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After almost 24 hours of traveling we finally made it home Monday night, and I can say I am very very tired, and the jet lag is very real. We left our hotel at around 3:30 Am Rome time, and didn't get home until 8Pm eastern time, which is about 20 hours of non stop traveling. We first got on a plane and took a 2 hour flight to Germany, which was cool because I got to try the famous German pretzel, which was good (but did not live up to the hype). After that we boarded our huge plane back to Toronto, which ended up turning into a very long 9 hour flight, and after that we took another 2 hour ride back to Buffalo State, it was a very long day.
This trip really did mean so much to me, as this was something I have wanted to do my entire life. Italy has been somewhere I have been wanting to travel ever since I was a little kid, and mostly because I am Italian. But this trip meant much more to me because my Italian grandma who is 87, has always wanted to travel to Italy, but never had the chance, and she recently had a major stroke over the summer, and all she wanted was a rosary from Rome and I was able to get that for her, and she was so happy to have a rosary come straight from Italy. I really could see the emotion coming from her face, so that meant the world to me. This trip was also run so smoothly, there seemed to be no problems, and that is thanks to the professors Dr. Ceprano, Dr. Renzoni, Dr. Shea, and Dr. Tredo. They really did a great job in helping us teach, giving us ideas, and making us feel good about our teaching. They are definitely a big part of why this trip was such a success. Going to Italy is something I really will never forget, I truly learned so much, and had the time of my life. I made a lot of new friends over the course of the trip, and hopefully the friendships I made will last a lifetime. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Patti, as she was the one that urged me to go to Italy, and was the first person to tell me about the trip during advisement. She always told me to do a IPDS trip, but I was always like maybe next time, but thank god I listened to her because this was the highlight of my college career, so thank you Dr. Patti! Ciao, James
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On Thursday we saw our kiddos for the last time, and it was so sad. As soon as we walked out of the school they were waiting for us just how they welcomed us. All of the students were outside and greeting us, and my class was going crazy when they saw me, ciao James is something that will be embedded in my head for quite a long time. I gave all of my students hugs, and took as many pictures as I could. We also gave the teachers a copy of the book that Brianna and I made, and they even made us autograph it, which was really amazing. We signed many autographs, and comforted the kids that were crying because they were so sad that we were leaving. Meeting those kids and interacting with them is something I will truly never forget, this was a once in a lifetime experience for me, because when will I ever teach again in a Italian school? Probably never. Also, that day we got to meet the mayor of city we were in and it was so cool to be in his office, and to see what he does on a daily basis. He seemed really happy to have us in his office, and he really was appreciative of the work we have been doing in the elementary school.
On Friday we went to Pompeii and this was something I was really excited about because I love history, and well Pompeii is like the holy grail of history. I was so excited to see all of the old buildings, and how they lived life so many years ago. It was so amazing to me how they had the intelligence to build a auditorium so many years ago, and how they made the sound echo through out the whole arena, truly amazing. A lot of the buildings were still in good shape, as you can walk into old homes, and see where their beds and baths were, and it was so cool to see these homes kind of frozen in time. Pompeii had so many "modern" facilities like locker rooms, swimming pools, places to workout. It was so interesting to me how bright they were and how they really "invented" many of the things we use today in our daily lives. Their building were so well built, and the detail in the buildings is really ahead of its time. We also learned that sex was very important to people in Pompeii, as brothels and whore houses were very common, and the artwork in the whore houses were very detailed. My favorite part was seeing the people frozen in time, it was very sad, but so interesting to see them still intact, and how some of the people were trying to escape but just couldn't, that is something I will never forget. Today we did something incredible and that was traveling to Capri. I was not too excited at first because I really had no prior knowledge of Capri before this trip but I am so glad I ended up going. Capri was no doubt the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life, it really felt like I was dreaming. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine seeing such a beautiful place, it was almost like it looked fake, it was that beautiful. The views were breathtaking, and when we got there we got to walk around for a little bit and get a coffee or souvenir, and then we took a boat ride around the whole island. This boat ride was incredible, as you saw the full beauty of the island, the trees were so green, and the sights were so vivid, I still cant believe I experienced that today. When we got close to the caves, the water was so blue, it looked like it was fake, or somebody put fake coloring in the water, so incredible. The boat tour was also very fun because we were out at sea, and the waves were pretty big which made it feel like a roller coaster, and the views from the boat were so great, as it was almost a crystal blue sky. After the boat ride we got some lunch, which was delicious and got a opportunity to shop