You say you want a revolution...

Our classes were canceled tomorrow due to a one-day general education strike. This has been an ongoing issue since we arrived and for the first time is affecting our jobs as teachers. We have been witness to various student marches and demonstrations around the city of Rome already. In fact, we wake up every morning to the sound of screaming protests at the high school next to our apartment. The controversy is over certain proposals made by the education minister Maria Stella Gelmini. Proposed changes include a return to a single-teacher system for most subjects in primary schools, the reintroduction of grades for conduct, substantial financial cuts to the university sector and provisions for higher learning institutions to become foundations in order to receive private funding.

In addition to all of these education focused strikes or protests that I am trying to wrap my head around, there was also a national anti-government, anti-Berlusconi demonstration called by the main opposition party. On my way home from teaching last Saturday, I saw literally millions of people who joined together at Circo Massimo - an area right by my apartment. I passed a swarm of banners reading "another Italy is possible", red, white and green flags, along with millions of angry left-wing Italians, who fear that Italy is headed toward being a totalitarian, fascist nation.

The American election is also a hot topic over here in Italy...Maybe not to the degree that it is at home, but I was surprised to find out that people abroad are relatively concerned with US politics, as it impacts the entire western world to some degree. Makes me really think how truly influential the US is on the world. Quite often when someone finds out I am American, the next question is who I will be voting for. Who you favor politically is not exactly private information over here like it is in the US. I hope everyone is voting in this upcoming election next week. Go Obama!

Trastevere apartment once and for all.

Waaaayyyy too long of a catch up....

I haven’t had much to report on lately. It is raining tonight, which is nice. It has been warm, but today shifted to much cooler temperatures. It is interesting because the rain is always accompanied by lightening. Love the rain, not a fan of the lightening. For anyone in the midst of santa ana season in so cal, I am sorry. We had daylight savings time yesterday, so the days are short and it gets dark around 5:30pm. Now I am only 8 hours ahead of you all instead of 9. Christmas displays are beginning to be put out in store windows and I feel both nostalgic for home and excited for the upcoming winter in a new, big city.

It has been a strange transition, but it is official...I am a teacher. I officially love what I do, and am proud of what I do. To say, “I work in advertising” was a much more glamorous sounding profession, but when it really comes down to it, I feel better saying I teach. I make a difference, and honestly, I meet people everyday who are making a difference in me. I have my weekly schedule of students now, all of whom I am already attached to. I teach 4 different high school courses and have about a hundred Leonardos, Alessandros, Federicos, Luiges, etc. They are all beautiful - one student with black hair, and dark skin, but the lightest, piercing blue eyes. Another student with olive complexion and the thickest, curliest light brown hair. They all have this Euro look, that makes them seem exotic and naturally pleasant to look at. They are all stylish, with their gelled hair, Dolce & Gabbana T’s and designer shoes and sweaters and of course the aviator sunglasses which brings their coolness to a whole new level. They seemed intimidating at first, as most teens are, but after just 2 classes I absolutely adore the things that come out of their mouths. They are sweet kids, and I actually found myself saying after class, “it’s so refreshing to see such kind young people.” Sean pointed out the obvious that I sounded about a hundred years old. But, it was true. They seem to like me too, which makes teaching all the better. They are excited to tell me about their lives, and I am excited to apply grammar rules to the things they say (I know, nerdy). 2 students from another class asked if they could join my class today. Sean is convinced it’s because they wanted to be with their friends, but I have it in my mind it’s because they heard what a cool teacher I am. My younger students are even more fun, the bimbi (babies) - I have 2 5-year olds who I just love. Their eagerness and bright eyes makes my heart melt and when they get the answers right, I feel this genuine excitement and have no problem jumping up and down cheering to show them. Seeing young minds at work is pretty amazing. They absorb everything, and teaching them a new language is easier than I thought it would be. Plus, you can’t go wrong with coloring for an hour and half.

Other than lesson planning and teaching, I have been sleeping a lot, shopping a lot, catching up on Italian TV, learning Italian, reading and walking a lot. Sean hasn’t gotten tired of sightseeing, so every now and again, I will indulge him and go to some overly crowded tourist attraction. This weekend, we finally walked to the top of the Vittorio Emanuele Monument, where Mussolini used to give his speeches. We also found out we live down the street from the very spot that Julius Cesar was killed. We are walking all over history and rarely know it.

