Represent That 3BSC Style

So we've all imagined how strange it must have been for me finally entering into the big, bad world of public schooling but I never imagined how strange it would be leaving that very same place. I wandered around the halls of Sabin this week pointing out all the goodness. These are the emergency stairs where I fainted... This is where I found 30 euros on the floor... This is the coffee machine I used every morning, waiting/gossiping in line with Elena... This is the boys' bathroom (aka the Smoking Lounge)... This is the crack from the earthquake... This is the hall monitor whom I've grown to love... This is where I check in my late arrivals because my poor American body just can't handle this busybody Italian lifestyle...This is the classroom of the pretty seniors in the school... etc. What a place, what a school. Sincerely I arrived quite the nervous wreck. Apart from the general aspect of becoming a public school attendant, any time I told the kids that yeah, I would be going to Sabin this year, I got some really assuring wide-eyed glances with responses like, "Oh... good luck."

My Artsy Girl's Fine Work

But do you know what, haters? Thanks but the luck wasn't necessary, I kicked that school year's butt and had a great time. My first days at school felt like something straight out of Mean Girls as I tried to get myself settled. I had been guided to a buzzing classroom on the third floor at the end of the hallway silenced by my presence. I took the single, empty seat after mumbling a timid introduction and I had never felt more out of my zone or embarrassed. How will I manage to open up to a class of 18 students who have passed two years growing and learning and fighting together? This is 3BSC. Bring it on.

4 Reasons 4 2 Much Fun in
10 Lovely Months

It didn't take me long to realize that Lussy, Vero, Denny, Alis, Elena, Gaia, Bea, Giulia, Chiara, Glo, Yle, Laslo, Fabri, Giorgia, Daniele, Lambo, Elisa and Francesca did not bite and weren't nearly as scary as I imagined. Getting a good class is a strike of luck; mine was radiant with expression and famous for trouble-making. They were patient with my struggles and sympathetic with my tears of frustration or homesickness, sincere with their love and clever with their teasing jokes.  Yeah, sure, there were good days and bad days and even I managed to get so involved in the class arguments about politics, society, whatever and whoever that I've ended a day on bad terms with someone but that never stopped us from walking in the next day with hugs and fresh starts. Oh goodness gracious, stop me here - I miss them already.

What exactly can you see from
those windows...? ->

Earth Day!

Typical Earthquake Response

But guess what? It's over. School has finished and nearly nobody in my class has the risk of being held back. We did it! I don't think I saw June coming so quickly. Let's be real - the beginning was a drag. School was my prison and Italian, like a kid kicking your bruise asking why it hurts, surrounded me nagging, "Why don't you understand yet?" But it was here that I leaned back against a girls' bathroom sink in late November during a break, sipping my coffee, silently absorbing the conversation and understood each and every word (finally). It was here that I picked up on Bolognese slang and the quirks of Italian teenage life. It was here that I explored the wonders of Social Science, the beauty of all history before British v. French colonists and the mind-blowing world of philosophy. It was here that I made friendships all on my own without the help or influence from the family, the church, Bianca, Eleonora, etc.

I didn't really know what to expect at the end of the school year. Isn't it supposed to be like this? To do it Italian style, wine is required at a ridiculous hour of the morning, food is supplied always and everyone leaves by 1pm soaked by bottled water.

At the end-of-the-year 3BSC class dinner we raised our wine glasses and drank to our time together. Each one of them confessed their love for their little American girl and sadness to see me go. It seemed like each one of them mentioned my light sense of humor and easy smile. Living a lesson I didn't even realize I was capable of teaching, I felt like Annie, never fully dressed without her smile.

I told them how sincerely special they were and how much they had helped me grow. I made them understand that any progress I made this year wouldn't have been possible without them. They were my teachers and my support and my friends and my haters! But I refused to say goodbye. I left it at, "See you later; catch you on the flip side" because I don't expect this to be a forever thing. I'll be back and I don't think there's anyone who doubts it. Karen and Ray are already making bets on how soon that plane ticket NY to Rome will be purchased again.


For a final hoorah of the class before summer, we made a beach day out of earthquake vacation days and cooked a class dinner... we were even nearly all present! Arriving at Riccione, I took one look at the sky and remembered a certain trip to North Carolina Emily, Katie and I took some time back. The clouds were wanderlessly glooming around but it was still weirdly hot. It's not until you get home and can't sleep that night that you realize how capable the sun is of frying you on days like that. So I made a point to lotion-up, but not everyone was so clever. Volleyball, naps, card games, fresh water, quiet beach, good jokes and great company - this is all I could have asked for.

  

“I don’t know when we’ll see each other again or what the world will be like when we do. We may both have seen many horrible things. But I will think of you every time I need to be reminded that there is beauty and goodness in the world.”