around Capri (it was expensive) (way out of my price range) but I did buy some shirts for my family, (I swear I am not cheap). Today was really one of the best days of my life as some of the views I saw were like it was out of a movie, or like you were looking at a screensaver on a computer, it is something I will never forget, and something I am very grateful for seeing, as many people don't have the opportunity to do what I'm doing. On Sunday we took a trip to the coast of Italy, and up to the Adriatic sea. It was about a 30 minutes bus ride to the first lake we got to see, and it was so beautiful. They way the waterfront and the little Italian town just mixed together was truly breathtaking, it looked like you were watching a movie. We walked out into the pier and onto the water, as we saw a ancient town in the water, as it was destroyed many years ago by a earthquake, and then tsunami. There is so much history about this lake, and its really amazing to learn how it has transformed over the many thousands of years. We then took a trip to a really amazing restaurant that was in the middle of a olive vineyard I would say, and we had the best food, we were served scallops and pasta, and then we were served this amazing piece of bass, and it was the best piece of fish I have ever had, and I really don't even like seafood, but I will never forget that piece of bass. Then a couple of girls, Rebecca and Brianna in particular took a opportunity to show us their amazing voices, and the Italian people we were traveling with were blown away by their ability to sing, as they really stole the spotlight and did a amazing vocal performance. After that we took a trip to the Adriatic sea, which was very cold, but so beautiful. It kind of made me think of the Atlantic ocean when looking at it, just because of how big it was. It was really cool to think of the countries on the other side of the Adriatic sea like Croatia, Slovenia and many more. It kind of made you think of how far you really are from home. We got the opportunity to take many pictures and really take in the moment, as it was a perfect ending to a very beautiful and relaxing day.
On Wednesday we got a chance to go back to the high school, to be specific Claire, Brianna, Dr. Shea and I were the ones that wanted to go back to the high school, and we were lucky enough to have that opportunity. We ended up switching to like 4 classrooms, and really just talking and communicating with the students. For the most part we were with 2nd year students and they were so happy to have us in their classroom. They were very interested in learning about our lives personally, and what we did for fun in America, how college was different, and who had the better pizza (which I still said Buffalo, and that was not appreciated). The students also loved, and I mean loved Brianna, they kept asking her to sing songs, so she sang Ed Sheeran's Perfect like 4 times, she sang Beyoncé and even a little Shakira. She could move her and be the most famous person in the town. They also loved to take selfies with us, as it was hard for us to leave some classes because we had to take so many selfie photos. All together I am so glad I got a chance to go back to the high school because I really do feel comfortable with the students, and seeing what they are working on is truly amazing. We went to a art studio, and we saw some breathtaking sculptures, like these were out of this world. I also got a chance to learn about Italy's version of a IEP, which is a PDP, which basically stands for a personalized plan for the student and it sounded really similar to the IEP in America, and it was so interesting to hear how they taught their students with disabilities. Almost everybody in this high school is included in the classroom, and they might have a special education teacher with them in the classroom for assistance. The kids were so nice to the students with disabilities in the classroom and had them come up to us and try and communicate, I was so happy to see that, it is something I will never forget. They also said at some points throughout the day they are taken to a special room, I guess kind of like a resource room to do special projects. It was a lot to take in because we all thought they had no IEP in Italy, and I was so happy to finally find their version. I was also supposed to teach napoleon to some 5th year students, but that never happened because we learned about Lenin and Russia instead, and they just wanted to talk to us about our lives and how America was, and that's okay because we had a blast in that class, as Brianna and some guy were having a singing battle, which was something for the ages, we had a blast! Tomorrow is our last day in Torremaggiore, and I am very sad because I loved this town, and everything it has to offer. I look forward to spending it with the great people that have welcomed me over the past 2 weeks. Today we did something very cool and that was singing in the historic and ancient castle of the town we are staying in. All of the 4th and 5th grade students met us at the castle and we gave them a super music lesson. I did have a part though but since I cant sing at all, I read the text in front of like 90 kids (which was a little scary) before they read the book so they knew how to pronounce some words. I also sang once when they were singing the opening hello song, and I say my name is Jim-ay, and I think I hit the notes and pitch pretty well, even if Krissy and Brianna think otherwise. The event went great as we sang a hello song, Thanksgiving song, and This land is my land with the kids. They seemed to pick up on the English very quickly, and seemed to love the music. When the lesson was over then the crazy part happened as we were mobbed by kids as they all wanted our autographs, and I had papers in my face, eyes and ears, it was crazy. I can say I at least signed like 100 autographs, it was really crazy. I literally felt like Justin Bieber, and I probably will feel that