Questa è la mia vita: From Reggio to Parma, with (my) love!

Today was my last day in Reggio. Nick was so kind to agree to go to the "birthday party" for Loris Malaguzzi, which meant he got to hang out in a preschool, a famous preschool, for a few hours listening to people talk about early childhood/The Hundred Languages of Children. First, we went to have breakfast, and ran into Lisa. So, the three of us had breakfast, great conversation, and good laughs! I love spending time with people who make me laugh! We realized that we had been sitting there talking so long, that it was time to go to the "party". So, we all ran to our rooms and got our stuff to walk!

On our walk, this was the first of Reggio that Nick had seen! I think he liked it! It was so much fun for him to be with me, and to get to share this with him! When we arrived, there were already quite a few people there, and very few seats. I took a minute to show him around the school just a little bit, and then we were offered seats near the front. Lisa had a seat in the back, so we were separated. Thankfully they had a grown up size chair for Nick because he is soooo tall. I had a child's chair, which isn't easy, but definitely easier for me than him! I was sitting next to one of our speakers for the week, and near Maddalena. I asked the other lady if we could take some pictures today of the speakers and such, and she said that she did not see why we couldn not. I was very excited about this, and thus I can share the pictures! The morning was a lot of talking, and introducing the 3rd edition of the Hundred Languages of Children book.

The whole thing was really interesting, and it was fun to listen to these women talk who are some of the leaders in early childhood, and definitely in Reggio. Sweet Nick was so patient, and perhaps even enjoyed some of it? They did an introduction to Loris Malaguzzi, and I think it was his wife that was there. They mentioned that someone in his family had died recently, and the woman was there with the grandchildren, and she was about to cry. I did not catch who had died, but I felt sorry for the lady there that was so sad. After the introductions, the Mayor of Reggio Emilia, Nick's new favorite person, stood up to talk a bit.

He talked about how when he was a child, his father faught against the spread of the Reggio Emilia preschools because he, like many other Italians at the time (and maybe now????), did not think that children belonged in school at such a young age! His father, again, like many Italians, believed that the best place for a child that young is at home with the mother/family. He said that now he has a full appreciation for the schools, their role in the community, and the effects that they have on children. He also told a funny "story" about how if he were standing in a funny position, we might not pay as much attention to what he says, as we would to his body position...or maybe we would?? This is important to know because Carla Rinaldi then stood in a funny position to start her speaking portion of the morning.

She was so funny, endearing, and she made me want to be her friend for life! These people are so intelligent, hardworking, passionate, driven, and I want to work with them! These are the kind of people I want to work with! Carla introduced Lella Gandini and Carolyn Edwards, two of the editors of The Hundred Languages of Children.

I did not realize that Lella was Carolyn's graduate student many years ago. They have been working together for years. They told stories of working with Loris Malaguzzi and how he did things at the last minute for presentation, conferences, etc., and how he would revise things a million times, etc. IT was fun to hear these stories of how long all of these people have been working together, and to hear just a bit about their amazing work! Seriously, I want to do things like they've done! How do I do this??? Anyone know???

They told the process of writing the first edition of the book, what they added in the second book, and then the third. I wish I could have bought a copy of the book there and had them sign it, but it was 30 euros (wayyyyy too much), and also I had bought too many things already, and I am not sure how I will get them all back to the U.S. anyway! They told stories of their time working together, and then showed covers of the book as it has been translated into other languages! It was long, but really interesting! It was such a privilege to hear them talk!

The Mayor mentioned earlier that he had not yet received a copy of the newest edition, and they later presented him with one, and then he gave them some stuff.

Lisa and Romy had to leave before it was over, and I was sad that I did not get to hug them goodbye. However, we stayed until the end! Then Nick was so kind to let me walk around and look some more! Then, they of course fed us some really good local foods, and they opened some proseco, etc. I was really glad that I was able to stay for this, and grateful to Nick for coming with me! He is so sweet!

When we left the preschool, we started walking around and exploring for a few minutes. Then, we went back to the hotel and got our stuff. We took it to the main building to have them hold it while we explored. Most things were closed, but Nick did some pigeons to mess with, and he knows that birds scare me! However, it was rather comical!

He also took some pictures of himself, and I took pictures of him too...and we took an "upside down" picture!

Is he a beautiful boy or what???

We were able to see the outside of some of the buildings, and then we tried one more local food that was on my list:

Chizza is a flaky bread that is made with cheese!

It was really simple, but really good! We walked around a bit more, and then decided to top off our food, and trip to Reggio Emilia, with some gelato from Emilia.

Nick's first gelato from Emilia. He liked it, as he should have! After this, we decided it was time to head to Parma. So, we went back to the hotel, got our stuff, and started walking to the train station. It was still snowing, and it was pretty cold! However, I was SOOOOO incredibly excited to go to Parma! I was excited for many reasons: 1. It was in the book I read when I first arrived in Italy, Playing for Parma 2. The food 3. The theatre 4. I just want to see as much of Italy as possible
So, we bought our tickets and waited...and this is what happened in the waiting:

We always have fun! SO, we caught our train, and it was only like a 15 minute ride, but of course, we took more pictures!

It was snowing sooooooooo much! It was pretty though! I was just so excited to get there. When we did get there, we decided to walk to the hotel. That was a little difficult due to the snow, but we made it safe and sound. The snow began picking up, and so we decided to stay inside for a bit, listen to music, get warm, and relax. The snow was soooo beautiful though! We watched it fall for about 2ish hours before we prepared to go out in it. Here was the view from our room:

When we arrived

Two hours later

When we did decide to go out, we bundled up, and prepared for the cold/massive amounts of snow, and to look for something to eat! The amount of snow was incredible to a girl from Alabama who does not see much snow!! It was cold, but beautiful. It was beautiful until my UGGS were soaked and two pairs of socks were squishing water...and my toes were aching! However, we saw some beautiful things, and started making a plan for what we wanted to see tomorrow! Nick searched for somewhere to eat, online, and we found it. We decided to have an early dinner.

Parma was gorgeous in the snow! THe place we ate at said that they had a private party coming at 9, so everyone had to be gone by then. Haha..it was 7, so I think we're good. This ended up being quite comical because we were there until almost 9 and the restaurant was full of people clearly not there with a large party...nice try people! I was so excited to sit down, take off a pair of wet socks and shoes, and hid my 1 pair of socks feet under the table the whole time! :) I almost had this for dinner:

But then I decided it was best to stick to an appetizer of local meats and cheeses, and then some cappaletti in brodo, which was hands down the best one I had. Holy cow the food was soo good!

Nick's meal!

THe food was amazing, and it was nice to be warm! After we finished our food and bottle of amazing wine, we started making our way back to the hotel. We stopped to draw some snow art, and decided against snow angels! Here are the results of our playtime!