This camp was my biggest yet, with five tutors and around fifty kids. We were greeted warmly at the Treviso train station by the camp director, Valentina, and our host families, before I headed out with my new family for some gelato and a walk around the town, which is one of the biggest in the area.
My new host family was parents Luca and Chiara, 11-year-old Gaia and eight-year-old Filippo, who started off very shy but came out of his shell very, very quickly! We had dinner at a lovely pizza restaurant with another tutor, Austin from Colorado, and her host family, who are friends with my host family. No sooner had we been seated than a massive hailstorm started, so severe that the roof started to leak. It was quite funny as the day had been ridiculously hot, around 30*, but we soon learned these types of storms are common in summer here (and they were soon to be welcomed as a respite from the heat!)
Filippo and Gaia after messy games
On Sunday, the day before camp started, I got another taste of Italian Nonnas' (grandmother) hospitality and talent in the kitchen, as we walked around the corner to Luca's mother's house for lunch - and what a lunch it was! A huge plate of pasta followed by a selection of meats, bread, salad, and three types of desserts, along with free-flowing Prosecco and coffee to finish. For lunch! I still have not gotten used to the size of the meals Italians eat, especially the lunches! Luca's parents were lovely (despite nearly wanting to force-feed me) and we undoubtedly walked home a couple of kilograms heavier!
One aspect of Italian cuisine I just have not adjusted to is the coffee. I've never liked coffee but I decided to give it another shot a couple of times, but I just don't like the flavour. My Italian families have all been shocked when I decline coffee, because for them it is almost like oxygen, and unless it is breakfast time, they will nearly always drink it as a straight shot, like a short black, only ever a cappuccino or latte in the morning!
After lunch we took a walk down a beautiful river nearby, which was a really nice and relaxing way to walk off the meal. It was a lovely path which was brimming with families enjoying the sunshine and tranquility and we saw some interesting sights, including the "boat graveyard", where the locals literally just left the boats they no longer needed to become skeletones... it was quite eerie.
The camp at Zero Branco was the first of its kind in this small town, and all the parents, children and organisers were excited to see what each day would bring. It was challenging, as none of the children knew what to expect from the camp or what the activities, songs and games would be like and we really had to work hard to get them to leave behind their self consciousness and embrace our activities, but by the end of the two weeks it was really encouraging to see all the students' progress.
My host parents are only slightly older than me (31), which was quite funny as they are obviously at very different life stages to me! The small age gap was great though and meant we could relate to each other quite well - especially because both Luca and Chiara speak English well (no matter how much Luca claims he can't). It's quite funny here and in other parts of Europe, the locals are often embarassed about their level of English and will tell you they can only speak a little English, when in actual fact their English is very good!
My Zero Branco host 'papi', Luca
The other four tutors were great, and because we all lived close to each other and close to the school, we would walk to a nearby bar at the end of each day for a Spritz or two before heading home. We also went out a couple of nights, Luca taking us to a nearby town called Mirano for drinks one night, and dinner with all our host families at a lovely restaurant in Treviso later the same week.
On Saturday we headed to a popular beach about an hour and a half away from Zero Branco, which was a great way to spend a ridiculously hot day - relaxing in the sun, sleeping, reading and swimming in the wonderfully warm Mediterranean. Some of Luca's family were spending the week at the seaside, so we headed back to his sister's place for a great dinner, followed by gelato (of course) and a late-night walk through the town.
Sunday meant another huge, yet delicious lunch at Luca's parents' house and Monday was a special day for Chiara's family - her sister graduated from university, which meant a big party at Chiara's parents' house with around 80 guests. It was a really great evening - the highlight of which was a fun Italian tradition. When Italians graduate from university, their friends and family get together to write a poem about the graduate, kind of an embarassing thing similar to when friends make speeches at our 21sts here in New Zealand. The graduate has to read out the poem to all the guests and if they stumble over a word, she has to take a drink. Guests would try to put her off by throwing food and drinks over her as she read, it was really funny, even though I had no idea what was being said!
Another highlight of Zero Branco was another incredible hailstorm which hit right as the kids were leaving camp one day. It had been a stinking hot day, which is very challenging as the kids' attention span and enthusiasm just plummets. We couldn't believe when it started to hail, out of nowhere, and soon the small grassy patch in front of the school was flooded - so the tutors decided to cool down and have some fun by playing mud football - was a really fun afternoon!
On our final night, after the kids had put on their final show for parents and grandparents, us tutors headed back to my place for pizza and drinks, was a really nice way to cap off the two weeks, and most of us only had one more week of camps left.
The tutors and Luca on our last night
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