The other day I was running an errand on the outskirts of town and passed a sports complex full of kids. I stopped to check it out and found that they run weekly camps. Enough said, this would be perfect for Cole. On the first day you could find Cole sitting in the corner as the other kids yelled to each other in Italian. By the end of the week though, he was yelling right along with them and singing the Italian soccer fight song. Over the course of the week they played soccer, tennis, volleyball, field hockey, table tennis, basketball, and golf.
The biggest difference from his camps in the States, other than everyone speaking Italian of course, was the food and drink. The camp was eight hours a day so they ate lunch at a nearby restaurant. When we arrived each morning the first thing Cole did was choose a primi and secondi (first and second course) from that days menu. Imagine a restaurant of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders being served a 3 course meal, using olive oil and drinking bottled water. Everything (including the pasta) was fresh and seasonal. And they always serve bottled water. Italians have something against drinking from the tap, even though the water is perfectly safe. Every so often throughout the day they bring the kids a round of bottled water. We find that especially in restaurants, bottled water is as common as your fork and spoon. Anyway, you'll find a photo of one of his menus at the bottom of the post.
Guido and Cole.
Cole with more pals. Left to right is Cole, Andrea, Eduardo, Pietro, and Marco. (9 out of 10 male names end in an "o".)
