Once Upon a Meatball.: Alba

I have to say, I feel like Maria from The Sound of Music on travel days, with my giant sun hat and matching luggage, going to teach children. I've noticed that people stare more frequently, trying to get a glimpse of who's under the hat. It's just because they know that I'm a celebrity and prefer to travel inconspicuously as to attract as little attention as possible. No big deal.

I was sent to Alba for a 2-week camp (my first 2-weeker in ACLE) and it seemed very exciting. I read online that Alba was known for their Ferrero chocolates - the creator of Nutella! I died of pure happiness. If you remember from last year's blogs, I developed a sick, unhealthy obsession with Nutella. And the town didn't disappoint. It was everywhere - plus our camp director's husband worked at Ferreo, so we received endless amounts of chocolates everyday, including the kind that contained a little shot of espresso. hehe

I was with a Red Book (10-11 year-olds) for these 2 weeks - they're one of my favorite groups to teach because they're easily excited and can generally comprehend enough English to understand what you're saying. My kids were great and listened very well - especially when compared to the rest of the camp. The camp as a whole was a bit difficult to control, probably because everything was new: the camp, the directors, the children, and 4 of the tutors were brand new to ACLE. Basically the entire camp was in my hands and those of the other returning tutor, Alyssa. It was definitely challenging keeping an eye on everything at once.

The first week in Alba was a bit rough because the camp directors had a different idea of what an ACLE camp should be like, and every day a different problem arose, so that we constantly dreaded the after0camp staff meeting. However, by the time the 2nd week came around, mostly everything got cleared up and we were free to do whatever activities we wanted to plan.

My group performed Scooby Doo

There was one time during free play when the boys kicked a ball far up in a tree. They tried throwing objects to knock it down, but to no avail. There were no branches low enough to climb up, so it looked like a lost cause. However, the tree was growing right next to 2 other trees. So being crazy genius and mega-muscle woman, I pushed my bacxk against one tree, feet against another, and pulled a Mulan by shimmying my way to the top. I received a round of applause as I threw the ball to the kids, but then I realized that I didn't know how to get down. It was too far to jump and I lost my footing from the other tree to get to the ball. I felt like a cat stranded. "Call the fire department!" But I was able to tree-hug my way down far enough for 2 of the camp helpers to grab my feet, assisting me to readjust my footing and jump the rest of the way.

The next day or 2, the kids ran up to me during break time, paning and saying that the ball got stuck on the roof. "Per favore, la prenda! Ti prego!" I just laughed. "Sorry guys, game over."

My host family for this camp was too precious. My mom Nadia, dad Federico, 2 children Angelica (9yrs) and Michele (5yrs) wer so sweet. Angelicqa and I frequently played dress-up, danced to Mamma Mia songs, and watched Italian Disney Princess films like Enchanted. Michele was like a cute little monkey that only weighed about 40lbs, so you could easily throw him over your shoulder, which I frequently did. He learned the English word "strong" after a day or day of being with me.

Michele: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uH0McmxmmY

We also went bowling for Angelica's 9th birthday party. She and some of her friends who also went to camp met us at a casino/bowling alley and we got pizza and played a game of bowling. I showed off my major skills by getting strike after strike, and all of the girls kept asking me to bowl for them as well. When I got 3 strikes in a row, I yelled "TACCHINO!" and they all cheered. Thanks to Bowlerama Saturday-morning bowling league for tuning my skills.

Angelica in the Mountains: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O81MQZ6MkpY

I got an adorable photo with all of the girls and me holding the bowling balls in front of the alley, but unfortunately I accidentally deleted the photo before I downloaded it. I finished by scoring a 171, which I also took a photo of, but again that one got deleted. Figures right? Now no one will believe me...

The first few nights in Alba I went out with my host family's neighbor, Fabio, and his friends. He took me on his Vespa through the mountains before meeting up with his friends for pizza, drinks, and guitar music, which they played "Sweet Home Alabama" for me. I have to say, I never completely understood why Vespas were such a big deal, but after riding on one I will never doubt its amazingness again. It was such an exciting, sensual experience - staddling some Italian guy on a vibrating machine and holding on for dear life as you zoom through the winding, narrow streets past the flying cars; the whistling sound hitting your helmet, your nose gathering the scent of the boy in front of you. Brownies, for some reason. Advice from me, if you ever get the opportunity to ride on a motorbike, by all means do it. It's something you won't regret.

The weekend was spent with my family in the Aosta mountains. They had a house up there and they took me hiking to the top of a beautiful mountain. I had a lot of fun in the car ride, teaching Angelica some English handshakes, while she then taught me some Italian ones. On the ride back home, both kids fell asleep on my shoulder, and me on them.