Montessori and sickness

This morning we got up a little early because we were going to Perugia to meet the Montessori lady in Perugia that Anna Paola had arranged for me.  So, we ate breakfast, got ready, and then went to catch the bus to Perugia.  Nick found my camera:

 The bus ride was nice...a bit hot, and Nick had to move where he could lean on a window!  It was a bit warm in there, but the scenery was nice.  When we got there, we had time to walk around for about 15 minutes.  We saw a few things, including the university there...where Amanda Knox went...but also our Fulbright friend, Lindsay.  Here are some of the views we had:

 

 

The University!

Spoiler: You can tell here that Nick was not feeling well!

 

 

Then we went to meet Luana, the lady from the Montessori school.  She took us just down the hill, to a school I had spotted earlier and wondered if that was the school. 

The tour of the school was great!  She showed us every classroom, we got to watch their music/movement time, and she showed me the Montessori materials and explained some of them.  It was really interesting, but I discovered that I'm not really a fan of the Montessori classroom and approach.  The music time was really fun to watch...the children were really cute, but they all did the exact same thing at the same time!  It's hard to explain, and I will have to give all of it more thought.  The materials and environment did not seem to stimulate creativity though...everything was the same in every classroom.  The two ladies who took us around were really sweet to show us everything.  We saw the garden as well.  I dont have many words for this experience.  It was incredible...and I am so fortunate that I had this experience, but it was the beginning of my serious doubts about the Montessori schools.  This was the first Montessori school I had ever been in.  It's hard to express my thoughts in a blog...if you want to know more, email me...or talk to me later!

After we left, we started walking some, but Nick was feeling really sick.  So, I got some chocolate gelato, because Perugia is famous for its chocolate, and I love gelato.  Then, we went to catch the bus.  Poor Nick had to lay on me while we waited, and then he slept most of the time on the bus.  I was holding his elbow up on the windowsill to keep it from falling.  He was so adorable, but yet so sick feeling.  When we got off the bus, we got him home, and he went to lay in bed. 

We spent the rest of the day sleeping and laying around.  Nick didn't eat dinner!  It was a lazy bones type night.  My poor Nick did not feel well at all! 

To school with AP

My first day in Gubbio started off pretty rough!  I was feeling terrible, and had to delay going to school with Anna Paola for an hour.  Nick had to go to his other school, with Marina.  So, I met AP at school at 9.  Well, first I had trouble getting out of Nick's courtyard and had to call him for help!  I talked to him for a few minutes, and then he had to go teach again.  Then I met AP at school!  Her class was awesome!  They were so sweet, talkative, and really good at speaking English!  They asked me questions, and we just talked.  We talked about where I was from..how I met Nick...and some other random things.  THEN...the classroom door opened, and it was NICK!!!!!!!! I was so excited to see him!  The students all started asking us to kiss!  Haha...only in Italy!  We didn't, but it was cute!  So then we both did some talking...Nick then sat down.  We talked about state flags, where we live, etc. etc.  One boy asked me what my favorite place in Gubbio was, and I told him I did not know the name, and told him to ask Nick.  I found out later that Nick told him to ask that question! Of course my favorite place in Gubbio is la piazza e' nostra!!  So, we had a great hour, and it was fun to be with Anna Paola.  She is so incredible!  When this class was over, she had to go teach, and so Nick and I went to get some coffee/hot chocolate at his regular cafe before going back to his apartment to finish some laundry! 

We went back to school at noon to watch one of AP's older classes do presentation.  We were in a computer lab, and Nick and I discovered what it is like to be a bored Italian student in the back of a computer lab.  I did not really understand the Italian, and the English part was about Canterbury Tales, which I care nothing about...sooo....we doodled, wrote notes to each other, googled Chaucer (and I had memories of having to memorize the first 15-20 lines...and silently goofed off.  We were attentive enough to make comments at the end, especially Nick (in Italian).  We were just doing an experiment to see how our students feel.  haha...oh well..

