Bienvenuti

It’s only been four days but it feels like it’s been a full four weeks!

I arrived into Venice at around 9:30am (3:30 am for those keeping time in the Eastern time zone) and waited for about an hour for six other Camp A girls to get in. There are 15 of us girls in Vicenza, five that got in two weeks before us and the other 10 that arrived on Sunday.

My home for the next 11 weeks is a hotel room consisting of two beds, a pullout couch, a bathroom, and a small kitchenette that I share with two other girls. And yes, we will be rotating the pullout couch all summer. We have also agreed to split groceries and meals as well so the tradeoff for sleeping on a pullout couch isn’t so bad!

We spent most of Sunday trying to get to know each other (and not fall asleep in the middle of the day) but Monday we got right into the swing of things. After a few orientation meetings we got our base passes, bikes, and new phone plans. Tuesday was a little more exciting as we got to actually visit the center we’ll be working at and got to meet our fellow staff and kiddos. Today consisted of more orientation and observation and tomorrow will be another similar day. Even though camp doesn’t start until Monday, our first real day will be Friday since tomorrow is the last day of school for the kids. The center I’m at is absolutely gorgeous and I can’t wait to get to know everyone and put on a great program for the kids!

Aside from work we have just been trying to get to know each other better and get comfortable on base. The garrison is split into two bases, Ederle and Villaggio. Almost everything is on Ederle including the hotel, library, bowling alley, gym, commissary (grocery store), shopping center, and high school. Villaggio has the elementary and middle schools, the centers that we are working at, and some more military housing. The bases are a few miles apart but are only about a 10-15 minute bike ride. The ride is beautiful and definitely makes having to be at work at 8am a little easier!

We finally got off base last night (aside from traveling to and from work) in hopes of finding food. We haven’t gotten our commissary privileges yet so even though we have a kitchen, we have nothing to cook in it. The hotel offers breakfast every morning and thankfully there are some fast food places where we can get food on base but being able to eat a fulfilling pasta dish last night was a much needed change of pace. Unsurprisingly, I have also gotten gelato the last two nights (when in Italy, right?).

We’re not allowed to do over night trips this weekend but a group of us are planning to visit downtown Vicenza after work on Friday and then make day trips to Venice and Verona this weekend. I am beyond excited to go explore and can’t wait to share my travels!

I know our camp outfits are super cute but our camp names are even cuter! We won’t be going by our real names this summer but by our dessert names, try to guess who’s who! Ms. Funfetti, Ms. Peppermint Pattie, Ms. Creme Brûlée, Ms. Carrot Cake, Ms. Sugar Cookie, and Ms. Cinnabun!