La Sicilia

Hey Everyone,

Well Ive survived my first week at camp and to be honest it went as well as I possibly could have hoped. There are 23 children and 4 of us tutors. Honestly Im so spoiled because I only have 5 and they are all really good kids - 2 boys, 3 girls ages 7-9. I work really well with the other tutors - Chad (20 from Phoenix), Jill (22 from Boston) and Amy (25 from Australia).

 Were a pretty good team and bring diverse perspectives to the job which means we have a lot of good ideas all pooled together. Whats even better is that we only minimally bug each other, and since we spend all day and night together, thats a good thing! At the moment we are in Palermo, about a 3 hour trip from the camp ground we are staying at. Palermo is really cool, lots of gorgeous architecture and the main sites are pretty close together (good for walking).

Tomorrow we are planning to take the cable car up mount Etna. In fact, the night we arrived in Sicily, from the train we could literally see lava flowing down the side of it - no joke. We freaked out a bit, logically, but after speaking with the locals we learned that its when you DONT see lava that you should actually start worrying cause that means theres a blockage somewhere which potentially would lead to an eruption.

Weve made friends with some of the other people working at the camp - the lifegaurd, the chef, the receptionist, the acting troop. Everyone is really friendly and patient/encouraging with our Italian. Its a little tricky during the day because we need to pretend in front of the kids that we dont speak or understand any Italian, so we have to play dumb with the staff. Its difficult and makes us look stupid, but hey, thats the way it goes. Honestly im having so much fun practicing and its astounding that ive only been here 2 weeks. the amount of progress ive made and how much more comfortable i am in that short amount of time is very promising.

Apparently the fours of us have been a big success at the camp because weve been invited to stay for another 2 weeks. Im really tempted because im really enjoying Sicily and the campgrounds are a really nice place to stay. The downside though is that for those 2 weeks the camp will be an overnight camp... im not sure im ready for that. In addition, well have about 50 kids and 8 tutors - much larger scale. So im debating. Ill keep you updated of course!

So theres no internet where were staying to speak of, but once in a while the receptionist will let us check our email on his computer if the big boss man isnt around. So I have time to read messages but not really to send them. But please keep in touch!

Miss you all

Mia

Italia!!

Ciao tutti!!!

Just thought I'd fill you in on the beginnings of my italian adventure 2008. In a nutshell: so far so good! I got to San Remo with no problems and actually met a girl on the train from Nice to San Remo who ended up being my roommate this week. Our accommodations were beautiful - a balcony overloking the town and the Mediterranean (google the Villa Maria in San Remo).

The orientation week has been a whirlwind but really really informative. Weve had a chance to make lesson plans and work with groups of local children. We've played camp games, learned songs and done crazy skits. Its been just like going to summer camp. Our orientation group has really bonded and had a great time. 

Orientation finishes up around 5 each afternoon. Then me and my roommates (4 of us) make a daily trip to the cell phone store because one or all of us has some kind of problem. My Italian has really really come in handy, and my vocabulary has really expanded in the domain of cell phone related issues. The people at the store recognize us ll and actually felt so bad for us they gave us a free sock for our cell phones. Finally things are more or less under control. 

My incoming calls are free, so if anybody wants to call me in Italy, you're more than welcome to! :) After our trip to the cell phone store, we usually get gelato (tiramisu and caramel is my favorite, but honestly you can't go wrong!). Then we all go back and get ready for dinner. At night we all go to dinner at a privately reserved restaurant (there's about 70 of us, so we take over) then we usually hang out at a bar for a little while before heading back to our hotel. 

 

So orientation week was pretty sweet - way better than I possibly imagined! Up next I'm traveling to Sicily with 3 other tutors from our orientation session. We will be working in a day camp for the next two weeks at a campground called Acireale (also feel free to google that one and check out the pool - we got pretty spoiled!) We'll be staying in bungalows on site, unfortunately not with host families, but with luck I will have an opportunity to do that at the next camp. We will be the only 4 tutors there in addition to the camp director. Our orientation leader told us (me, Jill, Amy and Chad) that they picked us for this camp because they have been really impressed with us this week and think that we will be well cut out for handling 30 rowdy sicilian children. We shall see I suppose! But we're leaving tonight on a sleeper train to Rome, then catching another train that goes straight to Acireale - and yes, Sicily is an island. Appoarently the train detaches itself and goes right onto the ferry! Cool huh? Yes, but basically this is a 20 hour journey, and we all know how much I love trains - not!

