This blog documents the experiences of students currently studying at the Umbra Institute in Perugia, Italy, offering an account of their day-to-day experiences, extra- and co-curricular activities, and special events. We hope you gain some insight into what adventures Umbra students find outside the classroom during their semester in Perugia, a medieval town in the mountains of Umbria. Cheers!
What’s the connection between monkeys, monks, and the cappuccino? Why is a caffè hip but a caffè in vetro (in a little class cup) even hipper? What does the Yemeni port Al-Moka have to do with coffee history? Did an Ethiopian goat discover our favorite hot beverage?
Food Studies Program students listening to Mauro Renna describe how to use a moka at the Coffee Workshop.
Students in the Umbra Institute’s Food Studies Program found out last night during the near-infamous Coffee Workshop. The workshop, part of a series of Food Practica designed to give a students a better understanding of Italian food culture in its historical context, was lead by Umbra history professor Zachary Nowak, with able assistance from staff member Mauro Renna. Students drank their way through macchiatos, shakeratoes, and even a caffè in vetro.
The next workshop is next week: The Italian Aperitivo.
Since you are already in Italy studying abroad, why don’t add a volunteer experience?
Umbra is excited to offer a special opportunity to study abroad students interested in volunteering with Monimbò, a local Fairtrade cooperative. Monimbò organizes a variety of cultural events, rallies, school awareness campaigns, and has a beautiful bottega in Perugia (near Piazza Italia in Via Bonazzi). Check out their website: http://www.monimbo.it/
Student volunteers will learn about Fair Trade philosophy and products, interact with customers, help other volunteers with bottega operations, and/or assist with Fair Trade promotion and major seasonal events.
Last semester there was the Marcia della Pace (peace and human rights march between Perugia and Assisi), Altrocioccolato (a national Fairtrade chocolate festival), EquoperTutti (an international public awareness rally).
This qualifies Arcadia students for the CLC Certificate and the Community Engagement Certificate for other students.
Rick Steves, one of America’s preeminent travelers and the creator of the eponymous “Rick Steves’ Guide to…”, recently wrote an article for USA Today about the necessity of studying abroad in an increasingly globalized world:
Is now the time to be devoting precious public funds to sending college kids overseas? Absolutely. Our world is one big, rapidly evolving marketplace. Employers crave graduates who are flexible, multilingual and comfortable in multicultural settings. Study abroad sharpens these skills and helps keep American workers competitive.
College students now find questions about their experience studying abroad on many graduate school applications. Those students who have been fortunate enough to have an internship while overseas can also include that on their resumes, demonstrating advanced intercultural competency — which may be just the thing needed to get an excellent post-graduation job in this tough economy.
It’s that time of year – after settling down in Perugia or wherever you happen to be studying abroad, it’s time to start moving around Italy and exploring the new (well, not new – they’re actually very old) cities that pepper the Italian landscape. For this blog, we consulted Art History professor, Renaissance art specialist, and longtime Florence resident Adrian Hoch, as well as several Umbra staff members whom have lived in Florence for varying lengths of time.
A shot taken during a Fall 2011 field trip to Florence.
We’ve tried to put together several recommendations for museums, restaurants, and sights, avoiding the tradition tourist fare (of both the visual and culinary variety) in favor of some lesser-known, more out-of-the way spots.
Monday evening, Umbra students packed the school’s biggest classroom to participate in an hour-long Travel Workshop. The workshop was open to all and led by Umbra staff members Ian Lyons and Rachel Bethany as well as by Frankie Walsh from Stonehill College, who has returned for the spring semester after studying abroad in Perugia during the fall. The workshop covered the entire process of traveling independently, from researching your destinations on-line, comparing ticket prices and travel times between airline, trains, and bus lines, to how to handle unexpected difficult situations while away. Frankie recommends momondo.com as the best website for researching low-cost flights, and everyone agreed that RyanAir is notoriously bad about charging hidden fees, despite their low ticket prices and convenient direct flights from Perugia. EasyJet and Vuelling were suggested as two other Low-Cost airlines with better customer service.
Fall 2011 student Catalina Perez in Pisa, one of Umbra students’ must-see travel destinations!
And here’s a question for recent Umbra Alums! Where were your favorite travel destinations from Perugia? Any advice for the new Umbra students as they plan to travel this spring?
Who knew studying abroad in Italy would look so good?
Yesterday afternoon a group that was supposed to be twenty students but grew to almost thirty met up for the “Perugia Nooks & Crannies Tour.” Billed as “Wholly death-defying! Partially fun! Mildly fascinating!” the tour was short on facts but long on entertaining stories about Perugia and its past. “The truth should never get in the way of a good story,” is the motto for the tour, lead by Umbra professor Zachary Nowak, who loves the fact that he can leave precision and historical accuracy behind in the classroom.
The itinerary included the main piazza, Corso Vannucci, the dungeon of the papal palace, the look-out point whence Sant’Ercolano launched his calves onto the Goths (black clothes, piercings, loud music), the former orphanage, the market, and the Fascist water-tower. Thrills, chills, and luckily no spills (despite walks down awkward steps). An encore presentation of the tour will be held this Sunday at noon (meet at the Fountain in the main piazza).
Taking a break from the Intensive Italian week to get to each other, Spring 2012 students met a the Birraio for the damous Umbra Welcome Aperitivo. This time Birraio added an American touch, and brought out hamburgers!
Suffice it to say that instead of the hour-long event that everyone had had in mind, most of the group hung around eating and making new friends until almost ten at night. The event is one of students’ favorites each semester. The next one is the first meeting of the Tandem language exchange program, Wednesday the 18th.
A group photo of the Spring 2012 class Oratorio di Santa Cecilia
The Spring 2012 semester is underway! Students from colleges and universities from across the United States arrived last week. Since their arrival students have been attending orientation sessions, acclimating themselves to life in one of Italy’s greatest cities, and preparing for a semester of coursework. Today, students began a week-long period of intensive Italian language courses. Italian courses will continue throughout the semester but this intensive program was created to help students in the first few weeks of living in Perugia.
After this week of intensive language courses, students will attend courses as part of the General Studies Program at Umbra while others will take advantage of Umbra’s Direct Enrollment program. For more information on the academic offerings at Umbra, please visit our page https://www.umbra.org/academics/
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.
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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.
Holiday lights are hanging brightly above Corso Vanucci and the Christmas market is in full swing inside the Rocca Paolina. Fall 2011 students have just returned home to their friends and family, and the Umbra Institute is quiet for just a few short weeks!
While we prepare for new students to arrive in January, the Umbra Institute would like to wish all of our alumni, wonderful faculty & staff, and partner universities in the States a very Happy Holidays. See you next year!
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Holiday lights are hanging brightly above Corso Vanucci and the Christmas market is in full swing inside the Rocca Paolina. Fall 2011 students have just returned home to their friends and family, and the Umbra Institute is quiet for just a few short weeks!