Tag Archives: Student Blog

“When Words Fail”

Ian Lyons | Friday, April 20th, 2012

This is another post taken from the blog of Umbra student Maria Papapietro, who studies here through the study abroad provider CIS. Her blog, La Vita e’ Bella, is a great example of a student’s study abroad experience in Italy.

This past Tuesday, I had my final presentations for both my “Family Project” and my education internship. Several groups from different classes presented their experiences, research, etc. on the same day. We made our way to a beautiful auditorium to talk about what we’ve learned this semester. After a special prayer with my presentation group, a hug from my Italian family (who were there to cheer us on), and a thumbs up from my mom, I approached the panel with Leti to talk about our experiences with the Vigneri family. As I looked out at the crowd of people I’ve grown to love immensely, it hit me. Sometimes, we can’t express our feelings adequately.

 

Yes, I blog. But recently, words are failing me. When I looked out, I didn’t see a crowd. I saw my classmates giving smiles of support. I saw my favorite staff members. I saw my life here. Dramatic? Maybe a little. But it’s the truth.

 

This week, I had the blessing of introducing Mom to the people here who are so special to me. I can’t tell you how many times I heard “your mom is amazing!” It was interesting to have my “worlds” collide in a sense. Home in the United States meets home in Italy. Jules met the Umbra staff members who have taken wonderful care of me. She met the friends whose apartments I frequent. I can’t describe how amazing that felt.

 

I am always amazed by how quickly I can make very close friends. During one late night conversation with my roommates, someone described study abroad friendships as relationships in hyperdrive. I couldn’t agree more. January is like freshman year of college. Everyone is still figuring each other out, and relationships are beginning to form. February (sophomore year) is when the foundations start to happen. People shift around, and homesickness and difficulties can arise. March (junior year), the incredible bonding really takes place. And when April finally hits, you look back at the last four months, the four months that seemed like a lifetime when you landed in Rome on that January morning, and wonder how on earth you will ever live without seeing each other every day.

 

Later, I will post about specific people. But for now, I am thinking of my Umbra group at large. And what a special group it was.

 

Try summarizing THAT.

 

Again, Maria’s blog can be found at: http://lavitaebellamaria.blogspot.it/

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Student Perspectives: Volunteering with Monimbò

Julie Falk | Thursday, April 12th, 2012

Both of us Umbra students, Jenna Snelgrove and Emily Pietrzak have always been interested in volunteering.  So when the opportunity came up to volunteer at the local fair trade store, Monimbò, we both jumped at it. Neither of us had ever had much experience with fair trade besides maybe hearing the words from time to time, never connecting what they really meant and how important they are to be aware of. Being able to work in a store that sells only fair trade items from producers all around the world connected us to this “altro mercato” where the workers making these products are treated fairly and paid an honest living wage. Finding out about the ways in which workers worldwide are abused and paid pennies for their work is a serious social issue that needs to be talked about and addressed, and this volunteer opportunity certainly opened our eyes and encouraged us both to pursue this issue further in the future.

 

So, once a week for the past few months, we would head on over to Monimbò, and help out around the shop.  We usually interact with Paolo, who does not speak any English, and he would give us our tasks for the day. Usually our duties would consist of helping out around the shop such as creating customized bomboniere for customers, stocking shelves, and overall making sure the store stays in tip-top shape.  Being forced into a situation with strictly Italian has definitely been a learning experience.  It has certainly been a challenging one, especially for Emily who has just started out Italian–mamma mia!

 

But having an opportunity such as this where English is not an option has helped improve our conversational understanding and speaking skills immensely. We conversed often with Silvia, another volunteer at Monimbò who also owns her own fair trade store in Assisi. Talking with Silvia was one of the things we looked forward to every week, because we were able to chat comfortably about a variety of things and not feel intimidated about speaking the language with a native-speaker. This practice proved extremely useful for us, and also gave Silvia an opportunity to practice her English on us in return!

 

Being involved in Monimbò gave us a much more well-rounded experience at Umbra because it allowed us to be present in the society of Perugia, outside of school. We were able to interact with locals and feel as though we were giving back to the community that we love being surrounded by every day. One of the most beneficial aspects of this volunteer opportunity was being able to use the language we learned in class and put it into practical use to discuss one of the most prominent social issues we have today. Overall, Monimbò  is a small shop with a lot of heart that has given both of us a sense of being more present in society here in Perugia, and introduced us to the idea and the hope that “un altro mondo è possible.”

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Student Blog Post: Melancholy

Ian Lyons | Monday, April 9th, 2012

The following post was written by current Umbra student Maria Papapietro, who is currently studying in Perugia through CIS. We also recommend highly that you read her entire blog, La Vita è Bella, which gives a honest and positive perspective on the study abroad experience.

 

I’m realizing that a lot of my writing in the coming weeks will be more for me than anyone else. 

 
I’m in a funk today. At first, I thought it was just the cloudy, drizzly day (I shouldn’t be complaining, this is the first time I’ve seen rain in over a month). But it’s not the weather. It’s something else entirely…
 
I do not want to leave this place.
 
