Last night we wondered the city, hence "Roming around" get it? I got dinner at the most americanized restaurant I've seen so far including french fries and hamburgers. After that we just decided to explore the city and head to the Trevi fountain. Seeing as I'm directionally challenged, any of you that know me well already know this, but we decided that we'd figure it out on our own. Bad idea. We started off on a good note heading towards something that looked old and ruin like. Not the right way. Luckily we asked many people which way to head and I remembered how to say left, right, and straight in Italian. Thank you Professor Fiorello. Anywho, after an hour we finally made it. On the way though we ended up doing our original tour with Fredrica backwards...by accident. We passed the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, and a bunch of other checkpoints we stopped at. Everything looked absolutely beautiful at night. We were approached again by these guys trying to sell roses, light wand thingys, and SHARPAS! (that is scarf in Italian and they would yell it in our face) They were extremely forceful and would shove the items in our face as we walked around. I swear these people are everywhere, and seeing as we're a group of white american girls we're a prime target.
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| Trevi Fountain at night! |
School today was fun! I'm learning a lot of different behavioral strategies for younger kids which will definitely be helpful in the classroom. All of the kindergarten classes have these chimes that the teacher rings to get their attention, whether it's at recess, lunch, or in the classroom. The class was having a bit of a rough time adjusting during transitions. These kids have more energy than I've ever seen and they were just super antsy. I think the best way to get them to line up is by doing a dance or singing so I asked the teacher if I could try this sometime and she agreed. I found out my teacher is from Liverpool and my TA is from Australia. All of the teachers are from English speaking countries and most are fluent in Italian so they can communicate with the kids as well.
I've never seen kindergartners that are this smart and I was shocked at the questions they asked. There is much more of a culture shock than I was expecting coming to this school. These children have more worldly knowledge than I did coming to college. They've grown up in a melting pot of language and culture. One of the kids Ali, who I admit is one of my favorites, and I were reading a book and I read the girls name in the story which was Tilba. He then asked me, "What country is she from?" I have never heard a student ask me a question like this before. He then said, "I think she is Asian." Then we turned the page and saw a picture of a young asian girl. He said, "That is what the Asians look like." Ali doesn't speak fluent Italian but he knows some, he is from Kuwait. Alex is from Colombia, Francesca T. is from Australia, Alessandro is from Romania, and Ucheoma is from Nigeria. These kids are absolutely incredible and represent so many different cultures!
Also I found out the tuition for Marymount International School. It's 26,000 Euro a year! And for the preschool its 16,000 Euro. Absolutely ridiculous! That's more than my tuition for JMU.
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| The villa that now houses administration and business offices for the school! More pictures of the school to come soon! |
A wee little anecdote from today...you'll get the wee in a second.
I was watching over the kids at recess as they ran around and they play very physically might I add, they really do touch each other alllll the time. I saw Ucheoma sitting on the ground waving at me upset, then Alex ran over to tell me he was hurt. I went over to see how he was and as I crouched down in front of him I saw he wet his pants. He immediately started a shpeal about how he hurt himself then I asked, "Ucheoma, did you have an accident? Is that why you don't want to get up?" and he said yes, so I took him inside to get a change of clothes. The school had a bunch of extra uniforms so I grabbed some for him to change into and went into a office the TA told me to change him in. She also asked me if I'd be comfortable helping him change...I didn't want to say the truth...um no I'd rather not take off his pants, but I agreed. Not only did I have to help him take off his pants he didn't understand the concept of wiping himself. I had to help him wipe his thighs off and change his clothes. Might I also add that he is related to diplomats from Nigeria so if he ever becomes a prince or someone famous I could say I helped him wipe himself....I could make a lot of money right??
Another pee pee story. Someone has peed on the floor of the boys bathroom everyday for about a month. The teachers have tried to figure out who is doing it but they aren't following them into the bathroom so it's hard to tell. I took a few of the boys to the bathroom and they came running out screaming, "Zere iz pee pee again." And Ali of course said, "Pee pee, Mizz Amby pee pee". I can't teach kindergarten...too much urine.
And after school we got gelato, the usual. I've had gelato everyday after school this week and I don't think this ritual is going to end. Old Bridge is right near the bus stop we get off on and it's one of the best gelato places in Rome. They have homemade gelato and a ton of different flavors. It's only 2 euro for a medium cone and you can get three different flavors. I've made it a goal to eat every single flavor before the end of the month. So far my creations include:
Dolce Latte, Bacio, and Caramel
Caffe, Cookies, and Nutella
Hazelnut, Crema, and Stracciatella
I'll keep you updated on my gelato excursions and my pants size...
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| The line was around the corner! |
Tonight the whole group went to a little sandwich/pastry/pizza shop around the corner from our apartment. We grabbed food to go then walked about 25 minutes to a park nearby (the one we went to a few nights ago with the beautiful view). We also happened to bring a few bottles of wine, it's the Italian thing to do. We sat with our legs hanging over the edge of the wall and again the sunset and the view took my breath away. Truthfully, I found myself turned towards the parking lot most of the time. Italian couples are better than watching soap operas. We saw one couple in a car facing us literally on top of each other making out...for about 2 hours, they barely came up for air. And in the car behind them there was the complete opposite. We heard a car door slam and turned to see a man slam the door on his gf who scooted over to the driver seat to yell at him. He opened the door and they were fighting for oh about....an hour straight. We played my favorite people watching game where you fill in the words. Italians talk with their hands, especially when they're mad, and it was absolutely hilarious. The stories ranged from him being smelly, to her cooking not being as good as his mom's, to her being his mistress. She kicked him in the head, threw a shoe at him, got out and hugged him and then pushed him and kicked his legs, he would lean in for a kiss and she would push his head away. My emotions were on a roller coaster. We couldn't believe that they didn't notice we were watching them but they seemed oblivious. After we thought all hope was lost she finally got out of the car and gave him a hug and a smooch. Being the obnoxious Americans we are we gave them an applause and cheered, they looked over and laughed and waved, the girl got back in her car and flashed her lights, then the man waved and before he took off in his car he showed us some real Italian hospitality by flicking us off. I love Rome.
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| Again, the picture doesn't do it justice. Now just imagine 20 girls drinking wine eating panino's watching this :) |
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