Marvelous Monday

I am in SHOCK that today was our last Monday at Marymount. These weeks have flown by but they couldn’t have been better. Having to leave the kids makes me so sad and I know I am going to tear up on the last day.

I completed my lesson today (observed by Kyle) and it couldn’t have gone better. Very last minute, I decided to change up my activity… it was a goooood decision. Although the lesson/activity took longer than expected, it went so much smoother than I thought it would and that is all that matters. I had a group of five kids (Fabiana, Gaia, Khadejah, Matteo, and Federico) and my little trouble maker (Matteo) was on his best behavior. He started showing off in the beginning and I was on him like a hawk. He pulled it together. Near the end of my lesson, I looked at Kyle and said, “well, my activity is done, but if you want to stay and watch the madhouse you’re more than welcome.” He stayed and helped with my group of kids. They adored him. I can imagine it is fun, especially for the boys, to have another man in the classroom. They kept asking “who is dis man?” Haha gosh I adore each and every one of them. I explained he is my teacher, just like I’m their teacher and he says “basically I’m your grandteacher.” This is from the feedback Kyle gave me, “After a half hour of observation, I am exhausted and don’t understand how you can sustain this level of activity, energy, and organization for an entire day!” Amen, Tiberius, Amen. They’re exhausting, but so worth it.

If it were possible to clone a kid, I’d clone Ale in a heartbeat. He picked flowers on the playground and brought them to me. Dana has one little boy, Robbie, in her class… who looks like he could be twins with Ale. Dana and I were talking with Robbie and Ale on the playground (our two favorites) and I said, “Ale, Robbie could be your twin.” Ale says, “what is a twin?” in his adorable Italian accent. And Robbie mutters something in Italian super fast and they both crack up. I’ll take pictures tomorrow cause they’re resemblance is crazy and they are both the cutest kids on earth. Diamante (our little Diamond) told me that she likes Ale… what four year old girl wouldn’t?! He’s gonna be a ladies man. I told Ale I am going to take him home with me when I leave and he said “yes! But my mommy may miss me.” Never seeing him again makes me so, so sad.

After school, Kelly, Dana, MK and I did some laundry. I went to the market for the last time… and then 17 of us went to Dar Poeta, the pizza place we went to in the very beginning. It was everything I remembered and more. Kara and I split a delicious pizza (with vegetables and sausage) and then Dana and I split a nutella calzone for dessert. Ugh, I’m going to miss it. It will be so strange going back to the US and not eating dessert with every meal (it’s like I have a different mindset about food over here…) oh and also going back to not eating meat! That will be an adjustment.