
conscience; it was just so confusing that I cannot even put it into words. We finally settled on talking about social
issues with teens; how they respond to/feel about them (tie in social
conscience here); and end with how bullying is a problem with teens (in IT and
in the USA). I told her that I would
have to do some research on this topic because I am not that well versed in
bullying in the US (beyond the news and a bit from my own textbooks). I also suggested that I would find youtube
clips of PSAs and the new movie that came out (any ideas on how I can get my
hands on a copy of the movie??). I
explained to her that I wanted to use a variety of ways to present the material
because just using the textbook (which in my opinion is all over the place) is
not as much fun as getting them involved, employing the same reasoning behind
hands on learning for children; it’s just more FUN…and if it is more fun, then
you want to learn it; or are more likely to want to learn it; or you might not
even realize that you are learning!
**Here I have to thank all of the
professors/instructors who never just did straight lecture, fun high school
teachers like Mrs. Frye, etc. who never just taught out of a book, and my dear
\a for letting me watch and learn from her over this past year!! Of course I am
also able to use a lot of my human development/child development knowledge when
approaching this.
My momma called while we were planning! She told me
that Alabama won! Roll Tide! She also
told me that AJ got hurt and that the commentators said that they could hear
the entire Tide nation holding their breath; mine was taken away when she first
said it, so I can imagine that I would have been FREAKING OUT! She said that
Auburn lost, which she had already told me last night. She said LSU came back to pull it out…stupid
Les Miles. I was glad to have an
update! I called it a few weeks ago…this
is our 15th year! I’ve had a feeling that was a correct feeling
these past two championships; and I knew the year we didn’t win, that we
wouldn’t. So, my feelings have been 100%
correct…so, I’m calling it…#15 this year!
I was happy to have talked to my momma, but she had just pulled into the
church, so we hung up.
I did get out of her that we only have to do like 4
lessons from this book and then we are free to do what IIIII want. Though she still keeps pushing the racism,
Civil Rights agenda, I am DETERMINED to do fun things like soccer vs. football
(because FOOTBALL IS MY CULTURE!!); Southern Italy vs. The South; foods; Thanksgiving;
other history related things (because apparently I have to focus on Italy); she
mentioned literature, so I am hoping to do something like “The Help” to tie
with her civil rights/racism topic that she is passionate about. She also asked if when my mom came she could
bring civil rights information and a newspaper from MLK Jr.’s funeral
(what?!?!?). She said that it was very
important for the students. Me =
confused. My first thought was, she
could bring something about Bear Bryant’s funeral! True southern football girl
right here! ;) **and of course this was EXACTLY what my mom’s first
thought/response was when I told her…great minds and all!** Anyway, I am looking forward to going beyond
that book that is HIGHLY confusing to me!!
I am a bit nervous because I am basically being paid
to stand up in front of people and give an interactive presentation…one of my
greatest fears! However, I can now see
the reasoning behind the lessons learned from my grad school presentation
experiences! I was being prepared for this opportunity! So once again I have to thank those who
supported me and literally picked me up and helped me keep going prior to some
big presentations (thesis proposal, Montgomery Presentation, thesis defense,
& a few class presentations). This
is going to challenge me in the way that I will not have weeks to prepare; I
just have to prepare the material, think about it, and go for it; knowing that
the purpose is conversation helps my nerves a bit because they have to do a lot
of the work as well; they have to think about vocabulary and stuff! I’m there to facilitate. Here again drawing from lessons learned; I
know how I felt as a student in Florence with an impatient, pushy teacher who
made me feel so bad about myself that I just shut down and did not want to
learn anymore! I know how I do not want to be! I want to be patient with their vocabulary
and language skills, just as I had hoped Italian teachers would be for me. Let it be said that my University of Alabama
teachers were beyond patient and
simply AMAZING!!!
Ironically this makes me think of another not so
pleasant grad school issue. I’ll just
leave it at that.
However, it does make me wonder a bit about what this experience is preparing me for
because it is not an age group I ever thought of teaching, and I definitely had
my sights set on goop, play dough, dramatic play, painting, etc. etc. not bullying, racism, civil rights, and
all of the things that I spent years learning about (types of families,
etc). Oh well, I shall not worry about
what it is preparing me for, but rather I will just enjoy the experience and
learn as much from it as possible.
