Sept 28-Oct 4

Hey, it’s Marisa(a.k.a. Mawiza/Buon Compleano), and Sam (a.k.a Sammie Davis, Jr., Jr.) and we are writing about our amazing and exciting adventures in Italy this week.
This week was so full of interesting and insightful experiences that it is almost hard to name them all. Even though the week started out slow the excitement picked up as the week progressed. We spent the week falling further into our routines, and exploring the city of Porto San Giorgio. This included our daily excursions to the gelaterias and getting our butts kicked by Luciano (fitness instructor). This week he showed us a new spinning move. It was really intense. In summary, this week we were very focused on our studies, but still had time to have fun.
This week was also a major turning point in our social lives with the Italians in the town. On Wednesday we spent our Religion/Art History class with grade nine Italian students, sketching dolls and getting to know some of the students. We also found ourselves at the beach swimming in the beautiful ocean and basking in the warm sun. Later that night, we had one of our famous movie nights. It was a movie completely in Italian... a plot of the teachers to “immerse” us in the language and culture. The movie was about a poor fisherman’s son who got a job as a postman and delivered mail to a famous poet on the top of mountain. For the most part we found this movie enjoyable and heartwarming, even with the heart wrenching ending.
On Thursday we got another wonderful opportunity to meet some more Italian people. This time it was a grade 11 class so we all felt a little more comfortable getting to know the students. We were given conversation starters, such as “Mi chiamo...”(my Name is....) and “Ti piace l’Italia?” (Do you like Italy?). We discovered throughout the class that one or two of the students knew a bit of English but for the most part we had to use our prior knowledge from Italian class to communicate and interact. We’re not saying that our English/Italian dictionaries weren’t used, however we finding ourselves having to use them less and less. On Thursday we also to an chance to see the old ruins of the city. Signor Cesare, who works for the city’s cultural department, showed us the town and led us to see some of Porto San Giorgio’s most beautiful places. First, we visited an old theater with box seating and the most beautiful ceiling (almost as good as Michelangelo... but not quite). We got to go onstage and look out of the tiered windows. After that we got he chance to see an old medieval fort. We had to walk up a very steep hill to get there but in the end it was worth the struggle because the place was absolutely amazing. It was like we had stepped back in time to when Porto San Giorgio was still on the lookout for enemy naval attack. Sng. Cesare told us so many amazing stories about each one of the places we visited throughout the expedition. That night we got back to the hotel just in time for dinner. The teachers decided to surprise us all with a birthday celebration for the September babies (and Natalia Z. because it was her real birthday that day). It was so kind of them; we even got a cake, something we have been deprived of so far.
On Friday, we continued with our normal routine. As well, we discovered new parts of the town. Half of the class their very first Book Chat assignment. People who read “The Pillowman” and “Six Degrees of Separation” got their first taste of what it’s like to have to discuss a book intelligently for two hours with a teacher and other students. The next day “The Tipping Point” and "Freakonomics" readers got the same experience. We met in a gelateria to discuss and analyze our books. Most of us kids weren’t accustomed to this but found it quite enjoyable. We then had the rest of the day to ourselves and most decided to explore the town. Some of us even found a couple of parks in the area providing us with more recreational activities to look forward to. We headed back to the hotel for dinner at 7:00pm even though the beautiful sunny day was beckoning us with its warmth and cool sea breeze.

To those lucky people in Toronto who got to stay inside sleeping all Saturday we were hard at work all day furthering our education. Yes, we know, it’s rough that we have to get up at 7:00am, but it wasn’t all bad. Throughout the week we had been watching a really entraining movie about Julius Caesar’s life and rise to power. Recently the teachers came to the decision that we could all sleep in a bit on Sundays and so instead of church Sunday morning we have church Saturday night. So we attended church (we arrived a bit late because they’d moved the time back half an hour and everyone in town seemed to know this but us!) and after raced back to the hotel for dinner. After dinner was when the night finally came to life. Porto San Giorgio only truly comes to life on Saturday nights, hosting people from the surrounding towns. We went out and had lots of fun with the local kids surprised by how friendly and courteous they were to us.

On Sunday, most of us slept in. Some of us went out for breakfast while others stayed in and enjoyed a slow paced morning. Here at the hotel, we are constantly fed really well, but in my opinion, Sunday’s lunch topped it all. We got the most amazing old fashioned Italian lasagna followed by an apple pie desert. After lunch we were all rushed onto a bus as we set off on another one of our journeys. Destination: Ascoli Piceno. Even though Annamaria wasn’t with us we still managed to find our way around. Once we were there we looked at many magnificent building such as churches and the main city hall. Most of the buildings were worn and historic looking but they aded real charm to the city. We enjoyed the charming little shops encircling the piazza and then wandered throughout the rest of the city. On the ride home we stopped at a shopping center; some of us walked around window shopping while others picked up needed materials like shoes, balls, and clothing. After dinner we had a quiet evening in the hotel, finishing up work due for the next day.

This week in English class we have been learning about the application of poetic language. We have been writing countless poems and reading them to the class. Here is a sample of the talented and amazing Natalia H.’s finest work.

Italy is lots of fun
We get to laugh and play in the sun
We see the culture and taste gelato
We even learned to count to otto
The tours here are very enlightening
Even though some paintings and sculptures are frightening
We go to know the greats Michelangelo and Bernini
We have had great food like tortellini
This week we learned to write in verse
And with Italians we did converse
We got insight into Julius Caesar
We’re straight up g’s so we didn’t listen to Weezer
We all miss our families very much
But we are making friends and such
We hope you miss us too
Because we truly miss you through an through

I is for inspiring
T is for tours
A is for amazing
L is for language
Y is for young and restless

Isn’t she skilled? The next Dante Alighieri? :)

We also got back a bunch of tests and quizzes, including our Dettatos ( Spelling tests) and Unit tests for Italian. We wrote a Religion/Art History test about Ancient Rome and looked deeply into the historical aspects of Ancient Rome in Classical Civilizations. One day in English we did a “Blind Walk”, were you walk around the school area talking turns closing your eyes while your partner guides you. We got to write a poem about it after and they turned out really well. We also experimented with writing Odes and Elegies.

Of course over these past weeks we have been missing our families, friends and pets immensely, but Sam and I were wondering what Canadian comforts everyone missed most from back home. We did a survey and this is what we got:

Samantha L. misses locks on the bathroom doors and skating
Heather misses her bed, steak and granola crunchies
Ricker misses T.V. in english and going to see movies.
Dylan misses his Boston Red Sox blanket
Sean misses his bed
Clarissa misses gymnastics
Silvana misses family dinners and her mom’s homemade soup
Michelle misses having an organized place to live.
Claire misses dance class and T.V.
Natalia H. misses Pillsbury Cookie dough
Kasia misses perogies
Peter misses his shower
Julia misses The Food Network
Melissa misses her bed
Chelsea misses Criminal Minds
Natalia Z. misses all her books at home
Alex misses her pillow
Taylor misses apple juice
Samantha D. misses her guitar
Marisa misses internet in her room

And it’s not just the students here feeling a bit homesick, the teachers miss stuff too.

Mr. P misses his car, because he likes to get from place to place whenever he feels like it.
Mr. T. misses Tim Horton’s because he is a true Canadian.
Ms. C. Misses high speed internet because the internet is so slow here.

As always, please be sure to check out our new photos (we posted 58 new ones this week!) at: www.flickr.com/photos/tcdsbinitalia

Ciao for now everyone!