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!
At the end of the semester y
ou definitely need a memory of your study abroad in Italy.
Umbra wear is now available for purchase with more colors for sweatshirts, and brand new designed sweatpants.
We want to thank Anastasia Flaherty and Ian MacDonald, two Umbra students that created the new design.
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. (more…)
Art? Check.
Refreshments? Check.
Big turnout? Check.
Students, staff and professors gathered this afternoon in Umbra’s art studio at Via dei Priori to sip some wine and admire this semester’s photos and frescoes.
Ancient Rome was this semester’s backdrop theme with two, full wall-length frescoes, displaying a banquet complete with a roasted headless pig on one wall and a wine harvesting scene another.
The digital photography class displayed detailed works taken all over Europe.
Congratulations to all art students for beautiful work!
This past weekend saw the capstone field trip of the core course of the Food Studies Program, to Parma and Modena. After a semester of in-class learning and out-of-class workshops, students got to compare their knowledge to the reality of Italian food production. The first day afternoon students toured a small prosciutto production facility, one that has only three full-time employees. One of the two brothers who own and run thesalumificio (literally a “cured meats cooperative”), Carlo Lanfranchi, took students from one walk-in cooler to another to show them how fresh hams are turned, almost magically, into prosciutto di Parma, one of Italy’s most popular brands. Lunch began, of course, with an antipasto of prosciutto, followed by delicious ravioli filled with fresh cheese and herbs, a local classic. Dinner that night, after a holiday walk around Parma, was at the Osteria della Ghiaia.
Saturday students were up early to get to the parmesan cheese cooperative in time to see the cheesemakers separating the curds from the whey and pulling out what would become 110 lb. rounds of parmigiano-reggiano cheese (worth €500 each: watch the video here (for clips). This is a hands-on field trip, so of course after seeing the parmesan cheese, students got to taste it as well: two years of aging makes a delicious treat. The last stop on the “food pilgrimage” was the Acetaia San Donnino (a family-run business that makes real balsamic vinegar). Our host showed us the barrels of made from six different kinds of wood: the must is passed from one barrel to the next and only after twelve years is it ready for bottling.
Study abroad in Italy, study abroad in Perugia…and think about the Food Studies Program!
December has officially arrived, and the Fall 2011 students have two weeks left in Perugia and at the Umbra Institute. Knowing how quickly time will fly between exams, final papers, and saying goodbye to new friends, here are the Umbra Staff’s Top Five Must-Do’s before you leave…
5. Taste free chocolate at the Perugina factory.
Most of the Italian classes will be touring the home of the world-famous chocolate and hazelnut baci this week, but if you missed out, pick up a bus ticket and go on your own for a tour and tasting!
4. Celebrate the Holidays in Gubbio with the World’s Largest Christmas Tree. Every year since 1981 the Umbrian town of Gubbio lights up the world’s largest Christmas tree, stretching across the mountainside between the Basilica above and the town below. The tree is lit for the first time at 6:30 pm on December 7th. Gubbio is easily reachable by a 1-hour bus ride from Piazza Partigiani (a one-way ticket costs about 4.50 euro), and the sun sets in December just a few minutes after 5 pm. Make a quick trip one evening or stay over in Gubbio for the night.
3. Walk through the “underground city,” over the Roman aqueduct, and into the Duomo. We walk past these landmarks around town everyday, but have you ever actually been inside? Perugia’s most interesting historical sites are all free and right here in the center: the Roman Aqueduct, the Etruscan Well, the Tempietto and Tower of Sant’Angelo, the Duomo, and the Rocca Paolina. Talk to Zack if you need help finding these spots.
2. Eat Pasta alla Norcina, Torta con Salsiccia ed Erba, and Hot Chocolate from Augusta Perusia!
Pasta with Umbrian sausage and truffles, typical Umbria torta, and to-die-for hot chocolate… you can’t go home without trying these Perugia specialties. And in the winter, throw in some freshly pressed olive oil, vino novello, roasted chestnuts!
