LA CIVETTA May 2017 | Page 35

Tutors arrived at camps at around 8:30 with students arriving at 9am. First thing was a “warm up circle”, a series of songs and games to get the students’ energy levels up! We would then split off into individual classes; one tutor to 12-20 students with a bilingual Italian teenager to translate any difficulties. The afternoons would then be joint creative activities pre-prepared by the tutors. Camp would formally finish at 5pm and after an evening meeting with the camp directors, I was off home to spend the evening with my host family.

During the stay we were placed with host families with children at the camp. I cannot speak highly enough of the families who treated me like their own daughter. Most of whom I am still in contact with and have invited me back this year. Some of them even went out of their way to ensure I experienced every part of their local culture. From taking me on day trips to Florence, trying Florentine cuisine like panzanella and cantuccini e vin santo or taking me to breathe-taking grotte in Treviso and giving me historical tours of neighbouring towns. My final family who lived in Turin were determined that I had the full “Piedmontesian experience”. Not only did they take me for a day trip to see: the Mole Antonelliana and the museo Egizio (the second largest Egyptian museum in the world!), but they took me to a traditional Piedmontese restaurant, taught me some Piedmontese dialect and even drove me across the Italian-Swiss border to Switzerland for the day!

I was fortunate enough to have toured Northern Italy in my three months there. I started off with a two week camp in Florence, then Treviso, Bologna, La Spezia and Turin. And these were only the places I taught in! The ACLE Team advised us to take some weeks off from teaching to go and explore Italy/relax! I also managed to see San Remo and hopped over to France to visit Nice, Monte Carlo and Menton. By the end of my time there I can honestly say that I had visited more of Italy than the UK!

To find out more about applying, head to ACLE.org

Sabrina Guselli

To find out more about applying, head to ACLE.org