Today, I got off at the wrong bus stop, but found my way home because the same man plays the sax every day and night on the bridge that takes me to my apartment. I just followed the sweet sound of jazz and made it home. Actually, it wasn’t so sweet...I am no expert, but I am pretty sure his sax is out of tune and I am not sure if he is playing a song, or just random notes. Either way, it’s those familiar sights and sounds that make me smile and truly appreciate the nitty gritty of the city.

Besides my mom, and brother and dad, and everyone else who I love, the thing I miss the most about home, is having a dryer. Never complain about doing laundry, until you have to hang dry every single article of clothing you own. I think I have bought about a hundred new pairs of socks just to avoid a house full of hanging socks all over the place...

New respect for old teachers.

No matter what time my day starts, it is hard to get out of bed in the morning. I had 2 back to back lessons to teach starting at 12:30 this afternoon, and it was still difficult for me to get up to the sound of my alarm. After rolling out of bed and putting on my most professional-looking attire (new boots included), Sean and I hopped on a bus, metro, then bus again to arrive at our first lesson of the day. We were lucky to have each been scheduled to teach at the same place, same time (different classes), as it makes travel throughout the city a lot easier when 2 people are trying to find a new location. Or, more so when Sean tries to find the location and I just ask if he is sure. Once we arrived at our destination, both of us had a nervous, unfamiliar, yet familiar feeling. I say this because today was our first teaching experience in...a public high school. This has been a fear of mine since I began my teaching career, oh, 2 months ago. I almost felt like I was going back in time to my high school as a nerdier version of myself. I desperately hoped the students were easy to work with, weren’t bored and didn’t say bad things about me in Italian, knowing I had no idea what they were saying. As we walked up to the campus, there were groups of teens all standing around smoking and looking as cool as could be. Seeing 14-year olds smoking on campus was disturbing in itself. I thought ‘what’s the fun in that, if you are actually allowed to?’ Our presence did not phase any of them and they had no interest in who we were or what we were doing there. This made me feel better, since my goal getting dressed this morning was to not look like another student. We found our classrooms in the mix of a million students also looking for the correct classes to be in. Sean and I parted ways, wishing each other good luck. I walked into my room, which was a classroom just as I remember from my days of being in high school: teacher’s desk in the front of the room with a chalkboard behind it, and about 20 small wooden desks facing the board. I couldn’t believe how nervous I was, and instantly thought about all my past teachers who must have been going through the same emotions on the first day. Instead of a class of 3 or 4 bright-eyed, eager-to-learn 8 year olds, or a class of a couple adults who just want to converse in English, I was met by 12 teens, smelling like cigarettes and adolescence, forced to be there against their will. I tried my best to make each lesson somewhat interesting and relevant to their young lives. My nerves washed away after about the first minute and my goal was to just teach - teach past simple tenses and future continuous tenses with material that made sense to them - sports, friends, movies, dating, music, etc. They were all actually very sweet and seemed to enjoy my class, aside from the 2 girls in the back who were annoyed that I kept interrupting their conversation. I had the other students laughing and joking with me and showing interest in answering my questions, all of which I saw as a good sign. The 2 classes ended and I was exhausted - from speaking and standing and sweating for a good 3 hours straight. I will teach the same students every Monday until the school year is over. Luckily most of them were nice, aside from a few minor kids who would rather have been making out with their boyfriends or smoking cigs. When I asked the students to tell me what they want to be when they grow up, most said they want to be professional futbol players or coaches, famous dancers, actors, etc. When I asked what job they would hate to have, 2 students agreed that they would never want to be a teacher. Oh man! I tried to tell them teaching was cool too, but they didn’t buy it.

Being domestic.

