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If you are still reading these posts, I am assuming that you are either applying to the next IPDS Italy cohort, or you are days away from traveling and are anxiously trying to figure out what to wear. I am here to help!
Throughout the trip, I kept a list of various "cultural realizations" I had: 1. There is a lot of cigarette smoking. Not that this is necessarily bad, I just had never realized that people living in Italy still smoked so heavily! Sometimes in public buildings as well! Crazy! 2. You will want to buy a coat. I did. I bought the coat. Rachael bought the coat. Shania bought the coat. Everyone bought the coat. Just buy the coat, it makes the experience 10 times better feeling somewhat like a local. 3. I packed two shampoos, no conditioner, only shampoo. So naturally I made my way down to the connivence store, only to realize all of the bottles were in Italian (duh obviously Alexa) and I panicked and left the store with no conditioner. So either bring both a shampoo, and conditioner, or remember in the moment that Google Translate has the camera feature, unlike me. 4. Street peddlers! DO NOT TAKE THE ROSES. There is the same, if not more street vendors than in NYC! I may, or may not, have bought a counterfeit white chain link Chanel bag... I mean hey, when in Rome right? 5. The garage truck comes at 3:30am in Rome. Just remember that. Bring earplugs! Other things to bring: small pack of Clorox wipes (your phone will get gross from the kids touching it to translate), a bluetooth speaker - this made the room vibes so much more fun at the BnB, as well as in the classroom to have Italian directions played loudly for the entire class to hear, an eye mask and earplugs, sleeping pills (takes a while to adjust to the time change and you need all the rest you can get), portable charger, all the cold/flu meds, and more Euro than you think you will use (I would say 70% of the cohort took out more Euros from the ATM during the trip, including myself), extra vacuum seal bags for clothes in suitcase for the way home (Cameron saved my life with these thank you girl), and more lounging clothes than you think you will need (many of us only brought 1 sweatshirt and 1 pair of sweats/leggings, but we had a lot of downtime during Siesta every day and I ended up in the same green crewneck and black leggings many of the days). Take advantage of every moment, but also take time to rest and stay in when your body is telling you to. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Take that hour nap if you need to, the cafe will be there when you wake up. Try all of the foods, and fully embrace all of the cultural activities in Torremaggiore, don't be miserable!! Take a moment to realize where you are and the amazing, once in a lifetime opportunity that you have. You may go to Italy again, but you will never travel Italy with incredible local translators the entire time, stay in small Bed & Breakfasts' in Torremaggiore, be a household celebrity in town for two weeks, get private tours of the beautiful Castle, Pompeii, or Government Palace. Have the time of your life, I will be reading your blogs next and I can't wait to relive my incredible experiences again through you. Carpe Diem! Best wishes and signing off, Alexa Hefner
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1/20: Our final night in Rome.... extremely sad and I had no words to describe what I was feeling. One part of me was ready to go home and return to my normal, regular life, but another part of me was ready to catch the train to any other country in Europe I could get my hands on a ticket for. Rachael and I spent our last night roaming (ha) near the Trevi Fountain and shops nearby, scouting for last minute gifts. We also stopped for the most incredible gelato, probably the best I had in Italy honestly. It was a nice way to end the trip. Rachael, Shania, Ella, Olivia, and myself got one final mini-group dinner in, near our hotel before it was time for everyone to bunker down and jam their suitcases shut one last time. If I didn't mention previously, I had to buy another bag to use a carry-on...whoops!
I am a city girl at heart, and Rome has mine in the palm of its hand. The people were so kind to us, locals didn't give us dirty looks, as they do in other big cities, the food of course was amazing, and there was always something new around the corner to find. I will be back one day, and this time I will find the $1 souvenir tent, unlike this last night; its there one day and suddenly is nowhere to be found. The memories and friends I made on this trip are ones that will last me a lifetime. I am truly so thankful for the opportunity to be apart of this incredible cohort, led by two of the most amazing professors. 1/18 - 1/20: The final leg of our trip began with a 9am bus ride from Torremaggiore to Pompeii. When we arrived in Pompeii, it immediately began down-pouring, but honestly it worked out in our favor because the historical site was not crowded at all, and the rain added to the overall ambiance of the city frozen in time. Our tour guide was so knowledgable and answered any questions that came up. The only thing I missed was being able to see Mount Vesuvius because the storm clouds were hiding the entire volcano. Sorrento was also a beautiful town to spend time in. Although a majority of the shops were far out of my price range, I still bought a cutesy pair of pink glasses frames (that I will get my script put in in America). I was also able to buy a ton of my gifts here between the 28 limoncello stores we stumbled into. The only thing better than Pompeii, was the breathtaking view at the Amalfi Coast. The crystal clear water was something right off of a postcard that I sent home to my parents! Everyone wore their best picture outfits they brought, as our rockstar bus driver pulled over at the edge of the lookout for us to have a photoshoot. **to future travelers, take a motion sickness pill, do not question it, just take one before you even step on the bus on the way there** The roads to get to this gorgeous view, were less than gorgeous. Constant quick turning, and winding had me nearly tossing my cookies, and I am never one to get carsick! Our bus driver was a trooper; stick-shift on the edge of a cliff for nearly four combined hours. In these few days of the trip, I came down with a nasty sinus infection and was down for the count on Saturday and Sunday **future travelers bring all the OTC medications you can think of because you or someone else will need them****.
