Early morning train station

So, we all got up really early and ready to go to the train station.  Christy and I took a quick picture before we took their stuff downstairs.

Francisco came and took us to the train station, and helped them get their luggage loaded. Once they were on the train, Francisco and I stood there talking while we waited for the train to actually leave.  Around here I have to make sure that they actually left the station; I feel like you just never know!  SO, once they were off, Francisco took me home so I could get ready for church later. 

I came home and showered, rested, and got dressed to go meet his dad in Piazza Europa.  My Cuban friend was there, but she does not really like me, so she does not talk.  His dad was later than usual, which was slightly concerning (just because it was so unusual), but he eventually arrived and we went to church.  Church was amazing, and I was reminded of how much I love worshiping in Italian (the music, the words, etc).  It is challenging to learn the words, but amazing all at the same time to just wrap my brain around the idea that no matter the language, we can worship God.  All around the world there are Christians worshiping my God, our God, in our respective languages.  What really matters is the condition of our hearts!  I was also reminded that worship and church in general is NOT what I can get out of the service, ma anzi what I can bring to God during said service. 

After church I came home to eat lunch, clean up my room, put things back where they belong (blankets, etc), and start getting my stuff together to leave on Wednesday.  I worked on lessons plan stuff, blogs, etc.  I also found out that Nick's brother's mock trial beat Auburn...I always like when people beat Auburn...at anything! ;)

It was a rather relaxing day overall. 

Tomorrow starts another week!  A week when I get to see Nick! 

Tour Guide

We were slow to get up and out, but that was fine by me!  I knew that Christy and Caroline were going to be a bit tired and perhaps a bit jet lagged.  We ate breakfast, took showers, got dressed, and headed out to walk.  We walked slowly and I gave them the "tour" of Cosenza.  By the time we reached the Corso, it was around 11, and I suggested gelato because I knew that it would be a while before we made it back to the apartment for lunch.  We went to the place that told me the other day that they had quite a few gluten free ones, which made me happy because then Christy had quite a few to choose from; I felt bad though that Caroline only had 2 dairy free ones to choose from!  I tried a new flavor that had crushed up cannolis in it; it was good, but not my favorite. 

So then we walked the length of the corso and at the Commune, there was some sort of ceremony or something going on.  THere were children dressed in different costumes, and I finally figured out that it had something to do with recycling.  Does this mean that Cosenza has finally decided to start a REAL recycling program?!?! Good, I can remove all of the plastic bottles from the top of my refrigerator!  Anyway, the children were dressed in costumes and were taking turns going into the center to dance and sing.  It seemed a bit unorganized, and I never really grasped the full meaning behind what they were doing, but the children did look cute in their homemade costumes. 

 

 We made our way across the bridge and to the historical center.  We went inside the Duomo, and then I took them to show them the ruins that had been covered up.  Then the idea struck me to take them to the library that I had been wanting to see and had not seen yet.  So, we went in and I asked if we could look around.  They had us sign these things saying who we were and where we were from first.  WHen they saw that I was living in Cosenza, they got excited.  They had a guy come to give us a tour.  They were really sweet asking questions about why i was here, etc. etc.  Then the guy said that he understood a little bit of English, but I would have to translate for Christy and Caroline.  I told him that this would be just fine as long as he promised to speak slowly.  He said that he understood because that is how he felt about English.  So, with that we started the tour. 

It was a really nice library!  It is of course in an old building that I thought was quite beautiful  He first showed us some ruins that were before Christ, and they have preserved them in the library (and they are connected to the ones outside). 

 

 

He wanted to show us some books that pre-dated the Gutenberg, but they had been taken off display.  He took us to a few rooms where you could come to study, and then a computer room.  He also showed us a music room that I think Nick would LOVE!  There were also some great views from some of the windows.  

 

 

I really enjoyed seeing the library, and they told me that I could come back anytime to study!  I think I will take them up on this at some point. 

After the library, we walked up the the theatre, and thankfully nothing was going on, so they let us look around.  I do LOVE this theatre.  It is so beautiful and so different from anything we have in the U.S. 

After this, we walked back to my apartment, and ate the lunch that we had clearly earned at this point from all of the walking.  We had my favorite lunch: turkey, mozzarella, tomato, bread, and olive oil.  After lunch we rested and slept some. 

After this, they showered and we got dressed to go walk around for passeggiata time.  We just walked the Corso, went to the chocolate/tea/wine shop and Christy bought herself some gluten free Venchi chocolate!  It was a simple, yet nice evening.  I saw a few of my students and gave them hugs and kisses. 

