Sometimes I think that it is amazing how we find ourselves in unexpected places in life, and that there is very little that we can truly foresee and plan. I chuckled to myself tonight as I was ragu sauce in my yellow kitchen how funny life is--I could never have imagined even a year ago that I would find myself working as a teacher in an Italian school, attending teacher and parent meetings in Italian. I could not have foreseen working as a copy editor for an art magazine. I could not have foreseen finding such a cute apartment with two very lovely and interesting roommates and a kitchen at my disposal to make my Italian experimental recipes. I really could not have foreseen falling in love with someone in this country--meeting him, in all places, on a train.
In fact, the day that I met Matteo on the train, I wrote a poem as he got off the train as I continued on to Milan. Our encounter had obviously intrigued me enough to write about it.
I debated taking the train
wanting to stay in Genova city
but what does 1 hour serve
with my heavy baggage burden?
Drinking a cafe
watching the beautiful day pass by
outside of the train station doors.
Enough daydreaming, catch the train!
The wrong train, the wrong ticket
Returning to the city, hot and tired
Scanning the train
with disinterest and fatigue.
Then I see you.
Stop.
In front of me,
Behind the dirty window,
Reading a book.
Decision made-easily.
I have no shame to sit close.
You start the conversation.
Yet unaware that I'm foreign.
Italian boy meets American girl.
Journalist meets traveling artist.
Lovely exchange of ideas.
You want to learn English.
I can't stare directly
into your orange eyes.
You give me your number.
I will call.
Intrigue on the train this day.
There is my silly "poem" that I wrote after Matteo got off the train.
In any case, I guess I can admit that I really care about Matteo, and I might be falling in love with him.
It is too late to continue writing, but tomorrow I will write about my school week and another great weekend spent with Matteo.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Happy Halloween
Ahh, I am totally a home body tonight. It is raining outside, and I just took a long shower and made tea. I am debating watching a movie, but it depends on how tired I feel after I'm finished writing.
Today as a whole was boring and frustrating, so I am going to skip talking about it.
Instead I will say that it was a short and sweet week of teaching. I feel as though I am making improvements with how I handle the classes and lessons. I felt like my two lessons on Egyptian art went really well this week, and the students seem decently interested in what I'm teaching. I took them to the computer lab to see my powerpoint because I included a lot of interactive videos and links from the internet. I wish that I had more time to question them and "waste time" during class, but by the time we change classrooms, we pray, I do role call, and they settle down, I only have about 35 minutes of their attention.
My favorite classes by far are my first year middle school students. They are precious, and I can't think of one student that really misbehaves; they are so eager and conscientious! They have such little personalities, and I love looking at them concentrated in their drawings; they are all just so darn cute! Davide is a doll--he has freckles and he speaks with a cockney British accent. "I knooow whaaat to doooo!," he says. I also think its cute when they make mistakes in English. In fact, after our class, it is weird hearing them speaking Italian a million miles a minute.
My one class, 1B, is hilarious. It is all girls and 2 boys. They all crack me up constantly, and it is definitely the class with the biggest personality. Sophie and Giulia sing constantly, and I make them sing in English. They then begin singing the Jonas Brothers. haha. Silvia is the actress of the class, and her personality explodes out of her tiny body--dramatic with a faked attitude: "Ooooooooook-AAAAYYYYY PROF!"--said emphatically. Cheyenne is quiet and sweet as can be, and she works like a crazy woman on her drawings--even carelessly; I usually have to slow her down so she doesn't make mistakes. Andrea is the cutest doll baby ever, and he brings drawings that he does at home to show me; he is proud but waits with anticipation to see my reaction. He is quiet and does his work with precision, but he also cranks out sarcastic jokes aimed at the dominating female force in the class. Luca, his quiet and somewhat spacey partner was absent this week. Daniela is another character, and she is completely different from her older sister who is extremely timid in my other class. She "LOOOOOVES" my name! haha. Very funny, I enjoy my time with them. More on my little studenti another day. You almost wish you could freeze them at that age--before they realize that they can be bad or rowdy confused teens.
Matteo just called me and ended our conversation in English saying, "Dear, I love you much." Sigh...haha, how cute. I had to correct him in he end, but in all honesty he at least wants to learn. I am starting to like him more and more as our relationship grows. He is a very good person, and he is incredibly genuine and sincere. I love when he smiles at me or when I make him laugh--there is a sparkle in his eyes that makes me happy because its real. Sometimes he smiles and catches my eyes and turns serious because he stops to think, and he follows by saying that he cares about me.
We spent practically the whole weekend together. Saturday he came to Milan, and I was out shopping for Halloween costumes with my friend, Israq. He joined us, and I made him buy something to act as a costume. In the end, he bought a top hat, and I made him by sunglasses with the american flag across the face. In the end, I went as a school teacher, and he went as an American boy...haha. We three went to dinner, and I ate a meal that was incredible--It was one of my fav. types of pasta, fusilli, with marinara sauce, roasted eggplant puree, and a fattening, sweet, and heavenly cheese on top. I am literally eating my way through Italy and loving every single morsel of food. Later on, we all went out to a discoteca to dance---and we DANCED! It was wonderful, and I had such a wonderful time just having fun and letting loose. I also met Matteo's best friend, and he was very nice--we hit it off.
