Gladiators!!

The girls went to gladiator school this past week, a fun sort of day camp offered here for kids. It was something we heard about in the States before leaving (thanks to the ciao bambino blog) and the girls were highly anticipating it. We left it for the last week as a goodbye send off to Roma.

It sure didn't disappoint. All four of us got to explore their little gladiator museum filled with gladiator related objects and learn a lot about the history of gladiator fighting in Italy. Then the girls went out into the ring with their "lanista" and learned a few key "moves." We got a great demonstration of how they used the net - he holds it in such a way that it fans out when he swings it and then he can cast it over his opponent. It was really quite impressive - they have really worked to hone their craft. Sometimes I thought, wow, these guys really think they are gladiators!!

The girls then "battled" each other with the instructor acting as referee. This part was a little difficult for me... It is a strange thing to watch your kids sort of go after each other, even if you know no real harm will come to either of them... I had constant mixed feelings and felt quite tense, though the children seemed to enjoy themselves immensely. I actually teared up at one point, when the instructor stopped and looked at Maymuna and said in astonishment: "you have no anger in you." Anyone who knows her knows that this is true. We stopped on the walk home because they wanted to pick daisies in a field, and I sighed, quite happy to see all traces of the afternoon gone...

Maymuna posted on the University of Minnesota blog about her experience, and I'll add a few extra pictures for you here: