June 2nd- Independence Day

June 2nd- Independence Day! 

Today was Independence Day for Italy. This morning we went to a ceremony that took place at a monument. There were members of different services. I can't really recall what all types of members they were because they had different uniforms. I can say that I saw a fireman and a nurse. 

One thing I observed was that not many Italians attended this ceremony. I am not sure if this ceremony that we attended was a major activity  in order to celebrate their independence or if there was another ceremony planned. There was a crowd surrounding the monument but not as many as I expected. It was really hot on this pray and I could not bare to stand their for a long time. Once I saw them raise the flag, we decided to leave. I left in hope of running into a parade or something, unfortunately there was nothing. So we decided to take the rest of the day and do some shopping. ;)    

A little gift for one of my nephews! 

May 31st- All just Beautiful!

May 31st- Uffizi Gallery and Pitti Palace

Today we began our day by going to the Uffizi Gallery. In the Uffizi Gallery there were beautiful paintings and beautiful statues. The Uffizi Gallery was once nothing but offices put together by the Medici family. 

After the Uffizi Gallery, we headed to the Pitti Palace. Only this time we were going to go inside! I was ready to see the big garden! Once we went into the palace, I started wondering how they managed to go from one place to another. There were some beautiful chandeliers and paintings. But what caught my attention was the humongous garden. It was hard for me to walk them because the garden was not flat. You had to climb up small hills to get to the top. We only walked and saw part of the garden, which was the center of it. They were beautiful but I wonder why the wife of the Medici would want a huge garden like that. Hey, I was just curious...because I wouldn't mind a garden as big as this one. :) After walking up the small hills and stairs, we reached a building. I am not sure what the purpose of the building was but in that building there were a lot of porcelain museum. They owned a lot of pretty porcelain plates and dishes. 

 

On the way up to the porcelain museum, we passed statues like Neptune's fountain, the statue of Abundance, and we even had to go up the Old Coffee House. 

To end the day we headed to the Piazzale Michelangelo to see the sun set. It was the most beautiful sunset I had ever seen. 

  

May 30th- Exploration of Florence and David!

May 30th- Exploration of Florence and David!

Today was a long day! Today we were scheduled for a 2 hour tour. Our tour guide meet us at our apartment and the tour began there. As we walked to our first destination, we walked past a huge and beautiful library. It was the National Library of Florence. Based on my understanding, it is one of the most important libraries in Europe. I wish I could of had a peek inside the library. 

The tour lady took us to the Piazza Della Signoria, where the replica of David stands. In the very same spot where the replica stands is where once the real David stood. She have us some history on Dante, who was a famous poet. She pointed out a few statues near where Perseus and Medusa stood. After seeing the statues we headed to the oldest bridge in Florence, Ponte Vecchio. Along the bridge, there are goldsmiths. The tour guide told us that once there were fishers and butchers. Which created a bad smell...therefore they decided to only allow the goldsmith. Leaving the road clean and the air fresh.

After crossing the bridge, we headed towards the huge Pitti Palace. We didn't go because we needed to purchase tickets. I was curious to see what the palace had inside. The tour guide told us to make sure walked around in the garden. She said it was a very big garden and I was wondering, "How big?" I was ready to see it.

After seeing where we were going to go the next day, we headed back to the Piazza de Santa Croce. From there we headed to grab some lunch and purchase a pass to many museums. The first place we decided to use our pass was at the Accademia Gallery. Where the real actual statue of David stands. Not only did we see the famous work of Michelangelo through David, but we also saw unfinished statues by him. 

After seeing David, we headed for some Gelato. I can't remember the flavors, but I know they were really good. After our Gelato break we headed to the church of Santa Croce. In the church we saw many important tombs. One was of Michelangelo. After seeing the church we headed back to the apartment and called it a day. 

May 29th- Hello Florence!

May 29th- Florence

 

Today we arrived in Florence. It was a long day but then short. When we arrived to the apartment we realized we had a terrace. So we went up to admire the beautiful view of the river and buildings! After a quick little rest, we were of for an orientation of the place. We went to the square and saw the copy of Davjd! Along with David we saw more statues like Dante, Perseus slaying Medusa, Hercules, and much more! Today was just a quick look hear and there since tomorrow we were scheduled for a tour. 

