Well, I know it has been a
long time, and there is so much to tell. Right now it is 11:30 PM (excuse all grammar errors please--cough Abbey) on Thursday
night. We just got back from dinner in Trestevere with out awesome cooperating
teachers and supervisor, Linda. But, before we go into this week, I should
probably take you all the way back to the beginning of our Spring Break. Ahh…
Spring Break. What an amazing time.
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| Oscar Wilde Statue |
So, I already told you about
the first few days, but on Saturday, we left for Ireland. After running around
and all the juicy details, we made it to Dublin. No joke. It was SO amazing. Not
only
because it was beautiful, but because we could understand
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| This is Ireland! |
everyone and
they all had beautiful Irish accents. Once we were there, we figured out how to
get to Anna’s friend Katrina’s apartment. Although she was in London, her and
her roommates let us stay there (they attend University College Dublin and live
there). This was seriously beyond nice of them. Couldn’t think of any way to
thank them enough. Once we got to her apartment (broke in and all….) we finally
got to sleep because we had to be up early for our tour!
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| Delicious Guinness Stew |
Sunday was Easter and we went
to the town of Gallway for our tour of the
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| Cliffs of Moher |
town and Cliffs of Moher. We woke up
really and thought we had a cab… turns out we didn’t. We had to sprint, literally,
to the main road to hail one. Thankfully, we caught a cab and made it to our
bus. We sat near the back… not good for Kylee (long story short… very curvy
roads and we had to stope to let her off the bus). Anyways, off we went and we
stopped in a little small town for coffee and then we were on our way to
Gallway. When we got to Gallway, we picked up our tour guide and walked around
the cute little town, enjoying churches, fun music, castles, stories about
people getting their heads chopped off, and……. An Oscar Wilde
Statue (my
favorite part). The tour guide was great and hilarious the entire time. He told
us stories about Ireland, which was great considering my geeky love for history
and his geeky way of sharing it. The roads after Gallway, heading
towards the
Cliff of Moher, were very small and curvy. The legend is… “In the
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| So Beyond Beautiful |
pastures, the
cows would roam through the villages. In Ireland,
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| Cliffs of Moher |
what is the one thing
everyone loves to do? DRINK. So, the cows would roam through the villages,
going to the best pubs, and stumble their way back to the pastures. Crossing
the roads were hard for them, so that is why they became so curvy.” Cute little
story from our guide and very applicable to Ireland. When we got to the top of
the mountain we stopped at a fabulous view. At this time, we thought this might
be the best view we saw (later, we found out we were very wrong). After
stopping, we finally went to a pub for lunch (this is all happening on our way
to Gallway-which is all the way across Ireland). We stopped at a pub that is
very well known… Gus O’Connor’s Pub. It was fabulous. Anna and I got Guinness
stew… an Irish specialty and vegetable lover’s favorite (aka me).
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| Sunset on our way back |
Kylee on the
other hand… did not get anything because she was still sick. Then we were off
to the Cliffs. If you do not know what the Cliffs of Moher are, you are missing
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| Breathtaking |
our and need to look it up right this second. It was beyond beautiful.
Breathtaking and unexplainable. I felt like I was experiencing life at its
finest. As we were walking the beautiful cliffs and staring out at the ocean,
we took many pictures. Anna and I got in trouble by the security guard in
attempt to get some really awesome pictures… but hey, it was worth it. After
some hand stands, cartwheels, meditiation, and really awesome photos, we chose
to sit and take in the beauty. Seriously, go there. After the cliffs, we got
back on the bus to head back to Dublin. Finally, later at night we made it
back. After fighuring out the bus system, we were exhausted and went straight
back to Katrina’s apartment.
