Camp Castelmassa
Trip Start
Jun 07, 2007
1
12
Trip End
Sep 12, 2007
Castelmassa, Italy
Thursday, June 21, 2007
I'm currently teaching English at a summer camp in Castelmassa, Italy. Where is Castelmassa, you ask? It's in Northern Italy, and the closest major city you may have heard of is Ferrara. Castelmassa itself is too small to appear in my guidebook, and the town where I'm actually staying, Ficarolo, is too small to even find on a map. Outside of the school and the main square, it's a very short walk to find nothing but cornfields. But it is beautiful. I like being in rural regions when I travel. As much as I enjoy the art and culture present in large cities, I sometimes feel that all cities are essentially the same. Lots of buildings, lots of people, everyone in a hurry to go their own way. In small towns life is slower, and you get a better sense of the local flavor, how people actually live. My host family is amazing. The mother, Simonetta, makes amazing food, and she cooks everything from scratch every day. Many of her recipes I recognize from my own family's kitchen at home, and it's great to see that the preservation of culture and recipes across an ocean and a hundred years of time has been successful.
My job teaching summer camp is quite challenging. Ten counselors for a hundred and ten children, and a great lack of overall organization, make for chaos in a high degree. The camp directors are great, but it's the first year that this camp has existed and the first time that they've directed something like this. Add to that the fact that the counselors are all completely new to the job as well, and you see where the lack of organization begins. But it's an adventure, and I'm glad to be here. Next week I'll be sent to another summer camp, and the adventure will begin again.
I'll post another update soon. In the meantime, peace to you all and be well.
