Today was the last day of school for the boys. A momentous occasion! They’ve completed an entire year in an Italian public school. It was truly a heartfelt moment when I went to pick them up today. I had tears in my eyes as I waited for them to be let out.
I could hear the students just inside the doors first singing then counting down, in Italian of course, from 100. At zero, they were released and ran out to their waiting parents. I was just so proud to think that my boys have accomplished so much this year.
The teachers came over to me in the parking lot to hug, kiss cheeks, say goodbye to us and make sure we were coming to the end of school party the next week. They also wanted to thank us for their gifts – olive oil hand cream for all of their very chapped hands from using chalk every day. They still use blackboards here. Dante’s math teacher’s hands actually bleed every day they are so raw.
The boys also received gifts. As did all the students. Apparently it is customary for the teachers to wrap all of their student’s books and notebooks from the year with ribbon and wrappers to make it look like a gift and then present it to them on the last day – sort of like a diploma. Some are decorated extravagantly with drawings and pictures from the teachers. A few days prior, the teachers had asked all of the students to bring in all of their books from throughout the year. I couldn’t imagine why but thankfully I had hung onto them simply if the boys needed to review something. Normally I would have thrown this stuff out.
The teachers all had tears in their eyes waving “arrivederci” to all of the children! It was so bittersweet. Though maybe they were tears of joy?
It was a fun day for the boys at school. The entire elementary school walked first to Il Boschetto, the local bar caffè and had gelato – on the house, from the self-professed mayor of the town. Then they continued on to the sports facility and spent the day there watching movies and playing games and then finally hiking back to school while singing.
After school, I took them to swim at the Borgo. Deborah had invited us. She is so sweet. She had tears in her eyes too. We only have a few weeks left here before we head home to California.
Tonight a celebration dinner of pizza!
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