So, Valeria's class was up first, and I was excited to see them! They were great about talking today!! They were great about asking questions for my momma and Barbara; we also talked about what we did on our vacation from school; and we even talked about why it is best for me not to speak any Italian to them. I talked to them about how I learned Italian, and then how hard it was for me to go to Florence and not have it translated into English! Valeria joined in the conversation, and it was a great hour with them! I was really excited for my momma and Barbara to see the difference between the schools.
Up next, Rosina's class. I adore this group of students. They all seemed really excited to see me, and greeted me with hugs, smiles, and a ton of "ciao Ely" 's! What a wonderful way to start the hour. However, when we started class, they became so shy! My momma and Barbara were sitting at the front and Rosina was sitting in the back as usual. I was trying desperately to get my students to talk, but they would barely utter a word. Eventually Rosina said that she was going to take my momma and Barbara downstairs for some coffee. As soon as the door shut, they all erupted into half Italian, half English. I got them all quiet and asked if it was my mom or Rosina that was causing them not to speak. All at once they answered, "TEACHER!!" Haha...okay, well now I can talk to you all. We started out somewhat formal, with me sitting at the desk, but then we all just gathered around the radiator and started talking. Surprisingly, they were all involved in the conversation (in English) at some point. This made me so happy, and made me feel like I am truly forming a relationship with them that will help them learn English, and they are teaching me some things in Italian as well! THIS, is what Fulbright is all about for me; THIS is what I think my purpose here is! So, we talked about boyfriends, the difference in ENglish between a boyfriend and a fiancee, dating, Christmas, hanging out, and my pretty boy was being funny! A lot of them went on their first dates at like 11 and 12 years old. We saw one boy's ex-girlfriend walk by outside (one of my students in another class), and it was just so funny to watch them interact. This group is awesome! Pretty boy was joking about first dates and such, but by listening to what all of the students were saying as a group, I gathered that while they may want to seem super grown-up and mature, they are all rather sweet and innocent; I love it! Rosina eventually came back with my momma and Barbara, and when they opened the door we were all huddled by the windows/radiators. They all of course clammed back up when she came in, but thankfully the class time was almost over.
Rosina was very kind and drove us to the other school, which I know my momma and Barbara were EXTREMELY thankful for; this meant that they did not have to walk the 40 minutes from one school to the other. We had a few minutes before Francesca's class, but I was actually looking forward to this group today because 1. Tuesday went so well and 2. They were bringing food/a party for us today!
So, Francesca tried to make it a lesson where they learned vocabulary for setting the table and such, and I put the words on the screen, but it just turned into a party! They brought food, wine, and such. Everything except for one jar of veggies in vinegar and the bread, was homemade! There were different kinds of olives, spicy pesto, grape jam, pitta mbigliata (Christmas treat and this one), and some other Christmas treats. The students were really sweet and seemed excited to share their homemade sweets! THey were talking to us, and granted I had to try and translate most of it, it was so wonderful to see them happy, interactive, and excited about something! The food was really good and we had a lot of fun! A few of them wanted to take pictures with me, and here are some of the other pics we took:
As we were getting ready to leave the school, I ran into Lilla and we talked to her. Then the headmistress approached me and started telling me something about my momma and not bringing her to school. She became exasperated and called Lilla over to translate. She started telling me that I could not bring them back to school because lessons were for the students and not for strangers. She said that they could wait on the couches, but they were not welcome back in the classrooms. Lilla was looking highly annoyed about what the lady was saying, and I was just in shock. She (headmistress) was NOT very nice about it, and it made me SO angry! First, IIIII was the one teaching lessons, and they were just there to observe and have conversation with the students if the students wanted to! Second, she clearly has no idea what I do at her school because if she did, she would have known that after the class we just had (where they brought wine to school by the way), that I am not at her school again until Monday. THe thing that made me REALLY angry was that they do not follow other rules; those students do not follow rules of tardiness, respect, homework, food, gum, etc. etc. and they are NEVER punished...it is a free for all most of the time, but now that it has to do with me...there is a rule and she is angry with me! Double standards much? I was so upset and could not believe that this happened. However, I tried to eventually let it roll off my back. I do not know why this lady does not like me, but she does not seem to like me at all! THough I never see her, and when I do she will not speak to me! Oh well...we had fun! Just hope she doesn't find out about the wine! ;)
When school was over, we took the bus to the Piazza Europa and changed buses. I realized that there was a bus that would take us to the theatre in the historical center and it would take us up a little higher for a great view of the city! I was really excited that I realized this, and it saved us a lot of time and them a lot of walking! When we arrived at the theatre, the guy remembered me from the other night when we tried to see it. He was kind and said that we could have a look around. So, we went to see the inside; we went upstairs to one fo the balconies, I took some pictures on stage, and I showed them the area beneath the theatre. It was all just as gorgeous as I remembered it! I love that theatre and desperately want to see a show there!
Then we walked down the Corso. I stopped in Zara and got a really cute chunky sweater that is SO warm, and then this really cute little crop jacket thing that I adore! We were also able to go in the chocolate store and Barbara bought some chocolates while we looked at the wines and such! THe store was rather empty compared to normal, but I still love it for the atmosphere. Our next stop was the Calabrese Specialita' store! My momma bought some liquore di melone from there. Not wanting to buy groceries to cook, we went to a tavola calda and tried some different pizzas and this pasta with tortellini in it. We had pizza with potatoes on top (sooo good), pizza rustica, and the pasta thing!
Per the usual, I talked to Nick for a while, and then I went to sleep!
I do not want my momma to leave!
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