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| Guinness Factory |
The next day, Anna and I woke
up early to run. UCD was still on Spring Break
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| Guinness Advertising |
and so we felt like we had the
entire campus to ourselves. It was beautiful and smelled so Springy. The track
and trails were great to run on and it seemed so much easier to run there than
in Rome (much flatter). After our run, we got ready and made our way to the
Guinness Factory. It was so much fun being there! We tried going into the wrong
door, so the really cute little old security guy kindly told us (and asked me
to buy him a drink LOL) we were wrong and where to go. We made it in and off we
were. The factory was 7 stories high. First, we went through the store, then
the floor with what it is made out of, third was the process, fourth was how
the barrells were made, and fifth was the marketing floor (my FAVORITE-it was
so cool to look through the ages of marketing). The next floor was where we got
to taste fresh guinness. You will never have guinness this good (unless you
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| Professional Guinness Pourer!! |
go
to the factory in Ireland). It tasted like caramel, chocolate, and coffee. They
also said it is actually red, not brown or black. Oh, and for all you folks who
have told me that guinness is meant to be drank warm… you’re wrong. It
depends
how it was brewed. Anyways… next we became
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| The Tasting Experience |
professional guinness pourers. We
were taught the percise way to pour a good guinness and man does it take
forever. Finally, when we finished the class, we got to take our guinness to
the gravity bar on the top floor. The bar was made of glass and you could see
for miles. THE VIEW WAS BEAUTIFUL and my picture do not do it justice. Dublin
from above is beathtaking. After hanging out there for awhile, we made our way
to Temple Bar Street. This is the famous street that you see when you look up
Dublin. Lots of fun pubs, restaraunts, and live music. We went and had dinner
(GROSS… because I ordered something and hamburger was in it… barf) and then
went to a pub where they were playing live music. It was so much fun and the
artists sang beautifully. We also tried Bulmers… a wonderful, Irish beer that
taste like pears
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| The Gravity Bar |
or berries. After, we made our way back to Katrina’s because
they were home! We got back and hung out with Katrina and her roommates all
night; catching up and having lots of fun. Katrina’s roommate went and stayed
at her boyfriend’s apartment, so I was
extremely lucky and got to sleep in a bed again (SCORE).
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| Beautiful Dublin |
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| The famous Temple Bar |
Day three in Ireland… just as
great as the rest. Katrina gave Anna and I a great
place to run, and it was beautiful. We were a little lost, but came out on a beautiful path. After
running and lunch, we went back into Dublin. We visited Trinity College, and
all the famous spots, Including The Library of Kells. The library is just as
beautiful as it is on Pinterest (for all you Pinterest lovers). Rows and rows of
books. It looked like something out of Harry Potter. After the library, we went
souvenir shopping and went to see Molly Malone (cute, little, famous statue).
So, the story behind Molly Malone is a simple (and kind of dirty) one. Molly
Malone was a very simple woman. Although she was simple, she had big breasts.
Her breasts brought her all the luck she needed. When they created her statue,
legend says if you touch her chest, you will have good luck. So… joking around,
of course we take pictures by her and I touch her chest… (later on, you will
find out what happens because of this). After Molly Malone, we made our way to
the literary pub crawl that we were attending that evening. We had dinner there
before it started (marvelous) and met Katrina’s friends. When you head the
world pub crawl, you might think wild and crazy… but come on, I don’t do that.
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| The Actors |
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| Add caption |
What’s much more “Breanna” like? A pub crawl where two actors take you to
different historical spots, telling you about the history of Irish literature
(HELLO-ENGLISH TEACHER’S HEAVEN). Well, there was a little Irish drinking happening too (AKA Anna and I tried Irish coffee and Bailey’s coffee… you will never have one that good in the states!). Anyways, we soon arrived to the pub near Molly Malone where we had free wifi. All of a sudden I am receiving tons of calls and messages. I found out that evening that I received an interview for a 5
th grade position in a school district I love. Holy cow, Molly Malone sure did bring me luck!! As the night went on and the literature came to an end, we made our way to meet more of Katrina’s friends. There were Irish and American students, so it was a ton of fun chatting with them and getting to know them. After the completely empty club (and us busting our WONDERFUL moves on the dance floor), we made our way back to Katrina’s. Later that night, we went to the airport so we could catch our flight bright and early. Sidenote… peanut butter in Italy is extremely expensive. When we went to Ireland, we planned to search and find some. We did and it was only one euro. Sad part… when we went through security, they took it!!! Which leads to us buying really expensive peanut butter in Italy.
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| Library of Kells |
Next day we made our way back
to Rome, slept a ton, and packed for our flight the next day: GREECE. We left
at about 3:30 AM for Greece. We made it to the airport and successfully made it
to Greece! The transportation in Athens was so easy and pretty identical to
Rome. We hopped on the metro and it took us right to our hostel. Our first day
there was pretty mellow. We settled in and asked the workers a good place to
eat. She told us and holy cow… BEST FOOD I HAVE HAD IN EUROPE (and cheapest).
We went to a restaurant a couple miles away and when we passed, they asked if
we wanted to eat up or downstairs. We said up, which
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| Guinness Pouring Crew |
was the smartest decision
we could have made. We were able to eat our dinner in a glass room with a view
all around us of the entire city. Breathtaking. Are you ready for this
deliciousness? Anna and I split our meal. We ordered a plate of Greek meats, a
plate of hummus, falafel, eggplant salad, and pita, and a huge bottle of wine.
It was so fresh, so delightful, and only 12 Euro a person!!!! BEST DEAL EVER.
