Day 71. Festiva Republica!

June 2nd is the Festiva Republica (photo credit: Steve Byers) - Italy's independence day. It began with a small parade around the Piazza (town square) and a speech by the current Mayor. The poor guy - the sound system was not functioning right leaving him looking like Don Knotts in "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" (those younger than 30 - check it out on YouTube or ask your parents). The students used this parade to practice their picture taking skills. This was after the quickest lesson on the rule of thirds that I've ever seen. It was remarkable. At the end of the speech all the children release helium balloons into the air - some willing - some not so willing. That pretty much ends the 'official festivities' but then just like at home families gather and celebrate. We held class. The students returned for the brisk afternoon sessions and patiently awaited their chance to flee and celebrate as well.

Thankfully this came at about 4:30 - but - believe it or not we had to kick them out of the lab. The town is very strict about the use of the lab so it closes on time. I even was booted! Some nerve! :)

I ended my day at a meeting with the faculty followed by a nice dinner of pizza...ok it wasn't exactly that smooth. For some reason I have not been feeling all that well so my head began to spin a bit. There really isn't a ton of protein in the foods I've been eating and I think my blood sugar just suddenly dropped. Thankfully, Bill was paying attention and ordered me some cheese to boost even out my levels a bit. It was really good cheese and this was one of those times it was good I didn't speak Italian because I didn't know it was sheep cheese until after I had enjoyed about 1/2 of it! Had I known ahead of time I would never have even tried. Don't tell my children.

So we are now in our 4th day in Italy and I have aquired quite the vocabulary. I can now say "good morning" "good evening" "please" "thank you" "excuse me" "don't understand Italian" and "American". I think I may just be fluent by the time I'm ready to retire from Marquette!

I finished my day watching "National Treasure" in Italian. Nicolas Cage has a really nice Italian accent!