I have been so busy the last two weeks it has been difficult to write an update!
Orientation week in Assisi began on Sunday, June 5th. It was intense and totally not what I expected. There are around 50 other tutors here from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Getting to know people from all over the world was the best parts of orientation.
Each day we begin outside with all the tutors standing in a circle. We spend about 45 minutes singing camp songs and playing games. Singing the songs is not really my thing, but I know the kids will enjoy them. The games, however, are a blast, and I’ve had fun learning new ones! After the games, we spent time inside the conference room in the hotel learning about different ways to teach the kids. Mostly we are encouraged to use games and fun activities. It is difficult for them to tell us exactly what to do because the students at each camp will have varying levels of English.
The hotel is Assisi was very nice. I shared a room with an American who has been teaching in Austria for the last few months and another guy from Ireland. They along with most of the tutors are quite a bit younger than me. The orientation week was very structured and hectic. While I did learn a lot and meet some great people, overall I did not enjoy the week that much. There was a little time for fun- one evening I walked into Assisi which is probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. We also went as a group to a wine tasting one evening which was excellent. Our meals alternated between the hotel and two restaurants in Santa Maria. The hotel food was mediocre, but the restaurants were excellent. The pizza here is fantastic, it has thin crust and is very light and flavorful. I also tried prosciutto and melon for the first time, and I think it is one of my new favorite snacks!
Friday evening of orientation week, I received my first placement and found out who I would be teaching with. My first camp is in Cesena which is a small town of about 100,000 just slightly north of San Marino. I am with two Americans tutors (Gentry and Maddie) and one tutor from England (Emma). We left together by train for Cesena on Saturday morning at 615am. It was awful getting up so early on Saturday after a long week!
Upon arriving in Cesena, we were met at the train station by Carmela who is the camp director. She escorted us directly from the train station to the school were we began immediately planning the camp. We decided on a camp theme of “Around the World” with each day representing a different country. Each of our squads would be named after a different city. We worked well together and had the outline of the camp completed very quickly. Carmela’s English is not very good, but Emma speaks Italian, so she has been doing a great deal of translating for us.
UH 1230, our host families arrived to meet us. My family lives very close to Cesena. Daniele and Sylvia have one daughter, Georgia, who is 10 years old and will attend the English camp. They have a beautiful home with a beautiful garden (no one says yard here- it’s a garden). I have a nice suite in the basement with my own entrance and bathroom. Daniele speaks nearly perfect English, but Sylvia and Georgia do not. They have been incredibly welcoming and hospitable, and the food they cook is fantastic!
On Saturday night, the family was planning to jog in a 10k race in Cesena. I agreed to join them, not knowing that a portion of the race was up a mountain! It was exhausting, but the views were beautiful and it was a great way to see the whole town. On Sunday, they took me to see the oldest public library in Europe. After that, I needed to rest and plan my lesson for the week!
I will write another update this weekend about the first week of camp!
My Summer Teaching in Italy 