Afterwards, we walked around and did a little shopping in the market. The greek
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| Greece is my Place :) |
market is wonderful. I definitely became a professional bargainer (reason I got
real Greek leather shoes for 24 E). I also became the luckiest girl on Earth
this day. Okay Mom, don’t get mad, but when I was buying postcards, I may have
left my wallet in the store. When I went to buy some other things… I figured it
out and ran back to the other store, hoping I had left it there. I ran in and
the ladies knew me right away. EVERYTHING WAS THERE. I was beyond grateful. This
never would have happened in Rome. Someone would have taken it in a heartbeat.
So yes, very fortunate lady right here. After shopping, we went back and went
to bed, getting rest for our next busy day.
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Delicious Greek Food (hummus,
falafel, eggplant, etc) |
We woke up early Friday to eat
breakfast (pretty makeshift at the
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| Hiking up Mount Lycabettus |
hostel… boiled eggs and bread LOL) and get
ready for our walking tour. On our walking tour from the hostel, we met a ton
of great people and the tour guide was wonderful. He gave us many tips and took
us to so many beautiful places. He pretty much prepared us to walk around later
and know where we were. After the tour, a group of us went to climb Mount
Lycabettus. You know how much I love hiking… well this was ten times better
than anything. It was a super easy hike, and it was beautiful all the way to
the top. After Anna and I raced our way up there, we finally arrived. Once
again, I cannot explain the view. It was incredible. We took tons of pictures,
did some Greek meditation, and soaked up the view (seriously, this is one of the
best views I have seen in Europe). We then made our way down, through a market
(where Anna got
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| Top of Mt. Lycabettus |
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| Beauty on our walking tour |
fried balls of dough with all kinds of goodies on it), and to
the Temple of Zeus. Yes, this is what you see in movies. We walked around being
super cool and touristy, but eventually stopped to soak it up. When we were
done, we stopped at a yogure place. Yes, REAL GREEK YOGURT. It was like getting
frozen yogurt, but with real, fresh yogurt. Then, we made our way back to the
hostel to get ready for dinner. Our group of friends we met all decided to go
to the port for dinner. After taking the metro, riding around on the wrong bus,
and finally taking a cab to the right spot, we went into a restaurant. It was
tons of frest sea food (hence, we were on the sea). Anna and I split shrimp
paste (yum!). After taking in the beauty of the port, we made our way back to
the hostel. We all decided to go have a drink together and it was a lot of fun,
but after Anna, Kylee, and I got our free Ouzo (famous Greek drink), we left,
got dessert, and went back to the hostel. We planned to wake up early the next
day.
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| Top of the Acropolis |
Our last full day in Athens,
we wanted to spend on the beach, but first, we had
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| Dionisous Theater |
to go see the Acropolis
(which we couldn’t the night before because all the sites were closed due to it
being their Easter weekend). If you do not know what the Acropolis is… look it
up. It is the most famous monument in Greece. Once inside, we saw the theater
of Dionysus, Temple of Athena (my favorite), the Parthenon (duh!), and many
other smaller monuments. Once we hiked to the top, guess what, beautiful views
again!! We loved it! Afterwards, we made our way to the beach. After taking the
tram there, stopping at a couple of the wrong ones, we found our way to the
right one, where we spent our entire day. I fell asleep for awhile and so did
Anna. It was so beautiful and nice to relax, while getting some much needed
Vitamin D. After getting fried like a lobster, we went back to the city. We
went to the very first olympic stadium (SO COOL) and then went back to the
hostel. That night, we went and had dinner at a cute little spot. We got the
best euro I have ever had (Euros are a
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| Parthenon |
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| Temple of Zeus |
Greek thing, if you didn’t already
know). After going to hang out at our hostel for awhile, we forced ourselves to
stay up until midnight. In Greece, they celebrate Easter at midnight. So, Anna
and I walked to the nearest church where everyone was lighting candles and
sharing their flames. Soon the entire town was lit up by candles. They sang
songs and fireworks went off. It was amazing (beside the lady who almost
started my hair on fire, that’d sure be cute). After that, we went straight to
bed because we had to be up early for our flight the next day.
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| First Olympic Stadium |
Yes, we made it safely back
to Rome and Spring Break had come
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| Orthodox Easter Ceremony |
to an end. It was so sad, but we were ready
to get back into a normal routine (and sleep in our comfy beds!). The best part
about arriving back to Rome: our supervisor, Linda, was here!! She met us right
off the train. I ran and gave her a huge hug, so excited to finally see a familiar
face. Sunday, instead of relaxing, we took Linda to our favorite gelato spot,
walked along the river, took her to the pantheon, one of Rome’s biggest
piazzas: Piazza Navona, and to Eataly. Her first day with us was a success.
