Well, I am officially the worst blogger ever at keeping up with posts!
Let’s rewind a bit. Two weeks ago I went to visit Abbey for the weekend in beautiful Firenze! I miss Tuscany so it was really great to be back. Abbey was a darling friend as usual and celebrated my birthday with me! She cooked me a delicious dinner of pasta with fresh cream sauce (in honor of the cooking lesson we had with my mom last year) and chicken with mozzarella, then she surprised me with a homemade cake! It was chocolate coconut with nutella and chopped hazelnuts on top with adorable candles- SO TASTY! She then showered me with presents and we watched Bridesmaids- hilarious movie! The next day we walked around Florence in some really nice weather and I ate the most delicious panino eva! (Prosciutto, Pecorino, Pesto…the 3 P’s!) Near Abbey’s apartment they had a street full of artists displaying their work and some painting as they sat there. It was all so beautiful and I had a nice time walking around the city. That night we went out and about with some of Abbey’s friends from the program and it was a good time! It was a much needed visit to Florence as I was still getting settled in Corsico and hadn’t been around anyone my age.
There is, however, quite an epic story that I have yet to mention about this weekend to Firenze…the ENTIRE process of getting there and back. Taking the train was an absolute, utter fiasco and I definitely learned the hard way. I took a train from Milan to Firenze and did not realize that it only stopped at one station in Firenze. It wasn’t the name of the station where Abbey lives so I stayed on the train assuming it would stop at the other stations. It most certainly did not and I ended up in Arezzo 45 minutes later. It was so stressful because I had no idea where I was or when the next stop would be. I didn’t freak out but I wanted to! From there I sprinted around the station and caught a train to the CORRECT station in Firenze with 2 minutes to spare before it left. All of this meant that poor Abbey was left waiting in the station in Firenze for me for well over three hours. Yes…THREE HOURS! I felt so incredibly bad to make her wait that long by herself and to take away from our Friday night. Needless to say it was glorious to see her face when I finally arrived!
Well…you might think, okay, could have been worse, now you know how the trains work. WELL, once again screwed up the train home on Sunday! I was trying to take a train that would connect me to that station in Florence from the way down so I could head back to Milan for a cheaper price. Note to self: FIND A CONDUCTOR OR WORKER BEFORE THE TRAIN LEAVES. I got on the wrong train and finally talked to someone on it after a few stops and figured out that it was definitely not the right one! Go figure. I got off at the next station and tried to figure out where in the world I was and how I could get back to the main station in Firenze. After deciphering the hieroglyphics the Italians call a train schedule, I realize that the next train I could take wouldn’t be coming for another hour. It was a Sunday and I was at an incredibly small, barren station in the outskirts of Florence but at least the sun was shining. Some time passes and I am hanging out, doing my thing, and the PA systems comes on “The train will be 50 minutes behind schedule”. Great, wanted to work on my tan anyways. Eventually an American couple comes to the train station and I started to talk to them, relieved that people actually existed at this station. They were from Boulder, CO but the woman went to Smith College and they knew people who went to Amherst College and Hampshire College- small world, huh?! They were the NICEST people in the world and really helped the time pass until the next train came. Not only did they help pass the time but they were serious moral support. Get this- I had been sitting across the tracks before they came and crossed over to the main side of the station when they arrived to get into the sunshine and also try to talk to them. Across from us, there were a bunch of bushes and trees and you couldn’t see anything behind them. ALL OF A SUDDEN, we hear a pack of dogs barking their heads off. We couldn’t see them but we sure could hear them! They continued to viciously bark for about 10 minutes…then we hear a squeal, as in a boar or a pig….then silence….then THREE GUN SHOTS….then more barking!! Needless to say it was a little unsettling and I was happy to have company. I eventually made it back in Milan in one piece!
In a few hours I am heading back to Firenze to celebrate Abbey’s birthday!!!!!! Can’t wait to see her again and to get some redemption the damn trains! Haha, now I will be an expert. In my little notebook I copied down every station name and time of arrival from Milano to Firenze so no excuses! We will also be heading back to Siena on Monday to visit our old citta` and see Elena, our amazing program director from study abroad. I am so excited to return!!
Last weekend was amazing! I went to Lodi to visit Patrizia and Francesco and fell in love with the town! It has a very old, historic feel to it and is home to some truly beautiful architecture with stone, wood, and marble everywhere. It was a great escape from the urban center that is Milano. The main Piazza in the middle of town was so beautiful! It has four main streets that lead to it and there is a beautiful church there which I was able to visit. The town itself was charming and I enjoyed walking around. Patrizia and Francesco took me out to a scrumptious Sicilian dinner where I died and went to heaven. We had gnocco fritto which are basically fried pastry puffs which we ate with salami and prosciutto etc. They were fresh and warm and SO delicious! I then ate two different pastas that were so savory and delicious and toped it all off with some grilled meat….and part of a cannoli =) It was a great dinner and on the way home we stopped at the pub for a beer and relaxed. All in all a very nice time in Lodi.
The next day we went to San Donato and met up with Giovanna, Massimo, and the adorable Davide! Two of their friends came over and we headed north to an absolutely beautiful restaurant for a delicious Sunday meal. There was an outside terrace that was gorgeous and had all of these different types of trees on display. The inside of the restaurant was even nicer and we had the most delicious meal! Antipasto to die for and then salads and the restaurants speciality- grilled meat! It was so so delicious and I could barely move when we left. I am so fortunate to have such welcoming and generous family here in Italy and I feel like I cannot thank them enough. They have been such an important part of adjusting to life here and I really feel fortunate.
I finally connected with some girls from the program (Kathryn & Caitlin) who are teaching in Milan so that is good news! They are very sweet and we find ourselves experiencing the same challenges so it’s nice to have them around. On Thursday 11/3 we have a training day/meeting for all of the language assistants in Milan, so I will finally meet the others and hopefully get some good ideas for future lessons.
The kids have been very hard to handle and I’ve learned that this is a typical problem, not just for me! The kids have no interest in school and there is absolutely NO DISCIPLINE in the school. I try my best to control the class but there is usually always noise and intervals of chaos haha. The teachers I work with are really nice so that helps. I just need to try and think of some lessons that they will be able to understand and be interested in. As of now I am teaching grades 1-3 this semester (in Italian high school they have grades 1-5) so it is the younger age group which explains some of the challenges. They really cannot speak or understand English at all so that definitely accounts for a lot…if they don’t understand they wil give up and not be interested anymore. SO I need to try some other approaches! All in all things are fine and I will start doing an afternoon conversation class with a few different grades for kids who want to become certified in English proficiency I guess you’d call it…so that will be nice to work with students who are actually motivated! =)
I will try to be better about updating! And HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
For more pictures here is a link to my pictures on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2053250210959.2100678.1235640003&type=1&l=c02d802e30
No comments:
Post a Comment