We came back, spent some time talking, and ate a small dinner (basically just a little bit of pasta).  We had another bottle of wine that we bought at the grocery store earlier.  We just spent the evening talking and trying to figure out how to get them to the train station tomorrow morning.  Valeria had called a cab for us, but then Francisco called and said that he could take us.  So, Valeria cancelled and I was just so grateful that she had done all of this for me. 

So with that, we went to bed knowing that we had an early morning on Sunday!

Postcards

Friday was another awesome day at school!  Last night it struck me to do a postcard activity with some of my students!  I collected postcards from around the U.S. to bring with me, and now it will finally pay off!

Patrizia's class was first.  I divided them into 4 groups and gave them each a postcard of NYC.  I had them work together to answer/write about the following things:
1. What do you see in the picture?
2. Describe the picture.  Colors, buildings (how tall/how many), what do you think might be happening in the picture, etc.
3. What do you think like would be like if you lived in this picture?
4. How might life be different in this picture from Cosenza?

They were incredible.  They were ALL working together, helping each other, and even the weaker students were participating.  I was so proud.  Towards the end I was helping one of the groups of students with copying their writing to a piece of paper that they could give me to take, and the bell rang.  When the bell rang, not a SINGLE student budged from what they were doing.  They all sat there and worked for like the next 5 minutes...it was incredible...and unbelievable.  It really seemed to interest them, and that made me so happy!  Patrizia was really pleased as well!  I was just blown away by their commitment to doing this project.  Patrizia even said, “I think when they feel like they have the power and control, they enjoy it a lot more!”  EXACTLY….that’s what I’ve been trying to say!  She gets it!  I had no doubt that she would though, she is incredible.  

 

 

For my break I went to get a cappuccino, and when I walked in the girl said, “cappuccino??”  I love that…I love when they recognize you and know what you want.  I also had a small cornetto and then went to the teacher’s room to work on the computers a bit. 
  
Linda’s class started in the actual classroom with her giving them a “lecture” about valuing the materials that I bring or hand outs.  Yesterday, we found that someone had crumpled up and torn up the handout I had given them to use as an aid in learning from their friends’ presentations.  So, she was not happy, and had a talk with them about it!  I love to see the teachers demanding respect from the students, but also doing it in a respectful way so that they are still earning the respect.  Then we went to the lab and the group that had “The Bronx” presented and they did a GREAT job.  They found a lot of information.  They talked about crime (stereotypes, etc.), food, the zoo, museums, etc.   They were WONDERFUL.  They struggled a bit more with the language, but they were still incredible.  The one thing that they said that I questioned was that the Bronx zoo is the biggest in the U.S.  Is it really bigger than the San Diego zoo?!?!?!? I did not say anything, but I do question that.  I was hoping that one of the girls in the group would have done more speaking, but oh well.  One of the students, who is really good at English, was speaking so quickly that the others could not understand her.  We did a lot of laughing and the whole class was engaged, as well as Linda.  I am LOVING this project!  One boy in the class had on some jeans that had the flag of Great Britain on them, and then a jacket with the American flag on it.  She had him stand up and show everyone, and it was just such a relaxing and fun day with this group!  They are all so involved in the class and I LOVE them for that.  Linda asked me if Americans still did not like the British and/or did not recognize or like the British English language.  She said that she assumed we still disliked them because of history!  I do not think I know one single American that is still holding a grudge from the American Revolution; in fact, we won that war; we have our freedom.  So, I was very shocked by this question, and I have some ideas about how this relates to Italian culture and the history of the country and their loyalty to their regions, not necessarily the country as a whole.  However, if you want to know these ideas, you will have to ask because I will not be writing them here.  

For my second break I walked the Corso, went in a few clothing stores, went to the chocolate/tea/wine shop to look around, and then tried to print my train tickets for next week, but the printer was not working properly.  They were finally taking the Christmas lights down on the Corso.  I had JUST asked my students about this, and they said that it was because the city had no money...the VERY next day (today), they were taking them down! haha

 My final Friday class is Rosina’s class.  She told me that her son is moving to a city in the north for a job, and she is very sad.  I did the postcard lesson with this group, and most participated and some were simply incredible!  There was one group that was REALLY involved and working hard!  I was so proud!  Some of the boys were acting a fool, and then they get upset when they do not have a good grade in English.  How about you STOP acting a fool, even though I have split you up into different groups, and participate.  Why do they expect to be HANDED good grades when they do not do ANY of the work!  At the end of the class, Rosina wanted to ask them about what they had done.  One of the boys acting a fool was failing miserably at this, so I pulled out the postcard and tried to help him.  He was able to answer her in English, and I tried to emphasize to him that I do not need him to be fluent, but I need him to try his best and respect me and the activities.  Rosina is simply wonderful and loving, and I am going to miss her so much!