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| Beautiful Beach in Athens |
Monday, was a great first day
for Linda at school (except she hates Italian coffee). She hung out in my room
all day and recorded me teaching a 5th grade lesson for my
interview. After school, Anna and I decided to spend the night with Linda at
her Bed and Breakfast to see her and so I could do my interview that evening
(considering the time difference). Anna and I went for a run and then went back
and got Linda to take her to her first apertivo. The place we went was called
701 and it was delicious. Linda got to try some pretty Italian foods. It was
fun. Then we went shopping (for her grandchildren), but could not find
anything. By the time we made it back, it was almost time for my interview; 3
interviews, 2 hours, and 1 chance. It was super cool to participate in an
interview via Google Hangouts (considering my geeky technology minor). My first interview was with a team of three people: counselor, 5th grade
teacher, and SPED teacher. I felt a little rushed at first, but man were they
awesome and super adaptable (since technology can sometimes be a pain in the
kneck)! The second interview was with the superintendent. I had never
experienced an interview with a superintendent, so I was very fortunate to have
it. It helped me think about things I usually would not! It also made me feel
so much better about the district and how wonderful it is for him to take the
time to interview teachers! Lastly, my third interview was with the
administrative team and a few other people I did not see because the wifi was
starting to go out. THEY WERE AMAZING. My favorite interview by far. Enough
about my super exciting interview. That night, I slept in the best and poor
Anna got the really hard floor (she is such a trooper). A huge positive to
staying with Linda: we got to sleep in because it was right across from school.
We woke up, got ready, and took Linda to a bar for a fresh pastry and coffee.
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| Inside the Colesium |
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| Showng Linda Roma |
Tuesday, Linda got to see me
teach the 8th graders. It was a ton of fun for her to see me with my
study skills students because they are a fun mix. The lesson was on
authenticity of a website and I fooled most of the students into believing we
should ban DHMO (water), because of the phony websites I sent them to. After
debating with the three boys who I could not trick, I told everyone what I was
up to. They had so much fun with this lesson (and so did I). Linda also saw me
introduce our Shakespeare research project in English. The kids were not so
happy about this though, LOL (8th graders are so needyJ). After school, we made our way to the coliseum. This
was Linda, Kylee, Anna, and I’s first time inside. It was pretty spectacular. It
is hard to imagine the history that lies within it, but it is a beautiful (and
one of the most well known) historical sites in the world. I am so lucky to
have been able to set foot in it. Afterwards, we went to one of our favorite
apertivo places by our apartment. Linda loved it and we were so happy. After
Linda went home, Kylee, Anna, and I went to the café to book our train tickets
for the next weekend. While in the process of doing so, Linda told me the
principal at
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| The Pantheon (IN ROMA) |
Norwalk had tried to call her again. Of course, this made me
nervous and it was almost time for the café to close. At 9:00 PM I hadn’t heard
anything else and they kicked us our of the café (for the free wifi). Since our
wifi was not working at our apartment, Anna and I went to La Romana
(geleteria), to use theirs. Luckily I did, because at 9:30 that night, I got
the call asking for me to accept the job. After talking to some other new
teachers, I chose to accept in a heartbeat. I am still extremely honored to
have accepted a job in a school district that I thought I could only dream of
working in. I am so very fortunate. It has not really hit yet because I never
have a second to think over here! When I get home it will be all books and
setting up from there.
J 5
th grade, here I come!
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| The Roman Forum |
Wednesday—school and the
roman forum with Linda. The Roman Forum was beautiful, but all I could think
about were the breathtaking views in Athens (oops…). Once I got that our of my
head, I was able to take in the beauty of Rome. After the forum that night, we
called it an early one since we knew Thursday would be late.
Thursday, we had a lot
planned for Linda and I think it was her favorite day. As we made our way
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| View down the Vatican Street |
towards the Vatican, we stopped at a bunch of little shops for her to look for
her grandchildren. Sadly, she didn’t find much, but when we arrived at the
Vatican, she was awestruck (as we all are, every time we go by there). The
Vatican is such a phenomenal structure. We love going and seeing the beauty. It
literally is perfect. After Linda took a couple hundred photos, we made our way
to Trestevere for dinner with our cooperating teachers. We went to this place
called Taverna Trilussa. HOLY COW, I ate the most I have eaten since being in
Roma. First, we ordered artichokes as an apetizer. Not only did we get that
apetizer, but we got the cheese spread! I was full after just that. Then, we
ordered and Anna and I shared the ravioli and gnocci. It was the best pasta I
have had since I have been here. SO YUMMY. Guess what… we didn’t stop there.
