Archive for February, 2009

English in San Giorgio – 2

Sunday, February 8th, 2009

The evening English class starts at 8.30. and finishes at 10.00. It is the “younger” group ranging from 21 to 67. This group has just finished Dracula and as with the previous group want to move away from the horror theme. So we are moving up a reading level and trying “Chemical Secret”, and environmental thriller.

Here they are (left to right):
english class - evening group
Silvio: “not currently in work” Silvio passes the time reading, playing tennis. The only Italian I know who belongs to a library.
Germana: originally from San Giorgio she now lives in Fano and runs a “rental property agency”. Her work means she has put the English she has learned to practical use.
Anna-Lisa: former first lady of San Giorgio as her husband was a former mayor. Elections this June may mean that she will be first lady again.
Sauro: a geologist who works in the mountains. Leaves work at 7.00, gets home at 8.00 and despite this manages to arrive in the class with a smile on his face.
Kenny: real name Daniele but for reasons lost in time known as Danny. Lives and works in Fano.
Luanna (standing): owns and manages a local grocery store which is open from 7.45am to 8.00pm 6 days a weeks and is a god-send when you’ve forgotten to buy something for lunch or dinner. In any spare time she has she enjoys photography.
Terry (standing): the teacher.
Raje: designs jewellery for a shop in Mondavio. Speaks French, Arabic, Italian and now English. She even understands local dialect.
Nicholas: an interloper from Piagge (our nearest town). Has lived and worked for a short perioid in Galway and decided that learning English in San Giorgio is more interesting than learning Irish.

English in San Giorgio -1

Sunday, February 8th, 2009

Every Wednesday I give two English classes. The classes are now in their 3rd year and even if little English is learned everyone has a good time.  

The afternoon class meets at 3.00 pm. This is the “pensioners group” as only one member works. In the class we are currently reading “Dracula” from the Oxford Bookworms series. Last year it was the horror story “The Monkey’s Paw”. They want the next book not to be a horror story.

And here they are:
english class afternoon group

Front row left to right:
Juliana: could retire but enjoys work so much she continues to teach primary school – including some English.
Anne (special guest for the day, 4th Feb.): has come to live in Mondavio, a nearby town, and agreed to come to answer questions about why anyone would want to retire to Italy. Everybody liked her and she may be asked back.
Lory: worked in the Post Office. Now she is San Giorgio’s local branch of the NSPCA. She has or looks after 4 dogs and 12 cats. She is also deputy looker-after of our cat when we go on holiday.
Rina, Alfredo: the only husband and wife team in the group. They have moved from Bologna to live in San Giorgio (for the quality of the air). They enjoy gardening, inviting people to lunch and giving them far too much food.

Back row:
Anna: was a teacher in Rimini but now spends her time gardening and sorting out simple issues for family members living abroad e.g. project managing the restoration of her sister’s house in Orciano.
Rinaldo: a former accountant. Lives with his sisters and brother (the local priest) and still manages to keep cheerful. Enjoys cooking and talking in dialect instead of proper Italian. Rinaldo is the chief looker-after of our cat when we go on holiday.

Per non dimenticare (So as not to forget)

Monday, February 2nd, 2009

jewish memorial day

The Province of Pesaro and Urbino have organised a series of conferences around the Jewish Day of Remembraance and on Sunday afternoon there was a conference in San Giorgio on the theme of The years of the Anti-semetic Laws in the Province.

There were four talks: Anti-semitism: blessing and curse of the Jewish people; The birth of the jewish stereotype in Italy: from Abyssinia to the passing of the race laws (1935-1938); The application of the anti Jewish laws in the Province after 1938; personal testimony of the persecution. (more…)