I love you....

Are nice words to hear, but make you long for the ones that fill your heart with joy!! 

After going to sleep at 1 am...was talking on the phone again...I had to get up just after 6.  The sun was not even awake yet.  Only adults get up before the sun, and I am NOT an adult.  I refuse to be one. So then, on that note, I would love for the sun to wake up a bit earlier...or better yet, I'd love to get up a bit later.  Anyway, so I ate my oatmeal, did a journey I brought with me (Bible study), got dressed, and left for the bus. 

When I arrived at school, I waited outside for a bit.  Thankfully it was not even cold enough for a coat.  I sat outside and looked over some things.  I saw my sweet student from Angelino's, I'll refer to her as E. 

It was a weird start to the day because the computer lab was not working...though the lights and computers were not working in the teacher's room.  Lilla's students were wanting to do something, but I could not figure out what, and they were super annoyed.  We finally ended up in the science lab to watch a video about the students' trip to Ireland this summer.  Lilla was SUPER annoyed about this taking away from her class time, and the students seemed to be very frustrated that she was so annoyed.  The pictures made me long to visit Dublin.  It looked SO beautiful!!  So, after Lilla was pretty angry about all of this...and saying a lot of things in Italian, which all I could understand was that I had to go to the Questura last week, and now this week's lesson was being cut short.  Then, after confusion with did the computer work in this lab for me to use it, we had lost over an hour of class time.  I started the lesson, and kind of flew threw the first half of it. 

I talked to them about families and things related to that.  I was a little shocked that none of these students came from step/blended families, and did not have friends with step-parents.  However, Lilla kept insisting that almost everyone in Cosenza is divorced; she said that her boyfriend (ex I think...maybe??) was a lawyer and she used to go to court with him all of the time and everyone there was getting a divorce.  Lilla/the students told me that homosexuality is not accepted in this area.  A few of the students told me that they do not view homosexual couples, or unmarried co-habituating couples, as families.  Their reasoning was that homosexuality and living together without being married are against the church, and therefore they are against it.  They also told me that families in Southern Italy live closer together than families in Northern Italy, but do not necessarily live in the same city/building/home.  None of them have multigenerational families.  They said that the reason most families are spread out today are because of jobs (exactly what my American friends said in my interviews about why American families are so spread out).  Many of them told me about how many people were in their family, and shared favorite traditions.  Christmas dinner was a fave.  the Italians do Christmas Eve, the way Americans typically do Christmas day.  They have a huge dinner and apparently open presents at midnight.  They all said that this was their favorite because all of their family is gathered and it is exciting, and there is good food (isn't there ALWAYS good food at an Italian gathering?!??!?).  Quite a few of them told me that their family is important to them because they help them get an education. 

Because we kind of flew through the lesson, Lilla wanted me to talk about Obama.  So, due to some comments made by Lilla and the students I had to address the following things:
1.  I do not think it is right for someone to vote for Obama JUST BECAUSE he is African-American, BUT I do not think it is right to NOT vote for him because he is African-American.
2. Lilla was not happy that I could not tell them why Obama won. 
3. I finally just spoke up about the fact that we consider it rude to ask someone, "Who did you vote for??"  The students agreed that it is considered rude here too, and they rarely discuss politics with anyone.  SO THEN WHY IS IT OKAY TO ASK MEEEE WHOM I VOTED FOR!?!?!?" 

After class I went in search of Virginia because she told me that morning to find her after I was finished so that she could call the customs people for me and get this all straightened out.  It took me a while to find her, and at one point Lilla told me to come with her, but then she was closing the classroom door.  I had to tell her I could not stay because I had things I had to take care of.  I eventually found Virginia, but when she tried to call we just were not getting through and then when we did they said we needed some sort of identification number.  While we were waiting, the staff in that little office type area made coffee....they offered us some, and by coffee I mean a shot of starbucks on crack times 1000.  Virginia said that she could have very little because it makes her so jittery, anxious, nervous, and makes her worry something is wrong with her.  UMM HELLO...ME!  Stemming from those comments we somehow got into how she has high expectations of others and of herself and is often disappointed when things are perfect, but we have to remember that we ourselves are not perfect.  UMM HELLO...ME!  I told her how I do the same thing, and then we talked about how we work hard and stress out about things until it makes us sick.  She told us that I did not need to do this because it would make me sick.  I told her that my family and friends were hoping that Italy would "chill me out"!! She said, "you know what, I do not think it will because this is part of your nature, your personality.  You may learn to relax a bit, but it cannot change who you are!" I am not sure how I feel about that...I think I am a bit more relaxed, but no, I will never 100% change (both Nick and April said that I could  learn to relax, but of course would still be me!  It was strange that Virginia and I are so much alike.  She also told me that she was so excited about me wanting to go on the trip with the students.  From what I gathered, London or San Francisco are our choices.  She said she would  prefer London because it is closer to home, and I prefer London because it is well, LONDON!! So, she was excited and said she would let me know more about this weekend, tomorrow.  She also reminded me that I would have to inform the embassy and Fulbright when I went to London with her in December for those 3 days...is this real life???   So, when we could not get the things we needed, she went back to class to finish out the hour and then we would work on it.