The next day, I ended up going on a trip with Matteo after I finished correcting 10 pages of an article for Flashart, the art magazine. He took me on a tour of his city and of the surrounding area, and we found ourselves walking under an awning of gold fall leaves in a park near his house. Also in the local itinerary was a restaurant famed for making incredible paninis-your top top quality of the Italian sandwich. He wasn't joking--It was incredible. Fresh bread, Coppa (Salame that puts hair on your chest) sliced to perfection, a cheese (I forget), and rocket. I almost passed out because I was surprised at how good it actually was. Matteo was pleased that I liked it. After we were done, he couldn't help dragging me into a bakery to have me try, their "Pizzette" or "small pizzas." He knows how much I love food, especially trying new things, and so he gets pleasure out of having me try what he likes best. He says that I am "golosissima"--it basically means that I love food. Eating is an art!!
The city is very very small, in the middle of an expansive flat valley, and everyone seems to know everyone. It was funny seeing Matteo wave to nearly ever car that passed. It was refreshing to see him in his well-known ambient, natural and at ease, driving his familiar roads; it even gave me a sentiment of nostalgia thinking of driving the winding roads leading to my house, past all of my familiarities. We ended up at Matteo's sister's house, and I met his sister, brother-in-law and 8-month old nephew. They are very nice, and his nephew is adorable! Matteo and I played with his nephew, and he is so cute when he holds Mattia. Later on, we went to eat a pizza with his parents at Matteo's favorite pizza joint near his house, and it was cute seeing him ask his mom for her crust. His friend owns the pizzeria, and I felt as if I was being spied by almost everyone working in the restaurant-like they were waiting to see Matteo's new American girlfriend...ha, here I am!
It was slightly intimidating because i am not used to being in a relationship, but I am trying not to flip out. It gets even more interesting: due to the intense fog in his area, he asked me if i would mind staying over for the night...btw, i had Monday off of work. I really didn't want to because i didn't bring anything-clothes,makeup, nothing-, but this improvised pit-stop was unplanned and ended up being very very nice. His grandparents also live at his house, and it was nice meeting them and seeing Matteo interact with his family.
The next day we ate lunch with the family, and we drove back to Milan. He helped me later to go pick up a closet to add to my room furniture. I found a man giving away his closet online for free, and we went to pick it up from a really nice guy named, Mattia. Matteo and Mattia did most of the moving, and later on, Matteo carried mostly everything into my apartment, reassembling it all for me to use. He was so cute sweating over putting the pieces back together in his glasses, and he was very methodical (as opposed to my impatience) When he was finished, he said:"Dear, you are nearly all set up! My dear needed a closet!" It was so sweet of him to go through all of that trouble for me, and he already started talking about when we could go to IKEA to add the finishing touches to make my "bedroom" more functional-haha. We shared a lovely dinner after the "move" at the restaurant next door. I had a delicious pasta al ragu.
He has already told me that he is in love with me, but I havn't told him whether or not I am feeling this sentiment. However, at one point, he grabbed the back of my head--pulled me close--and said, "Dear, I am in love with you, and I don't care if you don't say it because I know you do." Hmmmmm.
He left, and I was sad to see him go.
Last night was my roommates birthday party...stories can wait for tomorrow. Goodnight.
Today as a whole was boring and frustrating, so I am going to skip talking about it.
Instead I will say that it was a short and sweet week of teaching. I feel as though I am making improvements with how I handle the classes and lessons. I felt like my two lessons on Egyptian art went really well this week, and the students seem decently interested in what I'm teaching. I took them to the computer lab to see my powerpoint because I included a lot of interactive videos and links from the internet. I wish that I had more time to question them and "waste time" during class, but by the time we change classrooms, we pray, I do role call, and they settle down, I only have about 35 minutes of their attention.
My favorite classes by far are my first year middle school students. They are precious, and I can't think of one student that really misbehaves; they are so eager and conscientious! They have such little personalities, and I love looking at them concentrated in their drawings; they are all just so darn cute! Davide is a doll--he has freckles and he speaks with a cockney British accent. "I knooow whaaat to doooo!," he says. I also think its cute when they make mistakes in English. In fact, after our class, it is weird hearing them speaking Italian a million miles a minute.
My one class, 1B, is hilarious. It is all girls and 2 boys. They all crack me up constantly, and it is definitely the class with the biggest personality. Sophie and Giulia sing constantly, and I make them sing in English. They then begin singing the Jonas Brothers. haha. Silvia is the actress of the class, and her personality explodes out of her tiny body--dramatic with a faked attitude: "Ooooooooook-AAAAYYYYY PROF!"--said emphatically. Cheyenne is quiet and sweet as can be, and she works like a crazy woman on her drawings--even carelessly; I usually have to slow her down so she doesn't make mistakes. Andrea is the cutest doll baby ever, and he brings drawings that he does at home to show me; he is proud but waits with anticipation to see my reaction. He is quiet and does his work with precision, but he also cranks out sarcastic jokes aimed at the dominating female force in the class. Luca, his quiet and somewhat spacey partner was absent this week. Daniela is another character, and she is completely different from her older sister who is extremely timid in my other class. She "LOOOOOVES" my name! haha. Very funny, I enjoy my time with them. More on my little studenti another day. You almost wish you could freeze them at that age--before they realize that they can be bad or rowdy confused teens.
