Officially Done

This was it. The last day of our trip. The culmination of five weeks (years) of work.

We met in the morning for a few hours. Translated a letter that Pliny the Younger wrote about his villa. Of course! I had the 2nd sentence, which was the hardest one in the whole letter. No, really. it was!

Then we each shared something that we learned from the trip. Or how it will effect our teaching next year. We all pretty much agreed that it was great to actually dialogue with other Latin teachers. Some people are so isolated out there. I feel blessed that I actually have so many other Latin teachers to communicate with whenever I want to.

When we were done, I came upstairs and took a nap. I was tired after staying up late last night, working on my translation. Then Jason, Kate, and I went "chopping." (that is shopping) I didn't find anything, but we found 2 shirts and a tie for Jason! Yay! Now he has something to wear with his nice, new Italian suit. Sweet!

A bunch of us met to talk pedagogy with reference to Cambridge. That's our new textbook. There were about 8 of us. We sat in the back of a wine bar, had a glass or two, and a nice discussion. We were supposed to talk about the textbook, and some ideas on teaching with it. But it kind of evolved into a bitch session about how students don't know any English grammar. And some other stuff. But I did get a couple of good ideas to try out next year.

Then it was time for our final meal all together. Everyone but Allison went, because she had plans with a friend. It was fun, but really expensive. It was a very touristy restaurant. The food was okay. Not the best I've had, for the money.

Afterward, Chanda, Greg, Jason, Kate, James, Michael and I went walking around the Campo dei Fiori and over to Trastevere. In that part of town, they are celebrating the feast day of Saint Mary something. They dress up their image (statue) of Mary and carry her through the streets to the church. She hangs out there, all dressed up, for a week. Then they'll process her through the streets again, then put her back. There were so many people out! All the cafes and bars were open. People were milling about all over. We all sat on the curb and just watched them all go by. It was so neat to see a real part of Italian culture.

No big plans for the weekend yet. There's a group going to the Forum in the morning, but I think I'm just going to sleep in. I've been there before, and I need the rest. I'm just going to take it easy. I'd like to just wander around and see all the little alleys and such. You know, get to know the city a bit before I have to leave her.

Two more days!