Thursday, July 31, 2014
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Birthdays - Part 2
If someone has the videos to these - could you please forward them to me so I can post them as well.
Kenzi!!
Caulen
Brant - at 4 a.m.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Day 19 - Our Last Hurrah in Paris
Today we visited the Louvre first thing this morning. The kiddos all participated in a group scavenger hunt of sorts to make sure the saw some of the most important pieces - the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, Colossus of Ramses, Venus De Milo among the highlights. 
Our last big activity was Versailles where we had another scavenger hunt. What a place that is - taking gaudy to a whole new level. Of course we saw the Room of Mirrors, Louis XIV's bedroom and Marie Antoinette's bedroom. They also saw the painting "The Coronation of Napoleon" by Jacques- Louis David which they had also seen earlier in the day at the Louvre. The only difference between the two paintings is that Napoleon's favorite sister's dress was white in the original and pink in the replica. We took a tour of the gardens which unfortunately did not have the water features working. Still beautiful though.
Then it was off for dinner and back to the hotel to pack - repack - and repack again to get luggage under the 50 pound weight limit. Thanks to Warren for bringing his luggage scale. We should be all ready to go tomorrow morning EARLY. We have to depart the hotel at 3:45 a.m. I can't say enough how much fun the kids have been. We've laughed, we've cried, we've learned, and we have grown!! Thank you again for sharing your children with us!
Day 18 - Midnight Train to Paris
After the coach orientation, we headed over for a tour of Notre Dame Cathedral. Our guide explained the architecture and how it was built over several hundred years. We walked around the outside and then over the lock bridge and saw the French replica of our Statue of Liberty which is placed in the Seine looking towards New York symbolizing the peace and friendship between our 2 countries. 
We lunched atop Montemarte where everyone tried escargot and then it was a mad dash back down to meet our 3 o'clock reservation for the Eiffel Tower. Everyone got to go up to the top of the tower and were quite impressed by the view. You could see everything there. Then it was off to the Champs Elysses for a stroll up the street looking in or shopping at the shops until they reached the Arch D'Triumph. We even ran into our Delegation Manager from Australia a few years ago. It was a nice mini reunion of sorts.Off to dinner at Flam's for flatbreads, which was a smash with the kids and then back to hotel for rest and getting ready for our last day in Paris!
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Day 17 - Water, Water Everywhere....
We made our way to Venice this morning by train and were welcomed by a cool rain.
After making our way from the train station to the St. Mark's Square and then to take a gondola ride around the canals. The water was a bit choppy in the main canal, but once on the smaller canals it was much smoother. 
The weather really switched up our schedule a bit. We had planned to do a scavenger food hunt with the kids, but changed and ended up having lunch at an awesome pasta place where everything was homemade. It was delicious and we ate it in the square.
After lunch, we made our way over to the Murano Glass Company and learned how to hand make glassware, chandeliers, jewelry, and figurines. It was fascinating to see a Master glass blower work his magic making both a cat and a pitcher in less than 10 minutes. Pretty impressive!! Then it was off for a guided tour of the city learning about the history of Venice and the canals. It was all quite interesting.
We grabbed some boxed dinners for our overnight train ride to Paris. This was quite an experience for the kids - being in sleeper cars and on the move.
While it doesn't sound like a lot in one day - we kept busy all day and learned a lot
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Day 16 - Part II - May We Never Forget
After our time at Pisa we continued onto Carpi to visit the
Deportee Memorial Museum and the Fossoli Transient/Concentration Camp where we
were welcomed by a representative from the Museum, as well as a city official. Needless
to say this was a very moving experience for all of us. Even though the museum
was understated it still portrayed a powerful message of man’s inhumanity
during WWII. Our guide shared several stories of individual sacrifice. In the
last room, The Room of the Names, there were over 14,000 names of Italian
political and racial prisoners who were deported to Nazi Death Camps. These
were names were randomly chosen from the more than 60,000 on the official list
of Italian deportees. Among these 14,000
names was one very familiar to most of the students – Anna Frank. Another extremely moving experience while in
the Room of the Names came when students read excerpts taken from the Letters’
of the Condemned to Death of the European Resistance (Einaudi, Torino,
1954). These excerpts were also inscribed
on the walls throughout the museum.
From the museum, we headed to the actual Fossoli Camp. As we walked through the camp, the remnants
of the “housing” and various other buildings while learning where the prisoners
went from time of arrival to time of departure to the Death Camps. We also learned how the camp was separated
from Political prisoners (wearing red triangles) and racial prisoners (wearing
yellow triangles). The camp was
officially closed in 1945 as a concentration camp – ending a horrific era.
However, the Italians rose above these atrocities by turning
the camp into an orphanage run Don Zeno Saltini in 1947 until 1952. After that, the camp was transformed once
again into a refugee camp named Villagio San Marco. These people turned the camp into a more
home-like atmosphere by planting gardens and getting rid of all the barbed wire
and fences. This Villagio remained until
those people could return home in 1972 when the camp was abandoned for
good. Many trees have now grown up
through the buildings and many are falling down due to the massive earthquake
of 2012.