After our courses, we got dessert. We were able to try tiramusu, magleana, and
chocolate mousse. Everything was delicious, but I could not finish. When we
went home that night, we were regretting the amount of food we ate and how full
our stomachs were. We slept very well that night.
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| Amalfi; love these ladies! |
Friday was a short school day
because we left early with Linda to
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| Coast of Salerno |
catch our train to the Amalfi. We were a
little worried our train wouldn’t be running because there was a transportation
strike, but it ended up fine. We took a three hour train to Salerno and then a
half hour bus ride to the town of Amalfi. We found our beautiful hotel where we
were greeted by a nice man named Christian. He was beyond helpful to us. Right
away he told us what we should do with our time on Saturday and how to get to
different places. We made our way to our
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| Positano (Amalfi Coast) |
room and it was nice. Linda and Kylee
slept in two full beds and Anna and I slept in bunk beds. We had two rooms and
one bathroom. It was so nice. After getting settled, we went to dinner at the
number 8 best pizza place in Italy. MY GOODNESS, it was
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| Positano, I love you! |
mouthwatering,
wonderful. Linda aboslutely loved it too, which was the best part. After
dinner, we grabbed some gelato and went to bed.
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| On our hike to the top of Positano |
Saturday, we woke up early to
eat breakfast and catch the boat to Positano; a small beach town with beautiful
hills, homes, and views. We hiked around, lost Kylee for awhile (she
disappeared), went to the top of the mountain, found a second beach, ate some
delicous food, and shopped. We left Positano around one. The boat ride itself
was a treat. It was beautiful and we were able to see a lot of the Amalfi
Coast. Once we arrived back to Amalfi, we hopped on a bus to a very high town
called Ravello. In Ravello, there were many cute shops, pretty views, venues,
churches, and weddings happening. It was a ton of fun watching the wedding
party gather in the middle of the piazza and interact with each other. After
spending lots of time in Ravello, and enjoying all it had to offer, we went
back to Amalfi. In Amalfi, we tried limoncello (the drink of Amalfi, because
Amafli is famous for their huge, fresh lemons), ate dinner, and walked around.
It was a beautiful evening.
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| Ravello |
Sunday came way too fast.
Anna and I woke up bright and early to run the coast and watch the sunrise. It
was beautiful; above the mountains, sea, and houses, I could not have asked for
any more. We then went back and had breakfast and coffee and prepared for the
day. We spend some time walking around Amalfi, shopping, and interacting with
all of the people there for the triathalon. They loved us and wanted lots of
pictures with us LOL. The triathalon looked like a ton of fun and the people
were loving every second. Their meeting spot was right in front of the famous black
and white striped cathedral. They also could not get over Kylee’s eyes. They
loved how blue they are! After hanging around Amalfi, we made our way back to
Salerno, but this time by boat. It was beautiful with the clouds rolling over
the mountains and houses shining in the sun. Once in Salerno, we grabbed coffee
at a bar with swings. It was pretty sweet. Then we ate lunch at a piadina shop
(like flatbreads). After walking around town, we made our way to the train
station. As we waited for the train, what could you guess four teachers would
do to pass time? Play disney charades of course! Man, the people around us had
to think we were mad! The police officers jokingly came and asked me if it was
water or liquor in my water bottle. Nope, just kids at heart I guess. J Then, some Americans came up to us, and I think they
wanted to join, but were too shy to ask? Anyways, we finally were on the train
and I fell deep into my dreams. Once we got back, I was so sad to say goodbye
to Linda. She was catching a taxi back to her Bed and Breakfast, to pack and
get ready to fly out the next day. We hugged, and me being a sap, of course
teared up!! Hey, when home comes to Rome, it is sad to see them go! After, we
came back to our apartment and decided we deserved our favorite gelato! We
walked all the way to the city center to get it. In honor of celebrating my new
job, Anna bought me a huge cone! Ayyiiiyiyiii!! It was delicious though. J We got a little rained on, but then a rainbow came
and it was all worth the long walk back.
Wow, I am finally caught up.
Today was a busy day at school. We planned the rest of my time here. I am so
sad to have it be going by so quickly. I still think it is crazy the amount of
people that come into our lives and then, poof, they are gone. Anyways, don’t
want to think about leaving my “too cool for school” 8th graders
yet. Hope all is well on the home front. I am missing my little (SLOANE) so
much and cannot wait to see her soon.
XOX From Roma!!
