The routine took a bit of time to adjusting to in the morning. We are all experiencing jet-lag as getting out of bed was difficult. We ate a buffet breakfast, on the patio of the hotel that over looks the sea, where we ate dinner the night before. After breakfast we all met at 9am in the courtyard where the teachers then met their students and took them their separate ways…
Italian - the Italian class studied grammar concepts today. They then went out to the streets and studied the traffic signs and compared them to the road signs we normally see everyday in our Ontario.
History – this class met in the park and Mr. D told his students stories of ancient Italy that interested them all. I have heard in discussions that the students are now excited to see certain things they had discussed. They then took a few minutes to write in their journal entry about conflicts with their siblings because it related how Italy was created; sibling rivalry.
Photography – the Photography Class took their cameras and toured around, snapping shots of the many relaxing places of the hotel (the terrace, the pool, the pier). The students were also assigned to practice taking pictures using different lights.
English – All of the 2D, 3U and 4U English students came together today and got to know each other on the terrace overlooking the clear blue Mediterranean Sea. We did this by saying our name as well as something that we like that was an alliteration to our names. Then we went around and had to repeat everybody’s alliteration. After a short break we got together and read the poem Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold. We first discussed the main ideas of the poem as a group, then broke off to partners and broke the poem down by its stanzas, while also looking for points of symbolism, metaphors and imagery. We then got back together and shared our findings. We were then given some free time to work on our journal entries and some questions that went with the poem.
… After class was finished at 1 pm we all met in the courtyard and were guided along the narrow and busy streets to the main square of Sorrento. When we got there we were shocked at the amount of people and the little automobiles speeding by. We were given directions to meet back in the hotel for 6:30pm to eat dinner. Most of the group stayed and shopped along the narrow streets or found an Italian bistro to find some delicious pasta or pizza for lunch. Most of us also experienced our first Italian Gelatos today; taste testing the sweet fruity or rich chocolaty flavours.
Another activity that most people enjoyed today was swimming. After coming back to the hotel and changing into our swim suits we, rode down to the lower level of the cliffs in an elevator. Once we came out of the long tunnel from the elevator we were greeted by the beautiful clear blue sky and the shimmering waters. After either laying out on the wooden pier for a couple hours (soaking ourselves in sunscreen) or going for a refreshing swim in the amazingly clear salt water, we headed back up to the main part of the hotel. After changing into the proper dinner attire we were led into another part of the hotel for dinner because of a wedding reception that was happening on the terrace. We then proceeded to have more free time where we were allowed to walk about the town and to do more shopping. The curfew for tonight is 11pm, which gave us lots of time since dinner to do what we need outside the hotel.
Meredith McEwan
No comments:
Post a Comment