"Piacere, Ragazzi" e "Roma!"

So, last week was interesting. You would think living in a foreign country you would have stories everyday to share...well, I kind of stagnated for a couple of days. I suppose the good thing is, I have finally assimilated to a day to day routine here...I have my regular places to go and I have gotten into the swing of the much slower Italian life. So, I suppose that is an update, but it was not worthy of any blogging. However, at the end of last week, some surprising things occured and now I am LOADED with stories.

One of my classes is a practicum in which I aid the local elementary schools with teaching students English. Well, this class actually just started last week, and I almost forgot about it until our program coordinator asked me my available times for it. Needless to say, with my already hectic schedule, I was not looking forward to this...and after my not so happy student teaching experiences last semester, I was equally afraid of what this class would yield.

It turns out that this will probbably be the class that teaches me Italian THE MOST. Now, I have was under the impression that I would be going to an English classroom...that is to say, the teacher would speak it fluently. But on my first day, I introduced myself to the teacher and when I asked her "Parla inglese, si?" I was met with "Pocissimo."

Which means almost NONE AT ALL!

I want you to imagine that you are suddenly thrust in front of a group of ten year olds...you barely know Italian, they barely know English, and the teacher is of little help. Oh my God...my brain has never worked harder in one hour. I had to think equally in two languages at the same time. It was as if two little voices were going off in my head at once, and at first it was scary. But you do not realize how much of the other language you know until you are literally forced to have to speak it.

I have two classes of children: the first one is absolutely adorable! They speak English very well, and the teacher is so nice. They are also very well behaved and you can tell they work hard. My second class, on the other hand, is like a zoo, and the teacher has little to no control over them. But over here, unlike America, it is not uncommon for teachers to scream blatent insults at their students in order to get them to be quiet...I am pretty sure I have heard them say they are stupid and need to shut up about five times. It is nervewracking to be the center of attention for an hour while these kids are both excited to meet an American student and also out to get the teacher. The second class also has some issues with their English...when the teacher told them they could begin asking questions, I called on the first student and was met with "I like dogs." To which I replied "Me too..." and then called on the next student. This continued for about five minutes: "I like baseball" "I like soccer" "I like T.V." and suddenly, one of the "ragazzi" shot up their hand and started yelling at their classmates "No no! DO YOU LIKE DOGS, DO YOU LIKE BASBALL, DO YOU LIKE SOCCER!"

So, they had been asking me questions for ten minutes and I had no idea...I felt very bad, but luckily we cleared that up, and I answered all of their questions.

I have shcoked and amazed the students with some of the information I have shared back at home, too. American media has leaked over here, and so Disney Channel shows and movies are about their only perspective about our country...so I have broken a few hearts. Some children were very sad to learn the "Tipton Hotel" from the show "The Suite Life of Zach and Cody" is not a real hotel...nor is Spiderman a real person. They are also shocked by our food...to them, the concept of a coffee bigger then what they have is unspeakable! Let alone when I explained the concept of Iced Coffee to the students they were nearly blown off their chairs and were surprised we had not died of caffeine poisining. They also do not know what peanut butter or pancakes are, as they do not exist over here. I hope that we can continue learning from one another...I felt my Italian become stronger by the second. Now, if only I could control them...

After my second class on Friday, my friend Sandi and I went to Rome for the weekend to sight see and look at some mosaics for a project we are doing. After a three hour busride, we arrived at night and checked into our hostel...which, I need to say for the record is rather scary. Hostels are not like hotels, and rooming wtih total strangers...well, lets just say I never had to sleep with my wallet under my pillow before. But none the less, it was an experience.

Now, I know Venice and Florence are the two places that wow people the most, but before anybody pushes Rome to the side I want you to imagine this: you are in the cobblestone streets of Boston. Designer shops line the streets along with souvenirs, and the windy roads scare the crap out of you as cars nearly hit you about thirty times per minute. Suddenly you turn the corner, and amongst the streets of Boston...well, what would you know, there is the Colliseum! And suddenly, THOUSANDS of years of history seem to emerge throughout the city life.

That was Rome. It was unbelievable. Every landmark you see in books...the Trevi Fountain, the Colliseum, the Vatican City...I must say, pictures cannot do any of them justice. I was suddenly overwhelmed by the amount of history was surronded by...and you know, I kind of liked it over the Venice. People actually live in Rome, and so there is a sense of Italian life there...and the tourist attractions are deserted at night, soI got to see all of the great places upclose and in the romantic aura of the moonlight. It was magical...and I hope that, if anyone ever travels to Italy they take a weekend in Rome. It was lovely. Pictures will be up soon.

And it dawns on me that, sadly, I have not mentioned a lick about my voice lessons...there are some good reasons for that. They have been going so well, but there is so much detail to each one that I would need another blog entirely for them...I will try to make a feesible entry this week about them. But until then, I am signing off...hopefully, the middle portion of this week yields some more interesting stories then the last.

I miss you all...Italy is wonderful, but I am certaintly missing all of you at home. If anybody wants to skype, the best way is to give me your avaialble times for the week so I can find when our times coincide. Telling me even a few days before can be tough over here with classes...

Ciao!