 

 

When class was over, I stuck around for a few minutes because my fave student in that class, M., was talking to Rosina about how one of the girls in the class was saying things to her on facebook about having gone to the Fiera with me alone.  **and they say there is no bullying in Italy** M. had already told me about the situation last night, and I felt terrible.  She said that it did not matter and that she would still continue to do things with me if she and I both agreed to.  Of course I want to hang out with her.  Rosina and another teacher told her not to worry about it, and it was all in Italian…and I understood!  I hate that these girls are doing this to M., but I suppose that high school girls are the same all around the world. 

I went home for lunch, had a salad, talked to Nick, and then Nick went to his afternoon conversation lesson.  I worked on cleaning the apartment, worked over stuff, read over most of their postcard writings, talked to Sofia about the transit strike that was forcing me to walk to the train station to get Christy and her cousin, Caroline, and then I was out the door.  Sofia agreed that only in Italy would they strike like this.  

The walk to the station was nice.  The arrivals board said that they would not arrive until 4:25, and THANKFULLY the taxis were still there.  I was worried that the strike would affect them.  Anyway, I was standing there waiting, talking to Nick on the phone, when the 4 o’clock train (supposedly from somewhere else) arrived and then Christy and Caroline came up the stairs.  I was in shock!  Let’s hear it for the arrivals board being incorrect.  Anyway, so we gave hug all around and then headed for the taxis.  When we arrived at the apartment, we stood out on the balcony and talked for a bit, caught up, etc.  I gave them a tour of the apartment, explained the sleeping situation, and then we went to the grocery store to get a few things.  We came back, they showered, we relaxed, I talked to my momma, we all sat around and talked, and then I made dinner.  We had chicken, veggies, and Caroline and I ate some bread with olive oil.  We had a bit of the local wine, turned on a little heat to warm up their room, and then we went to bed.  I was able to talk to April before I went to sleep, and I was still able to sleep on Skype with Nick!  

I was really excited to have visitors and to show them around Cosenza.  It’s nice to see friendly faces, who also brought some oatmeal, gum, and other stuff from the U.S.!  I do miss American things some days!! 

Lincoln

We got up later today, ate breakfast, and both worked on our blogs.  It was a lazy Sunday morning, and before we knew it, Andrea had to go.  It was raining, so she called a cab.  The rain slacked off as she was leaving, so I walked to the grocery store for a few things.  I walked a little bit, just to take advantage of the momentary sunshine!   I came back to the apartment to work for a while.  I eventually ate lunch, worked some more, and then decided to go out for a real walk.  I got dressed in my uniquely American outfit, and went out to walk.  I walked for about 30 minutes, but I found this:

 and I also experienced an almost empty Corso.  Sunday afternoons bring an EMPTY city!  There are times on Sunday afternoons where I see less than 10 people on a 30-45 minute walk around the city! 

Empty Corso

I also talked to my momma for a bit, which was nice!  I got some more work done, and then I had to get dressed because I was going to the movie with Rosina.  We were going to see "Lincoln".  They came right at 4, and it was her, her husband, and her friend Angela (who speaks English too).  We went to the theatre where I saw the ballet.  It is also a movie theatre.

The screen was huge by the way!  Anyway, so they were so sweet to buy my ticket, and it was a great experience.  I barely understood the movie...it was  A LOT of dialogue, and the only thing that saved my English speaking butt is that I am an American and therefore had a general idea of what was going on!  My other teacher Patrizia joined us, and I was happy to see her!  It was fun too that I had been talking about some of this with Patrizia's class.  So, while I did not understand the language that well, I did catch some, and I picked up on words and phrases.  Overall, it was a great experience, and it did leave me wanting to see the movie in English!  I was excited to see Sally Field!  :)   She also said we could come back next Sunday and see either Anna Karenina or Les Mis.  I'd be excited to see either one! 

When I got home, I ate some food...worked some more...and talked to Nick!  :)

 

New recipe...and some pig's blood!

So this morning we had breakfast and just sat and talked for a bit.  Talking seemed to be the theme of the weekend, but I enjoyed it!  Quality time being my #1 love language, I'd rather just sit and talk to someone, or do something simple and get to know them a bit better, which I think we did!

