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This morning we left Torremaggiore on our bus… as we drove through the town one last time, I took in every moment. Seeing the path we took to the school everyday, our new favorite restaurants, the castle where we spent a lot of our time in and the grocery store that we went to many times for water, croissants and Nutella crackers! I don’t know when I will be back here so I wanted to soak it all in and look at everything just one last time.
We took a 3 1/2 hour bus ride to Pompeii, and wow it was like nothing I have ever seen before. Before we arrived at Pompeii, our tour guide was giving us a mini lesson on Italian words. When we arrived, we had another tour guide walking us through the Pompeii ruins and we got to see a house that had been being restored for over 20 years that just opened last week. Walking through the ruins and seeing how much survived a volcano and a bombing from ww2 was breathtaking. We saw so much of it and learned a lot about the meaning of paintings. Shania and Olivia bought lemonade from a local stand nearby and it tasted amazing. I wish I could get the recipe for everything I have had on this trip, that way I could make it at home for my family to try. After Pompeii, we went to a restaurant for lunch and it was delicious. They made lasagna with Penne pasta- my two favorite meals combined in one! Then they gave us pork and French fries and then a lemon dessert - all of it was spectacular. I also had Pepsi that came from a glass liter, I have never seen Pepsi in something other than plastic until today at lunch. After lunch, we drove to Sorrento and passed the Almafi Coast on the way - it is absolutely gorgeous even with fog in the sky and dark clouds from the rain. I can’t imagine what it looks like in the summer in 80 degree weather and sunny. I guess it will just be another reason as to why I need to come back to Italy;) Our hotel is so cute, the rooms have a perfect amount of space for two people and a balcony! We went to the square shortly after arriving to look around in the shops and I bought a few local things, can’t say yet, because mom I know you are reading these;) We went back to the hotel and had dinner, amazing food as always and we got to try a new apple pie dessert! I can’t wait for a full day here tomorrow. Only a few more days left here in Italy and even after 16 days of being here I don’t want to leave yet.
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It has been a bittersweet day, today is my last day in Torremaggiore. The past couple of days I have learned so much about the Italian culture and the education system in Italy. We had a nice meeting with the high schoolers on Thursday and they shared with us the differences between an American school system and an Italian school system. After the meeting, I spoke to many high schoolers and they are so welcoming and nice (and speak English very well). They took time to take us around Torremaggiore, visit new restaurants and visit two of their houses to see what an Italian home looks like. The students were so patient and explained so much about their lives here in Torremaggiore. It shocks me that the students have to know before high school what path they want to take in life regarding academics. The students take tests and the teachers will recommend what school they feel as though fits the student best. There are multiple different paths such as economics, engineering, math, craftsmanship, etc. When the students are in high school they only take classes regarding a certain topic or subject. In Buffalo at my high school, students took most of the same classes and then were able to take AP courses if they wanted to. AP classes would count towards college credit if the students passed the final exam. Another difference is that the students go to school Monday - Saturday. Also, they have class from 8:30-1pm most days and go home for siesta. During siesta mostly everything is closed, the time is meant for families to spend time together.