 

But I need to finish packing and get ready for dinner. I would love to hear from you guys, but please understand that my internet access will be sporadic throughout the summer, so bear with me! I'll check it whenever I can. Also, fyi I don't think I'll be able to look at any attachments, and I doubt I'll be able to upload any pictures before I get home. But don't worry, I'm taking tons!

 

Wish me luck!! Miss you all, let me know how you're doing!

xoxo

Melissa

PS I thought I'd Europeanize myself a bit, so I'm going by Mia here at camp!

Good thing I got here early!

Ciao tutti,

So we found out today that the train station at Ventimiglia that I connected through yesterday is actually closed today because they found a bomb from WWII (not a recent one - don't freak out!) but needed to deactivate it. Not too sure I believe that story, but thats what one girl told me. Anyway, apparently many people have been waylaid because of it. Of the 70 some that are supposed to be here for orientation, only like 25 have made it.

Instead of stressing out about travel and luggage and making it on time, my new friends and I spent the day strolling around, sampling local cuisine (the coffee is aaaaamaaaazing) and laying in beach chairs by the Mediterranean. I feel like Im on vacation all over again! But im sure that feeling will be all gone by tomorrow! Orientation starts at 9 and its a half hour walk from Villa Maria (our hotel).

Im the only one of our group that knows any Italian, and im more than a little surprised to find that its serving us well and i can communicate more often than not. Its probably not pretty, but its effective. Everyone is really nice about it, and they even let me try instead of switching to English (they dont let my friends try though, hahaha) So far so good!! Were off to meet the other tutors that have arrived so far at a local bar - im wearing my new dress Mom, and looking very European.

Glad to hear everything is going well across the pond!

Talk to you soon

Melissa

PS no luck with the cell phone yet (hopefully because its sunday) Ill stop by the cell phone place tomorrow if theres still nothing. Oh and i cant really open attachments because i dont have my own personal computer.

PPS only 2 declarations of love so far, hahaha

Yipee!

Ciao raggazzi!

I"m here! Everything went really well. Nothing eventful on the flights and connections. I was able to purchase my train ticket and navigate the train station all in French (I was so proud). On my train to Ventimiglia I crossed paths with another girl in the program which was fortuitous because we were actually waiting around in Ventimiglia for about 3 hours. Her name is Jenn. She's  middle school teacher from pennsylvania. We strolled around, walked down to the beach, got gelato. I had tiramisu, caramel and coffee flavors. OMG, so good! By the time we got to san remo it was about 430 here. Some of the administrators were there to meet us and took us to the hotel which is beautiful and rustic. Its on the top floor and looks out over the ocean. It even has its own clothesline! Adorable! There are four of us sharing for the week - Jenn is actually with me Theres another woman named Stacey (from AZ) whos very nice and a girl named Jess (from NY) who is a little exclusive with her friends down the hall.

But I couldnt call because my phone isnt activated yet. From what I can understand of the Italian voice recording it sounds like its because it hasnt yet processed my passport email. Unfortunately I dont think that will happen till the beginning of the week because it said up to 3 business days. I asked at the desk and I cant use the hotel phone with my calling card. I need to go downtown. Im currently at an internet cafe with Jenn and Stacey about 10 minute walk from our hotel.

I am so glad that I dont have orientation tomorrow. Im exhausted but very happy and excited. It looks exactly like that picture. I am literally in a postcard - I love it!!! It sounds like i wont know where im going until late next week. But right now im ready for anything (sorry about my bad punctuation - these keyboards dont appear to have apostrophes).

This evening Jenn and Stacey and I wandered around and got our bearings and had pizza and wine and as soon as I finish this email Im going straight to bed! Ill check in again soon and call you as soon as im up and running.

All is well! Ciao tutti!

Mia