Yesterday, Sean and I rode the bus for about an hour to get to the biggest shopping center in Rome. It consists of an Ikea, a mega-grocery store, a fully-loaded mall and a Target-like store. Sean has never felt the need to make any of his homes "cozy" or "more homey". Being a supportive boyfriend and out of a genuine interest in this domestic mission I was on, he came along. After a good 5 hours, we had all the necessities that would make our new home warmer, along with 2 new pairs of boots that I decided I couldn't live without. As the day wound down, we lugged our goods on the jam-packed, hour-long bus ride home. The apartment is now equipped with everything we could have needed - from candles and rugs to a pink shower curtain and hangers. Next weekend, may have to be dedicated to more boy-like activities.

Fishing in the big city.

Well, Sean has not been able to stop talking about this since it happened, so I promised him a blog on it. The other day, as we were crossing the bridge over the Tevere River, as we do everyday to get anywhere in the city, something caught our attention. First off, the river doesn't seem like it would be the cleanest or most natural of rivers, especially since it runs right through the center of this over-populated, congested, huge city, with more motos, buses and little 2-seater cars imaginable running around it. We were even convinced we saw a rat, or possum, or some sort of rodent swimming through it once when crossing late at night...whatever it was, it was huge and had a tail and was not a fish. There is also this area in the river where about 50 plastic bottles live, along with other random debris, including a few soccer balls, none of which have moved since we moved in. So with that said, I wasn't convinced this river was comparable to any of the rivers we are used to seeing out in the wilderness surrounded by wildlife and trees and majestic mountains. Anyway, we have seen a few people fishing here and there, but never thought much of it...until this fateful day. We were strolling across and in the distance saw a man with his huge fishing pole completely bent at a 90 degree angle. He was having a massive power struggle with whatever was caught on the other end of his pole. We stopped to watch the spectacle, eager to know the outcome. We both thought, maybe it was the huge possum or rat, or maybe it was a boot or huge piece of garbage. He fought for a good 20 minutes, and we remained intrigued the whole time. He asked a friend for help, he was running all over the place holding on to his pole, desperate to reel in whatever it may have been. And then, finally, he ran down to the water's edge with a net and swooped up a HUGE 20lb, 3-4 foot fish! I am not a fish fan, but this thing was pretty unreal. Sean was jumping up and down with excitement, practically applauding the man. It was pretty amazing. I had no idea a fish like that even existed, let alone in this river running right by our apartment in the middle of a city I could only compare to that of NYC in the US. Sean's mission in life now is to find out what kind of bate he was using, and is currently in the market for fishing gear. I just pray he doesn't ever walk through the door with a fish almost bigger than me and expect me to cook it. We don't quite look at the river the same way, and now every time we pass it, we have to stop for a while to see if we might be witness to another exciting catch.

We are officially in our new home in Trastevere. I know it seems like we have moved 20 times since we have been here, and it feels like we have too. We are officially in this place for the next six months though. It was nice to actually unpack my suitcase and settle in. The apartment is comfortable and in the same neighborhood that I mentioned before. It's a nice size, with an actual division between the "bedroom" and "living room/kitchen". The division is a curtain, but it does the job. We are planning our first Ikea trip for the weekend, to make the place feel a little more like home. The kitchen comes well equipped with all the necessary supplies to make pasta, as every apartment has had so far. It only has one fork, but at least has a cheese grater. Italians know what is important. I am making gnocchi now, which has become a regular with us. Sean is going to have to use the spoon.
I taught 5-year olds yesterday and actually get paid this time. There were 3 little boys named Alessandro, Francesco and Ricardo. Very cute and very eager to learn English. I love teaching little kids because I can always fool them into thinking I speak Italian. Their vocabulary in Italian isn't very advanced, so that makes it easier for me. They are very beginner level, so we started with the basics - colors, numbers, fruit vocab and letters. I spent hours preparing my lesson - complete with games, coloring activities and homemade flashcards. Sean was laughing at how into it I get. But, I know it's because I really love it. I always wanted to become a professional colorer, and now I am. The kids loved it too, and that made all the preparation worth it. The mother, who spoke no English, actually learned a bit from the lesson too, just from overhearing. I know this because as I was leaving she said "Goodbye", and that was the first thing I taught the boys, and the only thing she said to me in English the whole time. My Italian is improving slightly, but I think the main thing is having confidence to just talk, even if I say things wrong. Before I left the US, my Italian grandma said I need to put some attitude into it when I speak Italian...so I am working on that. Everyone knows I have the attitude in English...just need to make it translate now. I have been in contact with a few other schools who have said they want me to teach. I am just waiting on them to give me the hours, and I am ready to get to work - flashcards in hand. The motto here, we have learned, is "domani" which means "tomorrow". Italians have no problem pushing things off to tomorrow. One thing that was shocking to us both when applying for a job here, is we are asked questions that would be considered illegal in the US. There are no discriminatory laws here at all. Any employer can tell you that they do not want to hire you because you are a woman, a man, too young, too old, not Catholic, etc. It's crazy having to tell someone that you are Catholic, or that you are over 25 in an interview.
We are loving life in Rome together. We walk about 6 miles on any given day and have no problem because everywhere we go, we appreciate the magnificent sites. I can't even explain what we see every day - starting from the minute we step out to our cobble stone street, pass Isola Tiberina, pass St. Peter's Basilica and Castel St. Angelo, all the boutiques with designer boots and coats in the windows and the constant smell of fresh bread and garlic in the air. Italians will help you out not matter what. There is always a friendly face in the crowd and always someone you can ask directions to, or what bus to take. The barrista who takes such pride in his abilities that he watches as you take the first sip of your drink, so you feel the love he put into it. We love being called ragazzi (kids) when we walk into a gelateria, or when the little old lady says "grazzi signorina" with a warm smile when I hold the door for her. We love it all and couldn't imagine being anywhere else at this point...I will post more pics soon....maybe domani.

