Tag Archives: italy

Meaningful Experiences

I decided to stay in Perugia this week—mainly because my bank account was hurting from traveling but also because I picked this amazing city for a reason. I wanted to explore more and start to do some more meaningful things. So of course the first thing meaningful I sign up for was a free chocolate tasting. Let me explain…chocolate is associated with the day of love, Valentine’s Day, so this makes it meaningful. Well, that’s at least what I convincingly told myself while signing up. Plus, the city of Perugia is well known for their incredible chocolate, so why not indulge?

The chocolate tasting was not what I was expecting. Instead, it was more of a somber lesson learned. Somber and chocolate? Yes, I know. Even I was surprised that the two words could coincide with one another. The group of anxious tasters and I were led to a theatre room to watch a movie before the actual tasting began. The fair trade students in our program had organized the whole event and gave a quick spiel about what we were about to watch. The short documentary displayed modern day child slavery in Africa, specifically the Ivory Coast. The crop: the cocoa bean. Large chocolate distributors such as Nestle are purchasing their cocoa beans from plantations filled with child slaves taken from their homes in neighboring countries. These children were young, malnourished, beaten, barely clothed, and walking around with machetes in their hands.

The company Nestle still refused to admit that their cocoa plantations featured child slaves even after video footage. We learned that Nestle and other large chocolate distributors pay 1 euro for a kilogram of cocoa beans, which can then make 40 chocolate bars. So these corporations are making around 40 euro for every 1 euro they pay and knowing that the people working in the plantations are barely making a wage.

Afterwards, we were introduced to some chocolate that was fairly traded (meaning workers were given a fair wage in return for their work). It still felt strange—trying all this chocolate after watching the film. So, yes, chocolate and somber can coincide.

Refugees:

Later on in the week a few of the people in my program were invited to help local refugees practice their English. The experience was great because we were able to meet people from other countries and walk around Perugia. We ended up at a park with one of the most glorious views, and we all bonded quite quickly. Although it was somewhat difficult to communicate, it was still interesting to hear stories from the refugees. Most of them were from India, Mali, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, but they had been almost everywhere in Europe and Northern Africa.

A story that really stuck with me came up when discussing if Americans approve of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. One gentleman from Pakistan told us how there was an American attack a few weeks ago that killed over 140 children. They were school kids around the ages of 6 and 7. He had a sort of pain in his eyes while telling us the details. I looked around at all of the Americans who were listening in and there was only one expression upon their faces: shame.

When you’re studying abroad in a place as amazing as Italy you forget that the rest of the world is existing. Sometimes it’s easy to get out of touch with what’s going on back in the States or really what’s going on anywhere else in the world. I know for me the focus has been traveling and having a good time, which is what is supposed to happen. But at the same time studying abroad should show you so much more. It should show you that we, as human beings, have had a lot of successes in our time, but we have had just as many failures. It’s something you’re bound to realize when traveling and interacting with so many different people and cultures. I think the main goal of studying abroad is to help open your eyes to these failures so you’ll be inspired to one day improve them.

 

 


Location: Perugia, Italy

“O Romeo, Romeo, Wherefore art thou Romeo?”

The sweet surprise of the semester was Verona, Italy. This little town just an hour outside of Milan gave me one of the best experiences of my life, and it was so unexpected. My roommate Lynnsey and I decided to travel to Verona on somewhat of a whim for a weekend. All of our previous knowledge of the small city revolved merely around Shakespeare’s story of Romeo and Juliet, but instead of a tragedy (slight Shakespeare humor) we ended up having an amazing time.

First and foremost, Lynnsey and I are not on the planning committee. The planning committee consists of my other roommate and two of our friends. Their job is to book a place to stay, decide on train tickets, and plan particular activities to do. It worked well in Florence and Pisa, but this time Lynnsey and I were without them. Needless to say, I was quite worried. After only getting an hour of sleep, we finally ventured on our own to Verona early on a Saturday morning at 6:00 a.m. Once our quick layover in Bologna (a place I must come back to!) ended, we were off to Verona traveling through some of the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen. When we arrived, we quickly walked straight to the arena, which looks like a miniature Colosseum. Although I didn’t get my gladiator on, it still felt incredible to be there. It was crazy to see how this structure was still standing even after being built nearly 2,000 years ago.

