crazy fate....

Two years ago when I studied in Rome I was sitting in St. Peters by myself just thinking when this man came up to me and asked if I would read a poem that was about me. He told me that if I liked it, he would sign it and give it to me. I was flattered and loved it and I ended up talking to him for awhile. He was born and raised in Rome and worked as a sales man but on the side he wrote poems, he even had published a book. It was a neat experience and I often think about him when I am in St. Peters. My cousin Keri came to visit me and we were catching each other up on our lives (she was studying in Brig, Switzerland) sitting in St. Peters Square. I told her the story about Vincenzo (the man who wrote the poem for me). As I finished telling her the story he walked right by and sat down next to us. I saw he was writing and I introduced myself to him and he remembered! We ended up talking for awhile and he wrote a poem about Keri and I. It is such a small world...

yesss

On Sunday it was so beautiful and we got a little taste of spring. The weather was so beautiful that we all just sat in the sun, in a park near the colosseum. Ah, it was a perfect day!

On Tuesday I MOVED! I love my new apartment. I am living with a girl from work Shauna who is also from the west coast (Oregon). She is great and we are both so happy to live in a place near work. To me, it could not get more perfect. My old living situation was less than ideal so it is like a palace to me!! :)

More pictures from the park...the sun was going down but that is the colosseum behind me. 

La Vita e BELLA

I am doing well! For the first time since coming to Rome I feel settled and like I am actually LIVING HERE and it feels great!

Missing everyone still!

xoxo

This a picture inside the colosseum in Rome. Kelly, the girl in the red came to Rome just to take the class to get certified to teach English but actually lives and teaches in Korea. It was her last day and she still hadn't been so we all went and made a day of it...(after we saw the colosseum we had a picnic in the grass and drank some delicious vino! :) )

I am slowly but surely starting to feel more comfortable with my situation in Rome. It has been an overwhelming six weeks, stressful and wonderful at the same time, but I would not trade it for anything. I am finally beginning to get more of a grasp on the language. I still have soooo far to go, but it is coming along. I can pick up phrases and words and understand a lot more now than I could a few weeks ago! Teaching has also gotten easier and I think I am improving in that area as well. I have some great students who are so wonderful people and who I have become friends with!

My impression of Italy is worlds away than it was when I was studying here. I have met so many more Italians this time around and have learned a lot more about their culture, politics (a very touchy subject here), and way of life. Many of them can't understand why I have come here to teach English when all the opportunity in the world is in front of me in the United States. It is unfortunate but there is not much opportunity for people to advance in the world force here. I find their lifestyle and approach to relationships with others very appealing though. Dinners last for hours, they can be so helpful and kind, and truly enjoy the company of others, they spend hours walking in parks...la dolce vita. 

An Italian Dinner

My Italian roommates insisted on cooking dinner for a few of my American friends on Saturday night. I assumed some pasta and wine…but they prepared a 3 course meal. Bruscetta, lasagna and then chicken and potatoes. All home made (I had my American friend who can speak fluent Italian tell them I could taste the all the love!). It was such a delicious meal. They are so incredibly hospitable. And all of them are amazing cooks and so inviting. Dinner lasted about three or four hours, la dolce vita! J

It was so nice and so much fun. Since there were a couple of translators at the dinner (my American friend and one of my roommates who can speak English pretty well) a few issues from last week got cleared up for me. For instance: when I moved in I was told Stephania (one of the girls in my room), had a “phantom.” This was their English description of something that Stephania does and I was definitely not clear on what they meant by this…I just sort of laughed and remained confused not really understanding what they were meaning. Well last week in the middle of the night Stephania and Anna (my other roommate) were having a full on conversation at about 3am. I am a light sleeper and was really frustrated by this, especially since I had to get up early for work. I couldn’t say that I was angry because I can’t say it in Italian and they can’t understand English, but after they turned the light on I sat up in bed and gave them a what-are-you-doing-right-now! Kind of look…it turns out that Stephania’s “phantom” is that she talks in her sleep a lot and usually it doesn’t make sense (at this stage of my Italian I would not be able to tell the difference, so to me it sounded like she was trying to have a conversation with Anna). So Stephania’s “phantom” always wakes Anna up and she has to wake Stephania up to tell her to go back to sleep. THAT is what happened, but I just thought that they were being rude! We all had a nice long laugh when we figured out the communication errors.