Dont say I didnt warn you....

OK, a few things to beware of in Rome. First, drivers are insane. So Cal driving is baby food, LA traffic doesnt even compare. Basically, as a pedestrian, you do not have the right of way, and dont think they wont lay on the horn at you if you step slightly in their way for a second. No one even stops for ambulances, or little old ladies crossing the street. At any given time, you will see a driver flayling their arms, no doubt shouting obsenities at anyone who may be crossing their path the wrong way. Its a little scary, a little nuts and I have not gotten used to it. Another thing to be very cautious of is making sure you always have the correct amount of change when buying anything. If for some reason a salesclerk has to break a bill for you, forget it! They will literally throw the change and receipt at you. They will look at you like you just insulted their mother. They're ready to throw you right out of the store if you dare need more than 2 euro back after paying. Sean was even denied buying candy because he didnt have the right amount...it was kind of sad. We almost had a panic attack when we realized we only had a 10 euro bill to buy a cafe. Its a little stressful, and makes me wonder how Italians can always have exact change. I dont understand why it is such a big deal and wonder if it is this way in all of Europe, or if Italians are just a little sensitive about giving back change...Not sure...So feisty those Italians...geez....

Barcelona!

After just a short 1 1/2 hour long flight, we arrived to Barcelona around 10pm on Wednesday night, Sean's birthday! Sean and I have slightly different views of traveling. In regard to finding a hotel, he thought, "ah, we'll figure it out when we get there." I, on the other hand, like to know where to go once landing in an unknown country, and knowing that I will be in a clean, comfortable accommodation. Since we were short of time, I decided to just trust Sean's method of traveling. So, after walking around Barcelona late night for a good 2 hours, we came across a hostel....my worst nightmare. Since I was exhausted and just wanted to sleep, I decided that should be fine for our first night. It actually was ok. It was clean, and simple and was a decent place to sleep for the night. Plus, we had a lovely Peruvian woman greet us with a smile, and I felt much better. Of course we were in a 4 star hotel by the last night, which was way nicer... We saw all the sites of Barcelona, the Picasso museum, all the Gaudi architecture around the city, the marina, the beaches, the parks, the Sagrada Familia....everything. On the flight over, I told Sean that I couldn't wait for tacos, and burritos. He laughed and said "we aren't going to Mexico!" He was right! Not a taco or burrito in sight. You basically had your choice of tapas, paella or bocadillo (sandwich). Since all the tapas and paella consisted purely of sea food, I stuck to the bocadillos. I loved the Spanish tortilla which was just egg and potato on bread. I ate about a hundred of those, along with all the sweets you could imagine. And it was extra nice to be able to sit at a table without paying the extra tavolo fee, like in Roma. We saw a few Starbucks too, which seemed totally out of place and odd to see. I actually thought about going in and ordering a latte, but after much debate, and considering we actually live in the cappuccino capital of the world, we just couldn't do it. I have a feeling Starbucks won't be making it's way to Italy any time soon. It was nice that we were able to communicate better since Sean speaks fluent Spanish. It's kind of funny because in Roma, when people realize we don't speak Italian, they start speaking Spanish. We couldn't believe it when in Spain, the man at the hotel started speaking Italian to us. We realized that our guidebook was in Italian, and he must have seen that. He must have been really confused when he saw our US passports. He still kept speaking to us in Italian the whole time too...geez. Overall it was really fun, and we walked a good 10 miles each day we were there. It is nice to be back in Rome too...and we are already thinking about where we want to go next!

