to Greece

No surprise, Valeria's class was still divided.  I did find out that in all of these days she has been doing this, she has only tested 8 students, which means like 24 to go, which means I will probably not have the whole class for another 6 weeks...oh wait, school is over in.......9.  She is killing me.  B. and S. tried to explain it all to me, and some other stuff.  I am telling you, this system is...well, I just cannot understand it or wrap my brain around it.

Patrizia's class was good.  We set up their websites together, and I was glad we did it as a class.  It makes me much easier.  We talked about how to get their pages started, and watched a few short videos I had.  We didn't do much else, because I had the other stuff planned for tomorrow.  However, it was fine!  They were slightly distracted by the computers anyway.  I gave them the assignment of putting their work on the website, and then the bell rang.

For my break, I went to the bar to get a cappuccino and then to the teachers' room to use the computer.

Linda's class was AWESOME!  The group that had "Brooklyn" presented.  It was just two of my girls, but they were INCREDIBLE...OUT OF THIS WORLD!  I was so super proud of them!  They had well thoughtout slides, with pictures, words, etc.  However, they were not super crowded and they did NOT just read directly from the slides.  They were well informed, and when they could not think of a word, they took their time and did a wonderful job!  I was so proud of them that I could hardly stand it.  I was able to ask the others what they had learned, and they all had an answer!  They had been paying attention!  YAY!! This class is by far one of the best classes when it comes to listening and being respectful!  They seem to get it!  They used the sheets I had printed for them (of the boroughs) and they had to write down one thing that they learned, etc. It was incredible.  I think Linda was really impressed with them and happy about it!  I left there on CLOUD 9!!

That morning, I asked B and S. (in Valeria's class) about getting a haircut in Cosenza.  They agreed, along with C., to take me to the place they go.  So, I went and met the guy, they told him I wanted layers, etc. and he said to come back on Tuesday with a picture and they would cut it.  I am nervous.  B and S suggested bangs and I freaked out on them!  NO BANGS FOR ME PLEASE!  Anyway, it was nice of them to go with me, and I think S. is going to go with me on Tuesday.  We all parted ways, and I went home to eat lunch, talked to my momma for a little bit, talked to Nick, and then headed back to school for my afternoon lesson.

My afternoon lesson was okay.  We had to move downstairs again in order to use the computer.  They wanted to talk about American holidays.  They wanted to do Christmas first; they were not very impressed by The Rockettes, thus I lost a tiny bit of respect for them.  We talked about Christmas lights, foods (had to explain biscuits vs. cookies), candy canes, mistletoe (and then had a discussion about cultural differences when it comes to standing close to people to talk and such...this was funny because I had a girl come up and let me demonstrate it with her), Starbucks Christmas drinks, etc.  A few of them had been to a Starbucks in London or Ireland; one person had been to a Starbucks in Canada.  Then they wanted to talk about Thanksgiving, so we went through the Thanksgiving lesson rather quickly, and I was starting to lose some of the non-speakers to their phones, each other, etc.  They asked to talk about Easter, so we did a quick comparison on the board (they definitely do NOT have the Easter Bunny).  We held on until about 10 minutes until class was over, and then I just let them ask me random questions.  They really are a great group, and very sweet! 

I was glad to be home after a long day.  I sent some quick emails, worked on lesson plans, and then just worked on random stuff the rest of the night.  Nick and I booked our trip to Greece, and I'm really excited!  We are spending a few nights in Athens and a few nights in Mykonos.  We are going the day April leaves.  I am really excited about this!  I've always wanted to go there, and now I get to go and it is with Nick.  I nearly jumped out of my skin when he was able to work out all of the details.

Overall, it was a GREAT DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I am beside myself with excitement and happiness!