This is the cast of my upcoming show. Basically, the plot is that the Simpsons are being themselves (except I have on Lisa because my Lisa can't come to the show), when Joe Jonas comes in looking for his two brothers. The Simpsons don't know where they are, but they call up Jon, who brings over Garfield and Odie. They don't know either, but Jon and Homer offer to sing as substitute Jonas Brothers.
It could be a disaster, but the show is really about whatever the kids like. Five of them love the Simpsons, and four of them do not. So I asked the other four what they liked, and for a few minutes they insisted that there was nothing that they liked, but finally one said, "Garfield!" And two of the others also like Garfield. But there was one who was still unhappy. He's a pretty big kid, and I was surprised he didn't like the Simpsons, because every boy here (and most girls) love the Simpsons. I was shocked when I asked him what he liked and he said, "The Jonas Brothers!" So he's Joe Jonas.
My group is very different from the one I had at the convent. But they are the same age and they use the same level book. This time, I feel like rather than them being at English camp, I'm at Italian camp. They REFUSE to speak to me in English. This is a big problem because I do not speak Italian. Most of the tutors at this camp do, so at least they can understand what's going on and choose whether or not to let the kids know that they understand. But I have no choice other than to say, "English!" and then they just give up trying to tell me something and walk away. As a result, I am learning more Italian every day. They are pretty fast with the workbook, in English of course, but they just won't speak it. So today when I handed out the script for the show, most of them looked at it and said "Inglese!" I have no idea why they thought I would write a script for them in Italian.
Aside from these frustrations, I have another great group of kids. They have a smaller range of English than my kids last week (which went from two girls who couldn't say two words in English to the guy who used the word "disassociate"), so I don't have to wait as long for a few kids to finish. I am also lucky to have a real classroom this time so I can explain things using a blackboard. But, it is a huge room and the walls are bare, so every little noise echoes. Thus, when two people talk, it's very, very loud. And when five people talk, it's deafening. Still, it's really nice to have an actual space this week.
This week I have a host family. My host mom, Simona, speaks fantastic English, so I can have real conversations with her. My host sister, Sarah, is 5 and my host brother, Omar, is 8. I talk/play with them as much as I can, which is difficult when we speak different languages. But yesterday I spent some time playing with Sarah and three of their neighbors in the apartment building. And that was a lot of fun.
Simona took me to the annual village festival on Monday night for dinner. I'm living in Bolgare and teaching in Calcinate. This area is a bunch of villages probably about 5,000 people each and the camp draws from four of them. It seemed like half the town turned out for the festival, but we left when it started to rain. But we watched the fireworks from a flat on the third floor of our building, and considering this is a town of 5,000 people, the fireworks were incredible. They lasted for about 15 minutes, and while some didn't make it above the treetops, there a lot of amazing ones.
Something else that I've been noticing a lot this week is race. Most places I've been around Italy have been almost entirely White. But here it's different. When I went grocery shopping with Simona on Saturday, I could tell that this area was much more diverse than the other places I've seen. I asked her about it, and she said that there has been a huge wave of immigration in the last 10 years or so. Her building is mostly Indian, and her ex-husband is Egyptian. But at the festival, it was about 99% White. She said that the town is pretty racist, so I'm thinking that the immigrants don't feel at all included in this area, even though they make up so much of the population now. I think it's really hitting me because I spent four months in the Czech Republic, which is about 95% Czech, and just haven't been in a racially diverse area for so long. This is another reason I'm excited to go home.
Well I'm here until Saturday morning, and then it's off to another camp. I should find out my destination tomorrow! And I'll post a bunch of pictures as soon as I get internet on my laptop.
Happy July!!
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