My First Few Days of School

MONDAY - Day 1 of school

The walk to the train station takes about ten minutes.  With standing room only I rode the train into Rome, for 17 minute ride.  Walked to Metro and found the right one, going the right direction.  I arrived at school ten minutes early, and I went inside.  The man who had signed me up called me by name, handed me my test, and showed me where to go to take it.

I took test, and I did better than I thought I would.  The last section was with the present perfect verbs (passato prossema) and knowing their correct conjugations.  (Persent perfect uses essere (to be) or avere (to have) or occasionally stare (to be) as the helping verbs.  I just used the wrong one all but twice!  The gal interviewing me told me that I did well and many people get them confused, but I will be learning that soon.  (She only speaks Italian for us and was my teacher that day - her name: Catia) Then she told me I was in the second level class.  (Where I thought I should be!)   People in the class are from Greece, Germany, France, China, Japan, Russia, Egypt, Turkey, USA, and I'm not sure where else.  There were 13 of us in the class.

When Catia started the class she said it would only be in Italian, for her and for all of us.  Then she talked for a little bit and then broke us up in pairs.  In Italian we had to tell our partner what we did on Saturday and Sunday.  (She was working on our past perfects already!!!)  I learned a little of a gal from Greece's weekend and she learned of mine.  Catia got us back together and told us now you will tell us about your partner's Saturday and Sunday!  ACK!  Not too bad.

Then she asked to guess what she did.  Many different things were asked.  I came up with: 'Che sei lavorato il vestiti?' (Did you wash your clothes?)  She said YES! and then hung them to dry, but she did not iron them.  Her husband LIKES to iron!  

Anyway, tomorrow starts the grammar lessons.  2 hours of grammar, 15 min break, the rest of time conversation.

On Sunday we had been researching online prices for a weekly pass for public transportation.  The most we could figure it would cost was 32.50 euros for this week.  Each ride is 1.50.  I have to have a train and a subway ticket each way.  So it would be 6 euros a day times 5 would be 30 euros.  When I got to the train station I found out the weekly pass would cost me 34.50 euros because I live in Zone B and Rome is Zone A.   I could not buy it in Ciampino.  So, I bought a ticket for the train and got onboard.  The monthly ticket will be less than daily tickets combined so I will be buying a November pass (but it goes by the calendar month.) 

 Mondays will be my exploration day per week.  So after class I was frustrated because I thought I would have a weekly pass and would be able to ride the buses or Metro at will, but I was just buying a ticket per ride.  So, I decided to walk around Rome.  So I did, I walked, and walked, and walked (over 20,000 steps).  Went in some churches and museums (if free) and saw some different places.  I took a lot of pictures.  By 6:45 I met my friend to go to a Bible study near the Spanish Steps.  After the study I bought one ticket to ride the Metro back with my friend (who had parked the car at the Metro station), so I only spent 4.50 euros!  Ha!  Take that public transportation!  Then I bought the rest of the Metro tickets for this week.  Tomorrow when I get to the train I'll buy the train tickets for the rest of the week.  

TUESDAY - Day 2 of school

First train to Rome was SO full that there was no room to squeeze on board.  Fortunately I left early enough that I just waited for the next train.  It was still standing room only, but I found a spot that I could lean on a wall.  I took the right Metro and made it to school before it opened!  So, off to the bar on the corner for a cafè latte.  I decided to have a croissant, too.  I chose NOT to sit down but to drink at the bar, so it just cost me 2.20 euros for both!  (It costs 1 euro more to sit inside and 3 euro more to sit outside!)

Went into school and found my room.  There was a different teacher today.  I thought at first is was just for the grammar part, but he lead the conversational part, too, today.  His name is Giovanni Gafè.  He, too, only speaks in Italian and expects no foreign language in the classroom.  Grammar today was good.  We went over the test (I wish I could have kept it, but it was picked back up.)  He explained many of the rules that were covered on the test.  Of the people in the class all were in the beginning level 1 class (the last four weeks) except three of us who are new to the school.  So most of them have had 4 weeks together.  But today they struggled a bit more while they tried to get their sentences out of their mouths.  OK, maybe I do fit in that class after all!  ;)  The 4 hours zoomed by.  I took notes (mostly in Italian!)  Some comments in English.  No homework yet, but the assignment books and the text book were handed out.

