The south of Italy...

So, since I was staying with host families in the north I got to hear a bunch of complaints about people from the south. Northerners say they are lazy--they never work, they don't pay their taxes, etc... And, open minded me thought they were full of it. But the more I see of the south the more what the northerners said makes sense.

We are currently in Bari which is the second largest city in the south (second after Napoli) so Bari is lively enough. But everyother town we have been to thus far is completely dead during the day. None of the shops open until 5pm and most of them close by 9 or 10. Meaning that people here only work like 4 or 5 hours a day. It isn't quite as bad in Bari as elsewhere--about half of the nearby shops are closed now, but they will most likely open before 5. It is just so strange walking around large cities here (Matera, Trani, Alberobello) and not seeing anyone in the streets. Then suddenly around 4.30-5, the world comes alive and you finally see other people for the first time that day. Inga and I are under the impression that they must stay up really late and sleep all day, but honestly we have no clue. The one thing we are sure of is that nothing is ever open when we want it to be.

Anywho, Matera (the above picture) was cool. It is a whole city carved out of the mountain--just a bunch of cave houses. Eventually they started laying brick around the caves to give them more protection---but you can go inside the buildings and see the cave dwellings that have been inhabited for more than 9,000 years. Awesome.

After that we headed to Bari (where we still are). We have been doing day trips. The first day we went to Trani (and of course everything was closed so we just had a very long lunch and went swimming in the ocean). Yesterday we went to Alberobello which was lovely but pretty boring. Today we slept in late and I'm feeling sick so we are taking it easy. But tomorrow we are heading to Lecce and on Monday to the Grotte di Castellana (the largest underground cave system in Italy). Tuesday evening we head to Croatia. Yay!

I have uploaded pics from the rest of the teaching camps...to view them, go here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2309596&id=6710589&l=d966383040

I have also uploaded my pics from Lucca and some from Firenze, here's the link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2311238&id=6710589&l=f532bde8b6

Wooooo

So...Inga is here now and I'm already enjoying traveling with her. It is nice to now be able to share my travels with someone else. We have gotten totally lost like twice in the past two days so I hope she isn't holding that against me.

Before she got here however, I went to the Vatican Museums which I have decided I full on hate. Yes, they have a bunch of amazing works, but they are too big, have too many pieces, and admit too many people. They really ought to only allow a select number of people into the museums every day. Anyways, despite those issues, I enjoyed it. Esp since I got my ticket half price since I was wearing an AS Roma football jersey. The workers there all love me. I even wasn't charged cover charge at the restaurant because of my shirt. Gotta love Romans.

The first day Inga was here we just walked around our old neighborhood, went to the Victorio Emanuel monument in the hopes that there would be good views, went to a museum of WWII resistence (pretty cool and free!), and went to the Jewish Ghetto. Oh, and I found €50 on the ground so that was cool. We finally went to a restaurant in the ghetto that we had wanted to go to since we lived here. And man, it was good.

The next day we went to Lago Bracciano (a lake north of Rome). We swam and just had a lazy day. It was so nice to escape the heat of the city. And just so beautiful. Right now along the Tiber there is a arts/food festival going on so that night we ate there and bought some earings. It is all just so cool how much the city comes alive in the summer. I hate all the tourists (even though I know that I am one of them), but man, Trestevere is awesome right now.

Yesterday we got totally lost but eventually made it to the Appian Way, rented bikes and biked the ancient road---another thing we had wanted to do the last time we were here. It was absolutely beautiful and I would love to do it again since we weren't even able to bike the whole thing (we had to return the bikes by 5). Anywho, today we are taking it easy--shopping a bit, going to a couple of churches, and hopefully making it back to a restaurant we really enjoyed when we lived here---Cacio e Pepe.

Tomorrow we wake up early and make our way to Matera. If I ever am able to find fast internet, I'll upload my pictures. Seriously, the lack of good internet has been pissing me off. That is all.

I have returned!!

And it is crazy fucking hot.

So before I get to that...Lucca was lovely, but I decided I didn't want to stay there for as long as I had booked. So yesterday I headed to Firenze and I'm so happy I did. In the past two years between this visit and my previous visit to Firenze I took a class on Renaissance Italy--history and art--and thanks to my new knowledge, I have a new found respect and love for Firenze. Oh, and on top of that I had just finished reading a book my dad gave me---Brunelleschi's Dome. So climbing up that dome, my feet passing over the steps used by those who labored under the dome for years and year...well, it was all like a pilgrimage for me. Very very cool. And a beautiful view.

