This past week has been my second week in the same city (Sesto Fiorentino), but my experience was very different from the first week. I also learned this week that Sesto Fiorentino is the town where the story of Pinocchio is set—how cool is that?!? I’m keeping a mental list of movies to watch when I get home that are all set in towns in which I’ve stayed. So far I’ve got “Life is Beautiful”, “Under the Tuscan Sun”, and now “Pinocchio”.
The camp was much larger this week (60 kids) and we had six classes, but only five classrooms… so I taught my class of 7-9 year olds in the gym. We moved some desks in there and I had to use paper as a blackboard. It was fine, but a lot more difficult to manage the children in such a large and open space. Anyway, I managed. Our final show was called “Pet Shop” and was about a little girl who is shopping for a pet, and each animal in the shop told her about themselves. And as usual, I wrote a little jingle for the end. It was pretty cute.
As for the new fam, they were really great! My previous family seemed very formal, so having one that is more casual and relaxed was a welcomed change. In this family, both parents are accountants and they have a nine year-old son who hates English Camp. He was a nice kid, he just hated the idea of learning during the summer. Also sharing the same house were grandpa and grandma, and great-grandma (who was 99). It was pretty cool seeing four generations around the dinner table. The grandmother absolutely adored me even though she didn’t speak a word of English… all week she would just stare at me and smile like I’m some sort of celebrity, and speak very slowly for me in Italian. And the grandfather had a big garden somewhere, so all week we ate his organic fruits and vegetables, and I got to see how jam is made from apricots.
The mom was a really awkward person, which actually makes me more comfortable in the family because no matter what kind of faux-pas I commit, I know that I’m still not the weirdest person in the house. She had the demeanor of a 15 year-old boy—I’ve never seen a grown woman with so much energy! They took me to the sea on Saturday (to a popular beach town called Viareggio) and in that one day we went sailing, swam in the sea, rented a paddleboat, went for a run on the beach, and rollerbladed at a really cool outdoor roller-rink. Then the next morning, I woke up early to go for a 7km run up and down a mountain with her, followed by over an hour of playing foosball and ping-pong. I was starting to think that I was sent to a fitness boot camp or something. That woman couldn’t sit idle for five minutes. I don’t know how her poor husband keeps up. All in all, it turned out being a good thing though. I’d never sailed before, so it was really cool to do that for the first time. And I actually had more fun at the roller-rink than I ever expected. I hadn’t been on rollerblades in about ten years, so I was a little wobbly at first, but I got the hang of it again after a few minutes.
We were planning on going to Pisa on Sunday, but the next family called them and said that they think it’s only fair if I stay with them on Sunday… so no Pisa yet. But at least I have families fighting to have me, haha!
I’m confident that Florence is my favorite European city that I’ve ever been to. I usually go into the city two or three times each week, and each time is so wonderful. Unfortunately, by the time I’m done at the school and shower and travel, most of the main sights are closed—but the outsides of them are still amazing: the Duomo, Ponte Vecchio, the old palace, Torre di San Niccolo, the Uffizzi Museum. It’s also difficult always being accompanied by a host-family or the camp directors because it kind of inhibits the things that I would prefer to do/see (including searching for nice souvenirs for my family… sorry guys!). I’m really hoping that some night this week I’ll be able to go see an opera. I’ve seen ads for The Magic Flute and Don Giovanni, and it’s killing me that I’m staying in the city where opera was born and I’ve not yet been to one here.
Side note: Sorry for the lack of pictures lately, but it's nearly impossible without having internet access in my homes. Maybe next week!
Topsy-Turvy Italian Tid-Bits
1.)You know the old saying about turning into your parents more and more as you get older?... Well I believe it. When I was younger (even in high school) I used to make fun of my dad all the time because when he sweats, it looks like he’s been rained on. Well… I’m not laughing anymore. I’ve been sweating so much in the last few weeks. My “Tutor” t-shirts always have salt lines when I take them off. A few times, I’ve sweat so much that I have to hang my clothes out the window to dry because they are so wet. It’s disgusting. Sorry for all the times I made fun of you, dad!
2.)I showed my host-family a picture of my house the other day. This was the reaction: “Wowww, it looks just like those American houses in the movies!! The garage is so big! Oh wow, and it’s made of wood?!?” I never considered my house all that fancy, but to them it might as well have been in Beverly Hills!
3.)The other night, we were in the car on the way to Florence and I noticed that there wasn’t the normal traffic and queues in which we usually wait. I asked “Why isn’t there any traffic tonight?” Host-Dad: “Because there’s a soccer game on television.” Me: “Excuse me?” Host-Dad: “And if Italy was playing, we would be the only car on the street.” Me: “Ohh…right.”
4.)Showers in Italy are like a box of chocolates—you truly never know what you’re going to get. Two weeks ago I was in one of the best showers I’ve ever had. This week, I’ve had to bathe in a sit-down shower. It’s basically a bathtub with a hose attached. The water pressure was awful. It was freezing cold, then scolding hot… but never warm. And because my living quarters were in the attic, the A-frame of the roof slanted down to about four feet above the shower. So when I get out, I can’t stand up—I just have to lurch one leg out at a time and wait until I get to the middle of the bathroom before standing to dry-off. Luckily, after a day of sweating from head to toe, I really don’t care what the shower is like as long as I can use it.
5.)The Italian word for jellyfish is "medusa". I wonder if it's a reference to the woman from Greek Mythology who had snakes on her head instead of hair?... I guess that's kind of what a jellyfish looks like.
6.)I have a renewed appreciation of baby strollers. I was so tired after sailing, swimming, running, and rollerblading on Saturday and I saw a woman pushing her baby in a stroller. I couldn’t help but wish that it was me in the stroller. I started thinking about if it would be possible to build a stroller big enough for me to fit in, but light enough for my mom to push around. I thought of that phrase, “Youth is wasted on the young.” I’ve finally realized the meaning of it. Those babies have no idea how lucky they are. If I was in a stroller, I would appreciate it so much more than those babies ever could!
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