"Here are my girls!"

4/30/09

School today was good.  During the second hour we had a discussion about immigration.  I enjoy talking about the topic but I think I need to do some serious thinking and meditation to figure out where I really stand.  We talked a bit about racism in Italy and the difficulties that the Italian people have adjusting to foreigners.  I gave a little speech about a proposal that should be made to instill in children worldwide from a very young age an attitude of multiculturalism and acceptance of others.  Children in school should be exposed to photos, news, and information about other children of different races and colors from all over the world and this should be done often enough so that their perceptions of racial boundaries are diminished.  During my afternoon lesson with Silvia it was so hard for me to sit and listen.  I was so anxious and I had had enough of sitting and enough of class.  I really wish that I wouldn’t get so antsy but two hours is a long time to sit and talk only in Italian, at least for me.  Fortunately it was the last time that I meet with her.  After school I got to talk to JR for about an hour…which was AWEOSME and it totally made my day.  Then I went home with Hillary and Martina on the bus.  It’s kind of sad because today is Martina’s last day here since she is going home to Switzerland tomorrow.  On the bus we ran into the missionaries and then were talking to this lady from Colombia that they had just met.  Since I ran into them yesterday and then knew I spoke Spanish the called me over so I could talk to her a bit.  Her name is Elena and she got here three weeks ago.  She works at an old folks home and is planning to be in Italy for about three years.  She was kind of down because she misses her family but she needs to work so she can help get her kids through college.  The elders were able to get her telephone number and invite her to church but since they really didn’t speak much Spanish they couldn’t tell her much.  I chatted with her on the bus a bit about her family and about her new life in Italy.  I told her about JR and how hard it was being away from him for just two months.  She was super nice and said that she was planning on coming to church so I hope that she comes.  When we came home Rita greeted us at the door.  I love hearing Rita say, “Here are my girls!” whenever we all get home from school together.  She’s so cute.  Dinner was soooo yummy and we were all super hungry.  After dinner Hillary and I tried to start a movie on my laptop but we were both so tired that we fell asleep during the movie.  We got up when it was over and got ready for bed and now we’re about to go to sleep.  Tomorrow aught to be a fun day.  We’re going to monteriggione which is a little city close by that has a castle.  Goodnight!