Some other funny translation/interpretation struggles:

When I was doing the dishes and my roommate Rina insisted on doing them. She wanted to say, “I will wash them.” But said, “Wash me.”

Or when my roommate Stephania was telling me about how she studied Psychology in school and was telling me why she is not yet a Psychologist. She meant to say, “It’s a long road,” but she said, “The street is very wide.”

I am constantly making these same mistakes when I try to speak in Italian, and usually get a lot of laughs as I struggle to ask simple questions to my roommates (it is all in good fun of course). It’s important to remember to have a sense of humor! …I am learning that it is the most important thing to take with you when you travel.

Over all, life is good here in Rome! I have met some really great people and have already had some great times. I am teaching at The New British Center in Rome. The students are all levels ranging from beginner English speakers to advanced English speaker. I have found that I like teaching beginner-intermediate best, but I enjoy all the levels, and have realized that I love teaching. I am still in the process of being trained by the school I am working for and I am ready to feel more comfortable and get into the swing of things.

Still missing everyone, but I am doing great J

“You can kiss your family and friends goodbye and put miles between you but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart and in your mind, because you do not just live a world, but a world lives in you.” 

So today was my craziest day in Italy yet. My very first day of actually teaching and I have never felt more unprepared for something. I feel qualified and confident, but there were a few reasons why I was hesitant about today: 1. the teachers manual is in Italian (yeahhh), 2. I have not been around 20 4-5 year olds since I was 4-5, 3. I had no idea where the school was (of course, I got lost on my way today), 4. no one at the school I was going to knew English and they didn't know I don't understand Italian well. So, needless to say, I was extremely nervous. The commute for this job is absolutely insane and I will never agree to a job again until I look at a map--but my boss told me to ask the bus driver where to get dropped off. I did, and he told me to get off at a stop no where near the school. So I was literally running with two bags a purse and a backpack to make it to this no where to be found destination on the outskirts of Rome. When I finally arrived in the classroom there were 20 of the cutest little Italian kids I have ever seen sitting in a circle around me and I realized I had absolutely NO IDEA what I was going to do. It was a crazy crazy morning and I somehow made it through. It took a lot of smiling and singing (yes-singing, those poor unfortunate little children are scarred for life!). THEN I had to go and interview over 20 Italians and determine their English level for over a period of 6 hours regarding a prestigious opportunity to work for a business in China (I am not too sure how Carmen, the woman who gave me the teaching job hooked me up with this), but I met a lot of very kind people. Kindness is a common theme among most of the people I have met in Italy. Strangers who help me out on a daily basis for no reason, my roommates who try to help me out and feed me whenever they can, students who I have worked with and smiling faces I see on the streets here everyday. Even in those stressful moments when the bus driver drops me off at the wrong stop, or I get lost, or I am in a classroom feeling completely lost--I am grateful for those around me who have been so kind so far :)

I miss everyone from home though!!

the past two weeks...

My past few weeks have been insanely busy and crazy and very, very unpredictable. Last week was probably the busiest week I’ve ever had in my life. I had school (I finished up the work to get the TEFL teaching certificate), and going to interviews all around Rome. 

On Saturday I decided my mission would be to find a place to live. I had been living in Cesano (a small town on the outskirts of Italy) while I was taking the TEFL course. But since that was done it was time to move…

            I bought a Porta Portese, which is an Italian newspaper that comes out on Tuesdays and Fridays and started looking for places to live. All places are advertised in Italian so deciphering the classifieds was an adventure in itself. The first places that struck me was the place I ended up moving into. It is right near St. Peters, which is the city center of Rome and a very ideal place to live but also very expensive. I found out when I visited why it is so cheap…I have 5 roommates, and I share a room with 2 other girls. Although this is very overwhelming considering I don’t understand 95% (no...99%)of all the conversations they have, I am adapting to life in this crazy flat and I am slowly getting better at Italian (I have no choice but to speak it!). 

The move to the Italian girls apartment was crazy. Absolute madness. My previous roommates offered to help me and I said I could handle it (that was a bad decision). My luggage weighs well over 150 pounds all combined and I had to go from a bus, to a train, to a bus, to another bus. That might not sound too difficult but when you are crossing Rome's wild streets full of traffic and people, it is very very hard. 