After visiting the Middle and High School, I got a little emotional.... I was really not sure if teaching secondary was for me. This trip really pulls all of you out and makes you think about what you have done and where you want to go. I had connected with these 5th graders so much and I had honestly never felt more comfortable in front of a classroom than I did in an elementary classroom. I still really love math education, but there was just something that sparked in me being in an elementary classroom that I had never felt before. Of course I am finishing my program but the world in my oyster when it comes to post-grad life. I was devastated to leave the students in Torremaggiore. I really never thought we would make connections as quickly as we did, in the short time we were with them. Tears were shed, WhatsApp numbers and Facebook profiles were exchanged. I told my kids I would be back to see them one day, and I will, that is a promise. One of the most memorable parts of this trip was getting to dress up in authentic Torremaggiore historical outfits and have a professional photoshoot done! It was something I will never forget (especially because an 8x10 printout of my glamour shots is hanging on my fridge). Leaving the school was sad, but leaving Signore Grassi was even more sad. I will always remember the taste of his incredible tortellini soup, and various chocolate cakes. He was such an amazing host and made this experience the total package. Shania and I have been absolutely KILLING IT in our classroom this week. 5A for life <3 Our students have a lot of respect for their teacher Monica and it reflects in the way they treat us in the classroom as well. Many of our fellow cohort members have had some behavioral (moreso over excitement) challenges in their classes, but the exact moment one of our students "acts up," Monica is right there to remind them that they need to show us the same respect they show her. In class on Thursday and Friday, our goal was to hammer home on our book-related activities. Italian schools heavily promote creativity and we wanted to piggyback off of this! On Thursday, we re-read our Florida book, paying special attention to the animals of the state page. We made use of the feathers and goggly eyes I packed in my suitcase, as well as the pink paint that Monica so kindly let us borrow. One by one, Shania and I carefully painted each students' hand so they could gently press down on the paper, then a few feathers and some eyes, and voila, handprint flamingos! The kids loved it and the teachers even hung them up on the doors and hallway once they were dry! It seems as though they do a lot of coloring in class, but not many "arts and crafts" type activities like this! They are so stinking cute, and I love them all so much. I am 100% going to sob when the time comes to say goodbye. Our cultural activity for this day was touring a local winery and olive oil factory in Torremaggiore! It was so interesting to hear the process of how these are both made, as well as the pride the employees have for their products. The wines and oils were delicious! This activity was a nice way for us to all bond outside of the school, while also getting to know the locals through conversations over bruschetta and olive tapenade. The wine was 7 euro a bottle... I may have bought two.... but to be fair, artisan wine in America would be much more so they were basically begging me to purchase it at that rate. The views were stunning on the bus ride there as well. I don't think I will ever get over the landscape here. The olive oil factory was interesting to see as well! Olive oil was never really something that I had an appreciation for before this trip, but the bottle I am bringing home with me will always be out on the dinner table. On Friday, Shania and I continued with our arts and crafts, and had the students make stand up birds out of card stock and more feathers. They were really able to get creative with the coloring of the birds body, and meticulously choosing their sei (six) feathers. Oh course we had a mini dance break during our coloring to do a conga line to "Pepas," a Spanish song; they do not speak Spanish, and neither do we so it was funny to all be singing a song in a language none of us speak. The students really love hearing American pop music, particularly Harry Styles, and Lady Gaga. Today, I also had the incredible opportunity to co-teach with Cameron in a 4th grade class! It was so cool to see her in her element of singing and dancing to engage students. It was very different from my normal American math class vibes but I enjoyed it so much. Getting to be silly and jump around while teaching rhythms made it so much easier for students to pick up English vocabulary. While reading my Florida book, Cameron helped students to learn the animal vocabulary such as "manatee" and "alligator" with multiple syllables, by stomping and clapping out the syllables. Students were able to clap along to hear the beat/rhythm of the terms. This was something I had never thought to incorporate into our previous lessons and it made the learning so much more engaging, instead of just having a book page read to them! In other astonishing news, I tried mussels for the first time at dinner, made by none other than the man, the myth, and the legend, Senor Grassi himself. Shell fish have always been a fear food of mine but as they say, when in Rome, or in this case, when at the B&B Cavor in Torremaggiore, you try the mussels, and baby Italian crawfish. Everything was so fresh and caught right over in the Adriatic Sea!
