First day at camp

Well my few days of nothing to do ended this morning with our first day of camp! I started to get nervous right before we left, but a 20 minute bike ride along the beach helped me to relax. I haven't biked in a long time, but I finally know why they always say "it's just like riding a bike" because after about 5 minutes I felt like I had never stopped. Some of the hills threatened to kill my thighs but I am going to try and ride an extra hour every day here and try to get back into somewhat decent shape.

Once we arrived we looked at our game plans for the day and went to get all our materials ready. They split us up into 2 groups, one with beginners and one with advanced students. There were 4 counselors with each group and I was with the beginners. Ages ranged from about 7-10. On the agenda for the day was greetings (hello, what is your name?, my name is ____, etc.), alphabet, animals, actions, and feelings. Most of the kids did well with greetings and didn't need much help. It was so cute to see them get so excited to ask you our name! Next we used flash cards to show the kids animals. It was fun to see the ones they obviously already knew (cat, dog, fish) and see them totally perplexed on others (kangaroo, koala, turtle). After reviewing them we playing this cute game where we broke into teams and laid the flash cards on the  ground. We would shout out an animal and one person from each team would race to see which one would grab it first. This helped us see which animals were already in their memories and which ones they continued to struggle with. Then we played my favorite game of all time (I am a champion!) Duck, Duck, Goose. The kids LOVED and I mean LOVED it. They didn't want to stop ever.
When we finally decided we needed to end this we moved onto the alphabet and did basic I say, You say, We say with all the letters, we were supposed to teach them the song but all of the kids knew it already! Bonus :-) Here's where things got a little tricky.

It was a hot humid day and after 2.5 hours the kids were hungry, hot, and tired. We gave them a break, but even after this they were hard to contain. This part was difficult for me and I started to get frustrated. I am not used to kids this little and how fast they shut down. Usually my bigger high school kids can keep it together. But I came here to challenge myself and tried to help them fight through. We switched up the games for feelings and actions a little to try and help them stay interested but it was almost impossible. We were supposed to end the day practicing for their end of the camp skit, but ended up playing Duck, Duck, Goose some more and reviewed words in between rounds. By the end I was hot, frustrated, and exhausted. We headed to our restaurant for lunch and although the food looked awesome I couldn't eat because I was so hot I was nauseous. I had them wrap it up for me and I saved it till I got home, cooled down and recovered a bit.

Of course we spent the afternoon on the beach, but it was cloudy and windy so we didn't stay as long as we planed. I come back to the apartment and decided to go to the grocery store. Insert adventure here:
My friends had been on Saturday and warned me that they charge for bags so I pulled out my weekend duffle bag to haul my stuff back in. I walked the 6 blocks and got just some simple things. Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salad, bread, cheese, salami, prosciutto, mozzarella, vino, cereal, milk, cereal bars (for camp), and of course some chocolate just for good measure. Well here's the funny part, you have to pay for carts which is no big deal except I couldn't figure out how to pay and unhook them. So I am balancing all this stuff in my arms to the counter. Once I get there and they are ringing me up I am trying to pack my bag and pay and everything but I am not done packing when the next man is done. So he proceeds to push my bag out of his way and almost onto the floor so he can get by. Thinking "Stupido Americano" the whole time I am sure. So I get everything up and pack it on the sidewalk outside. At least nothing broke!!!

Well, that was a long entry! My peeps just got here and we are trying to plan a trip for this weekend. Then we are headed to a cute little wine bar we found on the first day to plan for tomorrow's camp. I was a little homesick last night and today. Vi amo tutti!

Let's get it started!

Well my first weekend in Italy has been a great success.
Saturday: We went to orientation in the morning and were able to get a better idea of what we would be doing. We played some ESL games and got to meet to people who run the camp here. We picked up our bikes and rode back to our apartments, which was an adventure to say the least. First of all, I didn't know we were getting our bikes so I wore a skirt. I'm pretty sure I flashed everyone in Porto yesterday. But I was not really that concerned, mostly because I was more concerned about not getting run over by other bikers and cars. We decided to go out as a group last night and hit a couple beach bars. We found out that drinks here are VERY strong. Like straight liquor. So we were all feeling pretty good, and then accidentally crashed a wedding. You know, just a typical Saturday night.
Sunday: We all got up and the crack of noon and headed over to the restaurant that serves us lunch for free 7 days a weeks. As I keept writing these crazy sentences I can't believe that this is really my life. We went to the beach afterwards and hung out for about 3 hours. The water was freezing but amazing. We are all at the cafe getting internet now, and going to head out to dinner later with a few Italian friends we met today that are part of the camp.
I am picking up the language a little. The phrase I use the most is Mi Dispiace. Which translates to I'm Sorry :-p
I'm surprised at how much Spanish is helping me get through things here. I am hoping my Italian gets better this week, as there are a lot of times I am totally frustrated with myself that I can't speak the language. Camp starts tomorrow and I am really looking forward to it! More exciting stories to come!