We eventually got dressed to walk to school to meet Lilla, and we thought to meet Virginia.   So, we started our walk and stopped at this place I had been seeing, to get some sweets for Lilla.  When we got to school we discovered that Virginia was not going to be at school until 4.  We were waiting in the teacher's room when some of Lilla's students came in and summoned us.  So, we went upstairs and talked to them a bit!  THe student that talks to me on facebook some is in this class. He is one of the only ones who speaks English!  So, Andrea talked to them some in Italian, and talked a bit about her research upon Lilla's prompting.  One girl came up to Andrea, and Andrea addressed her in English, but the girl did not understand anything.  I am still shocked to meet 5th years, who have now had, typically, over 5 or 6 years of English, and do not understand anything.  I am curious how this happens; how do they get passed along to the next year of school.  I am by no means judging the individual student, but rather I am questioning the system as a whole. 

When the bell ran, and we went back outside (which by the way is where MOST of the students were when we arrived over half an hour before school ended).  We told Lilla that we were taking the bus, and we went to get it.  We took the bus to a stop that would put us near the big grocery store.  There we bought stuff for Andrea to make cima di rapa, and we also got some bread, prosciutto, and burrata (like mozzarella...ish) for our appetizer.

We got some other things that Andrea wanted, and I got some of my regular stuff, and then we headed home. 

We made lunch, talked, and just enjoyed the afternoon.  The food was sooooooooo good!  The cima di rapa smelled bad, but tastes AH-MAZING!  We made it with the orecchiette pasta, which is the ear shaped pasta.  It was a long, lovely, tasty Italian lunch!  It was also nice to have some different things to eat, rather than my norm!  Next, I took a 2 hour nap because I could barely keep my eyes open!

Once I woke up, we got dressed and walked to the Corso.  We were also in search of some sweets for Andrea to try.  Cosenza really does not have many "typical" treats, unless it is for Christmas, so we were just in search of something that grabbed our eye.  I took her to the bar on my corner.  Now, on our way there, I started telling her about this stuff that I had seen there once, and asked about it...I explained that they told me it had chocolate, nuts, and I thought apple in it.  She asked me about what it looked like, and started telling me that it might be this stuff that has pig's blood in it, and I heard mele when he would have said, maiale.  So, we get there...and sure enough...it was sanguinoccio.  However, we kept moving for the time being.  The plan was to go to a few stores on the Corso and then come back for sweets if that's where we wanted to get them.  So, we went to the Calabrese Specialita' store to get Andrea some spicy stuff made in Cosenza.  We took our time and just enjoyed the walk. 

So, before we returned to Bar Bronx I was telling Andrea that the guy had offered to let me try it when I asked what was in it.  So, our plan was to ask, and see if he offered.  Sure enough, he did...and we took him up on it.  He gave it to Andrea first, and then a little bit to me.  She took a bite and said it was fine.  I was fine to try it...UNTIL I put it in my mouth and then I could NOT get over the idea of eating pig's blood!  I know most of you just fell out of your chair, off your bed, or maybe just over (if you were standing)...but yes, I ate something that I knew had pig's blood in it!  I could barely swallow it, and I definitely did not have anymore of it.  So, we picked out actual sweets, and went home. 

We came home, had our sweets for dinner...wine...and more conversation for hours!  Eventually we went to bed full of sugar, a bit of wine, tea, and well...a little bit of pig's blood!

Only in Italy

The day started pretty early, but it was good!  I took Andrea to the bus stop so that she could go to the school in Castrolibero.  I came back home to get dressed for work, and then went to school.

Friday mornings start with Patrizia's class.  First, I had to scramble around to find a printer for their review, and then get copies made; this is not always as easy as it should be.  Anyway, so then I went over the questions with them, and then let them spend the class time answering them.   THen, at the end, we went over their answers.  It was probably not the most exciting class we've had, but the teachers are pushing for more of these kinds of things, so I will oblige. 

My first one hour break was spent going to Corso Mazzini. First, I stopped at the bar near the school.  The gym teacher was in there and the experience went like this:
-He greeted me and asked if I was having coffee.  I responded that I was having a cappuccino.  He didn't say anything else.
-I ordered, and he was about to walk out and he told the guy behind the bar that I needed a cornetto.  The guy asked me, and I said, "noo...that's okay!" THe gym teacher heard and insisted. So I agreed to a small one.
-THe gym teacher went just outside to smoke with a student; keep in mind that this is NOT the bar IN the school, but just around the corner.
-I finished, and the gym teacher came in and was telling the bar tender who I was.  Then, he walked back outside.
-Then, as I was going to pay, he walked back in, and the bar tender said, "he already paid for you!"
-I thanked the gym teacher, and left!  SO sweet...the Italians are so kind to me!  So, free coffee...again!  I'm not complaining!
**Of course all of this was in Italian by the way!!!**

I walked around a little bit, and then wandered into Zara, where I tried on some clothes...didn't like them, but ended up buying the perfume I have been wanting; only 10 euros.  I can handle that.  Plus, I have not bought perfume in a year or more now...so it was much needed.  I tried to just walk around, kill some time, and enjoy my break. 

