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A day in the life of an Italian farm girl is sort of amazing.  I got a whole week to play the part on my host family’s farm in Roccafranca with Lynnie as my cohort.  It went a little like this:

7AM: Still sleeping but smell espresso and hear chickens.  Snooze.

7:30AM: Chickens are back.  Attic window is starting to get light.  Walk over and see mist rising over the backyard cornfields.  How could you stay asleep?

Morning cornrise

8:00AM: Eat biscotti at a kitchen table made for 10.  Drink espresso.   Operating heavy machinery isn’t recommended before several cups.

It's my table and I'll eat if I want to

8:30AM: Ride the tractor and some broomsticks.

Harry Potter meets Old McDonald

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JS0 Takes Roccafranca Children by Water Balloon

Team Fire Champions tossing water balloons in the camp Mini Olympics.

After a successful week of Orientation and Training, Sarah and I were sent to Roccafranca for our first week as A.C.L.E. tutors. I was in charge of the class of 9-year olds, a group I picked because of their class name, “Dogs.” (Each class was assigned an animal name, and frankly, I couldn’t think of a more legitimate way to determine which students l I would work best with.) Sarah was in charge of the “Tigers,” ages 12-13. Our experiences differed dramatically.
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After a week of English boot camp Perrin and I have been christened as capable tutors and ACLE is sending us off to our first school in the beautiful Roccafranca. Yes, THE RoccaFranca.  I had to look at map myself but it turns out that we will be less than an hour from Milan, Verona and Lake Garda.  A weekend trip to Venice is likely.

I feel like San Remo is home now so it’s tough to leave but we will be living with families in our new spot and I am looking forward to meeting my Italian mother for the next two weeks.  Visions of lasagna and washing machines are floating through my head.