way never again in my life, unless I do become famous because of my singing, which is quite possible. On Friday we went back into the Elementary school and we did a lesson with a different 5th grade classroom. This was cool since we got to meet some new kids and interact with them. We combined what we did with the other class for the first two days and did the same lessons with the new class. So we taught them the hello song, the Thanksgiving book, played the vobackulary, and learned the Thanksgiving song with the kids. This class did very well with everything and learned the vocab words very quickly for the game, as we only read the book once with the kids. This class though was a little bit more talkative than the other class as they were shouting out a little more than Brianna and I wanted, but that is okay since they were just most likely excited to have us in the classroom. This also benefited Brianna and I because we were able to reteach a lesson which is something you might not get a chance to do when your in teaching placements, so it was nice to try and improve what went wrong the first time and try to make this lesson better that the first time because in teaching, especially in middle and high school you might need to reteach a lesson multiple times throughout a entire day, so I'm glad we had a chance to do that. At night time we went to a wine cellar, which was a lot of fun and we took a tour of the winery and saw how the different wines were made. We also walked into a party with many people that was organized just for us, which was amazing. We tried some different wines and had some different foods, and did a lot of dancing and singing (not me because I cant dance) but I still had a great time and it is something I will never forget. On Saturday we did something really cool, and that was we went to a high school in San Severo. This was really interesting for me because I might want to teach high school at some point in the future so it was cool to see the differences between American high school and Italian high school. When we first got to the school I was placed in a all girls 2nd year classroom and they really were interested in what we had to say, and were very interested in what American life was like. This also helped them practice their English, so it benefited everybody involved. I did feel like the Beatles because the girls followed me around wherever I went, and kept telling me "your so cute", "you are handsome", and the question that gets me is they asked if I was "engaged". I did feel a little uncomfortable because these girls were 15, and they were taking selfies with me and just kept following me, but I feel like I handled it professionally. The first three classes I went to were all girls, so they were all very I guess interested in what I had to say, and kept staring at me, which was a little weird, but I cant say I didn't enjoy the attention, as feeling like a celebrity is something that will not last too much longer. One thing that was weird about today is that I went to a 5th year class, as Italy has 5 grades for high school, and it was a little weird for me because they were really close to my age, and some of the kids is the class were my age, 21, and that was a little weird because why would a 21 year old still be in high school but I guess it is a different culture. I did notice that a lot, and I mean a lot of kids smoked, like some 15 year old girls asked me and Claire and Katie to go smoke with them, which was very different for us. Like I'm not kidding almost every kid in that school smoked. All in all I really enjoyed the visit and hopefully I get a chance to go back next week. Update- I asked a girl about the 21 year olds and why they were still in high school and she said the Italian economy is really bad and they cant find jobs so they just stay in school, I don't know how true that is but that is what I was told by a student. Day 1 in the classroom was absolutely amazing, and I enjoyed every second. When we walked inside the classroom all of the kids said ciao and looked very excited to see us. Our teacher did not speak any English, so we just started teaching because that is what I think she wanted us to do. We didn't expect to teach the first day but this was a great opportunity for Brianna and I to adjust, which is something you always need to do as a teacher. Brianna started off by teaching the kids the hello song, and they really liked the song, (and Brianna's great voice), and they seemed really interested in her music, and the ukulele. This was a great way to introduce ourselves and learn the kids names. After the song, I started to introduce and read the book that Brianna and I wrote for the kids. Our book was called Thanksgiving and this book was meant to give the kids a simple and broad understanding of what Thanksgiving is like in America because they do not celebrate Thanksgiving in Italy. I started off by reading the book in English, and after I read each page, I would call on a student to then repeat what I said in English, so they can practice speaking English. I was amazed by how much these kids knew, they really knew how to read our book in English so well. One girl you couldn't even tell she was Italian because her English was so well spoken. The kids only made minor grammatical errors like saying diner instead of dinner and saying ate as eat. The kids were so excited to volunteer to read, and seemed really enthused throughout the lesson. Some of the girls in the back of the classroom were shy, and didn't want to read out loud at all, so I had her whole row read a page in English so she would feel more comfortable. After that she actually read out loud by herself, and she did a great job. By having some of the kids read the pages with a partner it made them more confident when reading, and I definitely think that is a very good strategy I will take away from this lesson. Tomorrow we are playing a game, so I'm sure the kids will be very excited to play the game.