 After this break, it was Linda's class.  We went back to the lab, and we spent most of the hour discussing "Gone with the Wind".  We started out though by me giving them the review questions about "The South".  We read through them, and made sure that everyone understood the questions, and then I had them take them home to complete them.  Then, M.G. stood up and explained the plot from the movie.  After she finished, we went back through the characters, their connections, and a little bit about the plot of the movie.  Then, we watched the movie trailer, another clip, and then the "Fankly My Dear/Tomorrow is Another Day" clip!  It was really fun!  I encouraged the girls to watch the movie, and told them if they wanted to have a movie night, that I would totally watch the movie with them!

So, when class was over, I headed out for my second break of the day.  This break was spent going to the other building to work on the new laptops.  I was able to get on the internet and work on blogs.  Something that is fun and relaxing for me.  So, the hour passed by quickly, and then it was time for Rosina's class.

In Rosina's class I gave them some of their grammar things, and then told them I had something more fun for them!  They got excited and then really nervous when I told them that it was tongue twisters.  So, I explained that they had to pick one, practice with their friends, and then everyone would have to take turns saying them!  This was so much fun...so funny...and I was super proud of them!!  Everyone participated, and made an attempt!  Then they switched and did a new one.  M., my singer, had "peter piper" first round, and she was amazing.  Then, the boy who had it the second round had to go last, and he did really well!  Then, M., my "beautiful boy" actually volunteered himself to do it...which shocked me!  He did a GREAT job...I was so, so, so, so proud of him!  It was a fun class, and we did a lot of laughing.  Then of course they wanted to give me more Italian tongue twisters.  Once I conquered the regular ones, they gave me a dialect one, and then translated it into English for me.  So, here it is:

Rapa u stipu                      Open the cabinet               Rapa = open
Piglia u Pittu                     Take the paint                  Stipu = cabinet
Chiuda u Stipu                   Close the cabinet              Piglia = take (prendere)
Rapa u Pittu                       Open the pain                  Pittu = paint
Pitta u Stipu                       Paint the cabinet              Chiuda = close
Chiuda u Pittu                    Close the paint                 Pitta = painting
Rapa u Stipu                       Open the cabinet              Stipa = put inside again
Stipa u Pittu                        Put the paint back
Chiuda u Stipu                    Close the cabinet

After school I went to the grocery store to get lunch things for me and Andrea.  Nick called as I was buying some tomatoes, and when my phone started ringing, the vegetable guy started dancing to it!  It was so funny and so cute! Then, I made my way to the meat area, and had a total buonasera tutti moment.  This sweet little old lady could not communicate how much cheese she wanted, and so the meat guy handed it over the counter for her to touch and show him where she wanted it cut!  ONLY IN ITALY!!!!!!!!!!! THIS WOULD NEVER HAPPEN IN THE U.S.! However, I could not help but laugh to myself and shake my head!  Then, my favorite checkout girl, that I always try to use finally spoke more than a few words.  She smile and asked if I was studying here.  I told her no that I was working as an English teacher at Fermi, etc.  and  She said, "nooooooo!!", and then proceeded to tell me that I could only be 18 years old; no more than that!! Thank you my sweet friend for knocking 11 years off of me...no, really...I love that everyone thinks that!  Then, their shocked faces when I say 27...priceless!!

So, we had lunch, talked, relaxed, and later we went out.   We stopped and had a semi-freddo.  Andrea had a pistachio one and I had a almond one.  They had freshly filled cannolis, so Andrea got one to go.  We walked up into the historical center and got a cuddruriaddri at the Duomo.  It was fresh, hot, and delicious!  We walked around the historical center a bit and then made our way back up the corso to my apartment.  So, we went back to my apartment, spent the evening talking, drinking our bottle of Calabrian wine, had a little bit of food, and lots of conversation.