I have been loving teaching in Italy. Even with a language barrier, the students are very attentive and follow directions quickly. They are not afraid to ask questions if they do not understand a concept; many American students often feel scared to ask a question aloud in class in fear of being judged. On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to join Rachael and Olivia in their 5B class! There was a "math specialist" teaching during our time at the school today which really peaked my interest! I told the teacher that I was studying secondary mathematics education and she immediately had me come up to the board! The class was learning about properties and characteristics of circles, including circumference, diameter, radii, acs, and circular sectors. I was shocked to see this in their curriculum; 5th grade in Italy is the same as our 4th grade and based on some quick research, these concepts are not developed in American schools until 6th to 7th grade. On the board, she asked me to write all these vocabulary terms in English and have students repeat them back to me. What is so cool about this trip is that as myself and the rest of the cohort are learning Italian, the students and teachers are improving their English as well! After we reviewed the English terms, she asked me to then continue working through their practice sheets. Since all of these are in Italian, the camera/picture option on Google Translate was a lifesaver. Students were given about ten minutes to work through each worksheet independently before we muddled through the Italian to English then back to Italian translations. I invited students up to the board to describe how they got to their answers while justifying using the picture. This was my first time collaborating on a math lesson here in Torremaggiore and it went so well! A little while later, I got pulled into the 4D class (4th grade), during their math lesson. This was the classes first day of learning division. Upon looking at the students' notebooks, I was so impressed with their note-taking organization skills - they strictly write in cursive, and in pen, and each color pen represents a different step in solving the problem: black for the question, purple for data, green for the operation, orange for details, red for what they are looking for. Every students' notebook looks identical! One student named Beatrice was in charge of leading this question for the class. She spoke confidently and as I was translating her speech, she would state "and now we take our green pen and write the operation" (and etc.) and all of her classmates followed suit. The teacher quietly stood there and listened, while sparingly helping because she had such strong procedures in place for the students that they were basically self sufficient. The way that the students were solving the problem was leading them into the concept of writing equations. I have noticed that the use of proper vocabulary is highly encouraged in the math classes while students share their thoughts. This singular division problem took the class 25 minutes to work through. The attention that Beatrice paid to the details of what was being asked of them from the textbook was crazy! 4th grade in this school is what 3rd grade is in America. Beatrice spoke so eloquently for her age and it brought me so much joy to see a young girl speaking this was about math. She was not rushed by her fellow classmates, nor the teacher which was refreshing to see! I find that sometimes teachers will jump in too early the second that a student struggles a little bit; the struggle moments are where breakthroughs and discoveries often occur and if teachers do not let students linger in these times, they are hindering their students' learning. Upon speaking with the teacher, I learned she also teaches an elementary introduction to computer coding which was music to my ears. The way to get students interested in STEM is to expose them to it in any way they can. Unfortunately, she had taught the computer class on Monday and their lab is not at full function currently, so I most likely will not be able to observe it, but I was still glad to hear this school encourages students in STEAM to its fullest capacity! In the first classroom (5B) there was little to no visible behavior management. The students were very rambunctious, but this could have been because it was not their regular teacher, and also three American college students observing their every move. There was some "shhh-ing" when the room became loud, but students roamed the room as they pleased; its rather odd to see. In America this would never happen lol but in Italy they seem to focus on the learning needs of each student rather than ensuring every student is in the correct seat at all times. In 4D, there was no need for the teacher to use any behavior management because all of the students were listening intently to the entire duration of the lesson. The energy of the room felt as though every single student was training to be a math professor and wanted to soak up everything being lectured about. Beatrice's classmates did not interrupt her once. It was apparent to me that 4D had a higher level of respect for their teacher than 5B did.
