Just want to share more photos.  Perhaps before the school year is out I will take time to learn how to keep a blog decently. Hey it could be one of my resolutions. Still here are some pictures from the Christmas Show and the weekend here in Lugano.

 I want to share some pictures and write a short note. Since adding last I have traveled to Nice, France for the ECIS conference, a conference for international educators. It was interesting I went to several break out sessions and also had some time to walk to the beach and see some of Nice. 

The weekend after that was Thanksgiving. I had both Thursday and Friday off. I went to Zurich and then flew to Vienna with three women I teach with. They were great to travel with. They are able to grab trains, planes and subways with ease. We cooked a delicious Thanksgiving Dinner at Blair's brothers apartment just outside of Zurich. It was an amazing trip. We toured palaces and museums and in the evenings enjoyed the Christmas Markets. Oh and a highlight for me was that I waltzed in the palace ballroom, with an Austrian. It was fantastico!

This weekend the weather was beautiful so I took my camera with me on a long walk down to Lugano, and then later up the mountain to the percosavita, which is my favorite hike here. Today I went to a market in Italy with Perri the 4th grade teacher. We took a ferry across the lake. The sun glowing on the snowy mountains is breathtaking. 

Our students put on their Christmas program on Friday night. It was wonderful. Today the middle and high school students sang and performed at St. Abbondio for a Christmas Service. It was beautiful and I got to hear the gospel read in English. I will be home in just about 10 days. I am so looking forward to seeing everyone.

Hello, I want to share a few pictures with all of you. I have traveled to Venice and to Cinque Terre since I have updated photos. I am not certain how to put captions with individual photos but I will give it a try. 

My class has been studying the solar system and doing some readers theater activities that I have taken some pictures of. With the help of the technology specialist here we have a 3rd grade blog that my class is keeping up as part of being pen pals with the Blake 3rd grade. 

The weather has been very rainy here over the past ten days or so. The big rubber boots that I brought with me have gotten a lot of use. It does look like the sun may be out today. It will be great to take a long walk or run outside. 

If I ever get better at blogging I will share pictures more often. The photos I am sharing should give you a pretty good idea of my wonderful excursions.  

Catching Up

Hello Everyone,

It has been a couple of weeks since I have taken the time to update this blog with pictures and a note. I have been on some spectacular hikes and trips. Just this past weekend on Saturday I was in Milan. I saw all of the main sites including the Duomo, which is the 3rd largest church in either Italy or Europe. I also strolled down the avenues that have the stores of the famous designers. It was great window shopping. You'll be shocked I am sure to learn I didn't buy anything. I did however by a lovely scarf from a vender in the Market. On Sunday I took a gondola ride up to the top of Mount Tamero. It is a giant playground. We went on a zip line and an alpine slide. Then we hiked down the mountain. It took about 3 hours. It was a beautiful day. Friends were taking pictures I will add them when I get them. 

Yes, I am teaching. I have a marvelous class. We just started book clubs they are so excited to share their thought and ideas. Our penpals from Cindy's class at Blake just sent us our first letters. I have a few pictures from school that I am attaching. I started Italian class so hopefully I will be able to be more helpful to my Italian speaking students.  All in all my experience is fantastico!

Top of the Alps

This weekend I went to Wengen with a wonderful group of TASIS teachers. Wengen is in northern Switzerland. We hiked for 8 hours and saw the the most amazing views ever. I am including a couple of pictures now and I will add more later in the week. I just wanted to give a quick update. 

School is going well. The kids are in different groups for math and reading. I have both groups of 3rd grade for science. This week we have Curriculum Night. My students have written and sent letters to Cindy's class so we can have pen pals at Blake. 

Saturday I went with a group to a glacier in the Alps near a Swiss German town call Andermatt. It was amazing. We actually climbed with ice picks and crampons on our feet. It was a little scary and fantastic at the same time. Our guides were TASIS HS teachers. They knew exactly what they were doing. 

Sunday a large group participated in the StaLugano. A 10K that runs along the lake, through the city and back through the park. 

All School Hike

The First Two Weeks

The area here is breathtaking. Every view is beautiful. I am living with a roommate in temporary housing until the apartments for new faculty will be ready in late October. The apartment is quite nice with a balcony that overlook

s the city of Lugano, the mountains and the lake. When I do move in to my own apartment I will have internet access and a phone. 

I met my class last week. I have only nine students. All of them speak English at varying levels. English is not the native language for any of them. Many of them speak three languages quite fluently. The curriculum used here is basically Core Knowledge. The teaching staff is thoughtful, dedicated and helpful. The school is lucky to have a small group of returning teachers.

Last Sunday the school took the staff on a short hik

e up in the mountains. It was nice to see an area other then th

e school surroundings. I have been running with a few other teachers and a group of us are plan

ning to run a 10K near Lake Lugano on Sept. 21st. We are also training for a half marathon in Italy in Nov. If the rain stops I am going to go for a hike this afternoon with a group of elementary teachers. The weather here the first week was lovely, sunny and 80 degrees. Week two has been rainy and stormy.

 When it rains here it doesn’t stop and it pours. Rain boots are a must. 

This is my first real entry and I hope to update every week or so but we’ll see how that actually turns out. I have to stop now so I can make breakfast up at De Nobli. The meals are predictable. Lots of chicken for dinner, cereal and yogurt at breakfast an

d lunch is often chicken as well. Yesterday we went into Lugano and had lunch in town.

That’s all for now.

Martha