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After the arena, we ended up at the most notorious spot in Verona: Juliet’s balcony. Lovers, hopeless romantics, and people from all over the world overran the patio below. To get to the balcony you first have to walk through a tunnel of love notes. People stick these notes all over the walls in hopes of finding true love. Of course Lynnsey just wrote “#SingleAsAPringle,” and for me I wrote a heart warming letter to Juliet: “help a sista out!” Once you make it through the tunnel the next step to finding true love is apparently rubbing the statue of Juliet’s right breast. In my opinion that’s more sexually violating than a sign of good luck, but it’s tradition and we participated. The most entertaining part was watching a group of British elementary school boys fight over who would get to touch the breast. One boy in particular, the one who fought the hardest and won, had a wide grin on his face while groping the young Juliet. The adults who were overseeing the boys took their photo while onlookers spent their time pointing and laughing. I must admit it was hilarious, but I’m also slightly concerned for that boy’s future…let us pray.

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Location: Verona, Italy

Italy Beyond Temple

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It has been almost one month now since I became a part of the city of Rome. In terms of functionality, I can confidently accomplish almost any task that I desire. Whether its navigating through Rome, ordering food at a restaurant, or planning trips throughout the country, I am becoming more and more integrated into this Roman culture. However, I still wish to be more broadly exposed to the culture. People have often referred to the term “American bubble” while studying abroad. This is where we Americans find ourselves content with the new American friends we made and the places we are comfortable with. This is an instance that occurs with all of us and only by being proactive will you be able to escape it.

The first item that is broadening my experience here in Rome is volunteering at a local high school. A group of students and I all are responsible for teaching English to a class of Italian students. Once a week, we show up to class for an hour and teach the students through activities and conversations. Additionally, the students assist us university students with our Italian as well as helping us familiarize ourselves with the area. Just last week, I had my students recommend many places in Rome to go that are not considered touristy or American, but places where actual Italians go to socialize. Additionally, earlier today, the students helped me with my Italian phrases as well as told me what my last name meant in Italian. I am grateful for this opportunity because it is allowing me to see another side of Rome and Italy I would not have been able to see if I had just kept doing what I was doing. I often find in life that having opportunities that make you nervous or uncomfortable are the ones that are the most memorable. I look forward to continuing my semester with these students.

An additional way I broadened my horizons beyond Temple Rome was going to Bologna last weekend. When it comes to touristic cities Americans love to visit, Italy has a whole bunch of them: Rome, Florence, Venice, Pisa, Naples, etc. One name that never comes up is the quaint city of Bologna. Located a bit north of Rome, Bologna is as pure Italian as it comes. While it is similar to many other Italian cities with its churches and piazzas, it has a very different personality. People in Bologna were from Bologna; Italian was the only language spoken. Traveling to Bologna was a great experience for my friends and I. Not only did it allow us to grow closer in the process; it allowed us to be further integrated into Italy’s culture and have a greater appreciation for many of the behaviors we observe back in Rome.

This upcoming weekend I will be traveling to Florence for a school-sponsored excursion. I look forward to seeing what residents of Florence are like and how the city as whole is. I know a lot of people’s focus when traveling abroad is to travel to as many places as possible throughout Europe. Not me. Getting to know Rome and Italia is the real goal for this semester. I want Italia to become a second home of mine. One month in, I would say I am on the right track of reaching my goal.

A presto!

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Location: Bologna, Piazza Maggiore, San Petroni

Italy Knows What’s Up

Italy just has it figured out—everything from the food, to the schooling, to the culture just seems so right. I’m really starting to wonder what America is doing wrong.

