Acceptance! And More!

So! I heard back from the first of the 11 law schools to which I applied, and I have been accepted to American University. While not necessarily my first choice, it is such a relief to know that I have SOMEWHERE to go and that SOMEBODY wants me! So this means I’ll officially be heading back to the States this summer (perhaps Julyish… depending on work schedules and the various travel plans of friends). The only trouble is that now every time I walk in the door of our apartment I give the mailbox an intense hairy eyeball to try to determine if anything is in there… and I have nearly tripped and broken my face on the first stairs about eight times. This does not bode well for my safety as I wait for ten more results!
On the plus side, I’m keeping busy and my Tuesdays have returned to their usual marathon status (though even MORE of a marathon because my morning class is now a long private lesson in the suburbs of Bologna… to which I have to commute… by bus…). I’m continuing to teach the kids and teenagers (Monday = DevilBimbi, Tuesday = Soul-Sucking Teenagers, Wednesday= The Good Kids, Thursday= Xanadu-like day without children, Friday= DevilBimbi in Training), as well as the continuation of my classes from the previous semester. Some students remained, but there are many new faces- especially in my Advanced 1 class which now has nine (nine!) students (one of whom has  a pretty awesome spiky mohawk. And very nice English.). I believe I terrified one of those new faces this evening with the horrible complexities of the unfairly-named Present Simple. Ah well, it was only day one. At any rate, I like being busy again- I’ve felt like such a lump for the last couple weeks while Anna dashed off to the truly epic series of private lessons she got landed with and I lurked at home! Inactivity bites. Though, on the plus side, my lump days have paid off at least in helping me catch up on Lost… to which I am severly addicted.

In other news, I just did a mental tally, and I have taught the present perfect six times since last week (also, I just used the present perfect there- repeated action in the past…DAH). I think I’m going to start having teaching dreams again… which will beat my “running in the jungle” dreams… did I mention I’ve been watching a lot of Lost lately?

And now the cat, who has become MUCH more social and friendly of late, but is still a bit of a bastard (Exhibit A: Anna’s and my matching scratches on various upper body etremities), has come in my room to scratch my rug vigirously and meow indignantly, I assume, because my light is still on/ he is hungry/ Anna’s door is closed/ I exist. I think I’ll end on that note! I’ll keep my faithful readers* posted on any more updates!

*Faithful readers = Mom

NOOOOOoooo…

It just started raining.
If only I could find my umbrella…
Good grief! Hail! It’s the end of days out there…
Is it springtime yet?

Ok!

Life continues! I have almost completed all of the courses in the first term, which is sad, but I’m looking forward to the next term… starting soon! We get a brief break between the classes (the end and start dates are staggered), which is nice for the brain, but not so nice for the paycheck… oh well!

In other news, I’ve sent 11 law school applications, so I have now officially traded anxiety about completing the applications for  anxiety about having forgotten some key document, accidentally lying to admissions staff, or just plain not getting in. This creates some insomnia, but luckily a punishing Monday morning schedule (8:30-12:00 private lessons… to which I must commute. Blegh) wears me out, so that helps!

Today is our second day in a row with sunshine! This makes me realize how essential sunlight is to my happiness/survival/ happiness and survival of those around me. Maybe I should have applied to law school closer to the equator…?

The cat has become much more social and vocal since we had the cat shrink (ok, a vet who specializes in behavior… ) come to visit when I was in the final throes of the flu a couple weeks ago. We aren’t sure what exactly she said to him, but they were magic words… that and he is a fat greedy bastard, so he will socialize if food is involved! We now find ourselves living with quite the little personality- he’s imperious even by cat standards! We’ve been able to sneak in some petting (which he likes, until he remembers he’s not supposed to like it!) and he will occasional rub against legs… here’s hoping cuddling will follow in the near future! Speak of the devil, he just emerged to claw my rug… charming creature =0)

And now duty calls, I have to grade exams (I’m a real teacher! Crazy!) and plan my lesson for tonight- it’s the last class for this group, so I promised them fun music (“non-crappy-non-pop-music-from-America” as I like to think of it. We were discussing cultural imperialism and one of the articles was about the success of American music abroad, and they told me that while they don’t resent that the music is American, they do resent that they only get the bad stuff. So this is part deux of indie rock 101. Let me tell you, there is pressure when you promise to introduce people to “cool music they will like!”). Luckily Cameron’s recent visit gave me a bit more material to work with on that front!

