(As a disclaimer, this is going to be a rather disjointed entry, in part because it has been a while since I last wrote and in part because there are so many little things I want to comment on.)
After returning from Viterbo, I worked for all of 3 days before heading to Milan with Rachel and Briana, two of my friends from the Teach in Spain program. I thought that traveling 2 weekends in a row would be exhausting. However, I had a wonderful time on my second trip to Italy in two weeks.
We arrived at an airport about an hour outside of Rome on Friday morning and, after a very drawn-out ordeal involving public transportation, finally made it to our hotel that afternoon. After a quick lunch at a café near our hotel and an obligatory gelato stop, we had a few hours to explore the city center and (surprise) do a little shopping. Later, we met up with Anna, an Italian woman who was Rachel's cousins' au pair several years ago. She treated us to a wonderful dinner, complete with foccacia, homemade pasta, several local hams, and vino. We were all exhausted after a long day of traveling by the time we finished eating, so we headed back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.
On Saturday, we decided to take a day trip to Lake Como, about an hour north of Milan by train. Its claim to fame (at least in my book) is that George Clooney owns a villa there. The lake itself is very big and beautiful. Unfortunately, we happened to be there on a very foggy day, making it hard to get a full view of the landscape. Nonetheless, we enjoyed exploring the town of Como and taking a very eventful tram ride to the top of a nearby mountain. For more details on that excitement and the other strange experiences we encountered throughout the weekend, read Briana's blog entry (http://bgsevilla.blogspot.com/2010/11/what-do-you-give-screaming-baby-to-make.html).
Saturday night, our gracious Italian hostess Anna had us over to her apartment for a homecooked Italian meal. I have to say that I have been very lucky in both of my trips to Italy in terms of sampling the local cuisine! When we got there, she had already prepared a huge spread of appetizers, which was delicious and meal-worthy in itself. However, the tortellini she made for the main course was amazing and we all left very full and very happy.
Sunday was our day of sightseeing. Although Milan isn't neccesarily known for its history or architecture, it does boast a beautiful duomo--the Italian word for cathedral-- and an impressive 14th century castle, both of which we toured. Our motivation to explore the city in depth was limited by the cold and rainy weather. We ended our weekend with one last delicious dinner and gelato. Even though we had a great time and enjoyed getting another European city under our belts, I think that by the time we woke up at 3:15 on Monday morning to catch our flight back to Sevilla we were all happy to be going home. There is definitely something to be said about sleeping in your own bed and being in a city where you speak the language and know your way around.
The weather in Sevilla has changed very suddenly. It went from being summer to some sort of fall/winter hybrid in about the span of a week. Although the high temperatures are still in the low to mid 60's, it feels much colder than that because the air is very damp. I finally gave in and bought a winter coat in Milan, which is coming in very handy. The weirdest thing is that it feels much colder inside than it does outside. Luckily, Fátima delivered a heater to my room last night, so hopefully I will survive the winter.
Work is still going well, although there are times when I wish I had more responsibilities. The last 2 Tuesdays I commuted to Dos Hermanas, only to find out that I wasn't needed. I guess that was compensated for by the fact that on Thursday I got to teach an entire class by myself! I have to admit that I was very nervous when Cristobal announced to me that he needed to use that period to make phone calls and thus wanted me to lead the class. I am always with another teacher in the classroom and I hadn't mentally prepared myself to take charge of a room full of 17-18 year old boys. However, I think that it ended up being the best class I have had with the students yet. We read a document I had translated on electrical circuits (on itself not very stimulating material) to practice pronunciation and reading comprehension, which is what we always do. What made this particular class so great was that the students were all very engaged and continually asked me questions when they didn't know a word or needed help with pronunciation. I only wish that they could be like that all the time! By the end of the hour, I felt like they had actually benefitted from my being there!
I am still giving clases particulares to a group of 5 and 6 year olds once a week. I am quickly discovering that I much prefer working with older kids. The little ones are very cute and incredibly affectionate but I am not sure how much longer my patience with them will last. Their high energy level, short attention span, and inability to remember anything I teach them is wearing me out very quickly. I think that my feelings would be different if I didn't have to travel so far to get there. Now I just have to decide if $7 per child per hour and 2 hours of commute time roundtrip is really worth it...
In other news, I have completed travel plans for Alice and me for the first week in January, after the rest of the family goes back to the States. We will spend New Year's Eve in Paris, which is supposed to be one of the best places to ring in the New Year in the world, before spending 3 days each in London and Berlin. I am looking forward to returning to London and showing it to Alice for the first time and even more excited about exploring Berlin. I am also working on plans to visit Liverpool (home of the Beatles) and Edinburgh during the first week in December, when we have several days off from work. Life sure is tough over here...
And on that note, I am off to find another way to waste time. Look for another blog post later in the week... I am going to try to write more often from now on. Hasta pronto!
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