"The South"

Valeria was first, except that Valeria is not there.  There was a substitute teacher, who at first kept telling me to sit down, and then one of my students realized that she thought I was a student myself.  So, she explained to the sub that I am the English teacher; the American.  She was then really excited and started speaking 1/2 English, 1/2 Italian to me.  She said that she could not believe that I was a teacher, and did not look old enough to be a teacher.  So, we eventually got started, and I gave them some grammar comments from their questions we did yesterday.  Then, I gave them the tongue twisters.  I let them practice with each other first, and then they all had to say them for the class.  This was all interrupted by a student coming to tell them something about a ski trip, and the class was barely manageable after this.  I kept having to get frustrated with them about talking, not listening, not paying attention.  I explained to them that it was really hard to stand up there in front of them while they did not listen, and that it was exhausting trying to get their attention.  It did not do me much good, but I tried.  It was slightly frustrating, and it just reminds me of how much more well-behaved they are when Valeria is there. 

Patrizia's class was next.  So, in this class, I started the lesson about, "The South".  They seemed to understand all that we were talking about, which was exciting.  They were able to tell me things I was sharing, and we had a bit of conversation about it.  I love seeing them making a little bit of progress each week.  Some of them were taking notes on their iPhones, which I trusted because of who it was, but it was still strange. 

For my hour break I walked down the Corso, stopped for a small snack and cappuccino, walked to the river, and talked to Nick.  I stood at the river for a while and just enjoyed the sunshine and talked to Nick on the phone.  It was a great hour break, and some much needed time in the sunshine!

My last class was Linda's.  We talked about "The South" and they were very interactive, engaged, and seem to understand.  I told them that I just wanted them to have some background information before we talked about Gone with the Wind tomorrow....they seemed to like it...Linda had some of them read some of the information, and that was fun!  We are all trying to work out the kinks in the class periods, and adjust the lessons so that they are more engaged and interactive...which is difficult because I try to get them to be interactive some days, and they aren't...and I will not FORCE a student to do anything.  However, I am excited about the conversations i have been having with the teachers in Cosenza about ways to improve the lessons, and the things that they love about what I am doing!  It's been a great feedback loop! 

After school, I came home, had lunch, made a review for the students who did "The South", worked on blogs, talked to April, talked to Nick, did some work, washed clothes, made dinner, talked to Nick, and waited on my friend Andrea to arrive.  Andrea is the ETA in Rome.  She was coming to do some research on dialect with the students.  So, I was pretty excited to have company.  WHen Andrea arrived, we spend the rest of the night just sitting around talking.  We talked about so many things...it was great, and again, so nice to have someone here! 

Don't go!

We started our morning by getting dressed, going to eat breakfast in the breakfast room, and then getting the last of our stuff together.  As we were starting to get our stuff together to leave the room, I could not help but cry!  I did NOT want my momma to leave!  We then went down stairs and I had to explain the lady that I was not leaving, but just taking them to the train station, and finally a guy helped her understand.  So, we walked to the train station and waited on Nick.  While I was excited for him to arrive, it meant my momma had to leave, and I was NOT okay with this!

Waiting at Termini...

So, we waited near their train, and then when we saw Nick, I started walking towards him!  He picked me up and twirled me around!  I saw my momma taking a pictures, but I do not have it yet!  I thought that was so sweet of him, but I was not surprised!  :)

So then we talked for a few minutes, and then took their stuff to the train and put it on.  I stood and talked to my momma for a bit, and then the train was getting ready to leave, so I let her go sit down!  I immediately lost it!  Nick was so sweet to hug me and comfort me, but I still did not want her to leave.   The train took a little longer to leave, but we did not risk getting on or off the train!  My momma took our picture as we stood waiting on it to leave.  When it pulled away I wanted to chase after it...but, we watched it go, and then headed off to the hotel to get my stuf!  It's a really good thing that I had Nick and Rome to distract me because otherwise I would have been a hot frickin' mess!

We had to give them Nick's passport and then we went upstairs to get my bags and such!  NIck ate the breakfast stuff I nabbed for him at breakfast.  Then we went downstairs and I paid for the room, and we were off to Andrea's apartment!  It was a beautiful walk.  We walked up the stairs at her apartment, and her building is really nice!  We dropped our stuff, used the bathroom, decided on our plan to get to the catacombs.  We decided that we had to walk back to Termini to take one of the subway train; my first time on the Roman subway, so naturally I took a picture!

My favorite thing about Nick is that we have fun all of the time.  Even when we are just walking around and doing "nothing", we are having fun!  It is so easy to be with him.  So, that being said, we had fun just journeying to where we ended up!  So, Nick bought our tickets, we waited, took the A track, and when we got off the train we asked for directions to the buses we thought we needed!  Then, we realized that we had just over an hour before the catacombs closed, and Nick said that we had come out at the Appian Way, the original road into Rome.

