Un Giovedi strano.

Today was an interesting day. Instead of teaching my lesson on Act IV of the Wizard of Oz to my 4th grade classes, I watched them in a "spectacolo" in their school, which is a church. This childrens' performer, who has gone throughout Europe with this act in several languages, came to teach the kids about road/driving/bike safety but it wasn't the kind of educational demonstration that the U.S. would have. "Paco Paolo" was decked out in costume, with a guitar, accordian, and a huge speaker system that played the songs from his studio album that got the kids (and teachers) hootin' and hollerin' like I've never seen before. He had props like huge steering wheels and tires that, at one point, all the kids got to jump through, and after they were all done, they all started yelling, "Maestre! Maestre! Maestre!" for the teachers to go up and have a turn through the giant tire. I didn't want any part of it, but when the teacher whose class I teach english for, Costanza, came to me and wripped my bags out of my heads and started to take my coat off I really had no choice. I persisted but she is the true Italian here, so of course she won. She exclaimed in the little english she knows, "Viene!!! You are a teacher!! You are a GOOOD teacher!!!" So I lined up with all the teachers and jumped through the tire. My kids, who hadn't seen me all morning, were jumping up and down and clapping when they finally saw me up there. They are just adorable. They have so much energy with everything from their snacks to this silly performer and his huge tire.

I'm running out of time right now, but here are some random pictures for now:

This is where I go to get to class everyday:




This is Rosanna's dog, Sofie:




There's more to come. Tomorrow my brother Anthony and his girlfriend Renee are coming to Siena. I'm so excited!!! We don't have a lot of plans, but I'll post plenty of pictures next week even if it's just of us eating and drinking!

A più tardi, amori!