So what's a typical day like?

So many people have asked this question that I suspect that most of our friends would like to know. Life has settled down to some sort of routine for the moment. It's not a routine that we're altogether used to, but there are identifiable markers in our days and weeks now, and we are glad for that.

Italian classes: We are both in our respective Italian classes now and we are making progress. At this early stage in language it's not hard to feel like you're making progress. I see language learning like drops of rain on the hood of a newly waxed car. Everything you learn in language is like one drop of rain sitting there on the surface. At some point enough drops hit the surface that they begin to gloop together (consolidate). When the whole thing comes together you're speaking and understanding with fluency. At this point we're just adding a lot of drops, but that feels like progress.



Here are some photos from my school. I feel fortunate to have found a good school for a good price pretty much in our neighborhood. I pay a regular group price, but as you can see, the student to teacher ratio is not bad. On top is a dinner gathering of the advanced class (not mine), but the only guy in the photo is my teacher during the second hour every morning. Below that is the intermediate class. From left to right: You know that guy, student teacher, our teacher, (very lively, likes what she's doing), a nun from Sri Lanka, S. from Poland, and I. from the US. I am not the only guy in the class, but D. from Brazil was not there.

Sarah has a very similar kind of class, just a little longer bus ride from our apartment. Her school is really in the center of Rome, a great location with gobs of stuff to see all around. So, Monday to Friday we're up and out the door in the morning and spend till about 1:00 PM in class.



Interesting note: This is a photo of the Vatican post office. Many people have told us that you can't trust the Italian postal system. We can't really say with our limited experience if this is an accurate description of the situation, but we've taken note. If I need to send a check through the mail, or something else that I deem to be important, I wait till after my Italian class and then walk the five minutes to the Vatican. Just to the right of St. Peter's square, hidden in the colonnade there, you will find the Vatican Post Office (photo above). The Vatican runs its own very efficient and trustworthy service completely independent of the Italian system. Thank God for Papal Post.

What about the afternoon?

This is a temporary routine, but a routine nonetheless, for now. Usually after lunch Sarah supervises me in one of the many jobs on the list of honey-do projects in the apartment. As in Belgium, most projects are made that much harder by having to drill into plaster, brick, ceramic tile and concrete. No wood joists or studs to find to hang things up. It takes all my tool boxes every time. We are making progress, but you're going to have to come by to see the apartment, no photo exposés in this blog!

I am really glad, and sore, to have gotten back to my running routine. I begin my run a couple of blocks from the apartment at the bottom of Monte Mario, a hilltop overlooking the north side of Rome, complete with an exclusive hotel and an observatory! But it's a nice, green place to run with less traffic and an incredible view. From there, I come back down to our neighborhood and can continue running on a nice bike/running path along the Tiber River.

Eventually, we would like our afternoon routine to include what we call a language route. The LAMP method of language learning (Dr. and Mrs. Tom Brewster) requires learners to develop a regular route of language helper who will be willing to work through carefully prepared practice session with you. Fortunately it looks like our Italian friends are open, helpful and nice enough to make this an enjoyable activity. Why don't you check back with us in another month and make sure we're doing this?

Weekly routine on Sunday:

Sarah and I have begun attending the closest Italian-speaking, Evangelical church we could find to our neighborhood. Remember that one of the reasons we are in our neigborhood is that there are no evangelical churches! So, for the last three Sundays we have been attending services with a community that meets in Trastevere, a well-known and popular section of Rome. The Trastevere section of Rome is in itself a fine tourist destination in its own right, filled with great restaurants and quaint streets. The last two Sundays we have been able to take a slow, twisty walk home from the services, stopping for lunch and finding the tourist spots along the way.



This is a photo of Sarah from last week's "passegiata," from a bridge overlooking the Isola Tiberina.