When do the bimbi go to school?

Anzi, not the bimbi, but the ragazzi. The high school kids. I'm just wondering, because, having finally figured out the Italian school system (I think... more or less), I was under the impression that they went to school from 8ish to 1ish. So why is it that no matter what time of day I walk through town, they are there, hanging out, in the cafes and the piazze, all good-naturedly jostling each other and stuff?

Like, just now, I stopped back in town between lessons to grab some food and do some domestic stuff and they are all crowded into Melli in the piazza, demanding pezzi di pizza and wondering why the line is so long. (Because there are twelve million of your little school buddies here, genius.) But it's, like, 9:30. How come they're not in school, doing something productive?

Actually, I have an idea about this. Every time an Italian sees me typing (without looking! mamma mia!), they are all shocked and amazed. But really it is not a very difficult skill to acquire. I vaguely remember being taught how to type when I was ten-ish. At school. And then when I was 13ish they started demanding that assignments be typed. And ten years of practice later... here we are, and I can type this and look out of the window at the same time. So I suggest that the ragazzi put down their slices of pizza, get their little arses off the benches around the fountain, and go learn to type. Then they won't be quite so shocked when they see someone else doing it, and I won't have to read their scrawl-y cramped looking essays on lined paper torn out of a notebook. Win-win.

Um, aside from that... it is a *beautiful* day here today with sun and a lovely breeze and a near-ideal temperature, and the market is out and the people are out (I'm still confused as to why none of them are at work or in school, but whatever) and it's delightful. I love this time of year here.