These last few days in Torremaggiore have been an absolute whirlwind. Monday marked our first day visiting Emilio Ricci Elementary School and meeting all of our soon to be students! (After we made our grand appearance to meet the mayor of Torremaggiore of course). Since I am a secondary education major and used to being around teenagers who are almost able to vote, being in an elementary school with children who do not know to laugh at my jokes for the sake of social cues, is very intimidating. Going into Monday, I was starting to get a little anxious about being in front of new kids who do not speak any English and have no idea who I am; but all those feelings flew out the window when we were welcomed into the school with open arms and lots of little Italian children chanting "America! America! America!". The kids treated us like celebrities and help up little American flags with Italian flags on the opposite side. That moment made all of the stress of the fall semester, travel, and anxiety worth it. The kids all love Will of course, but 25 students ran up to me chanting my name (I am not even exaggerating this is 100% true). Tuesday was just a teeeeeeny bit busier than Monday..... we started the day with a 7:30am breakfast call; to calm my nerves I ate a small banana yogurt and had of course bread with strawberry jam. As we got to the school, each pair of us dispersed to our individual classrooms. Shania and I are in 5th grade with a wonderful group of students! They are all so adorable and listened very well, and was able to refocus quickly when needed (we taught them the "Holy-Moly ...... GUACAMOLE" call and response and they got the biggest kick out of it). We kept it rather chill with our planned lesson actives, and did things like make name tags, and play beachball toss for get-to-know you activities, because we wanted to get a feel for the classroom atmosphere. We were in the room for about 2.5 hours and got to know the students very well! The language barrier barely affected our lesson because I brought a speaker that played the Italian translation of our directions! This made it soooo easy to communicate with both teachers and students! Both us and them could speak directly into a phone and know what the other was saying in real time! I felt so comfortable being in front of the students and this day really helped solidify me wanting to be a teacher and feeling like this is what I am meant to do. Even though I am used to older kids, knowing that I am able to apply my teaching knowledge to lower grade levels was so exciting. To make the classroom feel more "home-like", we had the students arrange their desks in a u-shape/circle so we could all see each other and create a welcoming environment! It was incredible to see in-person how much positive reinforcement students receive for creativity and the arts.....much different that in America! After our day ended at school around 1pm, we were whisked away to a teachers home along with about 30 other teachers and organization reps from around the town, for a large soirée! We had a full four course meal (I am slowly getting used to these) and singing and dancing! This event was so much fun but drained a lot of my social battery. It is very mentally tiring to only listen to Italian while understanding very little of it, needing translations, and "smiling and nodding". It was so nice to be welcomed into the community of Torremaggiore and made me feel like family instead of a tourist <3 this event was nearly three hours long but it was a fun experience to see the teachers in an environment besides a classroom. We danced and sang to Italian songs, but also taught them the Cupid Shuffle, which was absolutely hilarious. Upon wrapping up our party, we had a quick turn around to stop back at our B&B to freshen up before making our way down the street to the Ducal Castle to learn authentic forklore southern Italian dances. From 6pm to 8:30pm we danced our hearts out being taught by experts in this style of dance. If you could picture imagine country line dancing, but Italian and not line dancing at all, and that it what we did. I have added a video for your viewing pleasure, you are welcome. After an hour of dancing and practicing we stopped for some cookies and vino, but only to return to dancing for another hour. This form of dance was much different than what I am used to, but I felt in my element and I was able to give this event my full attention. Seeing the culture of Torremaggiore up close and fully emerging into it, was something we were not able to really do in Rome, so this was a rewarding experience! For much of the night, I was partnered with a local woman named Rachel who was impressed with my quick learning of the steps! All those years of dance lessons have finally paid off, mom. The energy of the room was electric and you could just feel the passion that these individuals have for their culture and their eagerness to share it with us. I am so appreciative that I got to witness and participate in a rehearsal of such a unique style of dance! By the time our lesson was over, I was ready to sleep. It was quite the workout; who needs Crunch anyways, I only stay fit by dancing traditional Italian partner dances. Long days, make for lots of memories, food, and laughter and there is no place I would rather be!