On Saturday morning, we had the opportunity of visiting the middle school. The kids were beyond excited when we showed up. We answered many questions about the U.S. and our education system. We also learned a little bit about each student and their hobbies. As we walked through the halls, we saw so many amazing art pieces. I was so inspired by their creativity, I was taking many pictures. My favorite is a wall of flowers made out of the bottom of plastic bottles. They looked beautiful. After school, we went to one of the few restaurants open during siesta, and had amazing penne pasta. Later in the evening, we went back to the castle and the teachers and students had amazing presentations for us. They talked to us about social injustice and shared stories, videos, and readings with us about Sacco and Vanzetti. The next day, our new high school friends invited us to one of the students families restaurants. They really spoiled us with so many amazing and different dishes. It was such a wonderful time sharing our lives to each other and appreciating authentic Italian food. On Monday, we went back to the schools, we were able to share our California book with another class. After reading the book to the other class, we changed a few things this time around. Presenting the same lesson again, really helped us understand what worked the first time and what we should change. I decided to read the book in English, have the students repeat the sentences after me, and then have the teacher read the page in Italian so that the students could hear it in English, repeat it, and then hear it in Italian as well. This worked really well and helped the students further understand the material being presented. The students enjoyed the book and wrote down something they learned and also drew something they saw in the book. It felt good seeing how much hard work and thought they put into their responses. After school, we went to our other high school friends’ families house. What an amazing experience to be able to visit a home and see the way they live. My friend and her family prepared us another four course meal and even gave us some of their homemade oil to take home to our family. They are such a sweet family and I will remember this memory forever. This morning was the last day in school:( We went into the gymnasium and sang our ciao ciao song as well as “you are my sunshine”. I was filled with emotions this morning - grateful, sad to leave, happy to have experienced such a memorable and knowledgeable time in the classroom and excited to apply what I have learned here in Torremaggiore in my classroom in Buffalo. This has prepared me for when I will work with ESL students. I will know that things may take longer than expected and to be patient. To use both their native language and English when doing lessons. To repeat repeat repeat! And most importantly, incorporate the students traditions, history, beliefs and values so that the student can relate and grasp concepts better. This experience has inspired me and prepared me as I continue school and go into a classroom of my own! This evening we said goodbye to the teachers, headmaster and the rest of the administration. This time has flown by and I cannot believe we are already leaving Torremaggiore. They have been so kind and caring and I appreciate them taking time to make sure we have an amazing experience. On to our next adventure, will update soon! Ciao!! We finally made it in the schools and inside the classroom! It has been wonderful, the administration, teachers and students have been so delightful to be around. They make us feel so welcome and at home. My partner and I started our first day singing to the kindergartners with Dr. Renzoni. It was such a cool experience for a variety of reasons. One being that I am not a music major and another being that i was in a school in Italy immersed in a new culture! I was afforded the opportunity of learning what it is like to sing to kids, keeping them engaged and creating a memory I know the kids and myself will remember forever. I learned a lot about music that morning. I’m not a very rhythmic person and definitely cannot sing. But I was not even worried about my out of tune not so pleasant singing voice as I was enjoying teaching kindergartners songs that I remember learning at their age.
After our singing debut, we went into a fifth grade classroom, we continued our singing with our famous ciao ciao song that gets the students engaged and excited! My partner and I instructed the kids to create a circle of their life! This activity allowed the students to be creative as well as sharing a little bit about themselves to us. We gave them the choice to write or draw and use Italian or English language. Many students shared drawings of their families, pasta, their favorite color, favorite hobby (soccer was the most popular) and their favorite subject. The teacher was very patient and kind during the activities and would translate what we said in English to Italian so that the kids understood our activities. At times, we would use Google translate to communicate and we even used a speaker to play the Google translate so everyone could hear what my partner and I were communicating. The kids were so kind to help us learn the Italian language as well. They would say something in the Google translate and I would read it and put in Google translate my response. When my response translated to Italian I would read it aloud to practice my Italian. The kids would help me with my pronunciation and repeat the words aloud so that I could