"Congratulations."

Hey everybody!

       As always, when I update, we've had more adventures.  This week, we've been going to observations at a local Kindergarten and summer camp.  Going to the summer camp was my favorite....because we got to spend time with the children.  It was so much fun interacting with them.  One child gave Kelly, Gizem, and I flowers, fruit, and hugs and kisses.  She was so sweet and so loving.  Even though our Italian is limited, the children still wanted to talk to us and play. It was such a neat experience.  Watching them play games, run and chase one another, and engage in play was an experience I will never forget.
      We also observed at a local kindergarten (which is a little different than American kindergarten.)  We observed an infant class and got to watch them play in a kiddie pool.  It was so much fun to see the smiles and squeals of delight as the children played in the water.  I've been learning so much about children and their play and it's really been an eye opening experience.  I have so much to go back to America and share with everyone.

    Last night was interesting to say the least.  Kayla, Kelly, and I were in our room just chatting and laughing.  All of a sudden, the fan sparked and the power went off.  We all looked at each other and ran out of the room.  We're living in a 16th century building..so we knew this was going to be a problem.  We went and got our professor and explained to her what happened.  We had to tell Ms. Noland, another faculty member on our trip.  She loves hearing our stories and no matter if we've missed a bus, took a wrong turn, or blown a fuse (in this case), she always finds it funny.  My favorite line to hear her say is, "It's an adventure."  She always turns our experiences into ones we can learn from and it is always so much fun to share our stories with her.  She busted out laughing when we told her and she said, "Well, congratulations."  Leave it to Kelly, Kayla, and I to provide everyone some late night entertainment.  We thought we were going to be without power for a few days; however, Sarah who works for Meredith and manages the palazzo came over (on her birthday might I add) to help fix the situation.  We were so grateful for her.  The laughs didn't stop there.  The palazzo does not have air conditioning...and until this week it was manageable.  This week the temperatures started climbing in the 90's and we didn't even have a fan in our room.  Last night, we got creative and Kelly, Kayla, Paige, and me pushed our beds to the middle of the room and had the fan blowing in our direction.  We laughed so hard until we fell asleep.  It was a smart idea on our part though.
     This week has flown by!  We are going to Reggio Emilia tomorrow to see the exhibits and that will be so exciting.  I love the Reggio Emilia approach and I can't wait to hear all about it.  It promises to be a long day, as we are departing for Reggio at 6:30 A.M.  We have to come back and pack tomorrow night because the Child Development girls decided to go to Rome on our independent travel.  I'm so excited to see all the sights Rome has to offer.  I'll update later with more entertainment for you all, I'm sure.


For now, Ciao everyone! 


<3 Brittany