Unfortunately the horses at the stable got sick so Jessica preferred to clean them out herself, so we didn't see the horses at the stable this week. Sanador is the only horse at home, so we will had him to clean out. Jessica and Sanador are practising for a horse show they are in next week, where Sanador will dance to Spanish music. It's fascinating to watch! I grabbed my camera and got a picture of him rearing up, which is something he has just learnt to do this week.
Friday night was our last night in Grassau, so in the evening Holger took us to Chiemsee lake with the kayaks. Holger kayaked with us a little way up the shore, and we shared some beers with him in the boat. He then left us and me and Craig kayaked up to a secluded beach and sat out and chilled. We met Holger, Jessica, and Joshua back at the beach bar and watched the sun go down sat around a fire pit. It was an awesome last night!
Holger and Jessica have been awesome hosts-super chilled and loads of fun. Craig is hoping to go back in the future with his motorbike and do the bike trip he didn't get to do this time, so hopefully we will see them again!
On Saturday got the train from Rosenheim, Germany to Verona, Italy. We are working at a summer camp for two weeks to teach Italian children aged 7-11 English. Me and Craig are being hosted by different families, so we will both experience Italy in a different way! The train to Italy was beautiful, surrounded by mountains the whole way. Unfortunately we didn't book seats and the train was busy so we were sat in the corridor on our bags for about 3 hours, before finally getting seats for the last 1.5 hours. We were met by Craig's host family at the train station (Chiara, Claudio, Niccolo, and Damiano) and they drove us to Lonato del Garda and dropped me off with my family.
Anna's first weekend in Italy:
I am staying with Annamaria, Oscar, Mariasole (13 years old) and Marta (9 years old) and they have an amazing house, complete with swimming pool.
On my first evening in Italy I was told we were going out for dinner with some of their friends, we arrived at dinner a little late and 10 people were already sat around the table- men at one end and women at the other (apparently this is quite normal in Italy). Food was already on the table and as soon as I sat down I was handed food left right and centre. There were tiny little fried fish, polenta, salami, prosciutto, a kind of beef in fish sauce, torta fritta (a kind of puffed up bread thing), bread, gorgonzola, vegetables. It was amazing! I had assumed this was the meal, but next thing I know I am being asked if I want tortellini with pumpkin or with meat for the next plate. Next plate?! I went for tortellini with meat; this was my first taste of Italian pasta and I won't forget it. It was delicious. After pasta we had another course of rabbit and polenta, then a huuuuuge bowl of fresh cherries in ice was put on the table for everyone to help themselves, then some kind of Italian cake to finish. There was also plenty of sparkling white wine, and my glass kept being topped up, I couldn't say no! I was well and truly stuffed after this- I think I had a pretty good introduction to Italian food!
On Sunday we went to Oscar's Nephew's Baptism. Being neither religious or Italian I had absolutely no idea what was going on during the ceremony, but it is interesting to be a part of these moments! After the ceremony we drove to this private house/resturaunt in the hills for a reception with about 20 members of Oscar's family. The venue was really beautiful. Once again this revolved around a big dinner of antipasto, risotto, tortellini, beef and polenta and cake. The food was amazing! The family didn't speak much English but I chatted with Marta, Mariasole and Annamaria and just observed all the goings on.
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| Baptism reception venue |
Craig's first weekend in Italy:
I've
had the archetypal experience of Italy from day one! My host mother, Chiara,
met us off the train at Verona, and although she doesn't speak a great deal of
English was very warm and welcoming. I'd later find out she's just as
hospitable when it comes to food! We were introduced to her husband and two
sons, and got to know them a bit in the half hour car ride to their home in
Lonato. The boys are extremely polite and very well-raised, they're constantly
making sure I have everything I need during my stay. Their level of English is
impressive too, putting the British effort when it comes to linguistics to
shame (seems to be a common theme wherever we go!)
That
first night we went to a sagra, a sort of community party with local food and
drink, and met family and friends. Little English was spoken but I was made to
feel really welcome in true Italian style; we drank wine together and ate
polenta and many types of pork, beef and even horse meat. It turns out that
Claudio is a competitive sailor with his own race boat, the 'Spirito Libera',
and on Sunday I was treated to a day on the Garda Lake and even got to
'captain' (steer) the boat. It was really impressive watching Claudio with the
help of Dami and Nico adjust the many ropes and sails according to the wind
direction. I can't help but think this is an opportunity I wouldn't get without travelling through something like Workaway, or paying a fortune.
Our first day at English Summer Camp:
We arrived at the school on Monday morning and met the three other English tutors, Lisa, Sandhra and Alice, and the Summer Camp organiser, Antonella. Alice and Sandhra are both studying in Edinburgh, and Alice is actually studying Infectious Diseases like I did, so we have plenty in common!
Around 100 kids were taking part in Summer Camp and after about 30 minutes of singing songs to warm everybody up we were split into classes and went up to our separate classrooms. Me and Craig each have a class of older kids around 10-12 years old, and Craig also had the biggest class (around 20 kids). Hectic
is probably the most fitting word for our teaching at the school! There are
some organised activities and songs, but also periods (including the first day)
where you are put in front of a class of restless children who don't speak
English and told to think of something to teach on the spot. Certainly a
baptism of fire, but I'm sure we'll look back on it as character building! Thankfully we each have a couple of teenage Italian helpers in the classroom to help with translations. Week 1 at Summer Camp is pirate themed so after spending the morning in the classroom in the afternoon we went to the local park, we came up with team names (mine was Super Pirates and Craig's was Music Pirates), a team song, and did a scavenger hunt. Lunch at the school is almost as impressive as what we both experienced at the weekend, a first course (Monday was pasta with ham) followed by salads, meats, cheeses, and plenty of fresh fruit! Not bad for a school lunch.
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