Day 2 in the classroom went literally perfect! We started off by Brianna reviewing the hello song with the kids, and they were so into it, and they really seemed to be having fun because they were smiling and laughing. Brianna had half of the class sing a beat and the other half of the class sing the song and it sounded really cool, she did a great job! After she did her song we started to read the book again to review for the game we were going to play. We did the same thing as we did yesterday where I would read the book, and a student would read the same page in English, once I was finished reading. They seemed very confident reading the English, and while we were reading we had them underline key words that were going to be used in the game. After reading the book, we started the game and wow, the kids had so much fun playing this game. The game was kind of like headband, where we put a English word on a students back and they would face away from the rest of the class, so the whole class could see the English word. The kids would then give clues to their classmate in Italian and the student would then try and guess what word is on their back and say that word in English. Some of the words we used were Turkey, Holiday and eat, and many more. The kids were volunteering like crazy, and were having so much fun playing the game, they definitely learned a lot and had fun while playing the game. After the game Brianna taught the kids her Thanksgiving song and that was a major success, as the kids learned the words to the song very quickly and were singing very loud and using a lot of passion. The kids enjoyed the song so much they even came up in front of the class in groups of 4 and sang the whole song to the rest of the class, and one girl even came up and sang a solo by herself to the whole class, she was a really amazing singer, like 100X better than my singing ability (I don't think anybody wants to hear me sing again.....ever). We finished up the day by the kids surrounding us and asking us questions, if we have Instagram's, a YouTube channel, they wanted to see American money so I showed them some money and they were amazed and kept passing it around and saying how beautiful it was. It was a truly amazing experience today, and definitely something I will never forget, this experience has made me feel so much more confident about teaching, I feel like I am ready for anything now! After leaving Roma, I was kind of glad since I was obviously not getting along with a lot of the street vendors, and they were definitely nit getting a long with me. We took a long 4 hour bus ride throughout Italy to get to our bed and breakfast. It was a real pretty drive, but we were all crammed into a small van which was not too fun. When we arrived I was escorted to the "king" room since I am the only male on the trip, and may I say the room looks like its made for royalty, as its so big, has a king size bed just for me, and a huge bathroom, and a patio, and even a stove. I guess there's some perks of being the only male on the trip, (and I kind of deserve it, just kidding, maybe). After we got settled we took a walk to the school and around town before dinner. The town looks much bigger than I thought, I was thinking of this town to be very small with like one store, but in reality its a fairly well sized town with many shops. After the small tour we had a very nice authentic Italian dinner and then got some well deserved sleep.
The beginning of day two we went to the weekly market they have every Monday, which was very cool. This town is really what I imagined Italy to be in my head, small town, where everybody knows each other, and is so friendly. At the market you could really get anything from food, to clothing, to slippers. There was really a wide selection of options to choose from at a fairly cheap price, definitely cheaper than Roma. We then went to the school where something truly amazing happened and it really was something I will never forget. When we were walking to the school we saw the kids preparing a celebration to welcome us. This was something literally out of the movies, I felt like I was a celebrity, literally. The kids were waving pom poms with the Italian and American colors, and were holding the two countries flags and screaming with enjoyment. When I went up to the kids they seemed really shy, and kind of shell shocked that I was talking to them, but once they got comfortable with me they were surrounding me asking me so many questions like what my favorite color was, my favorite sport, what my name was, and much more. One kid actually asked me about Donald Trump, but I just answered that question with hand motions, meaning we really shouldn't talk about that right now. We then went into the school where they gave us some food, and we then walked around the school to meet our classrooms. Brianna and I met our 5th grade classrooms, it appears we have two classes as of now, and they were extremely shy, and seemed kind of afraid to say anything to us. Hopefully tomorrow we can spend much more time with them so they can feel comfortable talking with us and hopefully we can make a strong connection with the students, as I am very excited to see them again and really get started! lWell I can start with saying Rome is AMAZING. Italy is very different from the United States, and that starts with the driving, they are crazy here. I can say I almost got hit by a car like five times within the first two days. We started day 1 by going to get pizza, and some guy selling merchandise put a braclet on my wrist, and asked me to give him money for his pregnant wife (which was a lie), I told him I had no money on me, and he was very angry and grabbed the bracelet from my wrist and said some choice words as he departed. After that we went to the the Trevi fountain and that was absolutely amazing, the water was so clear, and the architecture was unworldly, simply amazing. It is something I will never forget. At night, we went to the Colosseum and that was really cool to see. It is really an amazing piece of architecture, and something that is really breathtaking. It was very cool to see at night, as it was all lit up and looked so amazing. Tomorrow we should be going back to the colosseum to go inside.
