This week FLEW BY!! Friday came too soon! I was excited though because it was the day we got to go to our atelier sessions. I had chosen to go to the dance atelier,
and they told us to wear comfortable clothes, so it was a great excuse
to wear leggings and my sweater dress! I ate breakfast with Romy and
Lisa, and then we decided to get a cab to the International Center
because it was snowing so much. It worked out really well, because Pat,
one of the other Connecticut ladies I had met was taking a cab, so we
all shared! This ended up costing like 1 euro each...can't beat that!
Plus, I got some really pretty pictures of the snow!
So when we all arrived, everyone was a little confused about where we were supposed to be for our ateliers because they were all over the city! They got us semi-organized in the conference room and then divided us up for our buses.
I had chosen to do the dance/movement atelier for obvious reasons! So, our bus took us to a theatre in town where the professional dance company is located. When we walked in, it was a building that very much resembled an old warehouse, which we later learned was true. This was in what was/is the industrial area of Reggio Emilia. I was really excited for us to get started! This company worked with the Reggio Emilia schools a few years ago to do a long project where the dancers worked with the children doing different things, and then it all resulted in the dancers choreographing something based off of the children's movements, etc. We started our day with a tour of the studio and such, and we were able to take some pictures:
It was so much fun to be in a studio! 
I was so excited about this! Something just felt good about being there, but it made me want to dance again. It made me miss Rockette stuff! So, they told us a little bit about the company, and it is a true professional company, and they do a lot of performances. They do not have a school there, but they do sometimes bring in young, local dancers to do workshops and stuff. It was a really nice place, and they had a lot of space! So next they sat us down and explained the dance project itself. They looked at how children use their bodies and their space naturally; children use a space in a 360 way, as opposed to adults/dancers who use a performance space in a frontal way (i.e. the audience is in front of the performance). They had children do activities like dancing/drawing on paper and they made notes of the way the children moved. They did other activities that go the children involved in movement, and I will write more about this in other things/powerpoint, but I learned a lot, and it definitely renewed my interest in the creative movement area, which is what my thesis was about. We watched videos of their performances, and it was a bit shocking to see some topless modern dancing, but no worries, the girls were flat as pancakes. Haha. I felt like we spent way too much time on this, and did not have much time to "dance", but I was really excited when we got to it. We did a lot of movement, and feeling the space! They said that they could spot the dancers in the crowd...haha...here are a few goofy pictures:
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| With the company member |
The dancer guy was really nice, and was excited when I said I lived in Cosenza. His dad is from Reggio Calabria, which is not far from here. He was really nice, and I had a lot of fun! TOwards the end, the company was warming up in the other studio, and I really enjoyed watching them warm-up, and then watching them do "center" for a bit! They were really good!
When this over, the buses took us back to the International Center for lunch. At this point, Emili had to run back to her hotel to get her luggage and catch her train! Heejung hadn't shown up at all today, and we eventually found out that she left for her train early! It was kind of sad to see her go, but she had to! I had a great group for the week! I feel so fortunate to have met all of them!
The people who helped with the food atelier were supposed to have helped make lunch, and they had no idea what we were having for lunch. However, the lunch was AH-MAZING...and I was definitely hungry after a long morning that included running around and such! Pictures do it better justice than my words:
So, we had two pastas (only one of them was good for me), some "salad" stuff, and some mozzarella, and then this soupy thing with "noodles" made from breadcrumbs, cheese, lemon something, and _____. (Yesterday we had some really good, thick spinach soup stuff...I really liked it...) The fruit we had today was also really good! It was a great lunch, a little different, but Italy is teaching me to try new things! Here are some pictures of the food area in the International Center: 
It really is a beautiful place! 
We had some down time after we ate lunch, and so we (Lisa, Romy, me, and Tareka) sat around talking for a bit. I think I may have looked around in the bookstore one last time, and then we got ready for our last session.
