Week 3 Cont.

This is considered a two way road

On Sunday we went to Laura's parents country house to celebrate Liliana's birthday. It sounds silly but I was overcome with emotion by how beautiful it is. The house is located about 20 minutes outside Carpi on a vineyard. They grow the grapes then sell them to the Santa Croce wine company to make Lambrusco. Roberto gave me a tour of the home that was over 100 years old. The pictures that I have of it don't even do it justice. Roberto told me that I can come have my honeymoon there one day. All afternoon we played soccer of course and picked fresh cherries from the cherry tree. We Then sat as a family to eat a wonderful meal have desert. It was a wonderful, relaxing day. That evening Laura took me to concentration camp that was once located in Fossili (right outside Carpi) we spent time exploring the grounds and the museum. It was eery to see the barracks where people once lived and trying to imagine what their life had been like there. Later that evening we went to Club Gardino to play sports and hangout by the pool.

Week 3

It is hard to remember everything I was able to do previous to the earthquake but I am going to do my best!

On Thursday night Laura and I went to aqua gym together. It is basically aqua aerobics which this girl is no good at. The teacher kept yelling Vi! Vi! Vi! Vi! which means Go! Go! Go! Go! All the ladies in the class took it super seriously but I laughed the entirely time because I was struggling so much and knew how ridiculous I looked. It was a great time though and we had planned to go again the next week. Anytime I ever went to a "club" as they call it (which is essentially a YMCA) I can't say people got fully nude in the locker room. Therefore, I was not really prepared for what was in store for me when I was in there. At first I was a little uncomfortable but then realized I looked really awkward and just went with it. All I'm going to say is I now feel super close to my host mother. That night we went to the little Japanese place across the street from our house to try the food. I wanted to see how different it would be from the American-Japanese version. We ordered vegetable fried rice, Cantonese chicken, chow mein, and a shrimp dish. As we waited for our food we got a delicious appetizer and free vino on tap! The man told Laura in Italian that if I helped him work on his English he would pay me in wine. Unfortunately, I wasn't there long enough to take him up on the offer. The food we had that night was honestly the best Japanese food I've ever had.

On Friday I went to school as usual and that afternoon I went to Gabri's end of the year tennis party where they played different games and gave out awards. He did great in the little tournament they had! On my way to the club I ran into Gina. She runs the Language for Life school in Carpi which teaches English to students. I got to tour her school and meet all of her wonderful interns. Everyone was really nice and I hope next year I can go do an internship with her. That evening Emily got dropped off at club Gardino where we were for Gabri's event. Her and I were going to have a sleep over so we could go to the Sacro Coure school party the next day together. We both got a good laugh out of having Emily's  mother drop her off with my family; we felt like we were 9 years old again. We had asked if we could possibly go meet up and have drinks with some of the interns from Gina's school. Alessandro said no because we were going to a church event to have dinner.

This was definitely one of the most fun and interesting church events I have ever attended. We had a dish which looked and tasted like amazing Hamburger Helper, Gabri ate wurstel (hotdogs) and fries, and there was country line dancing happening. Emily and I thought we were back in the United States. At the event we also drank a lot of Lambrusco and Limoncello. We had a great time bonding as a family and with Emily while Gabri played with all the other little boys. I honestly don't think I have laughed that much in my entire life. At one point I turned around to see a monk taking a shot of limoncello and a priest smoking a cigarette. The priest is from one of the local churches that isn't Laura or Alessandro's but they call him "The Rollex" because he wears a Rollex watch which they find suspicious haha. Laura then told Alessandro to take Gabri home because the girls were all going to go out. We went to a couple local bars and had a great time. The next day we took it easy because we were all pretty tired from the night before.

Update!

I know everyone has been wondering what is going on with me right now. In the next few days I will get this up to date with everything that has happened. Last week was extremely physically and emotionally exhausting. We have been in Cinque Terre relaxing at the seaside for the weekend and now are in Rome.  If you have seen the news you know that there was yet another 5.1 earthquake just a few km from Carpi. I've stayed in contact with my family and they are safe. They are so tired and frightened. Most people have fled Carpi or are living outside for now. It is predicted that the quakes will continue for the next couple months. I am so concerned about my family and what it means for their business. Please keep them in your prayers along with everyone else who has been effected in Northern Italy! 