Today we experienced our first rain storm here in Torremaggiore.... I did not expect the rain to "rain" so hard that the streets were nearly flooding! I made the mistake of wearing flats and a large gush of water came directly into my shoes and absolutely soaked them. Extremely unfortunate for the tiny socks I was wearing with them lol. In the midst of the store, Jen, Cameron, Rachael, and myself stopped at a little cafe called Crema e Cioccolato for some cappuccinos and chocolate croissants. I ordered completely in Italian and the woman was so patient with me and politely corrected a few incorrect pronunciations. Look at that cute little 'latte art' she did for us! I even then asked her for the instagram account of the cafe so I could tag them in a post; this Italian really did not translate well and some prompting and pointing on instagram was needed, but it worked out in the end! We also experienced our first little miscommunication as well; Rachael ordered a "latte", which means milk Italian so she was brought exactly that! It was funny but resolved by an extra solo shot of espresso to pour in. All in all, a cute few hours!
We arrived in Torremaggiore after what felt like 18 hours of traveling around 4:30 pm on Saturday, January 7th. Our bus arrived about 45 minutes late (around 10:45 am), which was no big deal because Jen and I ran, literally ran, to the only open gelato shop in a mile radius for an early morning treat! After our bus arrived we set off on what should have been an approximately 3.5 hour bus ride through the gorgeous country side of Italy. After about 30 minutes of aggressive, authentic Italian driving, we pulled into a rest stop and none of us quite knew why... Our driver then described to Dr. Renzoni that he needed to take a break since he had already been driving for four hours since he drove from Torremaggiore to pick us up! Extremely understandable! We all used the nice restrooms, got some snacks and figured we would be on the road again in a short time, until the Polizia pulled up to perform a "security check" on our van. I am sure you could imagine our confusion as a handful of 20-something year old American college students who are not fluent in Italian. Our 30 minute rest-stop visit quickly turned into a 1.5 hour standstill. The police officer thoroughly checked all of our driver's paperwork, documentation, and vehicle conditions. It was interesting nonetheless! We were back en route by 1:40pm (nearly the time we would have been there otherwise!). The scenery along the ride was beautiful; I saw lots of olive trees, and vineyards in between my few short cat-naps on the bus. We finally arrived in Torremaggiore around 4:30pm, and Cameron and I were settled into our room at the Bed and Breakfast! Our room is absolutely stunning and the view from our, not una but due, balconies is like a movie set. We have a queen size mattress and a twin size mattress and cohesively decided the fair thing to do is to trade off beds halfway through our stay in Torremaggiore. The entire Bed and Breakfast is so pretty, although I wish I had packed some slippers because these tile floors get very cold!! After we all settled in a group of us walked through the town to stop at the local supermarket (about the size of a 7/11) to pick up a couple quaint items for snacking and light lunches. Our walking group of all English-speaking women drew a lot of attention from the locals... many seemed surprised to have tourists here since this is such a small town and is not very well known. We got lots of strange looks and even a few "Ciao Bella's" thrown our way, but as word spreads through the mayor and even our soon to be students that we are here from their Sister City of Buffalo, I am sure we will be welcomed in with open arms! I was starving - hangry even, by the time dinner came around 8pm. We moseyed on next door for our first home cooked four course meal in Torremaggiore. Everything was delicious between the first course bruschetta with cheese, to the homemade pork tortellini, veal, and red delicious apple for dessert (not pictured). I will never go hungry in this town, and that is a promise! After a restful night of sleep, we had a delicious breakfast of various meats, cheese, lots of bread with a very good fragole confettura extra (strawberry jam), and torta al limone. This buttery lemon coffee cake was so good I had two pieces. It was homemade and you could definitely tell! It is crazy the amount of work our hosts are putting in for our stay in Torremaggiore and I am so appreciative of everything they have done for us so far! Cameron, Ella, Jen, Rachael, and I decided to take the rest of the day to explore the town on our own. We ended up attending a Catholic mass at a gorgeous church and there was actually a baptism during the mass, which was fun to see! The outside of the church did not look any different really then the rest of the buildings on the stone road, but the inside was so much bigger than I was expecting! At first I completely forgot that the mass would be completely in Italian...but it was still nice to see! The regular members of the parish completely knew we were not from Torremaggiore, although putting a few euros in the collection bin made them smile! This was the first time on this trip that I have felt fully immersed in the Italian culture. I followed the mass well and was able to inference what different phrases meant based on my prior knowledge of Catholic masses, however, knowing that not a single person in a room can understand you and you also cannot understand them, is quite intimidating! A couple hours of wandering later and we were getting rather hungry, but only for something small to hold us over until our largely anticipated second dinner being cooked by out host Signore Grassi. After a few unsuccessful tries at cafe's to sit and eat (we went around 1:30pm which is when many