After teaching  English in Japan in the summer of 2011, I really wanted to do something similiar in a different place in 2012.  Through a friend of a friend I was made aware of a program called ACLE (Associazione Culturale Linguistica Educational) in Italy.  The program hires English speakers from around the world to teach english using theatre, at camps in Italy.  The application process was  lengthy online questionaire  and required me to brush up on the parts of English I know, but don't think about every day.  I was accepted by the program but that didn’t mean I was automatically hired for the summer.  In order to complete the application process I would have to pass a week long orientation course in Sanremo, Italy.  

ACLE did not pay for flights or costs to get the orientation.  There also was a small fee to attend orientation.  However they did provide great directions on how to get to Sanremo.   I boarded a plane in Chicago and flew to Philadelphia, to Brussels to Nice France.  Then, I took a train along the mediterranean coast to Sanremo, Italy.  We are greeted at the train station by ACLE and taken to our hotel.  The ACLE age requirements span from age 19-30. At the hotel It’s a mix of all different ages.  It’s midday on a Sunday and I meet different people from all over the world.  The largest country represented is England.  Other English speaking countries represented at my orientation were; South Africa, Ireland, Canada, and of course a few states representing the United States.  

Monday through Friday are spent learning games and activities that we will be doing with students to teach English.  I enjoy the program much more than the one I did in Japan.  In the afternoons we have time to swim or get gelato after our orientation days.  I really enjoyed getting to meet so many different people.   Every night we meet somewhere different in town and have a large dinner, it’s a blast.  Friday we found our placements and received train tickets to the towns and cities we would be teaching.  It’s sad and exciting at the same time to say goodbye to so many people you will most likely not see again.  That Friday night we stayed out late celebrating… Saturday morning came quick as we said our goodbyes again at the train station.  I was fortunate to be traveling with an Italian teacher from Baltimore who helped make the transfer between train stations very easy.  

We arrived in Orzinuovi, Italy which is east of Milan.  We were greeted at the train station by two friendly Italian teachers.  I still remember how hot it was in the summer sun and how refreshing the ice cold cokes they gave us were.We made our way to one of the teachers homes  to go over planning for camp.  I remember how delicious the prosciutto ( a thinly sliced ham), melon, and cheese were.  This was a popular mid day snack in the Emilia-Romagna region that I spent a month teaching in.  At the teacher’s home were three other “tutors’ that's what ACLE calls its counselors.  Two girls were from Ireland and one was from Virginia.  I felt fortunate to be placed with others who had a previous camp teaching experience.  Our host families then came and picked us up.  I had three host families in Italy, all of them were overwhelmly welcome and amazing hosts.  The experience of homestays made Italy feel like a second home.  

Some of the highlights I remember from my first homestay are playing soccer with the family and extended family.  Delicious food was eaten including my first time eating cuttlefish pasta with a black ink colored sauce.  During my time spent here Italy was playing in the Euro Cup.  It was great to watch the matches on large projection screens in the city center.  My host family provided a bike that I took to the school for what was called ACLE city camp.  City camps go from 8:30 to 5:00.  We sang a lot of songs, played a lot of games all in English.  Even when reflecting I still remember how fast the days went.  Before I knew it Friday had come and the first week was done.  ACLE had emailed us train tickets for our next camp destination.

The next two week camp that I was placed at was in the city of Imola.  The Italian teacher from Baltimore was sent to a different city so for this time it was just me and the girl tutors. Upon arriva,l the Italian teacher took us to Ravenna to see very old Mosaics.  Following the Mosaics we spent the rest of the afternoon at a beach wading through the warms water of the Adriatic Sea.

My second host family lived out in the countryside outside of Imola.  The compound they lived on was connected and shared with other family members.  The foundation of the brick was originally built in the 1700s.  It even had a wine cellar.  At the top of the house I was shown a beam and spot in the ceiling were a German bomb had come down during World War 2.  The family was very outdoorsy and we went on a few hikes in the nearby hills after camp.  Being a huge dog lover I was really happy to see their two giant St. Bernards.  One of the favorite things that I did at camp was doing a presentation about the United States for the 4th of July.  We had small sparklers.  The students also got to eat peanut butter on bread which I learned was considered a very popular American food.