After this, we waited with AP, and then went to her house for lunch, like Nick does every Wednesday.  Her oldest daughter cooked.  She made some wonderful pasta with pest (my favorite), veggies, and some AH-MAZING chicken!  THe lunch was wonderful, and it was so much fun to hang out with AP and her daughter.  We talked about all sorts of things.  AP has a really nice apartment as well! It is really spacious, but full of fun books, games, etc.  She has a younger daughter who is 6.  She was at school, but I am going to her school on Friday to observe because it is a Montessori school; hopefully I will meet her then! After we ate, Nick and I had conversation with Annalisa and her friend who came to talk.  We talked about sooo many things, including senior pranks in U.S. high schools.  I told them about the senior prank that happened my sophomore year when they put the car in the tunnel at school...I'm still rather impressed with that.  We talked about the Cheri, the event we are all going to Gubbio for in May, and many other things.  It was a lot of fun! Anna Paola left to go get Luisa Giulia, the 6 year old, but then called to say that LG went home with a friend and she would be out shopping.  So,  after a bit, Nick and I left.

We went to the grocery store to get breakfast things and stuff for dinners.  Then we took it all home and rested. 

Then we had to meet the principal of the Montessori school in Gubbio that we were seeing on Friday.   This school is in the same building as the library, and it was an old Monastery.  It took them a few minutes to find us, but then she took us into a room and asked some questions.  She wanted to know why I was interested, was I a Montessori teacher, etc.    NIck had to play translator quite a bit because I was really nervous, and I did not understand her that wel.  I did not get a great vibe from her from the beginning.  I think she, like the principal at the one school, was super disappointed that I was not fluent in Italian. 

WHen we left there, Nick informed me that their plan was to show me around the school and then "interview" me about American approaches, American Montessori, etc.  I tried to be VERY clear that I am not an American Montessori teacher...but I did not succeed apparently.  Then he told me that they wanted to have someone film this...ummm...no! 

Anyway, so we went home...relaxed...talked...laughed...and eventually made dinner. First we went to la piazza e' nostra!!  

We took the wine we had opened, and though we had not ordered chilled wine, chilled wine we got!  We danced a little bit to some music, took some pictures, and when we could not stand the cold any longer, we went home.  It was so cold that I had on: shirt, fleece, columbia, and then Nick's North Face...itw as cold...oooh...and my 2 gloves and toboggan...thus why I look like a snow beast in the pictures!

 

 

Tonight people were respectful of the fact that la piazza e' nostra, and we had it all to ourselves!  Once we were too cold, we went back to the apartment, made dinner, and had a wonderful candlelight dinner, which Nick did all by himself!  So sweet!  He's a keeper I think!

 Nick was so sweet and surprised me with a candlelight dinner.  He made dinner while I talked to Erin with skype phone!  ERIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love my Erin thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiss much!!  He closed the kitchen door, and I had NO idea what he was doing in there!  So, when it was time for dinner, he opened the door (I had already hung up with Erin), and he had a dinner waiting on me!  Guarda:

Catacombs and candlelight

A video (1 of like 5) that Nick took when we were leaving the catacombs.  We were walking on opposite sides of the road...because he was being a mean pinna...and then this is how he made up for it...it should be noted that nobody was truly mad!!!  The awkward wave?? That's because I had NO idea he was videoing me...or why he was waving! 

This blog will primarily consist of pictures because it was an adventure, but it was also a day of taking photos with my love.  I'll try to see if I can get a video or two to load as well! The morning started off by joining the boys for breakfast.  I was sad that we all had to part ways once again, but we knew it was coming.  So, Myles was the first to leave us.  Then David was leaving to go to The Vatican.  Nick and I talked about how this was reminiscent of the first day we spent alone in Rome when it was supposed to be me, him, and David, but David left to go catch his train!

 So, left to ourselves, we went to get our stuff together, take it downstairs to have them hold it (which was a bit sketchy because it was semi out in the open), and then we were off to the catacombs.  We did a couple of "attraversiamo"s (let's cross over...the street) trying to get in the right direction, only to discover that I needed to have my museum card with me and had to run back into the hotel.  Then we were headed in the right direction for the buses to the catacombs.  We found the correct bus right away, but had to go find a ticket.  The guy told us that he was leaving in 8 minutes, and the first place we went to get the tickets sent us to another place, Just as we were walking back up to the bus, it pulled away.  Another bus came right away, but then we had to sit on it for like 20ish minutes.  When we started going, it was a nice ride.  We had no idea where we were really supposed to get off the bus, but there were some other people on the bus going to the catacombs as well.  When we first saw a sign for them, we went to the next stop, thinking that it was taking us to some other catacombs.  We decided to just get off the bus and go back to the first ones.  This was slightly dangerous, but it's Italy...they are used to driving on the other side of the road to avoid things! Haha....

