One of the undeniable perks of my profession (education) is the month of July. I work until the end of June and log 80 hours in August taking care of administration issues, preparing for the end of one school year and the start of another. July, however, is a different story. July is all mine.
I love the month–and not only because it’s host to my birthday (7/11). Up until a few years ago, I used to work at another job to keep busy. Maybe it’s because I love school or possibly just that I enjoy learning, but two years ago I decided to take a different class each summer as a sort of summer camp for me.
In July of 2006, I took a ten-week Italian language class in the city at Parliamo Italiano. My great-grandparents were immigrants from Sicily and though they tried to preserve the language and customs with their children and grandchildren, they met with resistance and found that their family wanted to be more Americanized, thus the language was lost.
In the spirit of family and culture, I enrolled in this class. I had a blast and met some great people–am I fluent? Nope! Did I learn that my family pronounces many Italian words incorrectly? Yep. For some reason, many New Jersey and New York Italians add the “G” sound to words: ie: calamari is known as “gah-la-mahd” in my family. My teacher, Angelo, winced each time I did this. Another one we butcher is the yummy Italian cheese known in my mother’s house as “rih-goht”. So, even though I’m not fluent, I have learned to drop the “g” and say the “c” when I’m ordering a “gah-nool” with powdered sugar!
At the end of June 2007 (I know, it’s not technically July, but this was when the class was held) I flew out to Chicago and then drove to Iowa to take a weekend course at the University of Iowa’s Summer Writing Festival. (I was too afraid to get on one of those hopper airplanes with propellers.) Am I a writer? No, but I do keep travel journals and a blog. I’ve written for some newsletters and am trying to finish a few pieces for submission to a children’s magazine, but I’m no Shakespeare.
So, where will July 2008 find me? I would love to take some more Italian classes–the only caveat being that I want to study in Venice, Italy. I’m not sure how I’d swing that considering I’m planning a second cross-country road trip. Another class that interested me was a cooking bootcamp offered by the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY.
With July looming on the horizon, my plans remain to be seen…but I’ve learned that the planning and anticipation are part of the fun! I’m not sure where I’ll end up going to camp, but I’m sure it will be an adventure!
so what did you end up doing?