Oh dear, here I go again and the Lucca Italian School is FULL ON!! Much more intense than Bologna and exhausting! Got going early this morning. It was raining steadily so no bike today. Went and had my early morning coffee and then walked up to the school (just past the underground carpark for those familiar with the walk). First I had to sit with one of the teachers and have an embarrassing ‘conversation’ while they assessed your level….oh shit, it beginners for me but not beginner/ beginner!!
I’m in a class with 3, that’s right, 3 Susan’s. Can you believe it?? There are 2 other senior Australian’s one from Canberra and one from Sydney and a young woman from Mexico who lives in Colarado. Then there was 4 full hours of full on conversation. No emphasis on grammar like Bologna and it all gets a bit hard trying to understand everything. I’m truly not good but probably fit into this group OK. It did exhaust me in a different way to walking around the wall.
After the lesson the Mexican girl and I walked back so I could show her where Piazza San Francesco and the supermarket are. She is sweet. I then came home for my soup lunch and to write up the lesson.
Like Bologna the school put on a walk around the town and the Mexican girl and I signed up. I have to push myself but feel I should. So at 4.30pm we met up (about 6 of us) and set off walking around the town. You do learn a lot going on these walks. Also I was struck by how much more I understood on this walk compared to when I did the Bologna one. The similarity between the two walks, however, was that it was pouring both times. This time it REALLY poured i.e. thunder, lightning and the whole bit. Thanks for the big umbrella all…I didn’t think I’d be a grateful for it as I was tonight. Also today is the day of St Zita whose mummified body resides in San Frediano Church (one with mosaic on the front). There was a massive queque to view her body despite the weather and a lot of idolatry (is that a word??) going on. Her body just looked revolting to me…desiccated and macabre. Anyway we completed the walk despite the conditions. Home I came drenched despite the umbrella, raced to turn on the heating and get myself something to eat.
Tomorrow is another day. The good thing about going to school is that you do get lots of extraneous information about places to go and things to see!!