And, for those who care, lately Facebook has been proliferated by the “25 Random Things” chain-note, in which you post a list of 25 random things about yourself and ask your friends to do the same… I resisted, but finally caved… and it was actually a little fun and a lot harder than it sounds (seriously! try it!). So, for your reading pleasure until my next post, here’s my list of 25 things (Though, since I believe mom is the only one who reads this blog, they likely won’t be new to her! Or dad!)

1. I cannot believe I am actually completing this… and I apologize in advance to those who are getting tagged… except the ones who are getting tagged because they snickered. You know who you are.

2. I find it difficult to keep plants alive for any extended period of time (I killed bamboo. You pretty much have to TRY to kill bamboo.)

3. I tend to cut my hair short, hate it, make my friends promise to remind me how much I hate it when, inevitably, 9-12 months later, it has grown out and I want to do something drastic to it again. (PS: T-3 months to go… I hope you’re ready to talk me down.)

4. My favorite part of speech is the gerund.

5. Because my head is apparently incompatible with every hat in Bologna, I am knitting my own.

6. I have been known to eat semi-sweet baking chocolate when there was no other dessert in the house.

7. I love cracking my knuckles, but I love sneezing more.

8. I complain about teaching the children, but they have secretly wormed their collective way into my heart.

9. I would really like to steal my parents’ giant red sofa. (Cameron, this totally counts as dibs.)

10. Apparently, if I were to steal milk from the grocery store, Anna would not be shocked. (“You never know! how people will surprise you! I wouldn’t not be SHOCKED but… it wouldn’t be out of the realm… i mean… if it were right there… we needed milk…”-Anna)

11. I have always wanted to take an Antarctic cruise and go to the Galapagos Islands.

12. Reading Jane Austin is a better soporific for me than Tylenol PM. Especially “Mansfield Park”- I have yet to pass page 20.

13. My favorite place in the world is the Areopagus in Athens. Runner up may be the Dell on a sunny afternoon.

14. “Jabberwocky” is the only poem I have memorized in its entirety.

15. My Pumas are ancient and don’t really function as shoes anymore… but I’ll never throw them away.

16. I can raise both eyebrows or only my right eyebrow. I cannot raise only my left eyebrow.

17. I really like the word “gnarly” for some reason.

18. My wardrobe consists of about 3% jeans, 95% black drapey shirts, and 2% scarves. Yes, it still looks like I robbed a yia-yia.

19. While I get a kick out of Plato, I’m also shamefully entertained by fashion magazines. I’m sorry, shoes are pretty!

20. I get sunburned every time I go to the beach… but I would still really like to go to the beach right now.

21. I hate wearing shoes when I’m inside. Mostly because they prevent me from perching on my toes.

22. When I’m in the States, my radio is pretty much constantly tuned to NPR. I trust my ipod for music… most of which has been donated by either by brother or my cousin, both of whom are far cooler than I will ever be, but whom I love anyway =0)

23. I have a long list of things that I wish I were good at, but am not (a random sample: dancing, art, languages, calling people back in a timely manner, writing legibly…)

24. I can run faster in high heels than I can when barefoot. Consequentially I will probably be crippled by the time I’m 35.

25. Even though I hate being cold, there are few things more thrilling than a snow day. Except the beach on a Greek Island.

Briefly…

It’s been a long time since I’ve updated (so sorry), and I promise a better recap of the last month or so soon(Teaching! Christmas! Dublin! Visit from the brother! The flu! More teaching! Italians!).

