Day 5: Today was the first day of summer camp. We got picked up in a shuttle and brought to the camp. 

It was interesting because no one at the camp really understands much English. Some can speak it but only a little bit. It was funny to watch the kids because even though it’s in a different country, kids are still the same. At one point I felt like I could understand what they were saying. It felt like they were speaking English. The kids talk with their hands and use so many gestures while talking. They are like watching little adults. They played a bunch of sport games and then it was lunch. Lunch was very interesting because it was like nothing I’ve ever seen at a summer camp. We split up into 2 groups and took turns having lunch for 1 hour each. We walked to a restaurant, which was so weird to me that a summer camp would eat a restaurant. At the YMCA I used to work at, they would only serve sandwiches—peanut butter  & jelly or some kind of deli meat. It would be served with a bag of chips, an apple and milk. We all sat down at a long table and ate lunch. The first dish were these little white pizzas for everyone to share at the table. The next dish was fresh tomatoes served on a big plate to share as well. Eventually the third dish came, which was some kind of creamy rice with vegetables---it was delicious! The next dish was chicken and the last one was fruit served on a big plate. The food just kept coming and it was so healthy. Everyone had a bottle of water as well. The waiter was handing out sharp knives to all the kids, which shocked me. I would never give any of the kids I’ve come across a sharp knife to use. These kids ranged from 4-12 at the camp. After lunch they have a relax time period which I loved. The camp ends with another sport’s activity. As I’m watching the kids play a game, which was basically dodge ball, I was shocked at how much tougher & mature the kids appear to be. Kids were getting dodged in the head with balls and they weren’t crying or flipping out at all. When a kid was out, they didn’t complain or whine about it, they just got out. Don’t get me wrong because they are still kids and loud & crazy as well but they seem to have a different attitude. 

 The counselors for the most part are nice. Julia is a sweet heart. She is 20 years old and the first counselor we met because she knows the most English. She's so pretty and nice. Caterina is a dancer and is really nice as well as Antonio. Sonia is another dancer but she's kind of snotty. I can tell she's a bitch. Around 4:45 a shuttle brought us to the main facility of the camp. It’s kind of like a main branch of the YMCA. From there this guy brought us to the hotel in a shuttle. We ate dinner and had a bunch of wine. I ended up getting drunk off of wine. Across from us were about 8 older Italian men. They looked like a Mafia. They kept looking at us and I kept looking at them. Eventually they cheers and I made myself over to their table to cheers or “salute” with them. Marie and I sat their table and talked with them for a while. I ended up having champagne with them and then having coffee. It’s currently thundering and lightening right now.