It has been awhile since I have wrote on this! Well, it has been a week or so since I have arrived in Palermo...things are getting better everyday! I have met 3 of the 4 families that 
I nanny/teach to...they are all wonderful. I am so lucky to be placed with such great families. They all have been very welcoming. My main family that I live below and moved here for- Angheli, Antonio, and Guiseppe- have been gone this past week on vacation to this very small island on the Indian Ocean...so, I have only been working a few hours a day with the families I see once or twice a week. I will work with Guiseppe, the main family, everyday when they return, which will be tomorrow. Anyways, I have learned that my job is to teach English to these children more so than "nanny," so I have needed to come up with games and lesson plans quickly for the kids! I have been telling people I meet out that I teach English to 4 families of children..it sounds way better than telling people I am a babysitter. haha (Many people here know the word 'babysitter' far more than the word 'nanny' or 'au pair'..I found that strange!) If anyone has any ideas of games to teach children English...please send them along to me...I need ideas! :) This picture to the right is one of the streets I pass a lot...the store that is cut off with the red and white overhang thing is the Coop where I buy groceries.
I nanny/teach to...they are all wonderful. I am so lucky to be placed with such great families. They all have been very welcoming. My main family that I live below and moved here for- Angheli, Antonio, and Guiseppe- have been gone this past week on vacation to this very small island on the Indian Ocean...so, I have only been working a few hours a day with the families I see once or twice a week. I will work with Guiseppe, the main family, everyday when they return, which will be tomorrow. Anyways, I have learned that my job is to teach English to these children more so than "nanny," so I have needed to come up with games and lesson plans quickly for the kids! I have been telling people I meet out that I teach English to 4 families of children..it sounds way better than telling people I am a babysitter. haha (Many people here know the word 'babysitter' far more than the word 'nanny' or 'au pair'..I found that strange!) If anyone has any ideas of games to teach children English...please send them along to me...I need ideas! :) This picture to the right is one of the streets I pass a lot...the store that is cut off with the red and white overhang thing is the Coop where I buy groceries.So this past week I have spent time with 2 families for a couple hours a day each. As I said in my last post, 
one family has triplets and 3 older children. They have been very very welcoming to their home, especially since my host family is on vacation. They have been very generous to offer me to eat lunch and/or dinner with them. By the way, the food here so far has been great! They use such fresh foods...fresh veggies, fresh fruit, great pasta and breads...mmm! :) The triplets do not know a lot of English, so we have been working on things like animals, foods, numbers, and objects around the room. They love to play games and stay active, so they are a great challenge for me to keep entertained, yet keep the
m focused on speaking in English..I don't know how many times I have used the phrase..."In inglese!!!" ;) Their sweet smiles and grins make it hard to get upset with them! The older 3 children, Giuseppe 15, Cesare 13, and Sara 12, are really great as well. Last week I spent an hour with Giuseppe and an hour with Cesare. It was actually fun because I got to walk around Palermo with each of them for an hour speaking in English. They are quite good at English. Giuseppe took me to see the Cattedrale (Cathedral) and the older part of Palermo, and Cesare took me to the newer part where there are many places to shop and newer buildings. The family's picture is on the left of this paragraph. To the right is Quattro Canti (4 Corners)...It is in the old part of Palermo and it divides what used to be the center of the city int
o 4 sections. Now, Palermo is bigger with the new part of the city, so it doesn't do that anymore..it is just called Quattro Canti still.
