Hello...

 

... my name is Ray, and one of the main reasons I chose to study abroad is because of my family’s heritage. My grandmother was born in southern Italy, and although all of her four children were born in the United States, they still acquired many Italian traits because of growing up with my grandmother. Everything from the food she cooked to the stories she told were just amazing, and it gave me the passion to want to study Italian. Luckily, I am from the Greater Boston Area where there are still numerous outstanding Italian programs, and I was fortunate to start learning the language the proper way starting in elementary school. My grandmother’s dialect can be pretty strong sometimes, and although I could understand what she was saying, it wasn’t “proper Italian”, and when I would try and say certain words that my grandmother would say, the teacher would tell me I was incorrect. This made things ever more interesting for myself, and as I progressed into High School, and College, my passion for the Italian culture just continues to grow, and finally I got the opportunity to study abroad in the beautiful city called Siena.

     When in Siena, I lived in a mini-residence, which is basically a really big apartment where all the other students on the program stay, and also numerous other students from all around the world. I lived with students from England, China, Poland, Australia, Spain, France, and met people from many other places. It was amazing to see the differences in our cultures from the food we eat to the clothes we wear on our back. It is an experience that I will never forget, and would do anything to do it all over again.
 
     Something that I wish someone had told me prior to going to Italy was to make sure that you go and visit a new place every weekend. Although I visited about 10 different cities all over the country, there were still plenty of places that I wanted to see, including some local, that I just didn’t have time to see at the end. Part of the reason is that you want to sometimes just enjoy your weekends relaxing because at the end of the day you still are a student that is studying Monday through Friday, but I wish I got myself up and out of Siena a couple more weekends to see some more things that would have been amazing. However, I know I will without a doubt return to Siena one day, and do all of the things that I didn’t get to do.

     One of the most beautiful things that I saw during my trip to Italy was the Amalfi coast. The roads to get there were incredibly narrow, but beautiful. Sitting on the beaches of the Amalfi coast was like living in a movie. It is something that will be in my memory forever, and I will also definitely be returning there again someday.

 

Ciao!

My my name is Paul,

Every morning i wake up to this beautiful city, with beautiful people and the kindest hearts. I never believed my life could change so drastically from such an an experience as studying abroad. I have learned so much from living here these past few months. I learned about the food, culture and most importantly i learned about myself. Living in Florence has taught me that there is more to life than what I knew before coming here. I see beauty in everything I encounter, everyone I encounter and every experience I encounter. This has been the best experience I could ever ask for and I am so blessed to have been able to travel to these exciting cities. I look at the sunset and cherish every last day that I possibly can and I truly call this city my home. I will never forget the friends I met here or the amazing times I would have never had experienced if I didn't make the decision to study abroad in Florence. I have less than a month left and I never want to leave. Travel changes lives, and it has changed mine for the rest of my life. My heart will forever remain here. 

My name is Joseph....

            ....and I studied abroad in Florence in the Spring of 2012. While I was a microbiology pre-med major at UMass Amherst, I studied cooking, wine tasting, Renaissance art, Italian, and History in Italy. For me, Florence was the perfect place to study abroad due to its great location (near the middle of Italy, so easy to move around the country and to Europe), its priceless Renaissance art, its well-known beauty, and its incredible food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            I never planned to study abroad, but because I took so many classes the first two years of college, it just worked out! I was somewhat nervous about having to live in a new place with “strangers,” but going through the program API (Academic Programs International) was probably one of the best decisions. They placed me in a gorgeous apartment where I could see the famous Duomo from my window, and I became very close to my roommates. In fact, we still always get together even today! API also made sure we were well oriented to the entire city by taking us on trips, teaching us how to make biscotti in local cafés in Florence, and even providing free admission to some of the most important historical sites in the city! In our apartment, we had 3 spacious bedrooms and 2 bathrooms – all pots, pans, utensils, bed sheets, and even books for classes from former study abroad students were in the apartment. It may not seem like a big deal now, but when you’re in a new city, all those small things make a giant difference (especially on your pocket).

