Italian 

LAST OPPORTUNITY - Italian Exchange Program

I am looking for families willing to host an Italian exchange student this year. If your child is studying Italian, or has studied Italian in the past, your family can host a student and therefore have the opportunity for your child to go on exchange at the end of this year (or next year).

A brief outline of the program is attached. Please consider this great experience for your child and your family.

Carnevale

The Italian word 'Carnevale' is derived from the Latin carnem (meat) and levare (remove).

This year, Carnevale was celebrated on Tuesday March 5. It always falls on a Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, and it is a Christian celebration which marks the beginning of Lent, a period of 40 days before Easter, during which no meat is eaten.

This festivity is celebrated in many countries including Italy, Brazil (in particular, the city of Rio de Janeiro) and in the US, in the city of New Orleans (Louisiana).

During Carnevale, children and adults get dressed up in costumes and wear traditional masks, they throw streamers and “confetti”, eat many rich, fried foods and generally have a fun day. Characteristic floats are constructed during the year which form part of the customary parades in the lead-up to Carnevale.

Most students in Italy go to school in their costumes and spend the morning celebrating at school, while in the afternoon, there is usually a parade with floats in their town. One of the most famous places for this parade is Viareggio, near Pisa, in northern Italy.

The Year 7 Italian students decorated a mask for Carnevale and there were some streamers and confetti to create a little Carnevale atmosphere! They also saw videos of the famous 'Carnevale di Venezia' with the traditional 'Volo dell’Angelo' (flight of the angel) in Piazza San Marco.

Ms D Tersigni (Italian Teacher)