Earlier today I made it into Rome and yea, crazy fucking hot. Thankfully I had the foresight to book a place with air conditioning. Yay! Unfortunately, it doesn't have internet however, so I may be a bit MIA for the next couple of days. It is weird being back in Rome. I'm currently in the area of where I lived and stuff has changed. Stuff has changed in the eternal city...that just seems wrong and like an oxymoron. The stores are different, it is just weird.

Weirdness aside, I am so happy to be back, though admittably I wish it wasn't in the summer. It is too hot and there are too many tourists. I long for the Rome I came to know and love. Meh. Today I went to Museo Burghese and to the surrounding park. Then I decided I would try to find my way over to where I used to live without a map...and with a few wrong turns, I made it! I'm kinda proud of myself. Tomorrow I am going to the Vatican Museums in the morning and around 7:30pm Ingrid will be coming in!! Yay!! I am so looking forward to no longer being by myself. It is lonely traveling by yourself. You want to share your joy and anger and everything with someone else.

That is all for now.

baci e amore
sarah

And so begins my travels

So A.C.L.E. has very few camps next week, so they don't need me. And Inga and I aren't meeting up until Friday...So, I am spending 4 nights in Lucca and then heading to Rome (I am sooo excited to go to all of my favorite places!!)

The rest of the week in Casteggio went alright. I was def ready for a break though so I am happy that they haven't placed me in another camp. I plan on sleeping in very late tomorrow.

So, I made it to Lucca and to my hostel around 4, took a shower, and then decided to get lost. And man, did I get lost. It was a lot a fun. During my lost adventures I found an antiques market and ran right into a festival that I had no idea was even happening. So, while I am here their is a music festival. And tomorrow night Crosby, Stills, and Nash are playing. I think I will go. It is just so strange that this is all happening and I had no idea.

This internet place sucks. I came here to upload pictures but it costs 1.5 euro per 5 minutes so I will just have to wait until another time to upload.

That is it, hope everyone is doing well.

s

Casteggio

My new camp is in a wee town south of Milan called Casteggio. The kids are smart, though a bit overly lively at times, but I am having a lot of fun. I'm staying with a host family who actually lives up in the hills above Casteggio in another town of only 100 people. It is awesome. We are surrounded by hills full of vineyards. It is just crazy beautiful. My host family also has a pool which makes the heat almost bearable. There are of course, still too many mosquitos, and I am covered in bites.

I absolutely love my host family. The mother grew up in South Africa so speaks perfect English. The father also speaks awesome English. The kids (Valentina and Francesco) are adorable, friendly, and just awesome. I feel so lucky to have been placed with them. I'm taking a bunch of pictures and even though I probably won't upload any or have another chance to update this week, I will update the blog and my facebook again soon.

quick update

the apartment sucks--far away from anything, not airconditioned, and pretty gross.

Lago Maggiore was fun. We ended up inviting the helper at our camp (who is 14). I was already feeling like an old woman before I hung out with her--but then I hung out with her and now I feel full on elderly. I'm almost 10 years older than her and she's like already a person (not that kids aren't person but they don't have abstract reasoning and all that jazz). It is weird.

I'm teaching red and orange group this week--that is kids from two very different levels all in one class. And I've got one student (whom I also had last week) who is making my life hard...Anna. She fights with all the boys, is constantly screaming, and cusses. I have come to the conclusion that in every class there will be one kid that just is a pain. And she is def it. I am going to sit her far away from her friends tomorrow and see how that goes. Anyways, that's about it. ciao

the last couple of days

It continues to be hot and I continue to be covered in bug bites. So yea, not much has changed. I am however, now 23. And I feel so freaking old. I don't feel 23, so knowing that I am 23 makes me feel pretty awful. And then not only am I 23 and I don't have my life together at all, I also have gained like 8 lbs already. So yea, I'm just a chubby old lady now. Uncool.

So yesterday was my birthday, and so we went out for our staff dinner yesterday. Jon and Nicole from my last camp came into the city and so did Ingrid. It was awesome to see her. I'm really looking forward to traveling with her. I think we will be combatable as travel buddies as long as we both aren't passive.

This weeks camp is over, and all my favorite kids have left, leaving me only the annoying/lazy students. Super. Actually, one of my favorites will still be here. He is so freaking cute. Today we had a little skit thing and he was Michael Jackson. He can dance like nobodies business. I'll post a video in a couple of days.

This weekend we (all the tutors at my camp) are staying in Milan cos hotels/hostels around the lakes are expensive. But we are gonna do a day trip to Lago Maggiore tomorrow and depending on how we feel, we may hit up another lake or a local town on Sunday also. So yea, pretty fun.

We move into the apartment we will be in for the next week tonight. Fingers crossed that we have internet or at very least a washing machine. Oooo...an a/c would be nice but I don't think there is any chance of that.