Canada In Italy

Day 10

Today was the day that Kylee, Alex and I had to get evaluated from one of the Nipissing teachers on the trip. We decided to take a cab to the primary school, as again it was raining this morning and we wanted to make sure we were set for our evaluation. The man didn’t have any idea where the school was and said oh senoritias, like oh girls that he thought we were stupid. It is a small town and the only primary school so I don’t know how he didn’t know where it was. We arrived at the school early and set up the classroom for our big lesson. There was a smart board in the classroom so we got the teacher to work it for us and we connected the slideshow presentation on Canada. Kylee started with the introduction of our names and the kid’s names again as most of the kids weren’t there when we taught them Monday. Then I explained our Canadian anthem and we played a YouTube video and got the kids to sing along to it as we handed out bookmarks with lyrics on it. Next Alex started the slideshow and went through the provinces, sports, food (we handed out peanut butter for them to try) and I went over the money and we showed them some Canadian money we had. We played the Canada in my pocket song, which they loved. To end the slideshow I went over the Canadian animals and ended with the moose. We sang, “There was a great big moose” song with the kids – which again they loved. Alex did a little quiz at the end where the kids had to say the name of what the picture was such as Niagara Falls. Kylee explained the craft, which was a Canadian flag, and we had them write five things they learned on the back. To finish the lesson we asked them what they learned about Canada and then they wanted us to sing the moose song again. We had the same class again for the second hour (9:30 – 10:30) so we did a lesson on street signs that we prepared the night before. I found a poem on street signs and Kylee wrote it out on chart paper, so we went over the poem with the kids and got them to repeat it after we said it. The classroom had a door outside so we took them outdoors to a basketball court and played red light, green light. Then we did the hokey pokey with them, as lots of the kids didn’t know their left from right. They had so much fun and made us do it again. Another difference I have noticed from Canada is that the children in Italy are so much more willing to participate in songs and activities that may be seen as childish. They love singing songs, especially if the songs have actions! Then I led an activity where the children had to tell me the directions to get from certain places that we made on chart paper. We made BINGO cards with street signs on it, but couldn’t photocopy them before the lesson so ended up not doing that part. Instead we had them copy the poem in their notebooks and the teacher had them complete an activity in their workbooks with directions. Most of the work the students do is out of their workbooklets and they don’t write on blank paper, they have a notebook for what they write down their work. 

Our huge (small) pizza

What I now know is non-alcoholic beer

We left class and walked to the market, as it is only open Wednesdays and Saturdays and on Saturday we will be in Pompeii the entire day. The market somewhat reminded me of St. Jacobs, there was lots of fruit stands and some cheese, meat and seafood stands, and then some random clothing (some cheap some decent) and other trinkets and jewelry. We wandered around for a bit and went into some shops. I got a mug with Sulmona on it for Nana at one of the souvenir shops. Wherever we go, people always stare at us, we do stand out from them as we wear skirts and sandals. We walked back to the hotel and changed into pants as it was getting cooler and then walked to the penny market to pick up more snacks. I got some things to bring home and then got what I thought was a .85 cent 6 bottle pack of beer, but later realized it was non-alcoholic and it was absolutely disgusting. After the supermarket we went to the mall and were starving so we went to the mall across the road to get lunch. Kylee and I both ordered a mini margherita pizza with fries and a drink. When we got the meal we had them package the one pizza up as it was enormous and we realized we could split one and take the other home. 

Market 

My dinner and wine

We shopped around the mall after we ate, I got a little purse/clutch for 10 euro. Then we walked back to the hotel and hung out in Alex/Christina/Melissa/Michelle’s room for a bit. Christina, Kylee, Alex and I went out back of the hotel to tan for a bit and it was so hot we weren’t out there for long. Kylee and I came in and organized our room as it was a disaster and we hadn’t had time to actually unpack and organize our things since we’ve been in Sulmona and we finally had the time and wanted to make use of it. Then we got ready and went upstairs at 7:00 to take the first shuttle to the other hotel. We were somewhat forced to go to the other hotel as it was the owner of the two hotel’s (Santacroce) birthday and he was having a celebration at the other hotel and we would go there for a buffet dinner. We had to take a shuttle (a van that seats 8 people) to the other cab. The cab driver was insane and drove way past the speed limit, cutting people off and passing cars when we were pretty certain that it was a no passing lane. It seems that people make up their own driving rules in Italy. The other hotel was so nice, it had a pool and gorgeous flowers and patio section. We didn’t realize that the buffet and events was outside so everyone was freezing as it was chilly at night and most people didn’t dress for outdoors. Luckily, I ate a big before so I wasn’t that hungry, but everyone at my table was starving and we had to wait until almost 9:00 for them to serve dinner. I got a little glass of champagne to go with my dinner, and a few pieces of bread and bruschetta for dinner because most of the food was meat or something we didn’t know. A lot of the group had to get up early the next morning to teach, and still plan their lesson, so one van load was able to leave at about 10:30, and I made sure I was on the first van ride back to the hotel as I was freezing!