Today in my 3:30 class, the brief flash of leaving prompted tears that I actually had to wipe away. I don’t know what caused me to think, “the end.” Maybe it was receiving our predeparture handbook in my email yesterday. Maybe it’s the fact that people are starting to confirm their flights home. What I do know is that three weeks from tomorrow, I will be leaving Perugia.
 
And that’s scary.
 
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Life of a Student Abroad in Italy through a Blog

Mauro Renna | Monday, March 26th, 2012

An Umbra alum on her return after her experience abroad in Italy creates a blog for her Global Interpersonal Communication class, to talk about her experience studying in Perugia, Italy and to help current and prospective students that make the decision to study here.

Here is her introduction to the blog:

 

” My name is Marie Galetto and I was a student at the Umbra Institute in the fall of 2011. Upon my return home, I took a course entitled Global Interpersonal Communication in which we discussed as a class the ways we succeeded and failed to be interculturally competent during our abroad experiences. This blog was an assignment for that class and combines much of the research and topics discussed over the course of the quarter.

 

Although it started as an assignment for the class, this blog has evolved into something more personal and meaningful for me. In this blog I share some of my experiences, struggles and growth that happened during my months abroad. I hope that this blog can help those who are considering Perugia as their study abroad destination. I hope that it can be interesting for those who are currently living in Perugia to read about my experiences and see similarities and differences from theirown. I hope that this blog can also be enlightening for those who have already returned home because, for me, that was the part of my experience for which I was least prepared. I am still discovering new things about how my experience abroad has shaped me and I hope that this blog stimulates those who read it to do some reflecting of their own. Happy reading and happy traveling! “

Check her blog at: http://lifeinperugia.wordpress.com

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Umbra student writes blog about studying abroad in Italy

Zachary Nowak | Monday, February 27th, 2012

Umbra Study abroad student Maria Papapietro (here through CIS) is keeping a blog on GoAbroad.net with her reflections on her experience here in Perugia. Themes include her goals for this semester abroad, what she’s doing with her classes, and how much she misses dryers. Have a look at her blog on study abroad in Italy.

 

If you find/have any other blog about life in Perugia send it in: we’ll post is as a featured blog post.

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“Un Anno Fa.”

Ian Lyons | Saturday, January 7th, 2012

Emily Swaine at a Creative Writing Reading

Emily Swaine at a semester-end Creative Writing presentation.

We frequently hear from Umbra alums, both recent and not. Emily Swaine, a student from the spring 2011 semester, took the one-year anniversary of her departure to Perugia to reflect on her experiences.

 

_____________

 

With the recent ringing in of the New Year, people around the world have marked the passing of 2011. They have thought about what has happened to the world and to them. They have recollected their achievements and perhaps their failures. They have remembered the people they met and the people they lost. Hopefully, most of them looked back at the last year and smiled.

 

While the world reminisced last year during the days leading up to January 1st and perhaps a few days after, it is today, January 6th that inspires me to think of where I have been in the past twelve months.

 

In the last year I have lived in three countries, finished the first half of my senior year of college, I’ve said a lot of hellos and I’ve said a lot of goodbyes. I pick today to reflect on the last 365 days because exactly one year ago today I began my first and perhaps biggest adventure of 2011; I boarded a plane to Italy. While this part of my year only filled the first four months, it was the defining period of the year. I arrived in Italy as a white blank page anxious to fill myself with new lessons, new experiences and new people.

 

With a year gone now from my initial departure, I am still confident in saying that those four months spent abroad were and will continue to be four of the best months of my life.

 

As I look back in thought and through photographs, I remember the places I traveled: Paris, Malta, Austria, and of course all over Italy. I remember the apartment I lived in and the walk up our giant hill to Umbra. I remember the food and the wine, the music and the sound of Italian throughout the streets. I remember the strength of the coffee and the crisp bread of the infinite panini at Ciao Ciao. I remember the smell of fried eggs and the sound of chatting that filled our kitchen in the mornings as our apartment became the breakfast spot since we all soon realized Italy had no concept of a real breakfast. It is all missed. The late night, or should I say early morning trips to the secret bakery, the lunches at the lake, the dinners at Dal mi’ Cocco, Friday afternoon lunches, Mumford and Sons streaming through speakers, and afternoons on the Steps.

Continue reading →

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Umbra Student’s Blog a Good Example of Life in Perugia!

Ian Lyons | Monday, December 12th, 2011

Umbra Student Hannah Forster, who also volunteers for UNICEF’s Pigotta Project (for which an UmbraViews video was recently made) has been writing a blog throughout her time in Italy.

 

The blog, titled “longlivethewallswecrashedthrough” chronicles her travels throughout Europe (think Paris, Denmark, Lisbon, Seville, Portugal, Prague, London, and more) and Italy (think hot springs, Rome, Florence, Venice, Cinque Terre, and more) and her experiences as a student in Perugia. She’s learned to cook (aided by her grandmother’s care package of recipes and to speak Italian. Reading it gives an excellent idea of what an American student studying in Perugia experiences on a day-to-day basis. Continue reading →

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