Well let’s first start with the food. Italy’s main food groups consist of wine, bread, chocolate, and pasta. If you’re at a restaurant and ask for water and a bowl of bread for the table, you’ll pay for the water but not the bread. Some of the chocolate shops stay open later than the majority of stores and restaurants. You can go to the local grocery store and get a bottle of wine for as little as 3 euros…and it’s not in a box. The thing that surprises me the most is how fresh everything is. Preservatives are nearly nonexistent in their food, and fast food or takeout is practically frowned upon. “Mom and Pop shops” are how people get their meals when they want to eat out. These shops are just a fancy way of saying family owned. There aren’t all these chain restaurants that serve the same menu and whip up some frozen meal for you. Most of the Mom and Pop shops include handmade pizzas, fresh cooked pasta, and traditional family recipes. The only time you can really find that in the States is if you’re in a Little Italy in one of the cities located close to you. But this isn’t Little Italy…It’s Big Italy and it’s great! People fill up on delicious and huge amounts of food but the country does not have the obesity problem that haunts the American lifestyle. Food is also a social thing here. Italians aren’t really found out at restaurants eating for comfort or because it was just something to do, but rather they spend time socializing with their friends or family at the dinner table and pace themselves while they’re eating.

So I guess I should throw something in here about school because you know… “study” abroad. Trust me when I say that most of my blog entries will be about my actual travel experiences, but for the sake of the parentals (who practically funded the trip…love you), or my University, or for those who believe knowledge can be obtained only from a classroom rather than immersing yourselves in a person’s culture and environment I will have a small snippet about my classes. Well…I love all of my professors. Some come from Rome others from Florence. Some are even Perugia natives who have studied all over the world, but the thing I love most about them is their vivaciousness. I’ve never been to a school where every single teacher had the eagerness to teach and the excitement to go along with it. It makes learning for me an even more enjoyable experience. I’ve even signed up for a more intensive Italian language class because I loved the teacher so much. Yes, me…a girl who practically cursed at seven years of trying to learn Spanish. But I’m thrilled. I feel like I have already learned a decent amount of Italian (or at least enough to ask how much those pair of shoes cost) and my other classes—Archeology, Italian Mafia, and Intercultural Marketing—really have me looking forward to the rest of the semester!

After only being in Perugia for two weeks, I am proud to say that most of my pre departure thoughts are not very accurate. My biggest surprise came when I developed “diversity shock.” And, yes, I do believe that is a phrase I invented but for now I am going with it. Perugia is the capital of the region Umbria, and even though it’s the capital, compared to Rome it is practically unheard of. Although, to my surprise, the rest of the world has heard of it because they’re all here. I’ll be honest, when deciding to study in Perugia, Italy I expected…well…Italians (okay, white people), but the beauty of it is there are so many countries represented in this small town it’s impossible to count. It’s not like in the States where diversity is literally categorized into four groups: black, white, Asian, and Hispanic. It’s also different in a way that most people who are black, white, Asian, and Hispanic have never been outside of the U.S. nor have they actually been a part of the true cultural experience that their ancestors were once a part of before coming to America. Here, you can be from Afghanistan, have gone to school in South Africa, taught in Saudi Arabia, lived in Greece, and now you’re in Perugia. In fact, I have met a few locals with practically that same backstory. I’ve bumped into Nigerians, Chinese, Germans, Georgians (the country…please don’t think Atlanta), South Africans, Afghani, and Greeks who now reside in this beautiful small city. I think that’s one of the things I’m going to miss the most: walking around, listening to all these different languages and seeing all these different people, and thinking “this is like the true American melting pot”—except I’m Italy, and right now that seems alright!

