In Carpi!!

I can't believe how fast the time is going already! Carpi is amazing and all of the people I have met are so helpful and eager to meet the "Americana". The first week flew by with the introduction to the families, our schools, Carpi and Italy in general. By 9pm everyday I was in bed or was waking up for dinner after a 4 hour nap. We have gotten the chance to experience so many things already especially within the school system here in Carpi. I personally am in a Pre-school class with 4 year-olds who, along with their teachers, did not speak a word of English upon my arrival. At first I was incredibly nervous when I walked into the room, but that nervousness was overcome by excitement and all of the hugs and pictures from my students. Surprisingly, working with the younger kids has helped me learn a lot of basic terms in Italian language, the things that someone who is older wouldn't even think is an important thing, mostly in regards to answering my question "come si dice... (point to an item)". I have seen so many differences and similarities within the classroom as far as behavior management and how different situations with students are handled but if you just looked at the class, aside from the Italian words, it looks like a typical preschool classroom. This however, was not the fact in the rest of the schools I have had the opportunity of seeing. We learned that instead of students moving from classroom to classroom, the teachers are the ones that generally move leaving the classroom itself, pretty bare as far as decoration goes. Also, in many cases, from discussion with other kids visiting Carpi, there is very little structure as far as time goes in the schools. I can't wait to see how much more I will get to learn and see in our short time left.