At the moment, I just finished watching Obama’s speech; I am going to share it with some classes this week, but I almost hesitate to do so because it felt like he was talking to me- it’s personal. Have you ever been scolded by someone you look up to? When they tell you that they’re disappointed in you, and that you’ve dropped the ball, that they know you can do better… isn’t that pretty much the worst thing in the world? At first I was a little disappointed (where are my goosebumps?!)… but then the warm fuzzies came- things HAVE been bad in the past, worse even than today. Say what you will about stereotypes, but as a people, I think we Americans do have some special blend of something… be it naive optimism or simply the drive to pick ourselves up and tell others “SEE! I told you I could do it!” Whether it’s our grounding ideals or our need to win that do it, for the first time in a while, I feel some comfort- we can get ourselves out of this mess, not because Obama is going to do it for us, but because we can do it ourselves. In the end, the speech wasn’t the warm embrace of his victory address, but it was just what I, and I think the rest of us, didn’t even realize we needed to hear.

Here we go, and yes we can!

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone is having a lovely holiday! I’m far from home today, and in the spirit of the holiday, I’ve been thinking about all the things I have to be grateful for- always a long list. I’m obviously grateful for the basics (ie: my health, a roof over my head, food on my plate, clothes on my back and a computer on which to type all of this). I’m grateful for my education which is allowing me to teach English and make a living this year. I’m grateful for every spark of comprehension in the faces of my nearly sixty students, and every bit of emotion I pull from the teenagers. I’m grateful for the experience I’m having, the places I’m visiting and the things I’m doing.

But mostly, I’m exceedingly grateful for the people in my life. And I do mean every single person I encounter, from my family, my wonderful roommate, Anna, the kindly baristas at the cafe down the street, and the homeless man who sleeps on the next street  over. Perhaps the holiday season makes me a bit maudlin, but my life would be a very different story without any one of these people.

It goes without saying that I’m tremendously thankful for my family, including my parents, who always love and support me (even when I do crazy things like move to Italy for a year and abandon them during the holidays) and my brother (who loves and supports me even though I voted for Hillary in the primaries). Our family is small but I love each and every one of you so much and I wouldn’t trade you for the world (well, maybe we could talk about the dog… kidding! A bit…).

I’m also tremendously grateful for all of my friends, both old and new. They make me laugh, they make me think, and they generally make my life worth living. Earlier Anna and I were plotting the logistics of transporting and cooking for the potentially 22+ people who are going to come to our Thanksgiving feast this Saturday night. This is a tremendously daunting task, but I’m also grateful that my burden this weekend is having “too many” friends. As far as burdens go, it could be worse, huh?

All that being said, I hope your turkey is juicy (or your tofurky tasty), your dressing moist, your pumpkin pie sweet, and your day full of friends, family, and whatever makes you happiest!

Turkitty

Another new word:

Turkitty: (n.) (Origin: derived from the yuppie word “turducken” or a chicken stuffed inside a duck stuffed inside a turkey) 1. A cat stuffed inside a turkey for a holiday meal  2. What the cat will be if he does not commence with the cuddling soon.

Naturally, we kid. For three equally valid reasons, we would not eat our cat simply because he does not love us:

1) I am a vegetarian

2) That would be a gross overreaction to rejection… right?

3) It would be too difficult to catch him.

However, as he hides in very hard to reach, and therefore dusty, spots, he is sneezing frequently so we can locate him easily these days.

In other news, one of my Frowner students left the class to take private conversation classes (to which I diplomatically say, I’m glad she is getting what she wants, and it’s a shame I could not be the one to give it to her in the first place.),we are planning Thanksgiving dinner (as of now, the count is at least 13), and I have what appears to be permanent white out on my fingers.

Happy slightly early Thanksgiving to everyone in the States (or everyone abroad who celebrates it!)!

Ohhh Tuesday…

Well, today was Tuesday which means several things:

1) Today is our one week anniversary with TheBear (he had a breakthrough! He will now run from behind the fridge/ under my bed/ corner in Anna’s room to another hiding place *while we are in the room*! This is progress. Not only do we get to see his shining hissing face, but also to admire his slurking lope, and to be reminded of how chunky and cuddly he will be… one day…).

