:)

Camp has been pretty fun the past two days!! I think it has to do with the fact that out of 8 kids, 5 of them are new so thats good :). Today we went to the movie theater and watched Rio (SO good by the way!) and before the movie started they played the National Anthem. It was very cool to see all the kids be SO respectful and quiet as it played. We didn't have to tell them to...they just knew. It was awesome.

Tomorrow's Friday!! We're heading to Carney Park for the day, then after camp 7 of the 11 counselors (me being one of them) are heading to Sicily for the weekend. I have to pack tonight...It'll be a fun time.

I hope everyone has a great 4th of July weekend!!

Sorrento and Capri!!

This past weekend the 11 of us went to Sorrento and Capri. It was soo much fun!! We left around 7 Saturday morning and took a bus to Naples, then a train to Sorrento. We found our hostel which was near the station, but ended up finding out that I had accidentally booked it for Sunday night instead of Saturday!! Luckily, we talked to the hostel person and he helped us find another hostel. We also got picked up and free transportation to the new hostel. I felt SO dumb, but it could have happened to anyone. I had to call my dad and tell him to email hostelworld.com since that was the only way to cancel my reservation to get my money back. After a lot of confusion and thinking I was going to get charged $350, we went back to the hostel right before we left and told the lady my story. She said "no charge! no charge!" and it all worked out fantastic :)

Our hostel turned out to be really nice, except it was pretty far away from everywhere we wanted to go. We ended up leaving around 1 Saturday afternoon and walked a lot around Sorrento. I'm not sure how much we walked, but we ended up taking a bus back from where we ended up and it took awhile!!

We went to the beach and swam. It was so gorgeous!! We walked by some cute shops, and eventually we ended up eating at a fabulous restaurant. A lot of people got seafood, but I wasn't a fan, so I got spaghetti :) We then got on a bus and rode back to a street that was closed off to traffic. There were so many people out!! I'm not sure where they were going or what they do, but it was definitely a popular place!

Sunday morning we took the train to a place near our old hostel and got on a bus to get on a boat on the coast. We went halfway around the island of Capri (I got super seasick...) and got off. We had around 6 hours to ourselves before we had to get back on the boat, so we took a short bus to Anacapri where we got on a chairlift. It took us up to the top of a cliff where we saw the most GORGEOUS views of the island. My pictures look like postcard photos :)

After that we went to the beach for a few hours then got back on the boat to go back to Sorrento. We ran back to talk to the lady at our original hostel and that's when I found out I wouldn't be charged, so all the time before I thought I was going to be getting charged $350 since I didn't have a way to cancel it 24 hours prior! It was such good news :)

We got back to our apartments around 8-8:30ish Sunday night. Besides my hostel mishap the weekend was so much fun!! We didn't have anything specific planned, so we played it by ear and had a fantastic time :)

Half of the group is going to Sicily this weekend for our three day weekend. We get the 4th of July off, so we're going to the farthest away place we can. The other half of the group is going to Cinque Terre, which is one of my number one choices. I'll still go there some other weekend!

Camp is getting better. My kids are having more fun (I think!!) and that also means I am too. Last Thursday 6 out of the 10 counselors cried throughout the day. The long hours must have been getting to us haha. But tomorrow's already Wednesday and the rest of the week should go by quick. Mondays and Tuesdays are always going to be the longest.

Hope all is well at home!!

 Sorrento beach

 me overlooking the Sorrento beach

 where we swam in Sorrento...we had to climb down a long ways!!

 my spaghetti at the amazing restaurant

 sunset from the restaurant

 our group minus me :)

 on Capri

 our chairlift...so steep!!

 Capri <3

 the group that went on the chairlift...others were too afraid of heights :/

 overlooking Capri

 again...

 green grotto

famous rocks...they're on all of the postcards

I made it a week!!

It's FRIDAY!! I can't believe that two weeks are already over. Yesterday was a pretty rough day for most of the counselors. 5 out of 10 broke down crying, including me. Luckily, our project coordinator, Krystina, talked to me and helped me a lot :) She's awesome.

Today at Carney Park went a lot better than Wednesday. I moved my ten year olds out with the nine year olds instead of being inside a small Rec Center all day with the eleven and twelve year olds. It worked a lot better. I got a pretty bad sunburn on my shoulders and legs. I'll admit I didn't put any sunscreen on my legs, but another counselor and I put sunscreen on each other two different times throughout the day and I still got burnt pretty bad. The sun must be super strong. Everyone is very happy the week is over and excited for this weekend!

