June 20, 2007

Teaching continues to go well. I am now with my 6-7 year olds. I have 7 students (5 girls and 2 boys)...very nice, I know. They are all angelic....with the exception of my little friend, Pier Luigi (yes, that is his FIRST name). Pier Luigi is....special. He certainly is not swayed by social norms. In fact, at any given point in the day, you can hear me calling "Pier Luigi, PLEASE do not stand on your desk" OR "Pier Luigi, PLEASE quit hanging out of the window"....as I motion like a traffic cop to try to make him understand what I am saying. "Pier Luigi" has become such a montra of mine, that the rest of my students have taken to rolling their knowing little eyes and muttering "Pier Luigi!", as I try to redirect this feisty fellow. However, he makes up for his...deficits...in cuteness. He is very darling and, in fact, has become a favorite with all of the teachers....of course they can laugh because they do not have to chase the boy around...if I do not gain weight in Italy, it will be to the credit of Pier Luigi-he does not allow me remain motionless for more than 3.5 seconds. Nonetheless, he is quite adorable and I think I am growing to love the little character.

Today, we decided to host a "Mini Olympics" for all of our students. One of the "Olympic" events was a relay in which all of the students (90 total) had to remove their shoes and put them in a big pile (yes, that DOES equal 180 shoes!). Students were grouped into 8 teams and one member from each team had to race over to the pile, find their shoes, put them on, and then race back and tag the next member of their team. Somehow, I managed to end up with Pier Luigi on my team, and of couse, he was the first one to go. He raced to that pile of shoes and began hucking everyone that he came to, over his shoulder. I think that he had chucked about 178 shoes into another pile before he came to his own pair. While our team came in miserably last, we did get points for providing unsolicited entertainement....hey, you take them wherever you can get them. Cheers to Pier Luigi!