News and Blog

This is my favorite time of the semester.

The students are studying for finals and putting the final touches on research papers, but as a staff member, I get to witness the results of individual and collective experiences coming to the forefront of life at Umbra.

This period started last week when students in both creative writing classes had the opportunity to take the stage and share their reflections of living in Italy. Their professor, Cindy Clough, started the open-mic night last fall to coincide with the published literary anthology which is distributed at the end of the semester.

The first student to approach the stage was Bree Barton, whose writing has been published previously on this blog. It was really no surprise that Bree went first – as a seasoned writer and an outgoing person – to break the ice for others to follow.

Then there was Rachel Slajda who described in detail her experience of examing the famous statue of David in Florence. This is an image we’re all familiar with, but few take the time to deconstruct the statue into the details which Rachel did. We heard Ashley Olentine utilize imagery of her favorite gelato to describe Italy’s marble churches. And we all laughed at Brad Kavo’s story as the “night traveler” learning the good and bad of travelling throughout Italy. It seems we have all been “night travelers” at some point.

Perhaps the best moment of the night was watching Patrice Forrester approach the stage. I’ve watched Patrice since she arrived in Italy – she’s shy, but incredibly positive about every experience she’s had. I have learned not to misinterpret her quietness as being passive; she’s has been actively observing the culture around her. Patrice’s piece began by describing her nervous emotions in the United States – not yet on board an airplane! But quickly her piece – reflecting her own experience in Perugia – turned to acceptance and to opening herself to be impacted in ways she was previously unfamiliar.

It seems like Patrice just stepped off the plane, but quickly four months have passed. For students like Patrice this is a timeless experience. Students have been immersed in a foreign language and culture, they have travelled around Italy and Europe, they have developed new friendships, and hopefully learned more about themselves.

Four months is not a long period of time, but within these few months, students develop and change with the challenges presented to them. The open-mic night was a bittersweet event, but at this time of the semester it reminded me how impactful a semester abroad can be for these students.
(by Mark Shreve, student services associate)

In photos: Ashley Olentine and Patrice Forrester shared their reflections of studying abroad in Perugia, Italy, last Thursday.

These photos from the Isle of Capri and Pompeii need no descriptions!

A group of students discovered their new favorite mode of transportation to explore the region of Umbria – rented scooters. Anywhere from six to ten friends spent the weekend behind the wheel as they toured their way to Gubbio. Gubbio is located in northeast Umbria, where the roads curve and swerve up and down through picturesque hills. With its postcard-quality Italian countryside views, Gubbio is arguably one of Italy’s finest cities.

On their scooters, the group – comprised mostly of full-year students – were able to follow country roads to visit smaller Italian cities that are bypassed by bus and train routes that bring both locals and tourists throughout Italy. With a group that got as big as ten, they created quite the scene for motorists and locals they passed in a long strand of highly-revved scooters. If the weather cooperates, the students plan to hit the open road again this weekend to explore more of Umbria.
(Text and photos by Reid Williamson, Student Services Intern)

It’s not uncommon to see Umbra students walking the streets of Perugia with their families. But several staff members were surprised to run into Meghan Shellenberg and her father, Paul, on the ferry from the Isle of Capri (in photo) this weekend. Staff and students were visiting Capri, Naples, Sorrento, and Pompei for an optional weekend excursion.

For many students, these visits allow them the opportunity to play tour guide and to impress their parents with their familiarity of the language and local culture. In return, the students usually get spoiled to nice meals and some shopping!

From inside the windows of an historic palazzo in the center of Perugia, one can see the Church of San Domenico towering above other buildings in the distance. Umbra students learned yesterday that the stained glass windows which adorn the church were made from inside the building they were touring – the Studio Moretti Caselli.

The studio has been producing stained glass works since 1864 when Francesco Moretti founded the operation with the help of his nephew, Ludovico Caselli. To this day, members of the Moretti and Caselli families continue to produce glassworks with the same techniques the previous generations used to decorate San Domenico and many other churches. The Studio Moretti Caselli fame is not limited to Perugia or the region of Umbria, however, but extends worldwide (including a large stained glass reproduction of The Last Supper in a California cemetary). Learn more about the history and work of Studio Moretti Caselli at their website: www.studiomoretticaselli.it.

The students present to tour the historic palazzo and glass workshops were there as members of the Perugia Through the Ages course. This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to studying the art and history of Perugia from its Etruscan origins to the modern era. The course utilizes on-site learning opportunities, such as this tour of the glass studio, to enhance the academic material. Perugia Through the Ages was offered for the first time in Fall 2005 and has quickly become one of the Umbra Institute’s most popular couses.

In photos: Professor Paola Chiurulla and students examine documents within the Studio Moretti Caselli; scraps of glasswork from past projects decorate the museum and studio.