 


Location: Perugia, Italy

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Old McOrsini Had a Farm

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lesson on how to make pasta at Lake Trasimeno

Pictured above, I was receiving a lesson on how to make pasta at Agriturismo Orsini on Lake Trasimeno by the Orsini family. They own a farm on the lake and are one of the founders of the slow food movement in which they completely sustain their selves and farm by complete means of only what they produce themselves. Interestingly enough, there has been an olive oil “famine” this year in Italy due to a bacteria, Xylella fastidiosa, that grew on olive trees and wiped out a large majority of one of Italy’s main exports. Because the Orsini family are in complete control of their products, they were able to get their animals to eat the infected olive branches therefore saving their olive oil production this spring. They are one of the only companies in Italy that were able to successfully produce healthy olives this year and therefore their oil is in high demand. Our group was privileged enough to buy their homemade olive oil before it was released to the public which is sure to sell out quick!

As soon as our group, 90 American students studying abroad at the Umbra Institute this semester, arrived at the farm we were immediately welcomed with open arms by this family. They immediately fed us a “peasant’s breakfast”, which I thought was fit for a King! It consisted of their homemade bread with olive oil and then another sweeter bread that they also made there with chocolate chips baked inside. Molto buono! (Very good!) After a meet and greet with the family over some bread and olive oil, we were given a lesson on how to make pasta – start to finish. Starting with eggs and flour, all the way to how to correctly cut the pasta and then let it dry properly before cooking. After eating pasta that we made that day, and several other courses they prepared for us for lunch; they gave each apartment a plate of even more fresh pasta to take back with us and eat for dinner that night. Such sweet and loving people.

Below is the process of how to make pasta taught by the Orsini family:

 

pasta making

step 1: flour and eggs

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outside class

pasta making

step 3: rolling out pasta

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step 4: being taught how to cut the pasta properly

pasta making

took off the training wheels

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ready to be cooked!

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finished product, lunch!


Location: Lake Trasimeno, Italy

Arivaderci America, Ciao Roma!

10544396_10153009122588728_8925734063064821524_nAs I sit here in JFK Airport anxiously awaiting my 7:30 pm departure time, my mind is just racing. What’s Rome going to be like? What are the kids in my program going to be like? How am I going to adapt to the culture? Am I at the right terminal? It is feeling I have not felt in a long time, but one I am extremely grateful to be experiencing. I am about to embark on the biggest journey I have yet to face in my life – a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience. It is with this mindset that has led me to take a moment and think about what I wish to achieve while studying abroad.

My first goal is related to personal growth and adaptation. Studying abroad is about as intense as it gets in terms of veering outside your comfort zone. You are essentially thrust into a foreign country without knowing the language, culture, or any other people – a daunting task to say the least. Either you can give in to the cultural shock that you are sure to experience or you can adapt. I plan on choosing the latter. I want to grow and become a person who thrives in uncomfortable situations. I want to be skilled at making an unfamiliar place feel familiar. Ways of accomplishing these goals is by embracing the culture that I am being thrust into by adapting their ways of living. Most importantly, I plan to explore the city and the country with every opportunity I get. Whether its taking a walk to the Spanish Steps, jogging by the Vatican, or relaxing in the numerous piazzas, I plan to fully integrate myself into the Roman way of life.

My second goal is primarily regarding social situations and relationships. I believe the hardest change that I will be facing is not knowing anyone else in this program. It is with that in mind that will ultimately compel me to be engaging and outgoing with other individuals; to be friendly and kind. I know that, even as a senior, I am going to have to embrace my freshman year tactics of getting to know my peers. It starts with my four roommates whom I am very curious to meet. After that, there are over 100 students in Rome with me this semester that I have to chance to form a relationship. Not to mention the millions of people in Rome. If I am able to say I have managed to make at least one friend as a result of studying abroad, I will have done my job.

My last goal is all about embracing the Italian culture that I will be joining. After taking an Italian class informing me about all the differences between American and Italian culture, I believe that I am ready to experience it. Notable differences include dressing nicely more frequently, later meal times, and different diets. Most importantly, life moves slower in Italy. I believe that these cultural aspects with ultimately have a positive impact on my life moving forward. From allowing me to slow down in regards to the American lifestyle as well as embracing fresher, healthier foods, I am excited to see the type of person I become after spending four months exposed to Italian culture.