hear the Italian translation. We continued on my reading our books! We made a book about California and read it aloud to the kids in English and had the teacher read our Italian translation underneath the English to the kids. The students were very observant and curious about what our book was about. They absolutely loved it! We would make noises of all of the animals we mentioned in the book and they would repeat it, they were very engaged in this activity! After our first day the teachers brought us to a place to have lunch, I have never seen anything like it before - it was spectacular! We were able to connect with the teachers and administration and eat a four course meal with them! We were served the first two courses in the beginning, then they said it was time to sing and dance. We all went to the dance floor and had an amazing time singing and dancing. They mentioned it was time to sit back down and when we did two more courses came out. The food was amazing and I tried eggplant lasagna for the first time and it was the best thing I have ever had! After our last two courses it was time for round two on the dance floor. It was such a cool experience for all of us and something I will never forget! The dancing was not over for us that day because later on in the evening we met some of the teachers and administration in a castle to take dance lesson with an instructor. Never would I think that would happen to me! It was spectacular! Everyone here in Torremaggiore knows how to make you feel at home. They always make sure we are fed and having a good experience. This morning my partner and I went back in the classroom. Our first class this morning, we went to the same classroom we were in yesterday. We did a few new activities with the students that they seemed to really enjoy. This past semester I learned the importance of teaching students about science and engineering. I incorporated that into my lesson this morning when I had the kids design a plan of a house or building, anything of their choice that they wanted to build. I heard they loved to draw so I knew this was a perfect lesson for them. From there, I had the students build what they drew with uncooked pasta noodles and marshmallows. It was a success! The students were proud of their work and excited to show everyone what they made. Originally, I was going to have them make what they drew in 3D but the marshmallows I had weren’t very sticky, the noodles were falling down. So we put the pasta together laying flat on the desk. This is still a valuable lesson as the students are using their motor skills and seeing that an original thought may be altered. Especially as an engineer, there is always critiquing and fixing, which is okay it creates a learning experience! This hands on experience allows kids to be more creative and open- minded. After this activity we played a “stop the bus game”. The game consisted of the alphabet written on the board and the kids had to take turns writing a word that corresponded with the letter that was next. The students had to see how long it took them from A where the bus started to Z, where the bus stopped. The kids worked together to help each other find words. The words were a mix of Italian and English words and we would go over the words afterwards and translate them. In this case, my partner and I were learning Italian words and they were learning new English words. This activity was very fulfilling as I learned new Italian words and the kids learned new English words! When I did this activity with the next class, I told them they had to beat the time it took the previous class to stop the bus. It was a fun game and made it more competitive as the kids wanted to finish the activity before the previous class had. After school, we went to lunch (of course it was amazing) and then went back to the B&B for a little bit of siesta time. I took a 20 minute nap before going on a tour around old town and visiting two churches and learning about the history behind the churches. The pictures are beautiful, I will post them below :) then we ended the night with our hosts four course dinner. One of our dishes were chicken wings and they were very good I was impressed! We went to get some gelato after dinner, but it was already closed, I am determined to get gelato again, it is very good here! My time here has been such an incredible experience I can’t wait to share more about what I experience! Buona notte! Ciao a tuttí! I am in Torremaggiore now and it is more than I could have ever imagined! I am so grateful to be here, around so many amazing people and learning a lot about the Italian culture. We arrived on Saturday at our B&B. The B &B is so beautiful, it is on a beautiful street with so many lights and buildings. Our B&B host makes us breakfast and dinner and the food is amazing! I really ventured out on this trip with trying new foods. I love pasta and was very excited to try the pasta in Italy. Not only is the pasta amazing but there’s so much more I have tried that I have added to my list of favorite foods. For dinner our B&B host serves the 10 of us a four course meal and it’s always a surprise!! He is so sweet and accommodating. He is very observant and notices a lot about our preferences. On the first day he put out white and rye bread. He noticed very quickly, that the rye bread was not touched and the white bread is always gone. We have not seen the rye bread since and lots of white bread! I had bread and jelly for breakfast and the jelly reminded me of my best friends family’s homemade jelly that I love!