We saw some things we were now interested in seeing, so we put off the catacombs.  Nick realized that the big church we were staring at was the church he has been wanting to see, St. John Lateran.  This is the official church of Rome I think; not St. Peter's.  We walked to see a little more of the wall around Rome, and then turned back to see the church.  Nick was so excited, and it was fun to see him excited; it was infectious!

Nick laughing!!

The church itself was GORGEOUS!! I loved the statues of the apostles; Peter's had the keys!!  We looked at a poster of the Popes, and I finally got to see a picture of my favorite pope, Pope Clementine XII (not his real name...but it's the name I have given him!!).

 

At this point we were hungry and ready to find something for lunch!  When we picked a direction to walk in, we quickly realized that we had walked all the way to the station, taken a train, and ended up just up the street from the apartment...well, like a 10ish minute walk....umm...OOPS! We found a restaurant that had some things on the menu that appealed to us, so we went in!  It was rather empty, and thus we were obviously the Americans here!  We sat down, Nick spilled water...haha...we ordered some brosaola, the meat we discovered last weekend in Rome, and then split some penne arrabbiata, which is a "spicy" penne.  Nick also dropped his knife...it wasn't his day! ;)  We had a wonderful lunch full of conversation, laughter, and joy!  It was a good thing that we were the only ones in the restaurant for a while because we were laughing so much!  When we got up to leave, and I had to leave quickly because suddenly there was an overwhelming fish smell, it had become colder outside! 

After lunch, we stopped by the apartment, because we had to walk right past it, and I tried to lighten my purse load!  Also, it’s always nice to use a clean bathroom…I won’t lie!  

Our first stop was the big white building.  Nick had never been inside, so we went!  It is a huge building and quite beautiful!  We saw the tomb of the unknown soldier, some Italian flags, and went to the outside area to get some views of Rome!  We stood there for a while being silly, which is always fun! 

An (or the most) inefficient way to re-do a road...

Nick and his "man bag" aka y purse

 

 

 When we headed back out, it was to go to Tiffany to pick up my bracelet.  We took the route that took us by the Spanish Steps, because we figured if we would somehow hit all of the other major landmarks while walking around, this one should not be left out!  Though to be fair, Tiffany is located near the bottom of the steps!  Anyway, we went to Tiffany, picked up my bracelet, and I was so excited to have it back!  While I trust Tiffany with my jewelry 100% of the time, I never like leaving my jewelry there!  

After Tiffany, we started making our way towards the castle/Vatican.  We walked along the river and just enjoyed the view and the company!  We seem to be making Roman habits; I’m okay with that.  How many people can say, “yeah, most of our dates were in Rome…walking along the river..going to the castle…etc!!”  Every time I think about this, it makes me smile!  More so than that, “where did you meet?”  Rome…and dated in Italy…and traveled in Italy!  I can handle this!  I do loooooove to travel! 

Today we walked past Piazza Marcello again, and I practically shoved Nick across the street.  I HAD to get his picture under the sign!  I knew that Erin and April would REALLY get the significance, but I wanted a picture that would have the caption, "MY MARCELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I FINALLY FOUND HIM...his name is Nick Crown!"  So, I had him stand while I took this, and I explained a little bit, but it was mainly for Erin and April! Erin later told me that she almost cried when she saw it on facebook!

Our first destination on the other side of the river was the “Old Bridge Gelateria”, which is the place we took my momma and Barbara last week!  We started having to speed up our walk just a bit so that we would have time to eat our gelato and then get to the castle for our sunset date on the top of it.  It was not looking very sunny, but nonetheless we wanted to be there!  This time at the gelato shop I got “cookies” and then the same amazing caramel I had last week!  The cookies one was really good! Nick got hazelnut and…caramel maybe?  It was so yummy, and he even got whipped cream on his!  Sneaky boy thought he could be silly in a picture, and I would not notice.   

Once we finished our gelato, we started making our way towards the castle.  
 

Let’s hear it for the museum cards that Fulbright gave us!!  A free date at the Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome…yes please!  We were laughing as we tried to get to the top because we have now come to the castle 3 times together, and have yet to succeed in taking the same path to the top!  Today was the worst because we kept getting turned around!  I suppose the person who designed it probably did some of this on purpose!  Once we reached the top though, we claimed a bench (well, ½ of the bench), and sat there for about an hour and a half. 