We are all chilling tonight, not doing much exciting, because we are leaving early tomorrow morning to go to the island of Capri, then going to Sorrento to spend the night. Tomorrow we're spending the day in Sorrento, which is also on the beach. It'll be a relaxing, much needed weekend :)

I'll post pictures when I can after I get back!!

the first couple days of work!!

So yesterday was our first day of work...I'll just say it was disastrous?? I felt like I was doing semi-okay with my ten year olds until our schedule started getting seriously messed/mixed up. Everyone was kind of free styling? haha it was crazy. I feel very sorry for the 5 and 6 year old counselors because they have the attention span of 3 seconds...seriously...3!! All of the kids were gone about 6 o'clock then we had a meeting that lasted until around 8:15 pm. I sent a few emails while I had internet at the youth center, booked our hostel for this weekend, walked the mile plus home, fixed some supper, then went to bed.

Today we all went to work not knowing what to expect, but hoping and praying for better than yesterday and it was a TON better!! We worked out some kinks in our scheduling/programming and the kids were a little better. I actually liked camp today and think it'll be a great summer :)

Tomorrow we go to Carney Park for the first time. I'm a little nervous for the bus rides and swimming pool, but it should turn out okay.

Last night while I was doing the dishes after supper we heard a big BOOM!! I looked down and there was water pouring out of the kitchen cabinet under the sink. I opened it up and the entire thing that connected all the pipes had fallen off. Molly, one of my roommates, shoved it back on. Who knows why or how to fix it!!

Our landlord person and his entire family came to fix our electricity just now, because we blew a fuse. It's ALWAYS an experience!! haha His name is Fabio and he speaks no English, but he tries SO SO hard!! Tonight we actually understood 50% of it and that's pretty good haha...He's turning into our "father figure" :)

I'm off to bed!! Ciao!!

Pompei!!

Yesterday we went to Pompei and Mt. Vesuvio!! We took cabs to a nearby city called Aversa where the train station is, then rode the train to Napoli then another train/tram to Pompei. It was a very nice day because the sun wasn't out. Well we went up to the top of the volcano and couldn't see ANYTHING!! We were stuck in a rain cloud basically. Usually we would have been able to see the city as well as the crater, but not yesterday! We were all drenched as you can see in the picture.

A picture of me and behind me is the crater. Great view huh? :)

I got a few postcards and a bracelet made of lava stone and another stone from the volcano then we went back down. The bus trip up and down the mountain was not fun. Soooo many turns and dips and slowing down and speeding up. Not good for motion sickness :/ 

We ate at a place in the town close to all the shops and places to go up to the mountain. Everyone at every restaurant was offering "the best food for the cheapest price!!"...it got old after hearing from 6 different restaurants that they had the best food. 

We then went to the ancient city of Pompei...We were there for almost three hours and only saw half of the ruins. It was soo neat!! I couldn't believe how big it was! 

Today is my first day with the kids! I start in 6 minutes :) 

So...Our plan today was to head to Naples again to look (more slowly than yesterday) at the city and markets. We went to get tickets around 10 this morning, but it ends up that they don’t sell bus tickets on weekends…fantastic right? So we tried a few other places on base where they might have sold some, but no one had any. We went to the bus stop anyway and waited for the next bus to try to buy tickets there. 

Meanwhile, Molly (one of my roommates) realized she didn’t have her wallet. A few people backtracked where we had been to look for it, but didn’t find it. 

The bus finally came around 11:10 and of course they couldn’t speak English and we couldn’t speak Italian, but we think we might be able to buy tickets there if we needed to. We thought about calling a taxi, but decided against that because we can’t speak Italian…could you imagine how that conversation would have gone?? 

Molly reported her lost wallet and we came back to the apartments. Everyone decided to go back to the pool on base and spend the day swimming and laying out, but I woke up with a head cold (runny nose, headache, throat) so I stayed in my apartment and watched movies on my laptop, did some laundry, and slept. On top of everything else that’s happened, our Internet outside our apartment stopped working. I’m hoping it’s just a weekend thing, but who knows. :/ Tomorrow we’re planning on going to Pompeii, but we’ll see how our luck turns out!! 