So once we reached a good stopping point Lilla asked
if I wanted to go to Mass with them or home; I said home because once again my
brain was EXHAUSTED!!! On the way home
she talked about taking me to Reggio Calabria (city near Sicily) to the
beach. She said that someone in her
family has a house there and we could take the train (she said she doesn’t drive
on the autostrada) there and enjoy the beautiful beaches in the Spring. She said we could go to Sicily too! OH MY GOSH…I need to travel! I know that I go to Rome soon, but it is
going to give me the itch to travel! I know it is!! I have so much I want to
see and do while I am here in Italy!
I’ve got to talk to them this week about Reggio Emilia…I simply CANNOT
miss out on this opportunity!! I will just be utterly CRUSHED!!! I told her that I wanted to travel! She said I needed to stay in Cosenza in the
winter because of the traditions and lights and stuff. I agreed to do so, but I am still going to
travel somewhere…I only have 8 ½
months left to see as much as possible!!!!!!!
She told me more about Christmas, and when I said that I do not eat fish
(the important day/meal here is Christmas eve when they open presents and have
an all fish meal…fish and veggies), she said that her sister made a different
sauce that I could eat because her niece and nephew don’t like fish either. Thus, she was reiterating that I would be
with her on Christmas Eve! What a blessing already!
So she dropped me off and I ran upstairs to change
clothes and grab my things to go to the hotel; for most likely the last
time. I sat outside, trying to avoid any
unwanted attention, but he approached and gave me some perfume samples of Dior
or something. I was cordial, but nothing
more. There is no point in being unfriendly and making him angry! I eventually had to move inside because there
was a group of French women (like 5) all smoking in the “outdoor” area, as well
as the bartenders, and I could not breathe.
It wasn’t much better inside, and I found myself hiding in my shirt as
much as possible. I HATE CIGARETTE
SMOKE!! It was giving me a head ache and making my chest tighten up! The one person (I think) that I’ve ever known
to battle, and lose that battle, to lung cancer NEVER SMOKED A DAY IN HIS LIFE;
he played music/danced in lounges with second hand smoke! Now, ask me again why I despise it; other
than the immediate effects it has on me?!?!?
Internet time was good! I had missed my skype call
with Erin, which broke my heart, but I had no way of getting anywhere to a
computer. I was afraid this would happen
when Lilla asked me to lunch. So, I
tried calling Erin on skype phone, though I was doubtful given that it never
worked for us when I was in Florence.
However, much to my great surprise and pleasure, I heard her voice on
the other end! I was excited, and though
we didn’t get to talk long, it was just good to hear her voice! I was able to skype a good bit with my momma
(& Coopy butt); so that was good!! I love being able to connect to the
familiar!! I never got to talk to April,
but I’ve been fortunate to talk to her every day since I’ve been here, so I’m
sure Ill talk to her soon! Things will
all be MUCH easier when I have my own internet; no ETA on that yet though. I
updated my blog, put pictures on facebook, and found some youtube PSA
videos/the trailer for that movie about bullying.
Massimo was at work.
He talked to me a few times, once asking if I was still talking on the
phone (I had my earphone in), and I said yes, but was actually not. I called my momma so that I would be. I told her to call my phone as I was leaving
(and gave her a time limit) so that I would be on the phone and could not
linger to talk. I ended up having to
call her back and as I left out of the hotel and could only say, “buona serra”
he looked a bit peeved! I think I am
finished with the hotel! Sad times
really, but I suppose it is for the best!
I came home feeling a bit unnerved again! Though obviously I knew he was at work, it
just makes me nervous and angry that he took some of my peace away! I’m probably just working myself up over
nothing, but I hate the situation; prayers please?!?!?!??!!?!?!??!
I saw a ton of people out on their Sunday evening
passeggiata; the main street was PACKED!
When I got home I made 2 scrambled eggs with a little bit of ham, and
small piece of cheese. It was a good and
healthy, yet light dinner. It was
perfect because I’d had sooo much food for lunch, but was still hungry by this
point. I wrote my blog and listened to
the DOWNPOUR that came not too long after I’d eaten. The lights even flashed at one point, making
me very much aware of the fact that I do not have a flashlight or even
candles. To do list for tomorrow: 1.
Find bus stop I’ll have to use Tuesday 2. Buy flashlight
So, tomorrow is my first day to meet the
students. Lilla and her niece made me
nervous; I gather from these teachers (& Alessandra, niece) that the
students do not take their schooling seriously/cause behavior problems. It is a stark contrast to the first
emails/conversations with Virginia where she talked about how hard the students
worked. Thus, I have NO IDEA what to
expect!!! We’ll see I suppose! Off to sleep now…have to get up early!!!
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