Week of Peace Comes to a Close.

Tomorrow is Friday, which is the day the twins come back from their school trip to the beach. They've been gone since Monday, and I have to say, life without daily tantrums is prettttttttty great. All good things must come to an end, I guess.

Because the twins have been away, I've had a bit more free time to explore the city. By foot and by bike, I've been getting to know the ins and outs of Monza, and I haven't gone out with a map since Tuesday! Biking as a mode of transportation is a very common practice here, which I LOVE, but honestly, if I hadn't been biking to work back in the US, I would not be able to get used to how close the cars come to you here. Luckily, enough riding to work down Douglas Pike in North Providence has prepped me for Italian cars coming within inches of me- I don't even flinch anymore.

Giulia began her final exams this week- she'll be taking her third written one tomorrow and will have more next week and her oral exams on the 27th. The school system here is different- you have to take a bunch of tests to get out of middle school and into high school, so Giulia and I have been studying every day to prepare.

My host mom, Alessandra, explained that she dislikes the Italian school system actually, because you basically have to decide what you want to do with your life at age 13. After middle school, most high schools are apparently more like vocational schools, and if you want to go to university, you have to attend the right school, not only to get into a university, but for what you possibly may want to study at university. The tests to get out of middle school are also almost irrelevent: they were put in place when school was only mandatory until age 13, but now, with school mandatory until 16, the tests don't hold the purpose of certifying that a student has received a middle school education if they don't choose to continue on. Pretty interesting. Alessandra says she likes the American school system better, but hahahaha she's never had first hand experience I guess. Giulia is going to an American school next year in Switzerland, so she can see for herself.