After a quick orientation of the Piazza, we headed to the Central Market. It was very similar to what you see in the market in Mexico. Fresh vegetables, meat, pastas, and everything else on your grocery list. I wish I would of taken a picture of it. :( The market had two floors, one fortune market and the top floor was the food court. If you were hungry all you had to do was walk up stairs and find a place to eat. The place was really crowded though so, we decided to head out of the market to find a quieter place to eat. Although we did t walk to far, right outside the market were more restaurants so we are their. Today I decided to try a Calzone. Mmmm, it wasn't as great as I expected it to be. It had a good taste except that the inside was a little to watery. With the melted cheese and sauce, being a little to water, I was worried my calzone would get soggy really quick. So I couldn't enjoy it like I thought I would have. 

After eating we headed to the San Lorenzo Market. Down the streets there were stands after stands with leather purses, wallets, watches, belts, leather reverting! You could just smell the real leather! There were lots of stands with scarfs and jewelry as well. I couldn't resist so I purchased two scarfs. :) I also bought a few shirts for my nieces and nephews. After a while I started to feel very overwhelmed. People were everywhere, I needed some space. Therefore we headed back to the apartment.

 After resting, we meet with the Dr. Marciano and we headed to the grocery store. We went grocery shopping for breakfast items and a few items to cook lunch and dinner. Since the apartment had a kitchen, we used this time to save some money on meals. I really needed it!

Once our purchases were finalized we headed back to the apartment and called it a day.

 

May 28th- Goodbye Modena

May 28th- Goodbye Modena!

Today was our last night in Modena. Our last day was a busy day. The day started of going back to the elementary school that we visited on Monday. When we arrived the children were still very welcoming. As soon as they saw us walk in, the ones we had taught the lesson to on Monday, would happily wave at us and say "Hello!", with a big smile across their face. 

Today we were to teach 4 classes, so what we did was combine to grades together and only teach the lesson twice. Once again we did our lesson on "Where's Walrus?". But first we began by introducing ourselves, then we allowed the students to ask us questions. Again these kids had the same curiosity as all of the others. They pretty much asked the same questions, "How old are you?", " What is your favorite color?", "Do you like Italy?", "What is your favorite food?", "What is your favorite sport?", and the biggest one yet "Why do you want to become a teacher?". It felt so good that the children were putting into use their time spent learning the English language.

After the session of questions, we went into doing our lesson with Triquequo (walrus). This book is wordless and the students seemed to really get a laugh out of the things walrus did to hide from the zookeeper. After flipping through the book, the students were to draw walrus trying to hide or disguise himself here in Murano. A few students drew walrus in the Vignolio Castle, some in the park (hidden in a tree), walrus was a soccer player, and the one I really enjoyed the most was walrus as a cake topper on a wedding cake!  After the "Where's Walrus?" lesson, we sung "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes".

Finally, to end the day at the elementary school we had lunch. The lunch once again was a three course meal, pasta with what seemed to be broccoli sauce, breaded pork and tomatoes, pastry with cherry jam or fruit. I don't think that I am a very picky eater but I was amazed to see how the children are their tomatoes like nothing. I will eat tomatoes but they have to be small pieces and mixed with something but these were just tomatoes. I attempted to eat them but I couldn't do it. Anyway, it made me happy to see how much the Italians care about the children's health. Shortly after we finished eating the Mayor Emilia of Murano, came to say "goodbye and wish us a great journey". Her secretary prepared a gift for us. She handed us each a bag with pencils brochures, and a basket of Cherries!! Yay! I had seen the cherry trees along the roads and I was craving a few freshly picked cherries and it was like if she had read my mind. Mmm they were so gooooood! 

After we left school,  we headed to see and pick a few cherries ourselves. Since it is the season of cherries in Modena we couldn't leave without seeing the big and beautiful cherry trees. After snapping a few pictures here and there of the cherries, Silvana and Coci took us for a quick snack. The snacks were like a meal to me, there was Parmesan cheese, chips, pizza, and sandwiches. After the snack, we went to see the Lambrusco  vineyards and see how they make the balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Unfortunately this year it was to cold in the winter, the olive trees were not in so great conditions. However I did purchase a bottle of pure olive oil and a bottle of balsamic vinegar. 