In my previous post i said that I was less scared of earthquakes than tornadoes. I take back that previous statement

Scoula

The school I attend is a private instituition named Sacro Coure. The 3 classes I am primarily with are a mixed class of 3-5 year olds, kindergarten, and 1st grade.

kindergarten class

kindergarten class

 

kindergarten class

School in Italy is quite different. First off, the children are constantly talking and interacting in the classroom while the lesson is being taught. It is so noisy. It was difficult to get used to the first couple days. It is good in the younger grades because it allows children to develop their social skills and as a teacher I have gotten used to it. The teacher is constantly yelling "basta" which basically means enough or she will bang on the table. Another thing that varies from the US is the teacher loops with the kids from grades 1-5. I personally like this idea because it appears to me that the class is able to build a community. Also, time doesn't need to be spent at the beginning of the school year doing "get to know you" activities; you can just jump into the learning. Relationships have already been built with the parents of students as well. Of course this would be a disadvantage if you were unhappy with your teacher. Another thing that varies is the school week. The elementary children at Sacro Coure go to school from 8-1pm monday-saturday. At 1pm most kids go home for lunch then have the afternoon free.

I find a couple things hilarious about the schools. 1) there is a bottle of wine in the teachers lounge. 2)the teachers are always going outside to smoke while the children play. I personally like this because teachers aren't made to look perfect, they seem more like normal people. Plus, the attitude around drinking is much different here. People have a couple small glasses of wine at lunch but do not get drunk. Speaking of lunch, the school lunches they serve are fantastic; they serve a 3 course meal everyday. First they begin with some sort of pasta, rice, or soup dish. After the entree is served which consists of some sort of meat and vegetable. After this course the children are given bread and fruit that is freshly cut in front of them. I feel like the Columbia School District has a slightly similar lunch program as far as incorporating fresh food options. However, this is completely different from what Ft. Zumwalt served me as a kid and what they serve now.

lunch with my 3-5 class

lunch with the 1-2 graders

On another note the kids are WONDERFUL. At first I was a little annoyed because I am in a different classroom everyday and on some days i am in several classes. I love it now though because I feel really connected to the school because of the opportunity to meet all the students and teachers. I could see how I have become part of the school in just 2 short weeks when I went to the school party Saturday. As I walked through all the activities I had so many children saying hi and giving me hugs. All the children are excited to spend time with me so it made getting used to a new school and being an Italian language learner a lot easier. The little girls always want to hold my hand, sit in my lap, and have me braid their hair just like mine. In each of my main 3 classes I have a girl that has taken special interest in me. The guide me around like a mother would and always remind the other children I speak English. I have never met a little girl who has loved me as much as 6 year old Chiara (besides my sisters of course). If I am within a 5 foot radius of her she put my arm around her or has me hold her hand. She also got permission to switch seats with another student so she can sit next to me. Emily and I were walking in the piazza yesterday when Chiara spotted me. She darted across the street, yelling my name. It is so sweet and I feel so loved.

matching braids

lazana is all the girls favorite. the poor boy gets chased by all the girls for about 20 minutes everyday when he arrives at school

Il Terremoto

As you have already probably heard the province of Emilia Romagna was hit by a 5.9 earthquake. It has definitely scared people because earthquakes are not common in this region. My house is safe to stay in but has quite a lot of damage to what you would consider the dry wall. Almost every wall has an enormous crack in it but at least everyone is safe. The castle and duomo have some damage but is not to bad. There have been pretty large aftershocks almost every day, along with many smaller ones. I have come to learn the word "terremoto" very well because everywhere you go people are talking about the earthquake and it's aftershocks. I completely understand their fear. I know several people were sleeping in their cars immediately after the earthquake. I was lucky enough to be in Florence when the big earthquake hit. It was not until this past Friday that I actually felt my first one;  it was a strange sensation. First, you hear a big rumble. Then, the ground underneath you shakes. I have felt a couple more aftershocks the past few days now that I know what they are. They scare me a little but not as much as tornadoes!