So, I went to the teacher room to work on my Thanksgiving lesson, talked to Nick on the phone, and I went to the bar to get a snack because I was STARVING.  I had pizza rustica (like pastry bread stuff with "pizza" stuff on the inside, but no sauce...grease though...YUCK! It was yummy though, and I had a small piece...just enough to hold me over!  Talking to Nick was nice, and while I hate that he has a back injury, it was nice to hear someone else talk about having to wear comfortable shoes, despite fashion, because it was better for their body!  I'm not the only "old" one!!  Nick thought it was funny when I said the phrase, "as all get out!"  He'd never heard it...weird Seattlites!!  After I had worked on some things and it was after Virginia's class, she came in and talked to me a bit.  We talked about classes, and I tried to express some of my concerns, but did not want to rock the boat any at the same time.  It is this weird balance that all of the ETA's have going on. Lilla was also there for a few minutes and we talked to her.  So, then we went to call the customs people.  This time we got a person, but I had to run back to the staff room to get the ID number we needed.  After that, Virginia was able to get the specific instructions from them, and they PROMISED that if I sent the paperwork today, that they would release my computer tomorrow (though I have learned that here in Italy, I should NEVER get my hopes up...hopeful, yet realistic!!). She was so sweet and when I was leaving, I thanked her, hugged her, and she told me she loved me.  I told her that I loved her too, but as I ran off, it made me long for my support system at home!

I was able to run to the other building and print the forms...and I had to navigate asking all of this in Italian.  Then I ran into Angelino who said he would help me scan it to my email, after I went to Francesca's class.  Francesca's class was spent with them doing business English, but really them not knowing what was going on...I did get some topics out of them that they are interested in doing...they are very basic, but these students are struggling.  I have some fun ideas for even the basic ideas that they had, but I am a bit confused about whether this is my purpose here or not.  I struggle because I want to help them and give them what they need, but at the same time I am NOT an English teacher and I am NOT here to teach the basics/grammar.  I was also blown away by the fact that Francesca read the students grades out loud to the class...WHAT?!?!?!? That would NEVER fly in the U.S. 

When I left class and was waiting on Angelino, I talked to my students from his class (I did this prior to Francesca's class as well).  They are so sweet, and I really do like them.  E. came up and gave me a hug and the kisses on the cheeks.  So, I stood there and talked to them in half Italian and half English. 

Angelino came to help me.  He took me to a nice computer lab and scanned the documents.  He was shocked, as everyone has been, that customs has been holding my computer for so long.  He also told me that he agrees that the Italians do not value or appreciate the convenience of consistent internet. 

So, once everything was sent, I started walking.  I talked to my momma most of the way home, which was wonderful!! Now, I need to talk to my daddy...I have internet, so I need to skype him...like tomorrow!!  Then, I talked to Nick while I went to the store to get water.  I came home and ate lunch and kept talking to Nick. 

Then, I was able to talk to my love April...it was good...made me want to fly home and hug her.   Then, I was wanting to fly home and hug everyone. 

The rest of my night was spent planning lessons, getting frustrated about planning the simplest of lessons, and loving my job.  I kept thinking how I was blown away at the things I get to learn about in order to do my job...and how amazing it is that I am being paid to learn and share my knowledge...how amazing is that??  I was in the middle of analyzing the song "Sweet Home Alabama"...but will use it at a later date.  I decided instead to do Adele's "Someone Like You" with Angelino's class tomorrow...so, we will watch the video of her singing it...look at the lyrics for vocab and meaning...then watch the version where she talks about the meaning behind it.  Then I did  ALOT of stressing over doing the most simplistic lesson for my 4th years I had today who are really struggling with the language...I settled on Morning ROutine...they asked me about American's routines.  So, it was a LONG and ridiculous process to do this lesson..and I hated it. 

Nick and I also looked at trains for Naples and we will arrive within 5 minutes of eachother.  This way I am not alone in Naples for 3 hours...so, this works out!!  Mattea told me later that she gets in at 9, so we'll figure out a way for her to not arrive alone.  Dinner was good...left overs...chicken and pasta with pesto...I talked to Mattea...I talked to Nick after his party...shower was cold (purple knees/body)...slightly bad mood...tired...bed