Day #16:

On Wednesday, I went canoeing with the camp for the first time. 

There were about 18 kids and 3 counselors. We went down the river and then back.

 Each kid had a paddle and we paddled to the beat of the drum. There was a woman at the front of the canoe with a drum. 

She gave us the beat while we paddled. It was cool being out by the river.

 It was something I never really experienced with a bunch of kids before. In the afternoon we did Art Attack, which is just like arts & crafts. My group made balls. We took cloth, put dirt inside of it, and tied them and attached string and streamers. At first I thought it was weird but I after launching one I realized how far you could throw them. The kids really liked them. Wednesday night we ate dinner in the hotel restaurant and said goodbye to our gentlemen friends. We won’t see them again. They are headed back to Naples. On Thursday, the kids went swimming in the morning. 

It was soooo hot out. Marie and I just layed in the sun with a bunch of them. 

For lunch we had spaghetti with pesto sauce, which was delicious. In the afternoon we did Olympic games with the kids. Today was my last day of camp. In the morning we played rugby. It is like nothing I have ever seen. The kids get so physical with one another and no one says anything. In America we could never do that. It would take about 2 minutes before a fistfight would break out.  Again it was SO hot out. I was dying by noon. For lunch we had pizza again. It was pizza with ham on it so I picked off the ham. The cook laughed at me when he saw my plate full of ham. In the afternoon they had a nutrionist come in and talk with the kids in their age groups. Each age group had to act out a skit on nutrition. I was with the youngest kids and they were off the wall at the end of the day. There’s this one kid Matteo who definitely needs medication. He is nuts. My favorite is Chiara. She is 5 years old and so cute. She’s really tan and chubby. She hangs out with Margarita who is another one of my favorites. She is 7, chubby and wears tinted sunglasses all the time. At first I thought it was a style thing but I learned that she has an eye disease that she has to wear them in the sun. 

I said good bye to everyone before I left.  

Tonight we ate dinner at the hotel and drank some wine. We plan on going into Florence tomorrow on the train. I am excited because Marie said Florence is one of the best places in Italy.