Few more things to blog about.

We don't have a shower. All we have is a bath tub with a hose. So, basically, I have to sit down in the tub and hose myself off. It is pretty interesting.

Sean and I bought paper plates tonight, so we can eat dinner together. All they had was Tom & Jerry. Gave us both a good laugh at dinner.

Sean's birthday is Wednesday!!...Thinking Espana....

We realized there are actually 2 clubs on our block that are usually raging til 5am, even on Sunday. One is closed tonight, so we are hoping to get more sleep.

If/when you come to Italia, go to Blue Ice. It is literally the BEST gelateria ever! I will say it...there are probably about 4,000 gelaterie in Italia, and Blue Ice is the best. Oh, and don't forget to get Nutella flavor. It's my obsession and will be yours too once you get it.

Teaching...preschool...?

I went to interview for a teaching job today, and had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into. I walked into this school, that was swarming with frantic parents and even more frantic staff. I stood for a minute at the door before someone finally noticed me and said, "Are you the English teacher?!" I said, yes, and he grabbed my hand and immediately lead the way to a classroom. He opened the door and practically shoved me into a room, quickly closing the door behind me. I found about 15 3-year olds sitting, running, dancing, skipping around the room and some, crying. Oye. There was a man in the room, who was the school director, in obvious desperate need of a teacher for this class. He asked me right away, "can you sing?" "can you draw?" Oddest questions anyone has ever asked me on a job interview before. But, I said, yes of course I can sing and draw. Right as I sat down with these kids one little girl walked right up and gave me a big hug. I thought, wow, she is very comfortable around me! Then she said "come ti chiami?" and I said "mi chiamo Andrea." We were instantly friends, and the rest of the class warmed up to me too. Aside from the crying boy in the corner who I let cry the whole time. So, I taught these little babies who spoke only Italian, their colors in English. I was surprised they even knew their colors in Italian, but they were pretty good. I was just glad I knew the colors in Italian too or we would both be totally lost. At the end of class, the director, said "why don't you finish with a song?"...uuuuhhhh, ok? So, he handed me lyrics and I just sang, or kind of read the lyrics dramatically. I was pretty exhausted after an hour with these little ones. They were very cute and very sweet. I was asked to come back and work with this class again...I enjoyed it very much, but...we'll see...

TV

All programs on TV are in Italian, obviously. So, basically, I don't understand much, but for some reason, Sean and I both are hooked on these 3 hour long TV dramas, similar to that of 20/20 or Dateline. They are these murder mystery type of programs usually. Or, for instance, last night, was about these people who survived a plane crash in the jungle of Africa. They are really graphic, and re-dramatize everything...and literally drag out for about 3 hours. We get so hooked, we have to watch to the end. The funny part is that I really don't understand anything, but somehow know exactly what is going on. We can get the gist anyway and have learned interesting words like "omicido" (homicide) and "uccidere" (murder). Tonight, we watched Wheel of Fortune in Italian which was much little lighter in content. Grey's Anatomy was actually on too, in Italian. But, we changed it, to our nightly 3 hour long murder mystery drama. I think it's going to be a good one too.

Pizza...