Matteo just called me and ended our conversation in English saying, "Dear, I love you much." Sigh...haha, how cute. I had to correct him in he end, but in all honesty he at least wants to learn. I am starting to like him more and more as our relationship grows. He is a very good person, and he is incredibly genuine and sincere. I love when he smiles at me or when I make him laugh--there is a sparkle in his eyes that makes me happy because its real. Sometimes he smiles and catches my eyes and turns serious because he stops to think, and he follows by saying that he cares about me.
We spent practically the whole weekend together. Saturday he came to Milan, and I was out shopping for Halloween costumes with my friend, Israq. He joined us, and I made him buy something to act as a costume. In the end, he bought a top hat, and I made him by sunglasses with the american flag across the face. In the end, I went as a school teacher, and he went as an American boy...haha. We three went to dinner, and I ate a meal that was incredible--It was one of my fav. types of pasta, fusilli, with marinara sauce, roasted eggplant puree, and a fattening, sweet, and heavenly cheese on top. I am literally eating my way through Italy and loving every single morsel of food. Later on, we all went out to a discoteca to dance---and we DANCED! It was wonderful, and I had such a wonderful time just having fun and letting loose. I also met Matteo's best friend, and he was very nice--we hit it off.
The next day, I ended up going on a trip with Matteo after I finished correcting 10 pages of an article for Flashart, the art magazine. He took me on a tour of his city and of the surrounding area, and we found ourselves walking under an awning of gold fall leaves in a park near his house. Also in the local itinerary was a restaurant famed for making incredible paninis-your top top quality of the Italian sandwich. He wasn't joking--It was incredible. Fresh bread, Coppa (Salame that puts hair on your chest) sliced to perfection, a cheese (I forget), and rocket. I almost passed out because I was surprised at how good it actually was. Matteo was pleased that I liked it. After we were done, he couldn't help dragging me into a bakery to have me try, their "Pizzette" or "small pizzas." He knows how much I love food, especially trying new things, and so he gets pleasure out of having me try what he likes best. He says that I am "golosissima"--it basically means that I love food. Eating is an art!!
The city is very very small, in the middle of an expansive flat valley, and everyone seems to know everyone. It was funny seeing Matteo wave to nearly ever car that passed. It was refreshing to see him in his well-known ambient, natural and at ease, driving his familiar roads; it even gave me a sentiment of nostalgia thinking of driving the winding roads leading to my house, past all of my familiarities. We ended up at Matteo's sister's house, and I met his sister, brother-in-law and 8-month old nephew. They are very nice, and his nephew is adorable! Matteo and I played with his nephew, and he is so cute when he holds Mattia. Later on, we went to eat a pizza with his parents at Matteo's favorite pizza joint near his house, and it was cute seeing him ask his mom for her crust. His friend owns the pizzeria, and I felt as if I was being spied by almost everyone working in the restaurant-like they were waiting to see Matteo's new American girlfriend...ha, here I am!
It was slightly intimidating because i am not used to being in a relationship, but I am trying not to flip out. It gets even more interesting: due to the intense fog in his area, he asked me if i would mind staying over for the night...btw, i had Monday off of work. I really didn't want to because i didn't bring anything-clothes,makeup, nothing-, but this improvised pit-stop was unplanned and ended up being very very nice. His grandparents also live at his house, and it was nice meeting them and seeing Matteo interact with his family.
The next day we ate lunch with the family, and we drove back to Milan. He helped me later to go pick up a closet to add to my room furniture. I found a man giving away his closet online for free, and we went to pick it up from a really nice guy named, Mattia. Matteo and Mattia did most of the moving, and later on, Matteo carried mostly everything into my apartment, reassembling it all for me to use. He was so cute sweating over putting the pieces back together in his glasses, and he was very methodical (as opposed to my impatience) When he was finished, he said:"Dear, you are nearly all set up! My dear needed a closet!" It was so sweet of him to go through all of that trouble for me, and he already started talking about when we could go to IKEA to add the finishing touches to make my "bedroom" more functional-haha. We shared a lovely dinner after the "move" at the restaurant next door. I had a delicious pasta al ragu.
He has already told me that he is in love with me, but I havn't told him whether or not I am feeling this sentiment. However, at one point, he grabbed the back of my head--pulled me close--and said, "Dear, I am in love with you, and I don't care if you don't say it because I know you do." Hmmmmm.
He left, and I was sad to see him go.
Last night was my roommates birthday party...stories can wait for tomorrow. Goodnight.
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