Goodbye Pool Camp, Hello The Rest of Sicily

This week was easy.  Afternoons at the pool, kids who cleaned up after themselves without being told to, a director who did not micromanage even a little bit. It was only tough at times because kids at the camp spoke so little English (I had a 13 year-old who couldn't count past 10 in English, but she was the extreme).  During our pool day (Wed), this 8 year-old who owns both a nice robe and a cell phone showed off both during a break.

Even the show went smoothly.  My group did a newscast including a clip from a fashion show, a sports report, and a few other things.  The kids painted several beautiful posters which you can see in this picture.  There was also a "commercial," which was actually just them singing 45 seconds of the Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling," but it doesn't matter. 

My spunkiest camper, who entertained me and my assistant the whole week, jumped out from behind the rest of the group to do a solo when the song picks up beginning with "Tonight the night!"  He then changed roles from hooded rapper with shades, to Inter Milan's star player, for an interview during the sports report.

Julia, my co-tutor, and I went on a walk around the historical center of Mussomeli on Thursday after camp.  It was an absolute hike, but beautiful.  I wanted to take a picture of every street and every alley, but I resisted.  This is one of my favorite pictures though.

I'll be sad to be leaving my host family, as I've been lucky enough to have two great ones in a row.  I've only seen half of The Sound of Music once, but the kids remind me of Sound of Music/Mary Poppins kids, if that makes any sense at all.  Maybe it has something to do with the ages and the mix of genders?  I dunno.  Their house is so nice, and today they took me to their family's property in the historical center,.which includes several houses and a garden.  I really like the aunt/uncles/cousins/grandparents/family friends that I've met, too, and I may be seeing some of them again in Palermo next week.  This is a picture of my host siblings, mom, aunt, baby cousin, and grandparents at the aunt/uncle's house in the center.

So.  Next week.  I'm on hold, meaning they have too many tutors and I'm too far south to transfer to a northern camp anyway.  Since I'm already in Sicily, I'm heading to the east coast for a few days alone.  Syracuse and Taormina are my destinations, with a brief stop in Catania.  I've heard great things about both places from many people.  Traveling alone was something I regretted not doing last year, so I'm excited to try it.  But, I am nervous about loneliness.  It'll be fine since on Tuesday I'll be in Palermo and probably staying with friends/relatives of my current host family, but I think I'd get pretty lonely if I do end up with a full week by myself.  I'm still excited though.

I'm circling back to Palermo mid-week (and on July 13) because their annual festival celebrating the city's saint peaks on Wed and Thurs, and aparently the city goes nuts.  Should be a good time.  And then I'll head up north and stay near Napoli before heading to my next comp somewhere in the north that next week.

I'm seeing now how this summer will play out, and it's so strange to think that half of my work time this summer will be spent in the north, because I've become so accustomed to the south.  I'm hoping to post at some point about my experience in the south in general, because Italy's north and south have distinct identities, or at least distinct reputations.  But I think when it's all over it will feel like two separate experiences, with this next week off being the dividing line.