Tomorrow = Exam Day

I came to France last August to help the little girl learn English. At first, it was very casual. Just speaking every day and gradually learning things. However, in October, things changed.

In middle school, the students have to pick a language section. Usually you go to whichever language is your mother tongue. This family decided instead to have their daughter try to get into the English section. So since they decided this, we have been pushing her harder. I have been working with her almost every day to improve her grammar, speaking, and writing abilities. It has not always been easy. It most definitely has not always been fun (for either of us). But we are almost at the end!

Tomorrow is exam day and I'm getting a bit nervous! We have done everything we could to prepare her. Prayers would be much appreciated for her to do well on this test!

In other news, I will be back in America in 15 days!! Ahhh can't believe it's almost time to go back home. I have mixed feelings of course. I'm sad to leave Europe and all the travel opportunities I have here. But I'm also very excited to get home to my family and friends. I've missed them a lot more this time than I did last time. I can't wait to step off that plane on American soil!

And because posts are boring without pictures, here are some shots from the garden. Spring has arrived and I couldn't be happier.

Allora

Well it's official. I'm home from Italy. I finally unpacked my bags last night. I haven't posted about my trip yet because I don't want it to be completely over!

Allora. I am just going to post about adventures that I took. I'm going to draw this out as long as possible!

First things first: my favorite Italian words. The whole language is beautiful to me. But there are a few small phrases that just make me smile.

Allora is my absolute favorite Italian word. It basically means so, then, alright, well, etc. Go to Google Translate, type in allora, and listen to the pronunciation (but imagine a real Italian person saying it). It's so cute! My teacher would say it at least 50 times a day whenever she wanted to start something new.

Example: "Allora. Let's get out our math books."

My entire group was obsessed with the word. Every time someone would say it, we would all repeat it and smile.

My other favorite words:

-Aspetta (wait, hold on)

-Basta (stop, enough)

-Eccola qua (look there it is)

I have been emailing one of my Italian brothers since I left and the subject of his first email was "eccola qua." Made me so happy.

Before I left Italy, my youngest brother and sister made me t-shirts, one of which has my favorite words. My sister wrote out the Italian word with the English translation next to it. It's so adorable.

{I'll put up a picture soon.}

I was getting pretty good at understanding the language. Obviously I couldn't understand everything, but I could follow conversations. Could I speak in Italian? No. But I really want to work on it before I go back. I'll surprise everyone!

Fun fact: The Italian language (that we know of) is actually very young. In Southern Italy, there are many different dialects that are extremely old. But in Northern Italy, most people speak the Italian we know. Who knew?!

Non capisco

The language barrier here has never been super difficult to overcome. I can generally get by with hand gestures and emotions. I'm also understanding more Italian and am able to follow conversations pretty well. Yesterday, that was not the case.

My plan for the day was to come home around 4:30 to get the key for the bike. I was riding my bike to the school that night at 6 for the play. My brother and sister were both supposed to be home to let me in the house.

I walked to the door and could hear someone vacuuming. I rang the door bell but they didn't hear me. I figured I would just wait a minute until they were finished, then ring the bell again. After two minutes, they were still vacuuming. I rang the doorbell. No answer. Knocked on the door. Still vacuuming. Rang the bell again. Finally they stopped.

Then I heard a woman's voice that I'd never heard before. She was definitely not part of my family. At this point I had been waiting outside for five minutes. After I heard some phrases in Italian, the door opened to a woman with a gold tooth. I immediately looked at the house number to make sure I hadn't knocked on the wrong door. I was at the right house but I had never seen this woman before. I said, "Ciao" and started to walk in the house. She blocked me and started speaking in Italian. I couldn't understand a word she was saying.

I tried to tell her I was American, I lived in the house, anything I could in Italian. She kept saying, "Non capisco. Non capisco." She said something in Italian and I said, "Okay" because what else could I do. All of a sudden she shut the door in my face and I was left outside.

I just stood there for a minute trying to figure out what just happened. There is a park behind the house so I just walked back there and sat on a bench. I was embarrassed, in shock, and just didn't know what to do. Fifteen minutes later, my sister comes walking around the corner. She had been asleep upstairs and had not heard me ring the doorbell. Goldie had apparently woken her up. She probably told her there was some crazy American trying to come in the house.

I finally made it back inside. That was the most frustrating experience I've had on this trip. I have never not been able to communicate with someone. Now I can laugh about it but man. It was definitely an adventure.