this is just an example of the damage. It has gotten worse the past week with all the aftershocks

damage to castle

damage to castle

damage to castle

in the piazza

The duomo is all blocked off

Florence

 Feeling lazy but these pictures are pretty much in order

I haven't updated this in awhile so I have a few new posts coming at you. Last weekend we visited Florence and it was absolutely amazing! We departed from Carpi around 7:30. I was wearing a dress and spiderman jacket. I looked pretty ridiculous but none of us packed for the cold weather. The previous night I stayed up super late because it takes a few hours to do laundry here. whoops. Anyways, we had about a 3 hour bus ride to Florence from Carpi. We had a beautiful drive through the mountains. There was so much to look at. Emily and I stayed up the whole time talking. When we finally arrived in Florence we had a long walk from the drop off point to the hostel. The hostel wasn't too bad. It was fairly clean and only had to share the room with 3 other girls. The one bad thing about it was the noise; you could hear everyone and everything. After we settled in  a group of us went to get lunch and explore the city. The great thing about Italy is Italians take a 2 hour lunch break. That is something I will miss once I am gone. After lunch we headed out first to the duomo. It was absolutely incredible. The pictures I took of it don't do it justice. We then headed to the markets to do a little shopping. I bought a cheap little scarf but that is it. I have to say I was really disappointed to find out that gypsies did not look like Esmeralda. Next, we took a bus to Boboli Gardens. I felt like I was in Alice in Wonderland. There were so many beautiful statues and walkways. There was an ENORMOUS hill that we didn't really want to walk up because we were so tired but we were glad we did. Turns out that you have one of the best views of the city from the top of the hill. We spent quite a lot of time up there enjoying the view and taking pictures. We were all exhausted after we left the gardens so we decided to go back to the hostel to nap and clean up. That evening a group of 8 went out and had a really nice dinner. We just stumbled onto the place which i think made it even better. Our server was fantastic and was patient with all of us not speaking Italian. We had appetizers, entrees, desert, and several bottles of wine. They even gave each of us a free Limoncello shot and 30 Euros off the bill! After dinner we went to S. Croce which is an area where all the bars are. We went to a bar known to be more American. We had a great time dancing and watching karaoke. We even met some people who were from Mizzou studying abroad in Florence. One of the bad things about Italy is that there are NO public restrooms anywhere. If you are lucky enough to find one you will most likely have to pay a Euro to use it. This makes things difficult when you have a 20 minute walk home from the bar. Luckily Emily and I found a cafe that was open. They gave us free water and let us use the restroom! We only got a sleep for a few hours because we had to get up early the next day for the accidental tourist. Accidental tourist is a company that takes you on a unique adventure through Tuscany. First, we had about a 20 minute drive through the countryside. The view with all the vineyards was stunning. We then arrived at a vineyard. It was an incredible piece of land. We first learned how they make olive oil and wine while taking a tour of the vineyard. We then went to a wine/olive oil tasting. Afterwards, we took another 20 minute drive to a nearby house where we took a cooking lesson. It is hard for me to put into words how incredible there house was. I like to compare it to the city museum. There house even had a tower that you could climb to the top of. The owners father once hid Jews up there during WWII to save them from the Nazi's. It gave me goosebumps to be standing in the same place that the Jewish people hid. The lady who gave us our lesson was so great. I could listen to her speak all day. Her life was like something out of a book or movie. At her lesson we learned how to make homemade pasta. It is super easy so it is something that I will do once I get back to the US. For lunch we had chianti, eggplant parm, quiche, pizza, pesto pasta/pomodoro pasta, and homemade tiramasu. It was all so good. After lunch we took a ride in a homemade swing they made out of an old paragliding seat. We eventually had to go and once we arrived back in Florence we did a little exploring of the shops. I eventually made my way back to the hostel to take a short nap. after dinner unfortunately my night had to begin. Girls can be pretty awful sometimes. Once I got away from it I went out to one of the "discos" in Florence with a group of the girls and had a great time. I didn;t get home until almost morning but again I had to wake up early to tour the Uffitz. I got to see some beautiful works of art by artists such as Michelangelo, Botticelli, and Da Vinci. Our tour guide was fantastic; he was knowledgeable and had interesting stories about the artists to tell. After our tour a group of us went to lunch then walked around some more before we had to leave. At 5pm we made our way back to the pick up point and it was a hike again. Once we made it to the pick up point we had to stand in the rain for 45 minutes because our bus was late. Luckily I am finally over the cold that I got from it. I was so exhausted once I got home from not sleeping all weekend but I had a blast. Laura and Alessandro like to tease me saying I got "totally destroyed" in Florence. "Totally destroyed" is one of my new favorite sayings!