My Apartment!!

 our kitchen!!

 living room :)

 one of the bathrooms...across from my room!

 the other bathroom...our shower is behind the orange and white curtain

 Kelly fixing my really tall rod in my closet haha

 My Room!!!

 There's another room like this, except purple, then another room with a queen size bed

the balcony looking out from my bed :)

 The pool at Carney Park

 A view of one of the mountain sides :)

 My awesome staff!!

 Sunset behind the mountains :)

"Spit Chicken" ?? :/

June 16

Today we went out to Carney Park, where we'll be spending two out of the five days during camp. I'll post some pictures, but it is GORGEOUS!! It's in an extinct volcano crater, so all around us is huge green mountain walls...it'll be pretty warm, but we're very lucky. :)

I found out today that I'll be working with ten year olds this year. The oldest is 11-12 year olds. I'll be working with another counselor, Merek, who is really excited to work with the 10 year olds as well!!

Tonight we went out to dinner for the first time. We walked about two miles to a town thats pretty close to our Support Site base. It was delicious! I got "Spit Chicken"...I have no idea what or who spit in it but it was good. :) It also came with potatoes.

A few observations:
--There are continuous fireworks going off. Like...legit fireworks. It'll be so fun to see what they do on the 4th of July!
--There are little lizards that crawl around real quick on sidewalks...I hate things that crawl! They're about 4-6 inches. :/
--Fanta here is soo much better than the Fanta at home. I think they add lemonade with the orange...very good!
--Crazy drivers...enough said.
--"piano piano" means "slowly!!"
--It rained for the first time yesterday in a very long time here...

This weekend we're only allowed to do day trips, but we're planning on going to Naples one day and Pompey the other!!

the first couple days...

So I arrived in Naples after 22 hours of traveling Sunday and Monday. I got to the airport around 6:30 Monday evening and got my luggage!! I was soo worried I wouldn't receive my big suitcase on time. The only trouble I had with my flights was in Amsterdam when the flight attendant decided to check my carry-on bag. When I got to Rome, I had to go out of the airport to baggage claim, wait for my bag to show, then go through security again. Also, I had to go to an Italian airline counter to get my boarding pass. It was interesting to say the least. :) Even though I had to do all that in a little over an hour, I made it with the help of Kelsey, one of the girls that I met up with in Amsterdam that ended up being one of my roommates.

My apartment is brand new and soo awesome! It's very very modern. They actually weren't done with it the first night, so yesterday and today they are finishing the details while we are at orientation. We are on the fourth floor with 3 girls living in the apartment with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a large living area, a fully furnished kitchen (stove, oven, microwave, fridge, plates, cups, cooking utensils, nice table, and 6 chairs), and the best part is we have THREE balconies!! Since we're so far up, we have beautiful views of the mountains and city. We are incredibly lucky to have such a fantastic place to live.

The Navy has three bases in Naples that are all connected. CAPO is where most of the sailors work, but we will only go there to pick kids up to bring them to the Support Site base, which is where we're working. Our apartment is right next to the base so to get to work we just walk about a half mile around to the gate to get in. It takes about 20-25 minutes, which isn't bad at all. The Support Site base has all the services (ex. hospital, commissary, movie theater, youth/teen center, high school, post office, etc.) which we have access to most of, which again we are very fortunate of.

Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday of every week we'll be at the youth center and every Wednesday and Friday we'll go to Carney Park which is located on an extinct volcano crater. In the past years the camp has been at Carney Park every day, but they had to house the counselors in three different locations which was tough, so this year they changed the program. Everything is very new and will get some taking used to for the center as well as the staff that is helping the Camp A staff.

My staff is a lot of fun so far. There are 8 ladies, 2 guys, plus our Project Coordinator/Director, Krystina and our Project Director, Alex. Our two main supervisors are Camp A veterans, which is rare, but very nice because they know all about our program.

I don't get internet in my apartment, but there is free wifi in the youth/teen center, so we've been bringing our laptops to work everyday and getting on after work. Naples is 7 hours ahead of Iowa.

Tomorrow we are going out to Carney Park to get to know the park before we take kids there and Friday we are going on a tour around Naples. We aren't allowed to do any overnight trips yet this weekend, but we're looking into doing a day trip to Pompey or the coast or something. :)

I will write more when something interesting happens!! Hope everything is great at home. :)

<3 Alli (There's another Allison here, so I'm going by Alli all summer!)