one family has triplets and 3 older children. They have been very very welcoming to their home, especially since my host family is on vacation. They have been very generous to offer me to eat lunch and/or dinner with them. By the way, the food here so far has been great! They use such fresh foods...fresh veggies, fresh fruit, great pasta and breads...mmm! :) The triplets do not know a lot of English, so we have been working on things like animals, foods, numbers, and objects around the room. They love to play games and stay active, so they are a great challenge for me to keep entertained, yet keep the
m focused on speaking in English..I don't know how many times I have used the phrase..."In inglese!!!" ;) Their sweet smiles and grins make it hard to get upset with them! The older 3 children, Giuseppe 15, Cesare 13, and Sara 12, are really great as well. Last week I spent an hour with Giuseppe and an hour with Cesare. It was actually fun because I got to walk around Palermo with each of them for an hour speaking in English. They are quite good at English. Giuseppe took me to see the Cattedrale (Cathedral) and the older part of Palermo, and Cesare took me to the newer part where there are many places to shop and newer buildings. The family's picture is on the left of this paragraph. To the right is Quattro Canti (4 Corners)...It is in the old part of Palermo and it divides what used to be the center of the city int
o 4 sections. Now, Palermo is bigger with the new part of the city, so it doesn't do that anymore..it is just called Quattro Canti still. This picture is of a beautiful church. --->
The other family I have is a family of three kids...Cesare (Chess-a-ray) 10, Clementina 8, and Celeste 4 (they call her Chu-Chu as her nickname)! Chu chu is so adorable! Sh
e forgets that I don't speak Italian well, so she just loves coming up to me and sitting on my lap and starts talking away in Italian to me haha.. then she realizes I have no clue what she is saying to me. She is catching on though and learning a few words of English :). Clementina is learning the basics as well..I spend an hour with Clementina and Chu Chu (Chu Chu just plays around us haha) and an hour with Cesare. He has a good English vocabulary. A game I have played with him and his sisters is Guess Who?. That has worked really well to learn vocabulary and you can play at different levels (for example, Cesare descibes more in depth about each character). This family lives by Teatro Missimo, one of the large theatres in Palermo, so it is nice I get to walk by it when I go to their house.
e forgets that I don't speak Italian well, so she just loves coming up to me and sitting on my lap and starts talking away in Italian to me haha.. then she realizes I have no clue what she is saying to me. She is catching on though and learning a few words of English :). Clementina is learning the basics as well..I spend an hour with Clementina and Chu Chu (Chu Chu just plays around us haha) and an hour with Cesare. He has a good English vocabulary. A game I have played with him and his sisters is Guess Who?. That has worked really well to learn vocabulary and you can play at different levels (for example, Cesare descibes more in depth about each character). This family lives by Teatro Missimo, one of the large theatres in Palermo, so it is nice I get to walk by it when I go to their house. Here is a picture of teatro missimo at night..I am standing with 2 of the triplets and Sara, their sister. The parents and those 3 took me on a night tour last week on Sunday. 
On Sunday nights, they close off this main street with many shops on it for people to be able to shop and walk in the street as well with no cars..there are also guys on the street doing magic performances, etc. It was pretty cool!
On Sunday nights, they close off this main street with many shops on it for people to be able to shop and walk in the street as well with no cars..there are also guys on the street doing magic performances, etc. It was pretty cool!
My host family, the picture to the left, will arrive tomorrow from vacation...At first I thought I was going to be completely lost without them being here since I just arrived, but this past week went great. I met up for dinner and some drinks with a girl from London, Beth. She is a nanny for a friend of Angheli, the mom of the host family. Angheli left her name and email with me before she left. Beth is super nice and very fun to talk to..we have gotten along well this past week. She has introduced me to many people and places around the city..I don't know what I woulda done without her! :) There is a group here called Erasmus that is a group j
ust for people not from Palermo, foreigners, to have other foreigners to hang out with..they also plan events and things to do around the city so you get to know Palermo and people! It is mostly students from around the world, mostly Europe, that are studying at the University in Palermo. Currently, I am one of the only Americans in the group! This past weekend, Beth and I attended at house party that was of all these people. It was hilarious how many languages were being spoken in this house, but it was really cool how all these people from around the world were all here in this flat! (Oh, also, Beth has been rubbing off on my with her English words and accent haha) (hence.."flat"instead of apartment) :) (above: Beth and I!)From this group of people, I have made other friends. I have met some really nice people from around the world and some who live in Palermo. There is a "leader" of this group, Davide, who mainly puts the events together and stuff..he has been really great as well by inviting me to events and outings or for a drink at a pub or something with a group of people..he also has the hook-up around the city..he got us into a club for free :) He is a really nice guy who just loves helping out people that are new to the city and wants everyone to know how wonderful Palermo is!
So, my first week has gone pretty well...love my families I teach to, met some nice friends, and I got to see a lot of Palermo! The only thing missing is my italiano! :) which, by the way, I am trying to learn at least 5 new Italian verbs and some vocabulary each day. In a week, I have really learned a lot from going out with friends and going around the city, and also just listening to my families speak. Hopefully, I will be fairly fluent soon for you all to come visit me! :D I will write again soon... Miss you all! Ciao Ciao!
Molto amore (Much Love),
Brittany