 All of the girls!

 Me and Claire in the Ocean

Ballin with our Corona's

Finally In Porto Sant'Elpidio

Well yesterday was exciting! I took a cab to the airport to meet up with my group and take the 3.5 hour car ride to our camp. We left at 10am and got into Porto Sant'Elpidio around 2pm. There are 2 apartments for the consolers one downstairs with 2 people and one upstairs with 6 people. I am downstairs :-) So there are 8 of us girls all together. 3 are seniors at Arizona State, 3 are friends from someone where but they all go to different colleges (one in Chicago, one in NYC, and I don't remember the last one). Then there is me and one other girl that goes to University of Chicago.
In case you didn't get this from the information above, I am the only non-college student here :-p and the oldest by about 6 years. Good thing I'm young at heart! My roommate (Bre) is the only other girl that came here alone and she is pretty awesome. The first thing she did was break a dresser drawer and then we fixed it and she said "crisis averted." I know then and there we would get along. I rode here with the 3 girls from ASU and we hit it off pretty well. They want to travel all over and have invited me to explore with them.
My apartment is basic, and all that we need. I barely fit in the shower, in fact my shoulders hit the walls when I turn, but the girls upstairs can't stand up in theirs so I feel lucky.
The people here drove us to a place for dinner last night that the group from last year ate at all the time. We had pasta, Prosciutto, and fresh pulled mozzarella. After diner I decided to walk around with the girls from ASU (Claire, Anita, and Lucia). We walked around the main square in town, down to the beach, and ended up having a glass of wine at this cute little place in town.

I'm living here for a month. Unreal.

We were having a nice time, and the waiter came up with a plate of mini sandwiches and rolls and this yummy salad. Then he came up with a tray of mini pizzas, and coffee creme shots. We were all stuffed but managed to inhale most of the plates and they didn't charge us anything! We will be back there for sure!

Wine and second dinner

I am sitting at an internet cafe down the street from my apartment, and we have orientation a little later today. I am having the best time. Ciao!

Capri

Well day 2 was a little less eventful then day 1. I only got about 3 hours of sleep because I slept so much during the planes rides, but I was ready to go at 6:30am when the bus came to get me to take me to Capri for the day. I slept for most of the 3 hour bus ride, and we got to Naples at 11 and caught the 11:10 boat to Capri. It was 50 minutes by boat and I didn’t get sick once and the waves were pretty crazy at points. (thank you scopolamine patch). I opted to take a boat to the blue grotto so as soon as we got off the boat we boarded another bus that us up the windy mountain roads to get the other side of the island. I saw Mt. Vesuvius while were driving, and I can’t wait to see it closer when I go to Pompeii with my mom and sister at the end of the month.

 Capri from the dock

Blue Grotto Entrance

 1 meter high!!

Inside!

So once we got to the grotto entrance we had to wait a while but it was sure worth it. Each boat hold about 4 people and you must lie completely flat to make it through the 1 meter high entrance. Once you get in the cave the water is the prettiest blue you have ever seen and the whole cave is lit up by the water. Most of my pictures are blurry because my camera didn’t like to dark cave with a few bright spots.

After this adventure we went straight to lunch where I had seafood risotto (which tasted very similar to my Aunt Lowell’s amazing paella), bake sole, and of course gelato! We got to wander around Capri for about 2 hours afterward. I stayed pretty close the area we were in after getting so lost last night. It was neat to try all the different Limóncello’s (I did get a bottle of my favorite) and watch the massive amounts of cobblers that let you design your own shoe and then they make it right in front of you. If they weren’t 100 Euros I would have considered a pair :-p

Unfortunately we had to leave Carpi and head back to Rome where I picked up a late night pizza for myself with Truffle Oil, Mozzarella, Gorgonzola, Mushrooms, and pumpkin flowers.

Tomorrow I met my shuttle at the airport at 10am to head to the east coast of Italy where I will be working this summer. It’s about a four-hour drive and by the end of the day I should be settled in and have met my new roommates.