The afternoon session was basically them talking about a few projects
that they have done with the children. Basically, their children are
brilliant and say amazing things! :)
Then they talked a lot about how Reggio is not a recipe or model to be replicated, but rather it is its own approach, a way or working that is meant to inspire and create dialogue. It was a great way to end, and I think we were all needing the week to be over because it was INTENSE...it was busy, FUN, amazing, crazy, informative, incredible, and worth EVERY CENT (and believe me, it cost me A LOT of cents). I could not have asked for more! I was sad to see it end, but end it must. I had to get a picture with Maddalena before I left, so I asked her and Jovanka, two BRILLIANT pedagogistas!!
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| Maddalena, me, & Jovanka |
I want to bring Maddalena home with me...to Cosenza AND the U.S. I think she could straighten out some of these teens, and then her child development knowledge is INCREDIBLE!!! They were kind of rushing us out because they had to change some things around in the room. We went out into the lobby area and took some pictures, and I needed some pics with my flat people!
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| Some of the people I needed to bring to Reggio with me: Kelly Avery, Maria, Ms. Hudson, Dr. T., Erin, April, & Mrs. Malissa (and my Avery girls of course!) |
Don't laugh...I love my flat people! THey were setting up for a storytelling event going on that night, and I loved the color they were putting in some water!
So then we took a cab back into the center of town, and had it take us to Emilia to get gelato! I love this gelato, and the only thing wrong with this place is that they do not have a coffee flavor! :( We ran into some other people from the conference and talked to them, but then they left to catch their train! We also met some other Americans that are in Reggio doing a theatre performance, and ironically their mother works with some of the people visiting for the conference. SMALL WORLD!!
As I was walking, he called and said that they were about 20 minutes delayed, so I killed some time in a store looking around. THen I started walking again! I was talking to my momma during this time, and talked to her for a while! It was so good to talk to my momma. I talked to her all the way to the station, and then for a few minutes while I started waiting. I was standing out on the platform waiting, which was fine for a while, but it was SOOOO cold there, and still snowing by the way! Sooo much snow! I dont know that I've ever seen so much consistent snow fall in my entire life!
So, I waited out on the platform as long as I could, but after one delay of the train, I had to go inside. Then, they were delayed AGAIN!! It was now like half an hour after they were supposed to arrive, and like 10 minutes before we were supposed to be at dinner. I had to call Romy, despite any international charges, and let her know that we were going to be late due to the Italian trains. Right after I did this, they announced that the train would be another 20 minutes.. Yay Trenitalia. I knew something was wrong when one of the fast trains had been sitting on the tracks for forever and a day. Just as they announced that the train would be another 20 minutes, I saw a train pulling into the station. I ran outside, counted the tracks, and realized that this would be his train. I did not see him right off, so I went down into the underpassage and there I found him! I ran to give him a hug, and realized just how much I'd missed him! So, we headed to the cabs, and decided to just go straight to the restaurant, and figured that they would hold his luggage! Yay for Nick finally arriving! When we reached the restaurant, Lisa and Romy were just arriving as well. The outside was really quaint, and the snow made it even better. I do not have GREAT pictures of it, but good enough I suppose!
Lisa had asked me to show her pictures of Nick earlier that day, and she thought he was sooo cute, and she told me the same thing when she saw him in person! She had also noted how much he smiled in all of our pictures, and said that she could tell that he adored me! SHe noticed the same thing in person, and also how much I adore him! So, we had a great dinner! It was me, Nick, Lisa, Romy, Kookai, Tareka, and another girl that Tareka met. The food was really good, and we had a great time! Nick and I tried the local wine, Lambrusco, which is a fizzy type wine, and it was good, but i prefer regular red wine! However, I was excited to try it! Nick had the pumpkin tortelli, but we all loved our food! 
When we were getting our coats to leave, Lisa made the comment that she felt like our mom! haha..Silly Lisa! I had such a great time with these two women this week! **Side note: I was the youngest person of everyone I met, and I did not see too many others that looked my age! That is so bizarre to me!**
So then we all made our way back to the hotel! We parted ways, agreeing to see each other in the morning at the birthday thing at the Diana school!
I cannot believe this week is over, but it has been incredible!
ALSO, THIS IS THE FIRST DAY OF OVER A WEEK WITH NICK!!! YAY!
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