I am now an hour within departing for Europe. It is on this note that I conclude my first entry. After this, there is no going back. When I am back in America in April, I do not know what I will be like. But I know for a fact that I cannot wait to find out. Until next week, ciao!


Location: John F. Kennedy International Airport

The View From Up Here

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Perugia, Italy—It feels like something out of a fairytale. The cobblestone streets swivel throughout the city going in between the beautiful stone walls that stand with the ancient buildings. You know those movies set during the medieval times with all those princesses searching for their princes…well that’s the scenery. That’s my life now. Of course there are no real princesses, I don’t expect any frogs being kissed and turning into princes here anytime soon, but the sights are that spectacular. I’m sorry to say that no matter what I write I feel that it will truly never capture the immense beauty this city has to offer.

So as we drove up (and up and up and up…) to the small city of Perugia, my new roommates and I were in awe of what surrounded us. The shuttle slowly slid through the alleyways and up to the top of the mountain we went. Once we successfully climbed the steps to our newly awaited fortress, we were exhausted (yes we each carried 2 suitcases up about 4 flights of stairs but, hey, welcome to Italy) yet ecstatic. We turned the corner and there it was…the most amazing view I have ever witnessed with my own two eyes—right from our living room. We would look at this everyday for the next four months entranced by its mountainous landscape and its ancient buildings atop the hillsides. Every direction told a story, and I wanted to read every word of it.

Now, I know I am sort of writing this post as if it were a Shakespearean play or a Jane Austen novel, but it is that fictitious to me. It’s fictitious in a way that I still can’t believe what I’m seeing is real. It’s fictitious in a way that I am still trying heavily to grasp the fact that I am in Italy. I am experiencing the exquisiteness, the cappuccinos, the fashion, the language, the wine, and most importantly the people. People here are generous and seem to understand the bigger picture in life. They love to laugh, drink, and live.

Just the other day my friends and I went to get breakfast at a local bakery. One of the girls didn’t exchange her money yet and didn’t have enough euros to pay, so the man at the counter politely handed her a chocolate-filled croissant and told her to come back and pay when she had money. People just aren’t that nice anymore. Greed takes over so much, and no I’m not saying that everyone in Italy would do that, but that is just a good glimpse of the people I have met since landing in Perugia 5 days ago. And to be honest, it’s going to be hard to leave.

And side note—no, it’s not really anything like The Godfather…but that might be a good thing!


Location: Perugia, Italy

my street in Perugia

first day in Perugia, Italy

50 Shades of Mozzarella

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud to present: PERUGIA, IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITALY! Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.

People, let me tell you, Perugia is an absolute dream. When I pictured Italy, it is exactly what I imagined. I have to pinch myself every time I walk outside my apartment because everything is so beautiful and I am so so appreciative of all my surroundings. I am a big eater, as you will come to read, and I cannot even begin to express how amazing the food is here. I knew it was one of the best things about Italy before I even arrived, but I did not truly understand it until I came here and tried it for myself. Everything is so fresh and delicious. Not yet have I ate something that I was not pleased with, and it seems to just keep getting better and better. I have ate pizza everyday so far, and probably more than once a day on occasion. There is not one pizza here that is the same as another. Each is in its own way different but always delicious. It is actually very funny, my Italian teacher Francesco asked me yesterday in class what my boyfriend’s name was. I laughed and responded: mangia aka food. Just to get your salivary glands in action, I have some pictures of my boyfriend to show you:

full size pizza green pizza mushroom and proscuitto pizza tiramisu

 

The last picture is of the best tiramisu I have ever had in my entire life, and it was served in a bowl that would put America’s fame for obesity to shame. I am actually getting really hungry just looking at it.