So, we went in the gate, and started the long walk to the actual catacombs.  Without a guide book, or any idea of what we were doing, we just started walking and searching for signs.  So, what did we do on this long walk of ours?? We took pictures of each other! Haha..

 

 

 

I spotted sheep, which have now been renamed as, "holy frickin' cows!!"

 

 

We took more, but those are some of the highlights.  We finally found the catacombs.  We bought our tickets for the last tour of the morning, and then I had to go to the bathroom.  I left Nick with the camera, and this is just a little bit of what happened when I did that:

Silly Nick wanted to document that I went to the bathroom.  I think it is safe to say that none of us need pictures to know that I went to the bathroom...but we now have them.
  

They then divided everyone by the language that they needed.  THen we were on our way.  We went into this little church like place where the lady gave us an introduction to the catacombs.  Apparently, according to her, we had chosen the oldest ones in Rome.  So, this was where Christians buried their dead many years ago.  She showed us what individual "graves" looked like, family ones, and sadly, children.  In an odd way, it was exciting to see the catacombs...I think it was mainly because they are so old...so ancient...such a piece of history! IT was a little eerie once down there, but they told us that in the public area, the bodies have been removed...that was a bit more disturbing than the alternative.  The one picture I took:

 After the tour, we started walking back to the bus stop!  We saw some more "holy frickin' cows", also known as sheep, and took a few more pictures.  SO then we walked to the bus stop, where I insisted on talking in Italian...but that did not last long.  SO then we took the bus back to the area of our hotel.  We decided to walk a bit and find something to eat.  We stopped at St. John again, and took some pictures outside...walked inside to see it again!

 

Do we look happy? It's because we are!

We ended up eating at the same place we ate the last time we were in this neighborhood; the place where Nick dropped his knife and spilled the water!  Haha...we split a pizza (well, I had some...Nick ate most), and had a little bit of their specialty for the day, lasagna.  HOLY COW...the lasagna was incredible.  I dont remember why I looked this way, but this was the only picture from lunch:

After this we walked a little bit, looking for a decent, not stupid sweatshirt for me to take back to Cosenza so that I would not be as cold.  We ended up like 5 minutes from the Colosseum, and with the idea of, "what is our life when we can say, 'hey, isn't the Colosseum just around the corner?? Should we go see it?'"...we went to see it...You cannot see the Colosseum without taking a few pictures though! We were in serious photography mode today, if you cannot already tell!

 

 

Along the way we also went into the church, Santa Maria Maggiore.  It was gorgeous, and definitely something to see!!

 

 

After all of this, we had to get back to the hotel to get a cab.  We took the cab to the train station, bought tickets, had to go to the farmacia, and then went to get our train.   We thought that Anna Paola, Nick's teacher should be on our train, but we had no way of knowing.  So, we settled in for the ride.  We spent the 2ish hours talking, laughing, and just enjoying our time together.  We found out that Anna Paola was in fact on our train, but we did not know where.  We had be joking around saying, "dove Anna Paola??"...and one of the last times we said it, we saw her stand up a few rows in front of us, and then she spotted us!  I love her...she is so incredibly sweet!  She came back to talk for a few minutes and said, "I did not know you were in this car...I did not hear any funny accents!!" Haha...well AP, that's because we weren't talking that loudly, which is a novel concepts sometimes on the Italian trains!  It was good to see her, but then she got off the train to take a train to Perugia, where her car was parked!  Our pictures from the train: 

 

When we got to Gubbio, we had to wait on the bus at the station, so we split the lone cornetto, and I had to use the disgusting bathroom, and then about an hour later we took the bus.  We had serious conversation on the bus...that was...umm...fun?  We got to Nick's apartment, after we had to walk a bit in the cold.  We settled in a bit, and we made some quick pasta.  then went to La piazza e' nostra, which is our special place in Gubbio!  

THe rest of the night was just resting and then SLEEP!