            As a pre-med student, I wanted to find something unique in Florence that I could put on my application for medical school. With some help from my amazing Italian teacher at UMass (shoutout to Lucia Ducci!), I was able to go on rounds with a trauma team at a local pediatric hospital in Florence. I also worked with one of the physicians on a paper that helped to standardize pediatric burn treatment in all of Italy, and it was actually published {and I got 2^nd author :D}. I was even able to work with the Misercordia (Italy’s ambulance service) on their ambulances and transport patients all across Florence and some parts of Tuscany! The point is that unlike some smaller towns and cities in Italy, Florence is a larger city filled with opportunity, beauty, and history. While it has everything that you’d desire and is big in size, you are still able to walk almost anywhere you wish to go (saving even more money on trains and buses).

            My heart will always be in Firenze and my roommates and I are already planning our reunion trip for when we’re 30! I’m sure any student who voyages to this wonderful part of Italy will have an unforgettable time.

Hi, my name is Alexandra....

... I decided to study abroad for a number of reasons. I wanted to be able to speak and understand Italian better but I also wanted to experience the world in a different way. Sometimes we get too caught up in the convenient lives of Americans and we take things for granted. I have not only gotten to know more about Italian culture but I have learned about the cultures of the many people I have met from all over the world.

    I am currently living in Siena, Italy, a small medieval city about an hour south of Florence. I am so in love with Siena and I am so glad that I chose to study abroad here. At first I thought that the city was going to be too small for me but now I cannot imagine myself anywhere else. Being in a small city has its advantages, the barista at your favorite bar knows your order, the checkout lady at the market knows your name and you recognize locals on the street. I love the program that UMass has set up, for three months you take Italian language classes five days a week for 4 hours which seems like a lot but I promise you it doesn’t even feel like school! The teachers and students are so friendly you won’t even miss UMass, in fact, you probably won’t want to go back! Then there is an art history class and a contemporary history class which are scattered here and there throughout the last 3 months. Yesterday my art history class was in Florence, could you ask for a better classroom??? There are so many great opportunities when you study abroad, I for instance go to dinner at a local Sienese family’s house once a week, I help the daughter with her English and they all help me with my Italian, free tutoring and free home cooked meal? Win win!
    The most beautiful thing I have seen was (sorry, Siena!) Cefalù, a city on the Northern coast of Sicily. I have been to some incredible places on this planet but Cefalù takes the cake. I saw the most beautiful countryside, sunsets, beaches, the most vibrantly yellow lemons and I ate the most incredible cannoli. I cannot wait until I go back. I was fortunate enough to have been invited to stay at my flat mate’s house, something I wouldn’t have had the chance to do if I did not live in a residence with other Italians.

I wouldn’t do anything different or choose a different city if I had the chance. I am loving my study abroad experience and it is worth every cent!

I'm Mary...

... A quick Wikipedia search told me that Siena is located in the region of Tuscany, with a population of 52,000. It’s about an hour from Florence and two and a half from Rome. The city has a wall surrounding the inner part and a lot of its buildings date back to the medieval and Renaissance times.

One of the city wall's gates. The big archway is used for cars but naturally I tried to walk out of it and almost got hit.
 

The "porta" from the outside of the city.

 

The less-fabulous "Porta all'Arco"
 

A picture of the wall surrounding the inner city.
 

Another picture of the wall. The trees on the outside of the wall are olive trees.
 