Getting off the train was a little bit stressful because you only have so long before the doors shut and it can get super crowded. Luckily two very nice Italian men helped me make it to my bus stop. At the bus stop I had the pleasure of meeting Sebastian and Valeria, two older Italians who didn’t know each other or me, but made it their mission to help me get to my destination (I have no idea why they were so insistent on helping me, all I know is that I am so grateful that they were there). They rode with me on bus 64, took me across this crazy busy street to bus 881 (Valeria bravely stood out in traffic with her hands up to make all the mopeds stop), and rode that bus with me. The whole time they stayed with me, they were talking to me like I was fluent in Italian. I responded as best as I could in my broken Italian but kept having to repeat “non capito” (I don’t understand) several times. That didn’t stop them from trying to have a full fledged in depth conversation about my plans in Italy though.  I mostly just smiled and nodded.

While we were on our way to my new apartment on bus 881, Sebastian and Valeria(by the way Val, I told Valeria that my sisters name was Valerie and she gave me a hug, haha!) started talking to people on the bus and before I knew it everyone riding 881 was involved in my move, shouting back and forth about where I should stop and who was going to help me. Even an older Italian woman who could not have been any younger than 80 got very involved in my move….a young Italian teenager was the one who ended up taking all of my luggage off the bus for me.

When I arrived at my apartment I met all five of my Italian roommates who are all between 20 and 30. Only one speaks English…they are all very kind and they are AMAZING cooks. Before this, I had been feeling like I was an ok cook, but now I am dreading when I cook in front of them. They also are all very open to sharing all their food with me and all offer me food whenever they can.

Besides the move, I have also been busy with the job search. I have been going to numerous interviews. I finalized at least one job with the Mac Language school. I met with Carmen the woman who is in charge of hiring today. She does not speak English very well (and I can bearly speak Italian) so we have also had some troubles communicating. But today I understood her very clearly when she told me that on Wendsday at my first job, I am going to a school and teaching two classes that are one hour each. Not so bad right? Ok, but they are 2 classrooms full of 20 4-5 year old Italians who can't really speak English. I am worried about keeping control of the classrooms (luckily the classes are early in the morning). Carmen also told me, "You just tell them, you say you have work many times with children." HAHAHA. Yikes. And after that, I am going to evaluate 20 Italians to determine what level of English they are at. Wednesday should be an interesting day...one among many.  

WISH ME LUCK!!! Missing everyone!!! :) xoxoxo.

 

~*roma, italia*~

"Oh Rome, my country...city of the soul."-Lord Byron

Coming back to Rome and teaching English is truly fulfilling a dream of mine. Studying abroad my junior year of college changed my life and I just knew that I had to come back and try to make a life for myself here. I feel so blessed and fortunate to have this opportunity and I know that I could not have done it without the support of my family and friends...it was so hard to say goodbye. 

I left on January 14th and arrived on the 15th after traveling for over 24 hours straight. I finally made it to my apartment in Cesano, which is a suburb on the outskirts of Rome. I will be staying here for one more week and finishing up my TEFL course, and then, hopefully moving into the city. The class has been time consuming and at times nerve wracking-but definitely worth everything. Because it has taken up so much of my time, I haven't had much of an opportunity to revisit the places I came to love so much while I was living here two years ago. Last Tuesday, though, we had a break and I walked up to a park above Piazza del Popolo. It had been a long day, I was tired and still making up the time difference (9 hours), but the sun was going down and I knew I could not miss out on this Roman sunset... 

...I am so glad I didn't.

I have already met some incredibly interesting, funny, kind and unique people. In my TEFL class alone I have people of all ages from all over the US, the UK and Singapore. I am so lucky...

Today I took my roommate Jon around Rome and we saw some of the sights:

I'm blurry but I am in St. Peters square, which is by far the best place I have ever been.

The Colosseum

You always have to make 3 wishes at the Fontana di Trevi, and throw 3 coins over your left shoulder using your right hand...1. wish to return to Rome, 2. wish for happiness in Rome, 3. wish for love in Rome.

The Angels that crown the city. There are probably thousands of statues of angles in Rome, but these two are my favorite.

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it within us or we find it not." -Ralph Waldo Emerson 

I miss everyone!!! xoxo