I’m proud of myself because I have yet to have a major freak out, even a minor one of that matter. Yesterday during the creepy cab ride I kept my cool and handled it with poise and grace. Maybe I was really on to something with this trip!

Quick Pic, Blue Grotto Entrance

Day 1

Well I left DFW at 9pm last night, had a quick stop in London and made it to Rome at 5:30 today. I pretty much slept on both flights and was wide awake when I got here. I ended up taking a bus for 4 euros the the center of rome and I was going to take a train to my hotel, but I got a little overwhlemed so when a guy saw me he offered me a taxi ride. But when I got in the taxi it won't start. (me and cars these days) The driver messed around with a few things and then it magically worked. 2.5 hours after I landed I was finally able to get my stuff all up into my hotel room that is the size a bath tub :-p and then asked the hotel where he thought I should get dinner. He recommended this place, which was about a 5 minute walk.

I ended up sitting next to another woman that was by herself from the Philippines, and we ended up chatting for the whole dinner. She has been in Italy 2 months and this is her last stop. She was very pleasant to chat with and she recommend a first course to me. Caciofiore Del Contadino, which is a salad with Pecorino cheese, pears, and honey. I was going to take a picture of it but I gobbled it down in about 10 seconds. It was incredibly delicious! For my pasta choice I had Mezzemaniche Alle Noci, which was ravioli with a walnut cream sauce. It was divine. Here's where things get interesting. I decided after dinner I wanted to walk to the Colosseum so I could see it at night. I had a map and didn't look to far away. So I start walking and I'm on the right path, until all of a sudden I wasn't. Being the stubborn person I am I kept walking because I was sure I was just looking at the map wrong. But about 30 minutes later I realize I am completely lost, and can't even find where I am on my map. So I go into a restaurant and ask for directions. They tell me I am super far from my hotel but there is a bus that will take me there at the bus stop around the corner. So I go and wait and wait and wait. Finally a cab pulls up (by this time it's 10:30pm) So I jump in and show him where I'm going. About 30 seconds into the ride I realize there is not anything in his car that shows he is a cab driver. So I start to panic. I thought more then once about jumping out of a moving car. We drove around for a long time and I knew we weren't even close to the hotel. Then I finally understand him enough to get out of it that he wanted to drive me around to show me things that I haven't seen before. Case and point below:

Rome at night with the moon in the background. So at this point I've decided that this guy probably isn't going to sell me to be a sex slave or anything so I go along with it a little more. Finally at midnight I am exhausted and he took me back to my hotel and didn't charge me a cent. Definitely a weird and creepy way the start the trip though.Oh well, I'm headed to Capri for the day tomorrow! I'm sure I'll have tons of pictures!

Heart of the Matter

Trying to find closure here before leaving for a chuck of the summer has been a challenge. Physically I feel like I am all over the place. Half my things are in storage, half at a friends house, and even more stuff scattered through out various closets and attics. I am trying to take care of last minute things: mail, banking, bills, loose ends at work, etc. And of course I am trying to settle things emotionally for myself so I can make the most of my time over seas.

I've been so angry for so long and it's not an emotion I am used to carrying. So I suppressed it and tried to keep in inside, and not do anything irrational. But what I failed to realize was that the only way it was going to go away was by letting it out. So I lost my cool for a moment, said some things that I needed to get off my chest, even though they weren't that nice or even really needed to be said. But since then I have felt so much better. I've been able to find some sort of peace. I finally felt like I did something I needed to do, not just what everyone else was telling me I needed to do. I love all the people in my life and they have been wonderful through out this whole process, but I got to a point where I was sick of listening to every body else's opinion of what I needed to do. It's easy to tell me I need to move on when they are all in happy functional relationships. What wasn't so easy was for me to figure out what I needed in all this.

I finally figured out that I needed pretty simple things. I needed time, I needed lots of space, and most importantly I needed to say my piece.

So now here I am, ready to head out and try new things. Feeling like I have finally gotten down to the heart of the matter.

"There are people in your life who've come and gone
They let you down, you know they hurt your pride
Gotta put it all behind ya, cause life goes on
You keep carrying that anger, it will eat you inside
I wanted happily ever after, but my heart is so shattered
But I know it's about forgiveness, forgiveness
Even if, even if you don't love me
I've been trying to get down to the heart of the matter
Because the flesh gets weak and the the ashes will scatter
So I'm thinking about forgiveness, forgiveness
Even if you don't love me anymore"