Mimosa Flower from one of my students. McDonalds: See Cultural Note #2
Kids playing soccer in the Jewish Ghetto...the most beautiful ghetto I've ever seen
The view from one of my favorite cafés
I love that smile
On Friday, February 24th I received the best surprise ever...Giannis! I had a great day at work, my first book club meeting was fantastic, it was a sunny day, and I was going to Termini train station to pick up Giannis’s sister who was visiting me from Florence for the weekend. When I saw her at the station she told me that she had forgotten one of her bags at the platform. We walked back to the platform and she pointed at someone in the distance and said, “Who’s that?” I wasn’t wearing my glasses, so I couldn’t respond right away, but it didn’t take me long to realize it was Giannis! I was absolutely shocked. I can honestly say that I have never felt the emotion of being truly shocked; it’s kind of weird. I wasn’t sure if it was really him, I wasn’t sure if I should cry, I didn’t know what to feel at all actually. After the initial reaction subsided, I just felt happy...happy being a complete understatement. That week he came to all of my classes with me, had the opportunity to watch me teach, meet my colleagues, meet my students, be a part of my book club, and do the commute to L’Aquila. It meant a lot to me for him to meet everyone I work with and see me in action during this period of my life that is having such an influence on me.
Cultural Notes: 1. Once a month in Italian schools there is something called assemblea degli studenti. It’s basically an assembly that the students organize and that the principle has to approve. The students come together and discuss specific school related topics or sometimes they have a guest speaker come to talk about a specific topic. A lot of students see it as a free ticket not to go to school or to leave early.
2. You have to pay for ketchup. There are so many things in America that are out in the open and free for grabs...napkins for example. I feel like in Italy, napkins are a commodity. It reinforces the fact of how wasteful Americans are and how we mindlessly take things that are there just because they’re there. Also, in Italian McDonalds they have burgers with buffalo mozzarella and Baci ice-cream.
3. I went with Giannis and Katerina to the Galleria Borghese. The art was unbelievable and it is a must-see museum for anyone traveling to Rome. The two Bernini sculptures The Rape of Persephone and Apollo and Daphne were literally jaw dropping. It was also an experience to see Caravaggio’s masterpieces. I will definitely go back again before I leave.
4. March 8th was International Women’s Day, La festa della donna. It’s not celebrated so much in America, but it is observed here in Italy. Men buy the yellow mimosa flower for the women in their lives. One of my favorite students gave me mimosa on this day. It was really sweet. And yes, he was one of my favorites even before he gave me flowers.
5. March 18th was the annual marathon in Rome. One of my sisters is a triathlete so I am used to going to this type of event in America. It was so different in Italy. The spectators were so quiet. One thing I’ve observed over the six months being here is that Italians are a lot quieter than Americans...or at least quieter than New Yorkers. Many people say Italians are loud and demonstrative, but I find them to be quite the opposite.
6. I saw my first Roman city rat the other day. I laughed when I saw it because it was literally half the size of a NYC rat. It must be that Mediterranean diet ;)
Highlights: 1. One of my students told me that my class is his favorite class and that he looks forward to it every week.
2. Another one of my students said to me, “you’re always in a good mood.” I told him that it’s because Rome is always sunny and I’m the type of person that is easily effected by the weather (sono una persona meteoropata).
3. I love my book club! It takes place on Fridays after school and lasts one hour. We are reading The Hunger Games and the students are so into it. One of the students couldn’t wait, and he already finished the book. I e-mail the students the discussion questions on Sunday night and they have the week to read three chapters and think about the discussion questions. The lessons are fun, interesting, and just enjoyable and relaxing. Last Friday the students came to the book club after going through three straight days of testing. My cooperating teacher was shocked that they attended because she was telling me that many students don’t even go to school the next day, let alone stay after school for a book club.
4. With my year five students I am finishing up a unit on Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. This topic was especially close to my heart because my father is a fisherman and it has always been his favorite movie. I was basically forced to watch it growing up. Reading the novella and teaching it to myself gave me an entirely new perspective. When I return home and watch the movie with my father (which there is no way of getting around) I will be watching it with a completely different mindset, along with fond memories of teaching it to my students.
5. One of my close friends from Stony Brook University was in Rome on vacation. She is an Italian teacher as well, and last year when we were both working in schools, we would meet at Starbucks once a month to plot our move to Rome. We would look out the window and see a black asphalt parking lot with a view of a Chase Bank and a Stop & Shop. We would say how soon the view would be changed to cobble stone streets and brightly colored, aesthetically pleasing stucco buildings, churches, bell towers, and fountains. She ended up getting cold feet and I ended up getting Fulbright so things didn’t go as planned...just how life rarely ever goes according to plan. It was nice to finally be together in the city we had once day dreamed about.
Impara con me! 1. incartamento- paperwork
2. i punti- staples
3. alle brutte lo prendiamo- we’ll take it at the very least
4. vinoso- winey