The weekend, in between the second week of camp at Imola, I went with one of the Italian Tutors from camp to Venice.  Venice is another world.  The canals and crowded streets were an unbelievable site.  The popular alcoholic beverage to drink is a Spritz which is a wine based cocktail.  It’s quite delicious and I highly recommend one if you are in northeast Italy.  I also found this strange but, my one of my new favorite flavors of gelato was Anise.  Anise flavoring  is most similar to black licorice.  We also visited  some of the surrounding islands( Murano)to check out the popular glass blowing.

One of the things that people ask me about Italy is how was the pizza.  Pizza in Italy is amazing! In my experience Italian pizza is a very thin crust with any topping you can think of.  If you order pizza in a  restaurant you are given a whole pizza.  So what I am trying to say is it is normal for everyone to order a separate pizza. I gained a lot of weight in Italy...    During the second week teaching at Imola we visited a friend of a family for dinner.  Their house was located out in the country with large hills just how you would imagine Italy to be.  Outside the house was a traditional wood fired pizza oven.  Their friend had taken a course in Naples to learn how to cook pizza.  I helped the grandmother inside make the dough kneading it back and forth.  Outside lots of wine was drank and an assortment of toppings were available to put on your personal pizza.  It was a memorable night ending two great weeks in Imola.

I check my email, my next camp will be in Formigine a small city outside of Modena.  Modena had just experienced an earthquake a couple of months earlier and you could still see the cracks at the base of a large tower. This time it is just me traveling, the girls went somewhere else.  It’s a smaller camp and I am joined by just one other counselor from Florida.  We meet and plan our camp week.  We decide to take a short day trip north to Verona.  One of the most famous tourist spots is Juliet's House.  It was a house that originally had a last name similar to Juliet's,Capulet.  Outside there is a balcony and bronze statue of Juliet.  It is said if you touch her breast you will have good luck. Needless to say I have a lot of good luck.  You will know you are close to this sight because there are a large amounts of tourists along with walls of the courtyard and the entryway filled with chewing gum.  We also spent time visiting museums and other attractions.  

My host family here was very welcoming and friendly like the rest.  We spent a lot of time sharing favorite movies and music.  The children were extremely athletic.  I remember one night watching the movie “Good Will Hunting” because of the Boston accent and fast  talking, it was fun to interpret what was going on to them.  I really liked the camp facilities  at the school and got to play sand volleyball and soccer on artificial turf with the students.  Two of the nights I went out with my siblings to a discoteca.  Which is like a nightclub with indoor and outdoor settings with a DJ.   As the camp came to the end I was notified there was no camp availability for me the following week.  I decided instead of waiting another week at a house provide by ACLE I would end my teaching and start solo traveling.  My host family was so helpful and let me stay an extra couple days and helped me make plans to take a train to Cinque Terre.   My host family said I would have to visit again when I was married on my honeymoon.

Cinque Terre is 5 seaside Italian cities on the coast of Mediterranean.  It is absolutely gorgeous and well photographed and traveled.  I checked into a small hostel and make my way to the beach and spent the first day swimming.  The next day I met an Australian girl in my hostel and went along the coast visiting all 5 towns.  We stop halfway through for pesto pasta and jump in the ocean for a swim. Suddenly I hear Italians yelling Medusa Medusa!!! Medusa is italian for jelly fish.  I am surround by jellyfish and carefully make my way back to shore.  That was too much excitement and a close call.  The hike took almost the whole day and we were exhausted.  The following day we got breakfast at a cafe which had free wifi as well as delicious strawberry crepes and cappuccino.  Through social media I was able to meet up with a boyfriend and girlfriend from Seattle  in one of the small towns and check out their sweet flat they had rented.

It was a great couple of days but my next stop was Florence.  As I waited midday at the train station I was approached by an African man.  At first I was hesitant when talking to strangers but I quickly realized he wanted to practice english.  He was excited to hear I was an American and we shared some warm beers and had a talk about Obama.  He had just immigrated to Italy from Africa and his next goal was to make it to the United States to live in New York City.
 

