3 Strikes, You're Out?

Apparently NPR recently ran a story on public transit strikes in Italy. For those who are worried, yes, I take the bus and/or tram to and from work. Yes, there are strikes. No, it does not really make that much of a difference.

Strikes are a regular occurrence around here, and from what I've heard, in Europe in general. As far as the transportation strikes, the workers are quite considerate! They stop working for a matter of hours, not days, and try to avoid peak hours. They don't all strike at once, either, so you'll probably have a longer wait but still be able to get where you are going. Furthermore, they give advance notice on the website and occasionally, even on posters around the city or at the train station.

What surprised me more are the public school teachers' strikes. They seem more common, happening several times last year, and the kids suddenly, without notice, have the day, or several days off. We would occasionally have a few extra kids at our school when IST teachers had taken their kids to public school to find out the teachers weren't there and had to bring them along to work.

Watching a lot of F/S, fuori servizio, or out of service, busses go by can be annoying sometimes, but it rarely causes the serious problems that would be expected with a transportation workers strike. 

It's a lovely day for a picnic.

Today was the first Agape of the new school year. These are monthly church potluck lunches and fellowship times, and this month was a picnic! The kids, and some of us bigger people, had a ball playing a version of Spherical Objects, then we ate. There was a ton of food still left at the end, even after we'd all had our fill. I made a corn and pepper salsa that I learned from a former awesome roommate, but the predominately Italian attendees of this picnic did not know what to do with it. Most just ate the salsa with a fork and had the tortilla chips on the side. I tried to explain at first, but decided it didn't really matter.

After food, the games began in earnest. There were potato sack races and water balloons, as well as a somewhat bizarre (to me) English game involving throwing an old boot as far as possible. I did not try, but this is apparently harder than it first appears. (Perhaps this could become a new aspect of getting The Boot in the Miller family?)

Matt's winning!

Resting afterward while receiving congratulations. 

 Somewhere among all the games was the tug-o-war. First, the kids were split into two teams. Then they decided that all the donne, the ladies, should play. My shoes were sadly too slippery for me to be of much benefit to my team, but I tried. After the guys had a turn, the kids suggested a girls vs. boys match. It was decided that the number of men should be limited, making it 4 to 8, plus all the kids. We beat them easily, of course.  Once they recruited the rest of the men of the church, us girls held our own for a while, but eventually fell. 

And... We're Back!

After nearly 3 weeks back, school has started again! We all survived the first (half) week with kids, and I have now met the nearly 90 students I will be working with this year. Routines are still being worked out and I'm constantly looking at my schedule, both my school schedule and my after school schedule, and wondering just what I've gotten myself into!

Some things have come back really quickly, like the bits of Italian I happened to learn last year. When I got back, I was surprised to realize just how much I had retained over the summer. Basic signs are easy now, and I was able to help some new staff decode a menu. Of course, menus have always been my strongest vocabulary area!

Answering questions for new friends has also shown me just how much I didn't learn the first time around. There are parts of the city left to explore, and I don't think I'll ever master the bus system completely, at least when they keep changing it every few months. What time's the next bus?