After school, Annie ranted about how horribly the kids in her class behave. "We were in music class and nuns were trying to teach us the most baby-ish, awful songs. The students were going wild. A girl stuck her tongue out at the nun; a boy stood on his chair and acted like was going to lasso her. This is how they are treating nuns!!!" she cried with incredulity.
A few minutes later, Jacob piled in the car and launched into an account of why he failed the Latin test. "I know the subjunctive in Latin. But I don't know the subjunctive in Italian! I studied the Latin so hard last night. But I forgot to study all the equivalent words in Italian!"
Mary recounted how she was explaining to her new friend, Ludovica, how much she misses peanut butter. Ludovica asked what it was, and then upon hearing Mary's description of it, said that sounded "absolutely gross." Mary persisted and moved ahead with descriptions of fried chicken, ranch dressing, and Bluebell ice cream. Apparently, she got misty-eyed. Then another girl suggested that Mary run for class president.
Culture shock all around! The shock is greatly alleviated by huge, hot meals, fresh air, and the kindness of all the people we are around--both schools, as well as the family on whose property we live. All of them are treating us so hospitably, and for that we are so grateful.
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