Then I rode the Metro back to Termini.  I checked out the ticket machines and there was a gal there wanting to help me.  1 - I figured she would want paid for her assistance, 2 - I wanted to do it myself, 3 - I wasn't sure exactly which train I wanted to ride!  So, I told her no thanks for the help and I went to a newsstand and bought my tickets for the trains for the rest of the week.  They get validated when you ride. It is cheaper to do the 6 euro a day this week.  I will buy the Nov pass latter this week.  I think it is about 55 euro, but for just 20+ times it would be 120 euros, so I will gladly pay the 55.  Then I can go anywhere in Rome, riding whatever, as many times as I want, and whenever I want in November!

At this point today's adventure began.

So, there are 5 - 6 different trains that stop in the city of Ciampino (where I am living) that leave Termini. I'm to look at the schedule, find on of them, make sure it stops in Ciampino, see which platform it will be on and the time it leaves.  I have a list of the names of the trains I can take.  Today I took a different train than I had before back to Ciampino.  The schedule SAID it was to stop in Ciampino.  However, as it gained speed and it was a MUCH longer trip than I had experienced in the past, I started to second guess myself. I got off when it stopped in a town I have never heard of before.  Zagarolo! (I now know it was 25 kilometres EAST from where I needed to be!)  I knew to get off and if nothing else I could ride the train back to Rome and try again.  After seeing there was another train back to Rome coming in about 30 minutes I called Heather to let her know what happened and to make sure I was doing it right.  She said it is easily done, an Italian friend of hers did it, too!  She explained the how it happened and that I HAD chosen the right train, but it had NOT stopped in Ciampino (it happens sometimes!)  Anyway, another person walked by and said, I did it too!  So I finished the call and Cassie (the person) told me she went in to see.  The next train to Rome was a high speed train, too, but an other train (1 hour wait) would stop in Ciampino!  So then we spent time getting to know each other during that hour wait for the right train to take us back to Ciampino!  (She is from Bejing and is currently studying jewelery making in Florence! and had a 'fall break' so she was going to go to Greece.  She was staying at a Bed and Breakfast tonight in Ciampino before flying from the Ciampino's airport tomorrow.   We were able to walk together from the train station all the way to my apartment before she needed to go on.  We had exchanged contact information with each other and said our good byes.  I'm glad I can make friends easily, even in a foreign land.

I finally arrived home at 4 PM!!  Exhausted!  I didn't eat lunch, it was too late.  I made an Italian version of Cowboy Caviar.  No black beans that I have found yet and no cilantro.  But, the avocado was simply the BEST I have ever seen.  The skin of it was easy to PEEL!  It was great!  I ate that for supper around 7 - 7:30 (that is actually early around here!)  I washed one load of clothes and hung out for the sun to dry Wednesday.   I told the lady I am staying with good night at 8.  She laughed and told me I would go to the computer and she would be saying good night at 10 after her last pill.  Well, my lights were out and I was asleep by 9 PM!!  My alarm woke me at 6.  Guess I needed that sleep!

WEDNESDAY - Day 3 of school

Again I was the first one to class.  (Am I starting a new habit?)  However for the first thirty minutes of class I felt like I couldn't understand ANYTHING!  That was annoying.  (Good thing I had been told that might happen!)  But, the rest of the 3 1/2 hours I did pretty well.  Formulating sentences in my head and getting them out of my mouth is still my hardest part.  My comprehension of the spoken word is increasing!  It helps to be living with an Italian lady!  

Today during our conversation class we learned what a lot of Italian gestures mean!  Italians have their own 'Gesture Language'!  The teacher showed a video of two people conversing only in gestures!  It was pretty funny.  I now wonder more about Italian Sign Language!!  It will be exciting to learn!  

Class was out at 1 and I was home by 2!  Got my homework done before bedtime!