A Weekend in Gaeta

   This past Saturday I wasn't schedule to teach, so I left Rome for the weekend and spent two days sunbathing  in the beach town of Gaeta, just 2 hours outside of Rome by train. This is the spectacular view from where we stayed. 

   

         The beach was packed during the day with people, but in the evening it was completely empty, that might have been because you aren't suppose to walk the shore at night. Oops.. it was nice to have the beach to ourselves though. 

A Hidden Secret of Rome: Chiostro del Bramante

   

    Tourist season has began in Rome and the Piazzas are now full of tourists so to escape the crowds, my good friend, Carla and I come to what has now become our favorite spot in Rome; Chiostro del Bramante, an old monastery built in the 14th century. Ever since our Italian friend told us about this hidden secret of Rome we pay a visit every few days. It's our favorite place to meet up for a cappuccino and study our Italian. Carla is a freelance writer so when she works away at articles for magazines, I sketch the architecture or plan my class lessons.  

    Another reason why we enjoy visiting the Chiostro is to see our favorite uomo Italiano, Alessandro, who makes delicious cappuccinos and is by far the most friendly Italian guy we've met. Today, he gave us a history lesson and explained how the monks of this monastery would spend 15 years in silence alone only praying and eating. Alessandro explained that it is for this reason that the street, which the Chiostro is on, is called Via della Pace (street of peace), because it was a place of complete silence. In my opinion, I think it is still the only place where you can experience peace and quiet amidst the loud chaos of Rome. 

 

Insegnamento a Roma

    This past week was an exceptionally busy week of teaching! I started my week substituting different lessons for a few teachers and was then asked to teach three off campus lessons at a  company for businessmen. All the while, I started teaching my own class of students, which I will continue to teach on a weekly basis, and then finished the week by teaching conversational classes on friday! I spent the week traveling to few different locations to teach, since the school has four campuses, but I was told this week that I will now be based at the Prati campus, which is in my neighborhood and only a 5 minute walk from my apartment! Originally, I was told that there wasn't a need for new teachers in Prati, so I've been taking the metro to different areas of Rome to teach. Now that I started my own class in Prati, it looks like I'll be spending most of my time there, which is so convenient! I've taught all levels of students from beginner to advance and I usually have anywhere from 2 to 10 students. The ages have ranged from 18 to 60, but for most part I teach young adults. 

    The other teachers at the school have been so hopeful in teaching me all the ins and outs of the school and it has been so fun to meet people from all over. Many of the english teachers are American, but also English, Canadian, Scottish, Irish, and Australian. I almost had a panic attack at one point this week because my teaching schedule is constantly changing and I was asked to teach at a company for businessmen very last minute, and I didn't even have a full 30 minutes to prepare three lessons before I had to leave for the class.. I told one of my colleagues,   

  "Well it looks like I'm winging this one."  But one thing I've learned about living in Italy, is that nothing is organized and professional like in America, everyone is late, and everything is last minute. So I've learned to be flexible and go with the flow. I'm learning so much about teaching and my Italian students are all fascinated by me, since I come from the exotic land of California! Haha! They are always commenting on my strong accent! Ha! They often say that my accent is stronger than other Americans, but I think it has more to do with the inflection of my voice, like the way I tend to change my tone when I'm excited. 

  

   I absolutely love teaching, but now that I've started my own lessons with students, I feel a little overwhelmed, since I'm the one responsible for insuring that they will pass to the next level! However, I'm becoming more and more comfortable with teaching and I'm sure I'll learn even more on how to teach as I go. 

una splendida settimana

 

Last week I finished up my TEFL course and received my certificate to teach English as a foreign language! Here’s a recap of this extremely busy, yet wonderful week:

While I was finishing up my last assignments, taking exams and teaching my last lessons with the TEFL course, I heard The British Centre Language School was looking for English teachers. So Monday, I met with the director of the School, had an interview the following day, was then asked to observe one of their classes one evening, then asked to prepare and give a trial lesson to the director in order to be hired. Friday I had my award ceremony for my TEFL course, so I said my goodbyes to my classmates and instructors, grabbed my certificate and then hopped on the metro to the British Centre, where I gave a grammar lesson on the past simple to the director and another employee of the school.  

Before giving my lesson, one of the teachers at the school advised me to just, “go in there and give her a show, she wants teachers with energy and enthusiasm.”  So that’s what I did, I gave her a show and was offered the position!

I was most certainly not expecting to have a job waiting for me after my course was finished, let alone a job with a language school. Most English teachers in Italy start out giving private lessons, so I feel very fortunate to have a job offer like this.  I have training this week and Friday I’m giving my first conversational lesson and then Monday I start in with my teaching schedule. 

Last week I was also frantically searching for a new apartment to stay in, since my roommate was moving to Bologna to search for a job, which meant I couldn’t possibly afford to stay in our apartment by myself. So just as I was about to move to an area further away from the center of Rome, my landlady offered me to stay in the apartment for half the price she normally rents out for.

She said, “Erica, I want to make you a deal, because you are such a nice person and we have become friends.” After promising I wouldn’t tell anyone the price we agreed on, she invited me in for a cappuccino and began making plans for us to have dinner together and future trips to her country house. She is one of the most generous people I’ve met and I am still overwhelmed by the fact I have this studio apartment all to myself, in very nice neighborhood, which couldn’t be more conveniently located. 

Things have work out so well for me here, beyond what I was even expecting. So with all this said, it looks like I have a a few more months to enjoy in Italy. I’ll be returning in July so if anyone needs a summer vacation, come visit me in Rome! 

Prati

                     My apartment on Via Boezio

I'm living in the area of Rome called Prati, which is where middle class Italians live. Even though I am in close walking distance to most of historical Rome this neighborhood is tucked away from the tourism. So this means when I shop at the supermercati and step into a caffé I'm forced to practice my Italian with the locals! The neighborhood is very charming and I feel very safe walking around, except when I cross the street because Italians are terrible drivers, whether they're in a car or on a motorcycle!