On Sunday, we had a day off with no plans. A few girls and I went for a walk to look around this pretty town. On our walk, a girl passed by and stopped us asking if we are from America because she heard us speaking English. Turns out she works at the Museum that we are going to visit tomorrow! We told her we did not know where to go to eat lunch, as it was our first day and siesta was about to start. She made a phone call and told us to follow her to this restaurant to eat lunch. She spoke English very well and did not leave the restaurant until she translated our questions to the waitress. (We did ask her if she wanted us to join us for lunch and she declined but wanted to meet up at another time). Hopefully we get to see her again she was so kind and really helped us out on our first day. The restaurant she took us to was fabulous as well as the waitress! She did not speak English, but Google translate came to the rescue! We had a 4 course lunch with incredible food! Between the five of us at the table, we were served six appetizers, five (spectacular) rice and garbanzo bean soups, five dishes of ravioli bolognese, and five different kinds of desserts. They really spoiled us at lunch, it was incredible! On Monday, we we met the mayor! What an experience! Everyone welcomed us with open arms and were just as excited as we were to be there! After our meeting, the administration were so thoughtful and walked us to the schools. When we arrived at the school, the students greeted us in the gym, playing songs that reminded us of home. The students were standing in a circle and our cohort was standing in the middle as everyone sang and waved American and Italian flags. It was a very emotional moment, I know I had happy tears swelling up in my eyes. After that, we met all of the teachers and toured the school. What a beautiful school with awesome kids and kind, caring and hard working teachers! Of course we had our four course meal again served by our host, that was amazing as always. He puts so much effort into making a delicious meal with an amazing presentation. Ultimately, my time here has been amazing (how many times do I say amazing? I don’t know but all I do know is it’s amazing, spectacular, a dream, experience and memory that I will cherish for the rest of my life!) I hope you’re enjoying reading these blogs as I am here smiling as I’m writing them! Ciao!!! Ciao a tutti! These past couple of days in Rome have been incredible. I feel like I am in a dream.
After many many hours of traveling, we made it to Rome, Italy. The day we arrived, we went to the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheom - both so incredibly beautiful. After our walk we went to dinner and had quite an experience dining at an Italian restaurant. If you ask for a substitution at a restaurant in Rome, chances are they will say no. Also, takeout boxes are not a thing. When I asked a local about why no restaurant has takeout boxes, she said takeout boxes are like “doggy trash bags”. The next day, we went on a bus tour and thankfully, Shania is very good with directions and directed us to the bus station. The bus had a radio at every seat and headphones for everyone to plug in and go to the station with their preferred language. The bus stopped at many beautiful places where we coul I d hop off and take pictures. It ran every 20 min so if we wanted to hop off, another bus would come 20 minutes later. I’ll attach photos below:) after the bus tour we went shopping and out to eat- the pasta was delicious of course. The next day we took a tour through the colosseum which was very cool to look at and learn about. We also went to the Roman forum - such a unique place. We went back later that night to see the colosseum lit up, I highly recommend that. Thus far, the food has been amazing, places have been beautiful and memories have been created. Next stop- Torremaggiore I cannot wait to go in the classrooms! - It is the night before I leave for my study abroad trip to Italy and I don’t have words to describe how excited I am!
Packing for this trip has been eventful to say the least. As I packed over the course of this week, every day I added something else to my list. I tend to overpack, and definitely had to keep things home, but I think I did a good job packing. As long as I have all of the necessities (passport, cards, etc.) i’m good! I’m really excited to give the teachers in Torremaggiore sponge candy as a thank you gift. I love sponge candy and I can’t wait to have them try it! I also bought American flags to hand out to the students, I’m sure they will love it! I remember almost 8 months ago when I applied for this trip, imagining what life is like in Italy, now it is at the tip of my fingers and I can’t wait to share my experience! In 48 hours I will be in a place I have dreamed of going to! Not only do I get to visit this beautiful place that I have heard amazing things about, but I get to go to the schools and meet the teachers and students and work with them. I’m so grateful for this experience and excited to share it with everyone. Stay tuned!! |
AuthorCiao!! I am very excited to study abroad and share my experience with everyone via this blog post! This is my first time going to Europe and studying abroad! I cannot wait to gain insight on what it is like to observe in a classroom in another country; I know it will further my understanding by being immersed in another culture. I am confident in saying that what I learn in Italy will better myself as a teacher. I will continuously blog to share my amazing experiences -- I hope you enjoy my blog posts as much as I will enjoy creating them! ArchivesCategories |