My final week in Sesto Fiorentino (and in Tuscany, for that matter) has come to a close. After being in this suburb of Florence for three weeks it kind of feels like a home, and I really will miss it. Although I stayed with a different family each week, I returned each morning to the same school, greeted by the same faces of my colleagues. Some of the children, too, I had the pleasure of knowing and teaching for all three of those weeks. This wonderful place has undoubtedly left a permanent mark on me… and hopefully I have left a small mark on some of its inhabitants.
The host family this week was extremely kind and comfortable to be with. The mother is a teacher at the grade school (including teaching English), and the father is an administrator at a local factory that produces toothpaste, among other things. He gave me a bottle of the “Whitening Mint” as a parting gift. They have two boys (14, 11) and a 5 year old little girl who was infatuated with my every move. One evening as I laid in bed reading, I heard the floorboards creek. I looked behind me with a startle to see little Anna staring at me with her eyes open wide, holding her doll. She raised her hand and mustered up a meek “ciao”.
For the first time, I shared a bedroom with someone else (Samuele, 11… and sometimes the family dog too). The host families are required to give tutors their own room, but seeing as they were so nice, I really didn’t mind sharing. Their home was small and all 6 of us shared one bathroom… but it was cozy. Since I was extra conscious of how much time I was spending in the bathroom to get ready in the morning, I opted to take my razor to school each morning and shave there before camp started. Sleeping was also a bit more difficult because the house was so hot, day and night. It turns into a dilemma because you want to sleep with the windows open to help keep it cooler, but then you know that more mosquitoes will get in.
The grandparents lived in the apartment above us, and sometimes we would go up there for dinner (which was a real treat because they had air conditioning in their dining room!). They didn’t speak a word of English, but we were able to share a few words in Italian. And the last night with the family, they insisted that I sing for them. I chose an Italian piece to humor them. Upon finishing, the grandmother shook my hand and said that she hopes I become a famous baritone… haha, nothing like a little flattery! By now, I’m pretty used to busting out an impromptu aria or two at any given moment since so many of my families ask to hear me. Our camp director took all the tutors out for a nice dinner in downtown Florence Thursday night. Because it was her birthday, she asked that I sing something for her under the frescoes of one of the main piazzas. I felt really awkward randomly singing a cappella in such a public place, but by the end of the second song I had about 5 euro in coins lying around my feet. Yay money! Does this mean I’m a street performer now??
My class this past week was really great. They were older than the previous few weeks (9-11), so that was nice. Our final show was Harry Potter and they really nailed it, so I was pleased. I hate to admit it, but I think I’m getting burnt out on this job. There must be something about week 5… it seems like that was about the same time I got burnt out last summer. I don’t want to leave Italy, but I am thankful that I only have two more weeks of the job remaining! I’m looking forward to my week or so of chilling at home with the fam, and then returning to WashU. I realize how much that school means to me when I’m away from it… ugh, graduating is gonna suck!
Next week I am going to a camp in Offanengo. It’s a tiny town near Crema (a small town itself), which is in the far vicinity of Milan. Franzi (the girl from London) and I will be working together for the 5th week in a row--the longest I’ve ever worked with someone in ACLE. We have to say goodbye to Jessica (US) and Gabrielle (Ireland)… it’s going to be one of the saddest ACLE good-byes to date. After three weeks of working together, we have really become close. I have laughed more with these girls than I can even think about! And after our weekend adventure of a lifetime (to which I will devote an entire blog entry), we have been through more together than probably any other tutors in the country! Thank goodness for facebook… we can at least attempt to stay connected.
Just wait for my next blog entry… it’s a whale of a tale!
Topsy-Turvy Italian Tid-Bits
1.) One of the introductory questions in the workbook for 9-11 year olds is “What is your favourite pop group?” One girl in my class wrote “Mozart”. It makes me smile every time I think about it. Then, when I asked them to brainstorm ideas for the final show, she suggested “Le Nozze di Figaro”- an opera by Mozart. Needless to say, she was clearly my favorite student! This would only happen in Italy!
2.) Italians use the word “goma” for anything that is made of rubber… so when they speak English, they call anything made of rubber “a rubber”. While working on the ‘I have got…’ lesson page, one of my students noticed an eraser on my desk and wrote, “My tutor Taylor has got a rubber.” …Only the other American tutor understood the humor in it.
3.) I now have a budding fondness of flies. Usually, people think of them as pests and shoo them away. But after weeks of swatting at mosquitoes, I’m relieved when I realize that the winged insect that just landed on me is a harmless fly. For a brief moment, I feel grateful to the fly for being a fly and not a mosquito.
4.) You know you’re an ACLE tutor when: you look down at your feet/ankles and wonder “Are those tan lines or dirt lines??”
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