Italy itself

Aside from the amazing meals, there are so many things that set Italy apart from the United States. Something that I find extremely different and interesting are the toilets. The water tank is usually separate from the actual toilet, mounted high above on a wall. There is the closest thing to a button that you press high above on this tank to flush the toilets. I know it’s not that big of a deal, but it looks so much more sophisticated than American toilets. I quite like it.

Italians do not seem to have breakfast, a simple espresso and brioche at most suit them perfectly fine. I am still adjusting to this way of life by beginning to make toast in my apartment before class and buying an espresso at school with my class during our morning break for 70 cents. For lunch, a slice or two of pizza seems to be the most common meal – I don’t think this is something I will ever complain about. However, dinner is served at the earliest, at 8:30 pm. It is customary for people to go to bars and order apertivos which are drinks with company an hour or two before dinner. This is something I am having a great deal of difficulty adjusting to. As much as I love vino rosso, red wine, I am trying to limit my intake before dinner due to being on an empty stomach. Some places have buffets that you can snack on while enjoying your libations, however my friends and I have been really hungry during these times and ended up eating an amount from the buffet equivalent to a large meal. This doesn’t seem to be the right way of going about it, but we are still trying to adjust.

The Language

During my 20 years of existence, 12 of them were spent studying Spanish. From kindergarten to senior year of high school I always had a Spanish class. Because I took such a large amount of one language, I was exempt from my language requirement at Penn State. Therefore, this is the first time I have taken a language since I was 17, three years ago, and it is the first time I have been in a country whose primary language is not English. My hardest transition to Italy has easily been the Italian language.

This past Tuesday, we started “Survival Italian” class. Every student in the Umbra program, 90 of us from the United States, have been required to take this week of intensive Italian before the semester began. Organized by experience level, I am in a class of other students who have never taken Italian. Most of us have taken Spanish or French, but it is reassuring to know that there are others in the same boat. Interestingly enough, I wish I had taken Italian sooner. I enjoy this language so much more than Spanish. My background in Spanish has definitely helped when learning Italian for the first time, because lots of words are almost identical in both languages but usually with a slightly different pronunciation. However, I like Italian so much more than Spanish because in Italian you have to pronounce every. single. syllable. in. the. word. And not only that, but you must pronounce them in a dramatic and loud manner. This is great for me, because I am “slightly” dramatic and already kind of talk like that. Also, I am much more interested when learning Italian because it benefits my immediate future. I constantly am interacting with native Italians here, and most of them surprised me by not being very proficient in English, if at all. Therefore I am eager to learn the language because it makes my time here so much easier by already knowing a few more words and phrases every day. I think it also helps that my professor is a native Italian, whom not only teaches us the proper form of the language but also the everyday dialect of the Perugian people.

We also do fun activities to make the lessons we do in class, more applicable to every day life. Yesterday we went to a typical apartment in this city and had to label all of the furniture and items around the house with the Italian vocabulary we learned that day in class. Today, our professor showed us how to ride the city’s metro and brought us to a supermarket outside of walking distance from our school and apartment. We all were given assignments to analyze a specific type of food sold there in the market, and note the differences between brands, prices, and places of production. Our last day of survival Italian class is tomorrow morning, and there we will present what we found interesting from our shopping trip. We were all given half an hour to browse the market and shop for our own apartments during this assignment. My roommates and I went grocery shopping a couple days ago to get basic food items at the local grocery store in our town. The only thing we recognized in the entire store was Ritz crackers and Coca-Cola. I was probably the happiest girl in the world today when I found lactose free milk, because I am lactose intolerant, and Frosted Flakes at this larger market. To hold me over for dinner, I ate a bowl of it while writing this post and it brought me so much joy to have a bit of home here in Italy.

I already miss a few aspects of America such as my native language, bigger breakfasts, and using cars as a main source of transportation. But I wouldn’t trade this view in for the world. This my friends, is Perugia.