I arrived in Florence in the later afternoon.  This is my favorite large city in Italy.  There is just something about the vibe here that I really enjoyed.  My first night out I explored the streets and ended up getting my first donor kebabs.  Meat cooked vertically, rotisserie  style, before being sliced off and put on a pita bread.  A favorite young backpackers food in Europe, cheap and delicious. They are very popular stopping places after bars and clubs.
 

The following day I explored on my own and went to the Uffizi museum it was insanely surreal to see the Birth of Venus in person.  I also went and saw Michelangelo's David statue.  I met a good group of guys at my hostel and we went out to have some wine and watch the sunset over the city.  It took awhile to get used to the open container allowance in the city.  One of the guys and I decide to join a popular tour in Tuscany the following day that the hostel recommends.  

The next time we load onto a large tour bus and are off to see the Tuscany countryside. The tour is full day and we spend the morning exploring the city of Siena and its large city square.  Following the tour we head to a wine tour that includes lunch at a farm in the countryside.  The beauty of the landscape is overwhelming.  At our table we meet two girls from New Zealand and a larger family from India.  The Indian family is not interested in drinking as much wine so they share their bottles with us.  We drink far too much and spend the rest of the tour laughing.  I am not even sure what happened to the New Zealand girls because we never saw them again after the tour. Following the wine we stopped at the leaning tower of Pisa.  Watching people pose for pictures is just as much fun as seeing the tower.  

As we head back into Florence I use the wifi  at our hostel and I am able to meet up with a friend.  Not only was Sara an Art Education major like me, we had also done the Guy Healy program in Japan together.  I had told Sara about the ACLE program but she was placed in different cities and had a different orientation than me so this was my first time seeing her.  She was joined by her boyfriend Calvin.  To my surprise they had just got engaged and I was one of the first people to know! It’s another exciting night in Florence.  

On my last full day in Florence I explore some more museums with some of the other guys from the hostel.  I really enjoyed the sculptures and statues at the Bargello.  I was able to get some good leather souvenirs here as well.  I swear some of the streets smell like leather.  

My next destination was Rome.

Before traveling to Italy, Rome was my must see destination.  When I thought of Italy all I thought of was Rome  I gave myself a few days to explore the city.  The temperature when I arrived by train to the city was a sweltering 90 degrees fahrenheit.  The airconditioning in the hostel I stayed in had just broken down...  I was staying on the top floor in a coed shared dorm room.  There was a very small shower in the room and I took a cold shower.  When I got out two british girls who actually worked at the hostel were laughing.  Excited to see a half naked American I guess… One asked if I could give her a massage… I want to clarify this was a highly rated hostel online.  I went down stairs to a bar next door and got some drinks.  I met a guy from Switzerland we talked politics in Europe for the next few hours and caught me up on a lot of information I had no idea about.

The next couple of days I went and saw some of the must sees of Rome.  The Colosseum, Spanish steps, Trevi fountain and a couple of museums.  It is a world wind and really exciting to see some of these landmarks in real life.  

The next day I visit the Vatican City, the city state, that is the smallest country in the world. Headquarters of the Catholic church.  I was shocked by the amount of homeless people surrounding the exterior walls.  I definitely was cautious of pickpockets, this was the first city were I definitely kept my guard up. During early August the Pope at the time had retreated to the nearby mountains.  The tour has a lot of great information.  At the time I was there a special exhibition of letters sent to the Pope from famous leaders around the world, throughout the years.  The Sistine Chapel was disappointed by the sheer vast mass of people huddled together in the room.   

My last night in Rome I went to a club with others from the hostel.  This was more the party crowd that wanted to get wasted.  The club we went to had a lot of bouncers by the door, that was strange.  Since we came with a large group we were given bottles of Champagne which again I thought was strange. There were booths with TV screens and a dance floor area that was crowded.  They party a lot later in Italy than the US.  Before I knew it was 3am and some of us went into a crowded taxi.  I still remember clearly the roundabouts as we went through the city.  The two British girls who worked at the hostel had decided to bring back guys that night so the room was even more crowded and hot.  I was glad this was my last night in this strange orgy fest.   

In reflection the best part of Italy was spending the time with the host families.  The everyday conversations about life ver dinners allowed me to learn about the real authentic Italy.   Rome, which I was the most excited about visiting, was surprisingly disappointing, dirty and crowded.  My goal is to go back to Italy again with my wife this summer.