2) I progress from my least to most favorite classes, starting with The Frowners, followed by the Sullen Teenagers, followed by my Introduction class (which got a new student today… the day before the midterm), followed by my Hot Topics class (they think I’m insane… I’m starting to think they are right), and then my Favorites (who, incidentally, are the only class with perfect attendance so far!).

3) The Frowners conspire to make my life miserable. I mean, seriously folks. I drag myself out of bed, I put on clothing and makeup, I walk through the cold (there was SNOW on Monday! Madness!), and I pretend I am not asleep for you… why… WHY do you hate me when I do so much for you?! <sigh> This is the class with the two complainers I mentioned last week (complainer 1: “I want more conversation.” complainer 2: “I can’t understand the teacher.”). They have midterms soon and, as it takes them a while to grasp the grammar (and since we took a while longer than we should have to review at the beginning…), they are behind schedule… this means I do not always have time for conversation. Also, as one pointed out “The Italian for this is much easier. This is so… difficult.” I responded by saying “Well, if it weren’t difficult, I wouldn’t have a job… soooo…” So I have patiently explained the methods of my madness, I implore them to stop me when they don’t understand me, I worked in a bit of conversation today (with the promise of more to come!), and leave feeling that I have controlled the situation… then walk back through the hallway past the office to see ALL THREE of them in the office, the woman going 8 rounds with Nicoletta, the secretary! I peaced out fairly quickly (the promise of cappuccino and pastry being far more appealing than dealing with whatever in the world was happening) rather than stick around to hash it out with them. We shall see what happens. And yes, I promise I will stop complaining about them… just as soon as they stop complaining about me!

4) We are officially on for Thanksgiving this Saturday night (our first available afternoon/evening)! We are staging an invasion of Giulio’s kitchen and hope to pull it off (on the plus side, if we bomb Thanksgiving for Italians, how will they know? Mwahahaha). There could be anywhere from 8-22 people eating… wish us luck- this will be the first solo Thanksgiving for both Anna and me. On the plus side, we found a butcher today with turkeys!! Our adventure went something like this (loose translation from the Italian):

Natalie: Oo! Look! There’s a turkey in that window!

Anna: Excellent!

(We enter the butcher shop. I adopt an awkward vegetarian’s stance among carcasses.)

Anna: Hi! We need a turkey on Saturday!

Kindly Butcher: We have turkeys. There’s one in the window right now.

Anna: Well, there are going to be a lot of people chewing on this bird… do you have a bigger turkey?

Kindly Butcher: Well… we have a masculine bird… It’s big… I can show you how big it is…

Natalie: Bring it on!

(Butcher clears block, goes to back of store to dig in large fridge… wrestles with poultry roughly the size of a small vehicle, brings it to front, and slams it on block with a hearty pat on its back.)

Anna and Natalie: Wow!! (Laughter) THAT is a turkey.

Kindly Butcher: (A charmed “I told you so!” look on his face) So. The Masculine birds are a bit bigger, this is a feminine bird (1/2 size).

Anna: Um. We are going to … check on the size of the oven…

Natalie: Maybe… two small birds? Maybe…?

All: (Laughter… gigantic dinosaur bird carcass still confronting us)

Anna: So you’ll have a turkey on Saturday?

Kindly Butcher: I’ll have a turkey on Saturday!

Anna and Natalie: (still in shock at the sight of a bird which, in life, could have killed us) Bye! Thanks! See you Saturday!

5) Andrea is visiting soon! I’ll be trying to organize lists and schedule cooking stuff, but I’m thrilled to have her here! And I’m eternally grateful to Anna for subbing for my Friday evening class so I can do the airport run and hang out!

6) Tomorrow is my day to sleep in! I try to be graceful about it as Anna has another early day… but boy am I looking forward to a relaxing bath in the morning!

7) Yes, Mom- pictures are coming, but we have to clean the apartment first! Don’t worry, we don’t live in squalor, just occasional clutter.

