Our first day of school.

April 27, 2009

Today was the first day of school.  Hilary and I got up early, had breakfast with Rita, and then she put us on the bus to school.  It was so funny because it was one of those little short buses and I felt like a little kid on my way to school.  The ride into the city is absolutely breathtaking.  The area has lots of green, lots of vineyards, and lots of beautiful hills.   The bus driver drove like a madman, which made Hilary and I laugh.  We got dropped off at Piazza Gramsci and then it’s like a 10-minute walk to the Dante Alighieri School.  Once we got there the Principle greeted us and then took us into a classroom where we took a placement exam.  The exam was pretty simple and then it was followed by an oral exam.  Me, Hilary, and this other new girl that was there from Switzerland all got put in the advanced class with two other girls who have been there for a week already.  We have three hours of Italian with a couple of breaks in between.  Our first teacher was really really tall and his name is Andrea.  Our second teacher is a lady called Letizia.  She was nice and had the new girls introduce themselves.  We had done this with Andrea also and both times I had mentioned that I had been in Italy a couple of years ago as a missionary.  The second time I said this one of the other girls from Switzerland asked me what a missionary is.  I started explaining to her but kept asking me so many questions that I basically gave her about a 7 min. mini-first lesson.  It was awesome.  Our eyes were locked and she was hanging off every word that I said.  When I ended with Joseph Smith she was like, “Wow.”  I was like, “Hm-mm, girlfriend, I KNOW you felt that.”  Well, obviously I didn’t say that out loud but I totally thought it.  The teacher, however, had to kill the mood with putting in her two cents about how she as an atheist finds all of these different things interesting and curious. 

            The Italian classes are pretty good.  I like having lessons in Italian and being forced to speak.  I think in just one day I’ve improved and I like that.  I’ll have this one week of Italian instruction and then the director of the Dante Alighieri school will take me to go meet the teacher that I will be working under during my internship. 

            After our classes another man named Andrea took us on a small tour of the center of Siena.  After that Hilary and I waited for Martina who was supposed to show us what bus to take to get home.  She got there a little late which made us miss our bus and we had to wait for a whole hour.  It was cold and it was raining outside so that wasn’t too fun and it made me super tired.  By the time we got home I looked like something that the cat had brought in and dragged through the rain…twice.  We had dinner.  Rita made us lentil soup and then we had tomatoes in vinegar and oil with fresh mozzarella cheese.  Today was Rita’s birthday but she didn’t tell us until after dinner when she surprised us with a couple of pastries, which were yummy.  It’s 9:30pm now and I’m sooo tired.  Hilary already passed out like an hour ago so its off to bed with me.  Buona notte!!