School

Monday thru Friday 8:30 to 1:00 we have class at the University. The school is outside of the city wall and is about a 20 minute walk. From what I understand, we’re all a little confused, the first month we’ll just be learning and practicing Italian. February we’ll start our Contemporary History, and Architecture and Art classes. Those will continue until the end of the program, April 30^th, but the Italian classes stop at the end of March.
I love going to the language classes. During the first part we usually listen to a tape with Italian speakers, on the phone or in an interview for example, and answer questions about their conversations. Then we'll get into small groups or pairs and have a conversation in Italian. The second part of the day we work on grammar with another professor. The whole day is spoken completely in Italian which isn't bad until I try to ask a question and just say nonsense.
Conversations with the other students is my favorite part of the day. Five of us are from UMass but the rest are from all over the world. Seven are from Japan, two are from Korea and then there are students from Argentina, England, China, Germany, Hungary, Russia, Switzerland, and Ukraine. It's great learning about the other countries and the students.  

My Apartment

This semester I’m sharing an apartment with two UMass girls and a young Italian woman. Katie, Zoe and I share a room while Maria has her own. Living with Maria has been so helpful; she speaks English which makes communicating easy, plus she loves to answer our questions about the Italian culture and language.
Across the hall is an apartment of four UMass girls and next door are two UMass guys living also with an Italian student from the Università di Siena. We live in a small building on a street named “Via del Paradiso”. Our program director keeps saying we're literally living in Paradise but two days ago a pipe broke leaving us without water for 12 hours; so it's loosely named.
Here are some pictures of the apartment:

Ceiling of our bedroom.

Face that haunts me while I sleep.

View from our kitchen. 

View from the living room.
What mysteries do you hold gated Italian archway?

Our apartment is the door next to the jewelry store.
 

The post office is to the left of our apartment in the "Piazza Giacomo Matteotti". Only slightly better than the Dedham one.
 

So far I'm loving Siena. The other students are very friendly and we all seem to have the same goals for the program: better our language skills, experience new things, and eat lots of food.
There are some downsides like trying to gain any respect as a tourist. It's obvious who's not Italian, even to us. It's hard to explain the difference but the native Italians have a certain attitude and confidence. They also have a permanent facial expression that seems to says "I'll rumble if you cut me in line", which is necessary because the other students and I get cut frequently.
I miss everyone back home and I hope to write again soon. Hopefully by then I'll have a trip planned somewhere exciting. Ciao!

My passion for...

... all things Italian grew out of my mom’s gift for making homemade pasta and the many stories she shared with me from her college semester spent studying and living in a beautiful villa in the hills above Florence. It wasn’t until I entered Lucia’s Umass Italian classroom, however, that my own Italian adventure began to take shape. The language felt natural to me and I actually loved learning each new verb tense and developing my vocabulary to the point that I could envision myself conversing with the natives as we passed on centuries-old cobblestone streets. 

As a student-athlete at the time, summer was my best option, so I enrolled in a home-stay program with a wonderful family in Siena during the summer following sophomore year. Although I expected to spend carefree evenings dancing the night away with the young locals, my experience proved to be vastly different as ultimately, I followed up summer school by working for an Italian organic skin care product developer as their resource for English language marketing collateral and American market distribution contact. The position was both challenging and rewarding but it was the Italians that invited me into their everyday world that touched my life in a life changing way and created friendships I will treasure forever. 

My hosts and company founders, Sergio and Eva surrounded themselves with colorful people from every walk of life. From the auto-mechanic to the parliament member, from the local restaurateur to the olive harvester…their world did not delineate economic status, political or religious persuasion. Passion for good friends, food made from the seasonal produce grown organically in their own gardens and on local farms and of course, great Tuscan wines was the common denominator that stretched a simple evening into the wee hours of the morning with lively conversation and unforgettable memories. Needless to say, with the language proficiency I learned in my Umass Italian courses and the copious amounts of chianti that loosened my tongue, I managed to talk to everyone about everything and even make them all laugh at a joke or two in the process! It was a summer that is etched in my heart, it offered me the chance to get out of my comfort zone and gain the maturity that only comes from stretching yourself and I gained many new friends, including Lucia, in the process!! Grazie mille, Professora!