We watched a girl doing dancer poses with the Vatican behind her, and just had so much fun!  The sunset did not really happen like we wanted, but it was still not raining, not too terribly cold (until the sun went down), and we can have fun just sitting!  This hour and a half is probably one of my favorite periods of time I have spent with Nick!  We took some pictures, talked about meaningless things, talked about important things, laughed endlessly, joked around, did some people watching, and enjoyed our time on top of the world…I mean castle!  It was even relatively empty up there, so at some moments, it felt like we were the only ones in Rome that knew about this great view!  At one point I could not but glance continuously over my shoulder because as the sun went down, the lights of Rome came on!  The street lights, and I got to see St. Peter’s (Vatican) lit up at night!

 

 

 It was gorgeous!  At this point it had become quite windy and cold, so we took pictures of St. Peter’s at night, and then decided to head down!  I was frozen to the bone now, but had not fully realized it because we had been somewhat huddled together as not to be too cold!  

We were not really hungry, and so Nick suggested that we walk towards Piazza Navona, and perhaps we could go back to my favorite store!  I told him that I probably would not be buying anything, but we could go look around.  Then I decided that maybe I would buy myself something; a treat for my birthday! 

On our walk, we stopped in this AH’MAZING bookstore that had used books and a café with couches, etc.  The atmosphere was really close to STRAND in NYC, but Italian!  We looked around or a bit, and warmed up!  This store was so cool, and I think I would have a hard time staying away from it if I lived in Rome!  Before we made it to the store, we scoped out a few possible places to eat later, and one guy saw us looking at the menu and was being sweet to tell us what was best, and he was impressed with Nick’s Italian!  He gave us a card, and encouraged us to come back! 

When we went in the “Made in Italy” store, he immediately insisted that I show him the wax that I loved so much last week!  I hesitated because I did not want him to buy me any more birthday presents!  He had already given me my t-shirt from the market in Seattle, which had a fish on it…don’t ask!  However, he quickly figured out which wax it was, and then had the guy wrap it up!  I was busy looking around at everything, and trying to decide what I MIGHT buy myself, when he came up and told me that he wanted me to pick out a journal; one of the Italian leather ones I had been looking at last week!  I resisted for as long as I could, but then gave in and chose this gorgeous crimson one!  I tried to tell him that he did NOT have to do this, but he insisted that because it was my birthday (well, this was our celebration because he could not be there on Wednesday) he had to get me a gift!  He is so sweet, kind, generous, giving, and all around wonderful!  I have to admit, the journal is GORGEOUS and I DO love it!  The guy even told us that you can get refills at Papyrus, which we have in the States.  Yay!  So, I picked out the pages with lines so that my writing would be neater, and then we were off!  

At this point, I was only a little hungry, but really wanted to go inside, and to a bathroom! We went back towards the restaurants we saw, and decided on CYBO, the place we had the card from!  The guy was excited and told the waiter that we were his “friends” and we had a card.  Tonight we were the early-bird Americans (we got there around 7 p.m.) and had the whole restaurant to ourselves for a while!  They put us at a table near the window, and so we were able to “people-watch”.  They brought us some prosecco with pomegranate in it.  

Nick ordered a bottle of Chianti wine, and then we ordered our food! 

Being the Americans that we are, we only ordered pasta dishes!  Nick had some sort of spaghetti that sounded, and was, amazing! I ordered ravioli that had ricotta cheese, a few nuts, and then it was served in a spinach sauce…words cannot describe how good it was!   The bread and olive oil were really good at this place too, which always makes me happy!  The wine was delicious, and the conversation even better!  When I got up to go to the bathroom, Nick was sneaky and told them that we were celebrating my birthday!  So, not too long after I came back, they brought out this cake thing with a huge sparkler in it!  Thank goodness they did NOT sing, but they were sweet and wished me a happy birthday!  

 All together, Nick and I sat there for about 2 ½ hours talking, laughing, eating, drinking our wine, and just enjoying our night in Rome together!  He never fails to make me feel like a princess!  

So, when we decided it was time to leave, Nick checked the map on his phone, and saw that the path to Andrea’s apartment would take us right past the Coliseum “at night”; something I have been dying to see!!!!!!!!!  We stopped to take pictures, and I even tried a jumping picture, from a ledge that was too high, and I am sure I’ll pay for that later!  For once in this entire time I’ve known Nick, he was the one that was searching for a bathroom; I gave him my “disease!!”  So, once we took some pictures, we started walking to Andrea’s apartment! 

 

We stayed up and talked for a bit, but then naturally, sleep was next.  It had been a long, sad, wonderful, fun, amazing, exciting, beautiful day in Roma, Italia!