First Week of Classes

My first week of classes has been overwhelming and quite a challenge. The school I attend, Saena Iulia, is about 5 minutes from where I live. The staff and teachers are so helpful, intelligent and nice. Sabrina, Elisa and Mauro are the teachers; Mauro is also the director of the school. Giorgia is the secretary and advisor to the students and the one I corresponded with before I got here. She speaks English, Italian and German perfectly and is in her late 20s I think.

If I were to speak honestly, I would say that the first week I was disappointed. Before coming here, I understood that a new class starts every Monday, when in fact, a new class starts at the beginning of every month. So...I came in two weeks late and at this point the groups is already studying verbs, past participles, etc. I also notice that the small group consists of 3 females and two males all under 20 years old. I was hoping that there would be a student in my group close to my age. They are all American, from Chicago, N. CA, Connecticut and Seattle. Nevertheless, the students are super funny, smart, lots of energy and they are characters.

By the 3rd day of classes (Wednesday) I am super hard on myself, overwhelmed, not understanding my homework or classes and I am not a happy camper. By this point I have cried 3 times at least. My poor brain, which has not been schooled for awhile is smoking and totally confused. In response to Come Stai (how are you), I have responded in Spanish (Muy Bien). Hilarious! I haven't spoken Spanish since I was a little kid and my brain is just reaching for anything familiar knowing that English is not allowed!

After discussion with the teachers, it is decided that I will take private lessons and those are taught by Mauro. He is an amazing teacher and always has insightful, helpful and even poetic words of advice for my learning. My new instuction (and a wonderful book which I will tell you about later) inspires me to do an Italian "word for the day" on my blog!

So....the word/s for today: Buon fine settimana (Have a good weekend)