After our visit, our city official asked for a picture of him with the students to remember their visit. Only a handful chose to participate in this.
We will leave you tonight with a final quote from Bertolt
Brecht (The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui):
You too; You ought to learn to see, not look up in the air.
To act, not speak.
This monster was once on the verge of ruling the world!
He was suppressed by the people, but let us not cry victory
too soon;
The womb that bore him is still fertile.
Day 16 - Part I - Lean to the Right
The students were a bit shocked that the Leaning Tower was not as tall as they had thought it would be. It's is a beautiful bell tower that leans 5.4 meters. The construction began in 1173 and the soil caused it to lean when it was just 10 meters high. The Tower was completed in the late 14th Century. The Tower’s apparent flouting of the laws of gravity has attracted many visitors including Galileo, who climbed to the top to conduct his famous experiments on velocity.
The Duomo has a superb façade that has a side door with
charming bronze panels by Bond Anno Da Pisa. The interior has numerous works of
art including an elaborate carved gothic pulpit with a 13th century
mosaic.
We challenged the students to a creative Pisa photo contest. Don't forget to ask about them when we get home.
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Day 15 - Florence on our Minds
We had a very somber start to our day as we visited the Florence American Military Cemetery. This particular cemetery is the final resting place of over 4300 servicemen who lost their lives during the final stages of the Italian campaign in World War II. The family of these brave men chose to bury their loved ones in this beautiful countryside. You would have been so proud of the students as they were very respectful at the cemetery where they learned the stories of several men buried there or are still among the missing. 
From there, we headed to Florence and a leather factory where the students learned how leather boxes were made - much like the one made for Catherine de' Medici before she married the King of France. 
After that - it was lunch where we all got to taste black pasta with seafood sauce. In case you were wondering - black pasta gets it's color from squid ink. Yummy???? Most of the kids at least tried it and surprisingly like it.
We ended the day with a City Walk - and learned about the Duomo and about other buildings in Florence as well as the outdoor "museum" in the city square. 
It was extremely hot today and everyone is tuckered out. Pictures tomorrow with fingers crossed for better internet!
Friday, July 18, 2014
Day 14 - Are you Up for It????
What a challenging, though-provoking, exhilarating day we
had today! It was FULL ON!!
We started our day of challenges talking about some principals
of approaching life full on.
1.
Slam it –
Always give 100%
2.
Frame it – See – Feel – Do – Get. How we see things, affects how we feel, which
affects what we do and what we get.
Sometimes we just need to change our perspective to change the result.
3.
Focus on it – Let your thoughts take root and
grow into something amazing.
4.
RAS – Filter out the negative – program your
thoughts. What you focus on
expands.
We learned that stepping outside our comfort zone is okay
and sometimes what we need to do amazing things. Listening to negative voices can sometimes
hinder us. They learned ways to tell the
difference between False expectations and real risk.
False
Expectations
About
Risk
They were encouraged to step outside their comfort zones if
we want our “IT” – whether that be getting into the college of choice – being a
professional athlete, a doctor, etc.
We talked about mistakes and how we perceive them as bad –
after some open discussion, we were able to change our perspective and realize
that sometimes “Beeps Happen” (remember to ask your kids about the “Beeps in
Life” and the maze game). Those “beeps”
help us to get to where we want to be.
Everyone makes mistakes – embrace them – and move on.
OWN IT – They were encouraged to take responsibility for
their own successes and failures. The
students were encouraged to look for their “IT” and go for it. Talk to people – get advice – educate yourself
about your IT, but don’t let other’s negativity hold you back.
The students rappelled down a castle turret – which they all
thought was amazing. Some were a bit
apprehensive, but everyone encouraged everyone else. It was amazing to watch the support these
kiddos have developed for each other shine in this way.
They broke boards – learning to focus – use that inner
strength. Most didn’t think they could
do it. Many didn’t break it on the first
attempt – but they all broke their boards.
To watch their pure joy as they accomplished this was something
else. You would all have been proud
today – I know all of us leaders were beaming!!
We also played some other team building games.
At the end of the day – the kids were super excited and said
this was the best day yet!
It All Starts With Me:
When I was young and free and my imagination had to limits,
I dreamed of changing the world.
As I grew older and wiser I discovered the world would not
change, so I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my
country.
But it too seemed immovable.
As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, I
settled for changing only my family, those closest to me.
But alas they would have none of it.
And now, as I lie on my deathbed, I suddenly realized: If I had only changed myself first, then by
example I would have changed my family.
From their inspiration and encouragement, I would have been able to
better my country and, who knows, maybe even changed the world”
Your students inspiration for the day!
Tomorrow we leave Assisi and head to Florence! Home in a week – I know you are missing your
babies!
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