9 -1) If anyone has any Thanksgiving planning/cooking tips and shortcuts (as we will not be able to start cooking until about 2:00 PM at the earliest… happily Italian dinner times accommodate a late start!), they would be greatly appreciated in comment or email form!

9) The previous point was 9-1 because apparently wordpress thinks that an 8 followed by a ) means this: (and I hope that shows up as a sunglasses-wearing smiley face as it did on my computer…)

10) There is a positively gigantic Christmas tree in Piazza Maggiore (well, Piazza del Nettuno). Pictures following eventually.

11) After wandering the Chocolate Festival on Sunday, Tiffany taught me how to purl (yes, I’m an old woman, I knit. Poorly, but I knit! And now with TWO stitches in my repertoire!).

And that’s the news from Bologna on this chilly and gray Tuesday night!

How Do You Say “Suicidal Cat” in Italian?

Thursdays are generally nice days for me- they start early, end late, but it is the only day I don’t teach bambini, I am awake early enough to have a cappuccino and pastry, and there is a nice long gap before my next class. I also end the day with my favorite group of students. So, all in all, Thursdays should be nice, right? Well, this one got off to a rocky start at about 2:00 AM and sloped gently downhill from there. Allow me to walk you through it.

Anna and I went to bed late- I had been glossing the first 30 or so minutes of Rounders to show my class today (totally legitimate use of movie day- we’ve been discussing gambling), and was settling to sleep trying to think of ways to explain the phrase “three stacks of high society” to my class when I hear a clattering thump from the bathroom (where the cat had taken to slurking behind the toilet). I am startled, but identify the noise as a shampoo bottle falling to its doom and roll over. An hour later, there are more clatters, shaving about 5 years off my life as I jump awake. Again, I figure the cat is just being a cat and roll over. Cut to about 3:31 AM- more clattering, some actual noise of cat distress, and I woke up so suddenly I’m pretty sure I grew gray hairs. I decide to actually check on him this time, and stagger into the bathroom, turn on the light, and see what looks like the world’s smallest murder scene (mostly because our bathroom is really small)- blood smeared all over the tub, shampoo strewn across the floor, and a very scared and defensive cat crouching behind the bidet beside the toilet paper. Anna joined me at this point (as I may have exclaimed something along the lines of “Sweet Jesus! The cat is dead!”…), and we decided that we should throw a towel over the cat and try to determine where he was hurt and how badly. Have you ever tried to throw a towel over a scared and recently coagulated cat? Don’t. He bolted through the door, spitting, and wound up crouched in a small space beside the front door. Where we decided to leave him.

I woke up this morning tired, grouchy, and with my contacts sticking to my eyeballs (is there a worse feeling in the world? I am not so sure.), but I roll out of bed, dutifully put on clothes, help Anna ascertain that the cat has hidden in her clothes closet on her pile of scarves, bundle against the glacial winds outside and trudge to work. I’m afraid I was poor company on the walk to work, (and any of you who know my disposition towards being cold or sleepy know that both at once is a deadly combination) and my mood became even more foul as I realized that, by leaving a few minutes late, we had no time for coffee. Also, my Tuesday and Thursday morning class is the one populated by the students I think of as “the frowners,” for obvious reasons. Basically, they don’t usually give me much reason to get out of bed in the morning.

So we arrive at the school, I gather my books, deposit them in my classroom in a haze, and am just turning to return to the teachers’ room to gird my loins for the task ahead when Nicoletta pops her head into the classroom and beckons me into the office. I know this is not going to be fun when she closes the door behind her. Apparently one of the three students in the class complained that we are not doing enough conversation, while another one complained that he cannot understand me. Nicoletta is nice and just tells me to try to do more conversation, but I’m vaguely incensed. We trot into the classroom where uncomprehending student is waiting and he and Nicoletta have a bit of a chat in Italian that I try to follow and I understand “I asked her to speak more slowly, but she doesn’t listen to me!” Hey buddy, I’m standing right here. Nicoletta tries to placate him, then leaves and I try to explain to him and my third student (other complainer was not there today) that because they are at an intermediate level, I do speak faster than in other classes and I do use higher register language because it’s good for them to be pushed. However, as I said in the beginning and always remind them, STOP ME if you don’t understand me! SIGH. So we proceed with one of the more frustrating hour and 15 minute chunks of my life, after which I plunked the grammar book down onto the shelf with a satisfying thump, and got a tasty coffee and pastry. Life has improved. Mostly because of coffee.

