Week's up...

It's finally Friday and I awoke this morning to the crashing sound of thunder and torrential rain. There was even a bout of hail. Sally and I walked to school in our rain boots, trying hard to avoid getting splashing by the cars and bus speeding by. Usually, her husband Jeremy would drive us when there is a thunderstorm, but unfortunately he is out of town. The funniest part of rain storms here is that it is not a big deal like in San Diego. Everything just goes along as planned. There is no big excitement. I know at SSF it is a BIG deal when it rains. The kids love watching it and get all riled up. Here it is just another day. The best part about the thunder today was when I was reading aloud, the story Wolf Brother (which is amazing by the way) and we were right at the climax of the book, the boy Torak was about to seize the treasure and then something attacked him out of the dark and right at that point there was the loudest rumble of thunder. The kids thought it was perfect timing and it added so much to this vital part. We all laughed and then they begged me to keep reading.

My kids here are adorable and they say the cutest things everyday. Like today this little girl Celina from the German part of Switzerland said, "Ms.Tremble...why are your trousers short?" Since most of the students, except my three Americans are learning English as second, third, or even fourth language they pronounce words differently and always need clarification. I've been using SDAIE strategies and Total Physical Response big deal. Basically, I feel like a mime.

This weekend I'm planning on hanging around Lugano and enjoying the wine and grape festival. Then on Sunday the high school always does a long weekend run and this weekend it is to a place called Porlezza where supposedly there is the best ice cream in Italy. Then my friend Sally and I are thinking of going to Como and maybe Milan to do some shopping. We'll see. The nice thing is that there are a lot of options and you can do things very easily last minute. Hopefully the rain will go away and the sun will come back! Tonight, we're going out for Mexican. I know it sounds weird, but you can only enjoy pizza and pasta for so long and then you really need a change. Cara and Kelly, I'll be sure to have a burrito on a log for you! I think we're going to the place we went to last year...where they charge 10 francs for a small bowl of chips. Just not Fidels... :( By the way, I will post more pictures soon, sorry the internet has been down at my apartment this week.