I ate pizza from the pizzeria that was ranked #4 in the whole world! I thought that was a pretty big deal...and it was very good. Best thing, is that it's right down the street from mia casa. We decided the best way to eat pizza around here is al taglio, which basically means by the slice. They have these huge square pizza and when you order, they cut you a piece depending on how big you want it to be. They show you where they might cut you a slice, look up at you for the ok and you can say more or less, depending on how big you want it. Then they cut it, fold it in half like a sandwich and wrap it up in a piece of paper so you can carry it along and eat while walking away. I am not the best at eating and walking at the same time, especially with mozzarella and marinara sauce dripping all over the place. But I just make a huge mess, then clean up mia faccia when I am done. The other day, after ordering a slice, the lady said, "tutto?" which means "everything?". I thought she was asking if that was all I wanted, just the one piece of pizza, yet she really was asking "do you want everything?" So, she didn't even slice the pizza and handed me the whole thing, which was about 4lbs of pizza! We walked away and I was like, "why did she give me so much pizza? Sean just laughed and said, "you told her that is how much you wanted!" Luckily, he helped me eat it...

Sunday Parade and more...

Trastevere Apartment...for now...

Sunday Sunday...

There are a few things that I have learned about the location of my new adorable studio and neighborhood in Trastevere. For one thing, around 11pm, as I lazily crawled into the comforts of my new bed, wrapping the soft down blankets tightly around me, the sound of techno music, mixed with loud drunk Italian youth shook the walls... and me right out of bed to see what was going on. I opened the windows to find that apparently, by night, the place across the street is a happening hot spot night club. In the US, I would expect the party to last until around 1:30-2am when the nightlife starts to die down. Here, the nightlife lasts long into the morning, keeping me up until about 5am. I may as well have been trying to sleep right in the middle of the dance floor. Then, this morning, after waking up at around 10am, I opened the windows to find a huge parade, complete with music, catholic incense and a Jesus shrine in the center of about 200+ people happily parading down my street. It was pretty incredible...I felt like I didn't need to go to church, since the church pretty much came to me this morning. I watched the parade while sipping my cafe late that Sean has mastered making. What a way to start the morning. After all that, I decided to treat myself to a day of shopping. The shops in Rome are great and although most were closed since it is Sunday, I am experiencing both shock and buyer's remorse this evening. Sean met up with me at the Spanish Steps and we wandered around to Piazza Quarinale and then to Piazza Venezia and then on home to the lively Trastevere. We are now about to have our 100th pasta dinner since we have been here, however we only have one plate. So, I am going to eat first. We shared a coffee mug for our cereal this morning too. No problem.

Done and done...

So, we made it...we both received our teaching certificates yesterday! It felt so good to finally be done, and we both aced the class, which made all the hard work even better. Sean did ever so slightly better than me...which makes no sense because he pretty much cruised through class, while watching me agonize over ever assignment, exam or lesson I was teaching. No fair! I decided that I love teaching. I mean, I really love it...and I think I am good at it, if I do say so myself. I taught an 8 year old boy named Nicolo for my last lesson. He was this tiny, cute, little Italian boy, with that great olive skin and thick coke bottle glasses. I am guessing he is going to be your regular Don Giovanni when he grows up, but I adored his innocence now. Anytime I asked him a question, he said "yes". Then I realized that he had no idea what I was saying, so I had to change my technique slightly. I ended up teaching him jungle animal vocabulary. He had so much fun during the lesson, and I almost cried when I heard him using the words that I taught him, in his next lesson. Very gratifying feeling. He will probably not remember how he learned those words...but I feel good knowing that I made somewhat of a difference.

We found a place to live...yah! It is in an area called Trastevere, which is this darling little neighborhood, with cute little bakeries, toy shops and pizzarias sitting on cobble stone streets. It is right near the River Tevere, which is lined with beautiful, huge trees that are loudly announcing falls arrival. We are signing a 6 month lease, so we are officially settling in Rome for a while. Our apartment isn't actually ready until the 15th, but our landlord found an equally adorable studio for us to stay in right down the street, until we can move in. The major bonuses are that all of Trastevere has wireless Internet, our apartment has a washer (no dryer) and it has a TV. So, we can be somewhat in touch with what is going on. We are for sure not missing our old ghettohood, and are so glad to be (almost) settling in. We are excited to have a place we can call home.

Today is COLD...it has been raining, thunder, lightening and hailing, which is actually kind of nice. I have said it a million times, and I will say it again, that I really love this time of year...and more importantly we love Roma.