Afterwords, we went back to the hotel and I took a quick little nap and a packed a few items. Around 8pm, Coci and his daughter picked us up for dinner. We headed to a really nice and fancy restaurant. This meal of course was a three course meal pasta, meat and cheese, and dessert. I ordered the tortellono (similar to tortellini but bigger), then they brought a few trays of meat and cheese, and some biscuits and pastry with Nutella and jams. Finally the dessert was a mini ice cream cone. At the end each individual ended up paying 20€. 

Finally we went to Silvana and Coci's house and picked up a few Parmesan cheese that I. Had ordered. We took a few pictures and sad goodbye. Oh how I will be missing Silvana and Coci. I wish o could take them back with me.    

June 1st- 463!

June 1st- Piazza di Duomo

Today our day began early. We had to be up really early in order to one: beat the big line and two: climb while it's cool. What were we climbing? Today we were going to climb the Piazza di Duomo designed by Brunelleschi’s . This Duomo has around 463 steps and beautiful frescos in the interior of the duomo. Oh after we made it to the top, the view was breath taking! The first thing I did once arrived to the top was take a quick rest to catch my breath and energy. Once I pulled myself back together and saw the beautiful view, I instantly forgot about the 463 steps and the small spaces along with the struggle for me. The view was just amazing! It was worth it! When I was up there I managed to see all kinds of people of different ages, there were young, teenagers, adults, and even elderly. Seeing people of all ages and their smiles made me think of how fortunate I was to be standing there with them at the top of an important duomo.  The kids were so full of energy even after climbing the 463 steps. Along with the beautiful view, the look on everybody's face including mine was very worth it! 

Until it was time to take the stairs back down, I remembered the struggle and sweat it took me to make it to the top. But I thought to myself "it is always easier to take the stairs down than going up!" So there I go...463 steps down! 

Once at the bottom, my legs were shacking and I was ready to sit down! So from there we decided to head to the apartment. But.....we decided not to walk! Since we had already climbed, we needed a break so we took the BUS! We weren't so sure how the bus worked but we decided to take the bus and let it take us were ever it took us. Luckily we took the right bus and were dropped off close to the apartment.

When we arrived to the apartment, since the apartment provided us with a washer machine, I decided to do some laundry. Oh, how I missed those machines! I needed a break from washing np by hand in the sink.  After laundry was completed, I showered, ate dinner, and called it a night! 

May 27th- Reggio Emilia

May 27th- Reggio Emilia 

Today we headed to a Reggio Emilia school. It took us a while to find the school but we made it. Out side there were two lady's waiting for us and they came up to great us. I can't recall her name but she gave us a tour of the school. I thought it was amazing. There was a lot of art creativity seen through out the entire school. The way the school is set up is in three groups. There are children of three years old, four year olds, and five year olds. In each group there are two teachers assisting the children in their learning. The children did not really follow a specific standard, they were left to discover things on their own. For instance I loved how a group of children were projecting images of towers from a projector but then they realized the light that was used to project the image. Therefore they became curious to know how light worked. Then I saw the children placing an object in front of the light. They would turn and see that nothing had projected on the screen then they would remove the item and see the light again. Meanwhile, while the children explore, the teacher is recording them, snapping pictures, and writing what the children said. In a Reggio Emilia school, there is a lot of documentation taking place. I found that very interesting. It may be a good bit of work but I honesty think it is worth it. What better way then to track their learning process.

In a Reggio Emilia school there is a lot of symbolic play and less formal play and more play with nature. I loved how the children were in groups of maybe four or five students. His allows the teacher toward more with the students individually. 

The thing I enjoyed the most was when we saw how important it was for them to demonstrate to their children that their work is important and can be used. For example, a project they had where the children designed their house! Well not only did the children's design of the house get published in a book but also the Reggio Emilia got together with a architecture to build the houses. Oh they were the most beautiful things I had seen!