Day 2 in Rome I spent with Krissy and Brianna, and we had a blast. We started off by going back to the Colosseum and actually went inside, and that was truly amazing because it gave you so much history and to see the architecture from the inside was truly amazing. We took a lot of pictures, and made a lot of memories, and after we finally figured out how to leave the colosseum, I ran into the same guy that was trying to sell me the bracelet, and "had the pregnant wife", and he went up to Brianna and was going to do the same thing to her and I went up to him and told him to go away, as he tricked me the day before, he was not too happy. After that we started to "rome" around Rome for the rest of the day and went to lunch at a little family owned restaurant which had a great dish, with spaghetti alfredo that came in a fried cheese bowl, which was really good. We then did things in the moment and did things we did not have planned. We went for a walk in a park, down allies, and then to a delicious gelato place. I really enjoyed day two because nothing was planned, we kind of just went with the flow, and that was the fun part. At night we went to a ice bar, that was completely made out of ice, and that was so cool, we put on a poncho and really enjoyed the night. Day 3 in Rome was also very memorable because it was also spent with Brianna and Krissy and we went to Vatican City. But in order to get to the Vatican we had to take the subway and that was difficult because we could not find out how to get a ticket, or how to find what train to take, it was very confusing. Luckily, Krissy is good with the subways (because she's from NYC) so we found out where to go after a couple of failed attempts. When we got off the subway we bought some souvenirs and I bargained my way into getting two shirts for $12, while Brianna got one shirt for $8, I think I did a better job at negotiating. After we were done we went to the Vatican and I realized the vendor gave me the wrong shirt (probably on purpose), so I went back to get the right shirt, and he demanded one more euro, but I told him we had a deal for two shirts for $12, so eventually after much deliberation he gave me the shirt thankfully. After that whole ordeal we finally ended up at the Vatican, and got to see the city and take lots of pictures, it was so beautiful. We did not go inside the Bascilla because it was closed, but at least we go to see the Vatican. After that we went to the Hard Rock Café Roma and that was great because we got some great food, and I was able to get a Hard Rock Roma shirt, which I will put with the rest of my collection. We ended up taking the subway back to the hotel at night and that was a absolute nightmare, it was so crowded we could not even get on the first 3 trains. Krissy somehow got onto the first train so she was left all alone for a couple of minutes, (which is not good on my part because I'm supposed to be the "Protector"). I can faithfully say I will not be taking the Roma subway again. The time has come for us to finally leave for Italy. Today we will be traveling to Toronto and flying a overnight flight into Rome. I am so excited to see Rome, as that has been one of the cities I have always wanted to go to and see because of the rich history. I am so pumped to finally see what Italy is actually like, as I have never been to a foreign country before, so I am a little nervous. I am also very nervous about this 8 hour overnight flight over the Atlantic ocean, but hopefully I fall a sleep quick and I am able to listen to some music. Once we get to Rome, we will have a couple of days to "Rome" around the city. Overall, I am very excited and anxious for this trip to begin, as I look at it as a once in a lifetime experience for me.
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AuthorI am a exceptional education major with a concentration in history. My favorite activity to do outside of school is to play hockey, I have been playing hockey since I was a little kid. I have also always wanted to be a teacher - for as long as I can remember teaching is the career path I wanted to pursue. Going to Italy has been a dream of mine and to experience a different country's school system is an opportunity I can't pass up. ArchivesCategories |