L'Aquila

Day 15

Boarded the bus for 7:30 am, I even fell asleep on the bus even though it was an hour and a half ride. We were all so tired and not looking forward to today, it seemed like more of a trip for Maria than us. We went to L’Aquila University and Maria showed us the Monastery that they used to stay in. We observed a class that had all teacher candidates like us, and a short PowerPoint on environmental education, all of which we already knew. It was frustrating as they would talk in Italian then in English, so it just seemed more like a waste of time as it was information we already knew, but it was interesting to see the University. The students all looked a lot older than we do, and seemed like they didn’t know much English. After that presentation, Maria presented a lengthy slideshow on the Ontario Education System to everyone. Once that was finished, we headed to McDonalds for lunch. I ordered chicken nuggets, which I haven’t had in years - I still prefer Wendy’s. 

After lunch, we went to a primary school that was built after the earthquake that happened in April 2009. The students that went on this trip previously went to L’Aquila to teach, but since the major earthquake in 2009, we have taught in Sulmona as the city is still suffering. The first school had a gorgeous library, which was donated by a neighbouring city. 

We all separated into two groups and went into the two classrooms and sang songs to the kids. Next we went to another school, which was so beautiful as each wall was painted a different bright colour. Again, we split into groups and sang songs to the children. Our last stop in L’Aquila was at the downtown, where we got out and walked around the centre that was still being reconstructed from the earthquake. It was a ghost town; all the shops were still closed, there weren’t any people walking the streets except military people and construction workers that were reconstructing the buildings – it was very eerie. It is crazy that even after four years there is still rubble on the streets. There was one strip where an artist put up pictures of some of the scenes of the earthquake. There was one picture that showed a man and a little boy sitting on an empty bed with his wife’s and little girl’s clothes laying on the bed. We were told that his wife and daughter both died in the earthquake – we all found it pretty emotional. After L’Aquila we drove back to the hotel had baked pasta for our first course and roasted chicken for our second course. Then Kylee, Alex and I lesson planned for our remaining classes this week.