My soul greatly lifted by caffeine and sugar, Anna and I go home to check on our cat and to have a bite of lunch. We realized a couple things upon a closer inspection of the “crime scene” that is our bathroom:

1. The cat is likely not going to hide in the bathroom anymore.
2. We had been so distracted by the devastation in the bathtub that we hadn’t noticed the blood smears on the WALL and CEILING, leading us to conclude that he did NOT step on a razor, but that he was trying to a) escape or b) kill pigeons on the skylight by jumping for the roof, failing, and cutting himself on the clothes rack.
3. We were seriously overdue for a mopping in there.
4. My pumice stone was behind the bidet.

Ok, I’m not saying that ALL our discoveries were important, but they were discoveries nonetheless. So we have cleaned the bathroom, ascertained that the cat is now under my bed, and are braced and ready for the marathon evening of teaching… starting now!

Slurking

I have invented a new word.

slurk: (v.) to simultaneously sulk and lurk, often pertaining to teenagers or animals. (ex.: Our cat is still slurking behind the refrigerator.)

The good news is that he definitely came out from behind the fridge while I was teaching and 1) found his litter box and 2) ate something. Anna and I are moving into Operation: Forced Cuddling later this evening.

Other good news is that the Chocolate Festival is now open in Piazza Maggiore! I have yet to dive into this world of wonderful and dangerous things, but we have a bit of a buco (a hole) in our schedule tomorrow morning… perfect for exploring (and snacking…).

Gatto!

We have a cat! Today we brought home TheBear (yes, that is his name, one word, capital T and B)! He is currently under my bed… acclimating to the new environment (aka: fretting silently). We are happy to have found him there because after returning from school he appeared to have vanished… how does one lose a 15 pound cat in a tiny apartment with the windows closed? Turns out, by neglecting to notice that he is wedged into the approximately 5 inches between the top of my suitcase and the bottom of my mattress… where he remains. I’m going to sleep soon, so I’m a little concerned that I’ll crush him, but hopefully he will have a strong enough sense of self-preservation to move if it comes to that…

Coming home

That is the two of us in the backseat of Riccardo’s car- Anna and I thought that the small porthole on top of the cat carrier would surely be fine to open, because, let’s face it, TheBear is a bit of a fatty, so surely he wouldn’t be able to squeeze out! Not so, my friends, not so. Cats = ferrets, snakes, and other maliable members of the animal kingdom. So that’s why I have him in a half nelson as he squeezes his way towards freedom…

At any rate! That’s the biggest news around here these days. Classes are going well, my good friend Andrea is coming to visit next weekend, I’m apparently going to lead small children on a field trip on Saturday afternoon (what?!), and we are waiting for the cat to get used to his surroundings and become the cuddly creature we know he is!

As a parting gift, I leave you with this tidbit (I’m particularly fond of the title and the last line, because any article that must state that “Police haven’t said what type of sandwich is involved,” is surely one for the ages.):

Man Nabbed After Hitting Girlfriend With Sandwich

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) — A man faces a domestic battery charge after allegedly hitting his girlfriend with a sandwich as she was driving on Interstate 95 on Friday. Police said the 19-year-old man became angry and hit the woman in the arm and face with a sandwich, knocking her glasses off.

The victim nearly lost control of the car because she couldn’t see the road and the man then allegedly ripped off the rear-view mirror and used it to shatter the windshield.

The man was freed on $7,500 bail.

Police haven’t said what type of sandwich was involved.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-ODD-Sandwich-Assault.html?_r=1