businesses close for siesta!) a local woman named Caroline overheard us speaking English and approached us; turns out she works with tourists all the time and studied languages in college! We asked for a recommendation on where we could find a small bite to eat around this time for lunch and she actually called a restaurant, made a reservation for us, and then walked us to the restaurant and explained to our server that we speak minimal Italian! Caroline was so kind and helpful and we even have made some plans to get coffee in the next week. As we sat down our server and the chef explained that we would each pay 30 euros and we would receive a four course meal of their choosing. We were all starving at this point in time and did not really think much of the massive amount of food we would shortly be receiving. A bottle of wine for the table was included in this price as well. As always, we started with appetizers of bruschetta, prosciutto, pizza (loved is an understatement), cheeses, and even a beef tartar which we were all too afraid to try (next time though!). All of the food is so rich but I feel like I could eat forever here. We moved on to a garbanzo bean soup which was my personal favorite dish and I even cleaned my plate on this one. At this point in the meal we were stuffed and physically felt like I could not eat anything else, but the next course came out as a bolognese covered ravioli dish. This was not really our favorite as a cohesive table and it tasted somewhat like Hamburger Helper..... but to each their own! Then we moved onto dolce (dessert). Our waitress even brought us out a bottle of limoncello for free as a "palette cleanser", again though not my favorite; she was so kind and wanted us to try even more food but there was no possible way any of us could have eaten anymore. Dessert included tiramisu, coffee cake, mini donuts, and a torte cake. As always, everything was delicious! We anxiously waited for our check because although it was supposed to be a set price we were not sure if we would be charged for water, coca-cola, or limoncello.... but it was exactly 150 euro and stayed true to the original price. We ended up tipping our server 30 euro because she was so patient with us and used google translate as well to help us have the best experience as possible! That is all from me right now! I am looking forward to getting into the classrooms tomorrow and meeting all the children! More blogs to come :) Ciao!
Ciao ciao! These last three days in Rome have been absolutely amazing. The city is lively and the locals are very friendly and always willing to help me with my Italian language skills.
On Thursday, January 5th, myself and a few other travelers were supposed to go on a complete tour of Vatican City, however, due to the recent passing of Pope Benedict the XVI, all tours had been canceled until January 7th out of respect. This was extremely disappointing as the Vatican was a site I was looking forward to tour after hearing how breathtaking it is to see in person. Although, our "Hop on Hop off" bus did drive past it, I plan to book a new tour when we return to Rome at the end of our trip to fully experience the Vatican's beauty. Cameron, Rachael, and I walked 10 miles on our last full day in Rome. We participated in a full walking tour of the Colosseum, and the Roman Forum. Our tour began at the Roman Forum which is comprised of 2,000 year old remains that include begin at the Arch of Titus (pictured below). These structures look large on paper but it is impossible to explain how massive they truly are, when you are standing inches away from the intricate ancient architecture. Another portion of the Roman Forum included the Santa Maria Antiqua; located at the foot of Palatine Hill, Santa Maria Antique is the oldest Christian monument in the Roman Forum. This church contains the earliest Roman depiction of Santa Maria Regina, the Virgin Mary as a Queen, from the 6th century. As we walked through the church, Gregorian chants played softly in the background. The walls of the church had beautifully preserved original paintings and the entire atmosphere gave me chills. I did not pay much attention in high school global history and I had no idea the Roman Forum existed right next to the Colosseum! The more you know! As we continued our tour, our guide Cristiana, led us into the gladiator entrance of the Colosseum. The pictures I took do not do this structure any justice. We were the last tour group to enter for the day, and we spent as much time as we could exploring the different levels before the actual police formed a human wall that walked around the inside perimeter kicking all the visitors out! The three of us were just about speechless the entire time. In the evening we decided to walk back to the Colosseum to see the lights at night after; it was even better than in the day time. And of course we stopped for gelato on the way as well because I physically cannot consume enough of it before I leave. Rome has my heart forever and ever and I cannot wait to come back on January 20th and get one last exploration in! As we move on to the next leg of the trip in Torremaggiore I am really looking forward to seeing the cultural differences between an Italian big city and small town and specially how the locals interact with us as travelers! Signing off for now! Arrivederci! |
AuthorCiao! I’m a senior in the Mathematics Education 7-12 program. I love experiencing different cultures, trying new things, and traveling; this will be my first time in Europe! I have a passion for TESOL in my American classroom placements, and I am so excited to learn about the Italian education system! In my free time, I love to read, and I am also on the Buffalo State Pom Dance Team. I can’t wait to bring my Italian experience into my own future classroom and bring a Secondary Education lens to this cohort! ArchivesCategories |