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Location: Perugia, Italy

An Offer I Couldn’t Refuse

The journey is about to begin. The adventure is nearing, and for the first time in my life I am actually packed before the day of departure. For those of you who don’t know, my name is Morgan. I am a junior studying Public Relations at Penn State University, and I will be spending the next 4 months studying abroad in Perugia, Italy.

Traveling is something I look forward to. There are 2 things I want to accomplish more than anything else in my life: to travel the world and to meet Morgan Freeman. Sadly, the latter is much more difficult, but I am thrilled to be given this opportunity to travel to a beautiful country such as Italy. Although I don’t know how to say anymore than maybe 5 words (hello, goodbye, thank you, bathroom, pizza) in Italian, I can’t wait to be immersed in their culture. It will be exciting to explore the language, the food, and the people.

Now, my preparations have been somewhat subpar. I apologize. I’ve done my general research on Italy and the city of Perugia, but unfortunately much of my Italian cultural knowledge has been obtained from The Godfather…part I, II, and III. But if there is anything I’ve learned from the classic film it’s that Italian culture values family and history, and that is something I look forward to being a part of and learning more about. History intrigues me and luckily Italy is rich in it. I don’t think I have been more eager to learn in my life.

So here I am…just hours away from venturing on this exploration. I hope to truly absorb the Italian culture. That is why I chose a town like Perugia, which puts you in a true non tourist-like kind of vibe. I hope to gain a new understanding for people of all aspects of life. I hope to get more in touch with the art and architecture that helped influence so much of the world throughout the years. But most importantly, I hope to discover more about myself during my first real voyage away from home.

This study abroad offer was one I could not refuse! I am grateful to be given this opportunity, and I wish for you to follow along with my blog and join me on my journey.

Goodbye America! Ciao Italia!

 

 


Location: Columbia, MD

 

‘Twas the Night Before Pasta

Kerry in US

‘Twas the Night Before Pasta, when Kerry sat anxiously writing this post

Dreaming about what in Italy she would love the most

After collecting all necessary papers, cards, and euros

She asked herself, have I packed? The answer was no.

Pre-departure

Hello to anyone and everyone kind enough to read my blog! My name is Kerry Woods and I am a junior Psychology (B.S.) Neuroscience major at the Pennsylvania State University hopefully applying to medical school this spring. I am studying abroad this Spring 2015 semester in Perugia, Italy at the Umbra Institute. I have never been to Europe and am so very excited to not only be able to travel there, but stay until May! It is all starting to hit me at once now, especially when printing out my flight confirmation number and boarding pass to leave tomorrow.

I am almost 100% Irish and am probably one of the palest people you will ever meet. And with that, I only know about 5 words in Italian. It’s safe to say I am going to stick out like sore thumb. Which is all fine and good! As you probably already know and will soon find out I’m not shy or quiet, at all. So along this journey I will be exploring Europe for the first time, main destination Italy. I am hopeful that I will be able to travel to other countries such as Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, and the UK.

I chose to study abroad in Italy because it has all my favorite things: pasta, art, wine, beaches, and cathedrals. Even though I am a science major, I am extremely interested in art. Almost anything really – paintings, sculpture, architecture. You name it, I probably enjoy it. I went to Catholic school for 12 years of my life, and therefore really appreciate historic churches. I love stained glass windows and paintings, by whom I consider geniuses, such as those in the Sistine Chapel. Therefore, I will absolutely share my experiences regarding the famous food and beverage in Italy; but I will also sneak in a bit about churches as a heads up.

As an author of this blog, Penn State requires me to post something on a weekly basis. So I will try to keep up with that timeline as much as possible. I also love when I am able to visually see places and things someone tells me about, therefore I will try to attach several pictures with each blog post.  The best way to communicate with me abroad is to send me a Facebook message. I am purchasing an Italian phone and number while abroad, and will only be using my current cell phone in areas with WIFI. Thank you so very much for taking the time to follow me on my journey this semester, I really appreciate it!

My resolution this year is to be a better listener, so come back and experience all that I am able to see and more importantly, hear.


Location: Wilmington, DE 19803 United States