This week the Umbra Institute signed an agreement with the prestigious Uguccione Ranieri di Sorbello Foundation. The Foundation, named in memory of Uguccione Ranieri di Sorbello (1906-1969), journalist, writer, and diplomat, was founded in 1994 to exploit the cultural heritage of the Ranieri di Sorbello family through historical and cultural projects and exhibitions.

The Foundation has a prestigious library of 20,000 volumes. Among the collection is an extensive antique section with more than 3,000 volumes from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In addition the library has a print collection with over 2,300 examples of all different types and time periods, a porcelain collection from the eighteenth century, and a rare collection of embroidery and lace.

This collaboration will allow the Umbra Institute and the Ranieri Foundation to jointly sponsor cultural activities and academic pursuits in Perugia.

For more information about the Ranieri Foundation, visit the website at www.fondazioneranieri.org.

In photo, Professore Ruggero Ranieri, President of the Ranieri Foundation, and Francesco Gardenghi at the Palazzo Sorbello. (text and photo by Zach Nowak, Student Services Assistant)

We have been following the work of Bree Barton since she arrived in Perugia a few months ago, eager to immerse herself in the local culture. She shared An Adventure Awaits, reflections from her first few days in Italy, on this blog in January. Barton, shown in Venice at right, is sharing this piece she wrote for her Creative Writing course.

“Cheese has never tasted this good. Ever.”

My pen grazes the crisp white page of my journal, filling me with glee. I sit by the Adriatic Sea, the salty air stinging my skin as I brave the January chill. Winter in Naples: certainly warmer than Perugia, but frosty nonetheless. Still, I bartered for my tavolo sul mare, and the breathtaking view of the bay is more than enough to warm the soul.

It’s true; I’ve never had cheese that tasted this good. Mozzarella di bufala, one of the genuinely brilliant Italian products that make any foreigner salivate, is a thing of legend. It’s argued that the cheese originated in a 12th century monastery when Monsignor Alicandri treated hungry visitors to homemade “mozza” on slabs of hearty bread. Today the cheese undergoes similar exercises in tenderness and personal care; much like a baker making bread, the 21st century cheesemaker kneads the mozzarella with his hands until he obtains a smooth, shiny paste. At the prime moment of perfection, he slices off a strand and the individual mozzarella is formed: a succulent, spherical, creamy ball of goodness that’s served in its dazzling nakedness to hungry tourists, poised with fork in hand to gobble it up. With each sliver I cut for myself, my mouth is filled with the sweet taste of shepherds and grass, of buttery cream and the mellow warmth of the cheesemaker’s hands. The plump mozzarella ball serenades my mouth with the rich and robust notes of the Italian south. I savor each bite, letting the cheese ferment against my tongue, my teeth, my palate, flooding my mouth with fertile flavor.

And then there’s the vino, the divine touch of any Italian meal. This wine is unusually delectable, the perfect crimson counterpart to my ivory delight. Eager to eternally preserve the moment, I scribble down the wine’s name in my journal: Lacryme Christi, or Christ’s Tears. The monks of Mt. Vesuvius chose a fittingly religious name for their handiwork, a lush wine made from grapes grown on the fertile volcanic slopes. Perhaps this is why it’s so divine. The taste of the wine is sweet, deep, rich and rosy, with a hint of roasted almonds and mimosa and cinnamon and melted blackberries. It conjures up images of cozy hearths, crackling fires, the subtle melodies of southern dialects, ebony ringlets and smooth olive skin. My mouth tingles with a smoky hue as the taste lingers, the wine flooding my body with fiery warmth. There are echoes here of those two ancient cities, buried nearby under ash and molten lava by the devastating eruption of 79 AD. As I dine under the silent shadow of Mt. Vesuvius nearly two millennia later, I’m sipping the fruits of this monster, a wine from crushed grapes, grapes infused with life from the treacherous volcanic soil, the wine a lovely byproduct of an acknowledged killer. I’m imbibing history, and tragedy, and life, the liquid dripping down my throat like boiling blood, spicy, full, profound. My mind is jolted to life; my pen scratches furiously.

Somehow, this cheese and wine is more than a dinner, more than mere food and drink for me. It’s the union of physical pleasure and soulful revelry, a fusion of history and modernity, death and life. It’s liberating to sit alone, contented, watching the rippling reflections of the bay, the slivers of moonshine on the water, fishing boats strewn amongst the collage of lights. And all the while I stuff my belly and luxuriate in the tastes and smells of freedom, a freedom that comes when dueling forces make peace at last, pausing to kiss with wine-stained lips. Sometimes, at rare moments, the turmoil of life subsides, even if only momentarily, and for once, just once, things make sense.

Life has never tasted this good. Ever.