November 2008 – DEV – The Umbra Institute – Study Abroad in Italy

Perugians haven’t quite gotten the pronunciation down, but in the Umbra Institute’s eight years in Perugia they certainly have learned what the holiday is about. In the past week, the students have been running around, placing turkey orders with the local butchers, and trying to find traditional ingredients for their favorite ‘turkey day’ recipes. Cranberries, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie will probably be recreated with foreign substitutes. As they say in Italy, “Buona Festa di Ringraziamento.”

November in Umbria means olives. It’s no surprise that Food Cultures professor Peter Fischer will be having a special food workshop next week – but we’ll wait until next week’s blog to talk about that. Olives mature in October and are left on the tree in most parts of Italy for another month to “dry out” (lose some of their water content) before being picked and pressed. Contrary to the images we have in our heads of old wooden presses, hydraulic presses are used all over Italy now, albeit by small, often-cooperatively owned operations. This month will also see the “Ercole Olivario” (Hercules of the Olives) a sort of Oscars of olive oil. It’s a national competition to decide which oils are the best, and it’s held right here in Perugia. We’re of course rooting for local olive producers, like the famous cooperatives from nearby Spello. In any event, now’s the time to go buy your bottle of freshly-pressed oil!

Perugia is featured in the November/December 2008 issue of National Geographic Traveler’s “The World’s Sexiest Small City.”

Check out what they have to say about this medieval treasure in the following article:http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/intelligenttravel/2008/11/perugias-treasures.html

Enjoy other photos taken around Perugia and throughout bella Umbria at:
http://traveler.nationalgeographic.com/2008/11/romantic-italy-photography

American and Italian students came together last night for the semester’s final meeting of Tandem, Umbra’s language exchange program. Rather than meet as usual at Umbra I, staff member Mauro Rennamet everyone at the fountain in Piazza IV Novembre and then led the way to Birraio, one of Perugia’s slightly-hidden best places to meet friends for dinner. Students enjoyed a light aperitivo in one of the restaurant’s smaller rooms, a space that once upon a time was occupied by the horses owned by one of Perugia’s noble families. After spending several hours catching up and practicing their English and Italian, everyone headed to Pizzeria Quattro Pasi to cap off the night. Cheers to a successful semester of Tandem, and we’ll see you back in the spring!

Rome was taken by storm this past weekend by Professor Giampiero Bevagna’s Roman Empire class. The students left Perugia early Friday morning for a tour of Ostia Antica, Rome’s ancient port. Professor Bevagna lead the tour and made sense of the ruins, even jokingly inviting them to eat at the counter of one of Ostia’s now-ruined “cafés.” Later in the day students were free to explore modern Rome in the search for a good restaurant at a fair price near Piazza Navona. The academic fieldtrip continued the next day with tours of the Roman forums, the Colosseum, and the Baths of Caracalla. Spirits remained undampened by the light rain and a good time was had by all. Next week section B of Roman Empire will besiege the city.

What if Italians could (as “citizens of the world”) vote in the American elections today? Who would they vote for? Would McCain’s foreign policy experience win them over, or would Obama’s charisma and youthful energy be a draw? To find out just that, the Umbra Institute is taking part in a project organized by the Arcadia University Center for Education Abroad in Italy. The project, coordinated by Tina Rocchio (Arcadia’s resident director in Rome), puts ballot boxes in Italian cafés and pizzerias with the phrase “Se potessi votare…” (If you could vote…), along with small “ballots” printed with the campaign stickers of the two candidates. The two Umbra students coordinating the “vote” in Perugia are Ashley Waterman and Raquel Silano, both of whom will be busy tomorrow morning tallying up the votes. The results will be turned over to Newsweek, which is doing a story on the project.

Yesterday night Dr. Michael Lind gave a talk entitled “Beyond The Bush Doctrine:America’s Next Foreign Policy.” The talk is part of a series sponsored by the Ranieri di Sorbello Foundation and the Umbra Institute. Dr. Lind is the Whitehead Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation in Washington, D.C.He has been Executive Editor of The National Interest and Assistant to the Director of the Center for the Study of Foreign Affairs at the U.S. State Department, as well as an editor and writer for Harper’s Magazine and The New Yorker. The talk was well-attended by students, many of them from political science and international economy classes.

Congrats to Jackie DeWolfe from the University of Richmond for her photo entitled “Cortona Cat.” Jackie will enjoy a free meal from Quattro Passi Pizzeria!

Auguri Jackie!