My group, a.k.a. The Soldiers
My olympic group, a.k.a. The Blue Champions (We were first place :D )
Frattocchie, Roma
My first assignment was a 2 week camp in a small town 20 minutes outside of Rome, called Frattocchie. I was accompanied by 5 other tutors who had completed the training with me in San Remo (there were returning tutors from the previous years as well who were placed at other camps). We worked in a convent school where we were staying on the convent grounds, in our own little building with our own bedrooms and our own personal bathrooms. We were hosted by the most sweetest and most generous nuns I have ever met who cooked for us morning and night. Each camp had a director who was responsible for picking us up from the train station and dropping us off at the same place once we were done our 2 weeks there. (Oh! did I mention that our transportation from one town to the other was all at the expense of this company? well, it was :D )
Seing as how we were there for 2 entire weeks, we only had to prepare one show at the end of the second week because the same children as the first week were returning for the second one. Along with that, we had prepared a 2 week long olympic tournament where, activities and games were prepared by the tutors. Also, each week, on the Thursday, we brought the kids to the local public pool, where the nuns had managed to reserve it for us for the entire day.
On our weekend off between the 2 weeks, us 5 tutors decided to pack a weekend bag and take the train to Rome (20 minutes) and decided to spend the night there and squeeze in some sightseeing while working in that area. On the first Friday night, we packed up and took off to Rome where we stayed at a brand new hostel for a very low price. Once settled, we went for supper at a small restaurant around the corner where I, along with the other 3 girls were given a free rose. We also were given a complementary bottle of wine and complimentary shots of limoncello, all because we were "Stranieri" (strangers in italian) teaching the italian children English. After the restaurant, we decided to check out the nightlife in Rome and ended up making some friends in several bars around the city. The next day, as my fellow tutors packed up and left to go back to the convent, I headed towards my mother's hometown called Sant'Apollinare, located near the city of Cassino. The city is located 2 hours south of the city, by train. After spending the night there, on Sunday afternoon, I made my way back to the convent.
The second week at the convent, some of the parents of the children wanted to give the nuns a break from cooking for us each night, so they decided to each take turns in taking us out for supper from Monday to Thursday. We were taken to beautiful restaurants in the neighbouring towns, one was actually a mexican restaurant which included some salsa dancing after 11 o'clock. On the second Friday, we had our final show and a pot luck dinner where the parents provided the food for us. Finally we found out where we were headed to next. I was teamed up with 2 of my fellow tutors to head south to Bari, and the other 3 were teamed up and sent off to another town north of Rome.
Seing as how we were there for 2 entire weeks, we only had to prepare one show at the end of the second week because the same children as the first week were returning for the second one. Along with that, we had prepared a 2 week long olympic tournament where, activities and games were prepared by the tutors. Also, each week, on the Thursday, we brought the kids to the local public pool, where the nuns had managed to reserve it for us for the entire day.
On our weekend off between the 2 weeks, us 5 tutors decided to pack a weekend bag and take the train to Rome (20 minutes) and decided to spend the night there and squeeze in some sightseeing while working in that area. On the first Friday night, we packed up and took off to Rome where we stayed at a brand new hostel for a very low price. Once settled, we went for supper at a small restaurant around the corner where I, along with the other 3 girls were given a free rose. We also were given a complementary bottle of wine and complimentary shots of limoncello, all because we were "Stranieri" (strangers in italian) teaching the italian children English. After the restaurant, we decided to check out the nightlife in Rome and ended up making some friends in several bars around the city. The next day, as my fellow tutors packed up and left to go back to the convent, I headed towards my mother's hometown called Sant'Apollinare, located near the city of Cassino. The city is located 2 hours south of the city, by train. After spending the night there, on Sunday afternoon, I made my way back to the convent.
The second week at the convent, some of the parents of the children wanted to give the nuns a break from cooking for us each night, so they decided to each take turns in taking us out for supper from Monday to Thursday. We were taken to beautiful restaurants in the neighbouring towns, one was actually a mexican restaurant which included some salsa dancing after 11 o'clock. On the second Friday, we had our final show and a pot luck dinner where the parents provided the food for us. Finally we found out where we were headed to next. I was teamed up with 2 of my fellow tutors to head south to Bari, and the other 3 were teamed up and sent off to another town north of Rome.
