Non capisco = I don't understand. I learned that phrase really quick my first day at camp. PS Maria picked me up first day of camp since I had not the slightest clue how to get there, and it was pooring rain. Oh, I forgot to mention my means of transportation in Lucca is a bike..or my feet. She saves me again!
My idea of what camp would be:
A small bilingual school with cute Italian children who have a decent understanding of English and myself and an Italian/English speaking teacher working together to do activities with the children in a group.
What camp actually is:
A small bilingual school with cute Italian children that are very loud and dramatic who, besides maybe two children, have no understanding of English. JUST ME in charge of a doing creative and thematic activities with a large group of them with no one to translate.
By the end of the day on Monday, I feel helpless and as though I've never taught children before. They don't understand me, I don't understand them. Non capisco. They are wild because they can be..I have no way to get control over this group.
After camp, the sun is out so I take the bike to the grocery store down the street. It's not too far and it seems like a good idea to stock up the fridge a bit and cook some meals in to save money.
Everything was going along fine at the grocery store and then it was time to check out. I did not know that I had to weigh the fruit and print out a label for them to scan. No clue. I had picked a decent amount of fruit too and the cashier had to run back and forth to weight and print, while a huge line of people waited behind me. Oops. Then, because I couldn't understand anything the cashier said, he gave me these thin little bags to put everything in and it broke and all fell out.
End of day 1 in Lucca.. feeling like I might have made a huge mistake.
My idea of what camp would be:
A small bilingual school with cute Italian children who have a decent understanding of English and myself and an Italian/English speaking teacher working together to do activities with the children in a group.
What camp actually is:
A small bilingual school with cute Italian children that are very loud and dramatic who, besides maybe two children, have no understanding of English. JUST ME in charge of a doing creative and thematic activities with a large group of them with no one to translate.
By the end of the day on Monday, I feel helpless and as though I've never taught children before. They don't understand me, I don't understand them. Non capisco. They are wild because they can be..I have no way to get control over this group.
After camp, the sun is out so I take the bike to the grocery store down the street. It's not too far and it seems like a good idea to stock up the fridge a bit and cook some meals in to save money.
Everything was going along fine at the grocery store and then it was time to check out. I did not know that I had to weigh the fruit and print out a label for them to scan. No clue. I had picked a decent amount of fruit too and the cashier had to run back and forth to weight and print, while a huge line of people waited behind me. Oops. Then, because I couldn't understand anything the cashier said, he gave me these thin little bags to put everything in and it broke and all fell out.
End of day 1 in Lucca.. feeling like I might have made a huge mistake.