L'inizio

So school has started which has been keeping me quite busy! Not to mention exhausted. I start my walk to school around 8:45 and get there with just enough time to get myself situated before class at 9. Then grammar with Roberto fino alle 10:45 where we do exercises and occasionally play games (where the real point is to have the best team name!) which is followed by a 15 minute break. After is conversation class with Claudia until lunch al mezzagiorno. I just finished writing new words to an old Italian song from the 60s for homework. Both classes are challenging but the atmosphere is still really fun.

The length of lunch depends on what else we have left for the day which ends up being anywhere from 45 minutes (an extreme case) to 2 hours (which is the average). Then comes language lab where both levels of Italian meet with one of the professors for an activity. Sometimes we play games like Categories, while other times we watch movies. Two days ago we went on a Treasure Hunt and had to ask the Sianese questions about the city; we were all a bit nervous at first, but my group had lots of fun!

So I'm getting settled in as much as I can, but things continue to be unsure. I have accepted it as a reality of studying abroad that I cannot count on my emotions to be consistent from one hour to the next. Lucky for me, there is still great support from the staff and other students of Siena School.

But I'm still having fun. I've been going on walks everyday around the city just to see what I can find. Secondo me, the views from everywhere are simply stunning. I've also had some entertaining experiences. For instance, my host parents asked me if I wanted to come with them to the countryside to babysit their grandkids. Of course I did and was greatly rewarded.

First, I saw 2 wild boar (a speciality of Siena) nella campagna. But then, I met 3 beautiful girls who I was able to spend time with and get to know. The oldest is pre-adolescent aged, around 11 or 12. We practiced a little English together and I found it nice that other people have as much anxiety about another language as me. The youngest is 1 and was simply joyful. She is almost ready to walk but is so cute that you always wanted to squeeze her close. And the middle child is 4 and turned out to be a perfect companion for me. She taught me new words and corrected some of my grammar. I taught her some English words ... although she couldn't care less. We sat at the kitchen table and spent hours together drawing pictures, counting, and practicing the alphabet. And of course there were lots of tickles. I've discovered that laughing sounds the same even in Italy.

But now I have to get some sleep. No matter how much I get, it's never enough! A dopo, tutti!