Italy Day 2: Cell phone paid off..

On day 2.. we started with a meeting at OUA.. I am nervous because on Wednesday we are traveling to Florence on our own.. we have a guide but she may not meet us until the Duomo. Charlotte is coming with us on Thursday, I wish the days were switched. Actually the students are pretty good at getting around.. but do look to us for leadership at times.. but we are just figuring it out too.. We met at OUA to go over the schedule but did not get started in time so we will met again at 2pm.. Students came in at 9:30 for a tour and orientation with Charlotte.. They asked a lot of questions and it went waay over.. I was set to meet Fabrizio the owner my apartment at noon, so I had to leave the tour. (which I kind of was looking forward to). The meeting with Fabrizio was a non meeting. but we met and spoke.. his english is much better. and I know how to work the washer now too.. He will clean the apartment once a week and change linens which is quite nice and more than I expected. I came home and had some of my cheese and use the used the toaster oven to make toasted cheese on bread for lunch..its quite nice and i write this now as I wait for Christi and Patsy to return from the tour. They arrived and we had cheese and bread melted in my toaster oven with a little wine from the store around the corner. We sat outside on my patio and drank the wine and ate the meal and talked about research. We also got these lovely nutella biscotti that had whole hazelnuts in them for just a few Euro which were divine. The bottles of local wine from Arezzo ranged in price from 5.50 euro to 7.50 euro and taste excellent. We had a nice Chianti from a local winery. Students are not allowed to have wine in their bed and breakfasts but luckily my apartment comes with a wine rack. After we ate lunch I went back to OUA to talk with Marta (financial officer) and Charlotte about our schedule. There is a lot of detail for the trip and the professors are taking a lot of responsibility. (payment, making sure we get to Florence etc..) its a lot of work. The OUA center has a lot of issues with internet connectivity and the classroom is still working on its projector. However, they seem to be really attentive to our needs. So far, I am quite impressed with the students. They are working hard to stay on top of assignments and make sure they are getting work done. They are asking good questions, and for as jet lagged as they probably are.. they are getting the work done well. Tonight we go to dinner at 7;30 at Bocco del Re http://www.paginegialle.it/ilboccondelre Translate the page to read it in English. Its a local Italian restaurant that takes student vouchers so I will be interested to see how the food is. several students ate there last night and really enjoyed it. Today has been a busy day in spite of not teaching. I have met with students and prepared for class tomorrow. I am doing different things, so each class takes more prep. I am not taking many pictures because I am still taking it in.. many students are clicking away.. we are going to share pictures in a folder which will be a nice way to enjoy everyone's photos together. arrivederci! More tomorrow, after my first day of teaching in Italy. PS. Cell phone paid off.. because a student got lost, and I (misdirectional me) was able to talk her toward class!