1. Ride the Ferris Wheel in Piazza Italia. For three euros you get an unforgettable view out across the valley below the centro… what could be a better way to remember Perugia? (And yes, this is a ferris wheel, despite the massive “Carousel” sign at the front. Oh Italians.)
Study abroad is great opportunity to see with your own eyes the European history you studied in high school. Exactly that happened when an Umbra Italian class went to see a special exhibition about the Risorgimento (Italian unification movement) in Umbria in the beautiful Palazzo Cesaroni, right on Piazza Italia. The exhibition was set up for the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy and focuses on the main events that happened in Umbria during the Risorgimento through sculptures, objects, paintings, and documents. A walk through local history that helped make Italy what it is today!
The project was the fruit of over a month of planning. As part of the course, class participants had to come up with a restaurant concept, decide on recipes to use, examine food costing and determine a break-even point, develop a marketing plan, and then actually execute the actual dinner. The students were judged not only on the quality of the food (each of the diners filled out a survey, rating both taste and overall experience) but also their organization and profitability in a real-world restaurant setting.
The “Trattoria Americana” proved to be an ever bigger success than imagined. A savvy marketing plan (selling American classics like hamburgers, mac&cheese, and brownies) drew both Americans homesick for food, as well as curious Italians. The latter were especially tough
customers, but the execution was excellent, and the students won kudos from the Italians, their fellow students, and even Umbra faculty and staff for the over 80 meals served. The course is part of the Umbra Institute’s innovative Food Studies Program.
Actually, there was a local media outlet (www.tuttoggi.info) that sent a reporter, Nicola Palumbo, who posted this article and this video.
“Where can you find a turkey in Perugia?” This has been, at least twice, a question asked to the Umbra staff member on the emergency phone, but last night the answer was not “Macelleria Croce in Piazza Matteotti” but rather “Contrappunto.” The local restaurant Contrappunto made heroic efforts to locate three turkeys (think www.google.it, tacchino umbria, “turkey Umbria”): they woke up in the nearby town of Deruta but ended up on a platter, along with Brussel sprouts, carrots in butter, green beans, and mashed potatoes. Not bad for a staff more used to making penne alla norcina or strangozzi al sugo! A large group of Umbra students had their Turkey Day dinner (and a healthy dose of tryptophan!), keeping the tradition alive even abroad!
The Little Blue What-To-Do, a local free press guide to Perugia just went live online. Two Umbra students, Frances Walsh and Sophie Schechter, were responsible for the editing of the pages that were transferred from paper to the digital version, and are still working on the editing of a new section of the guide. If you are curious here is a link to the sitemap of the guide. In Perugia the Little Blue is known as “the Perugian green card” by all foreign students that come to have an experience abroad in Italy.
University for Foreigners Direct Enrollment student Haley Sciola sat down to chat with a few of the Italian Università di Perugia (UP) students involved with Umbra this semester. Umbra’s partnership with UP allows Italian students to ‘study abroad’ at Umbra and immerse themselves in the American style of university (only, they don’t have to leave Perugia to do it!). These UP students get to take a course or two, volunteer their time as Italian language and culture tutors, and participate in intercultural events hosted by Umbra.
Haley wanted to know what these students were up to exactly, how they were feeling about their experiences so far and what they hope to get out of it.
Francesco is taking a food studies course as well as a course on Leonardo Da Vinci. He attends weekly UNICEF workshops, tutors Umbra students, and frequents Tandem, the regularly scheduled language exchange and general ‘get out and hangout’ opportunity for Italian and American students. Francesco has enjoyed his Leonardo Da Vinci course most of all. He hopes to reach out to more Umbra students and be of “cultural assistance” for them in Perugia.
Tania took a conversation course at Umbra last spring and is tutoring this time around. She enjoyed the conversation course she took most, and she hopes to improve on her English language skills by December. She also encourages all Umbra students to take advantage of the Italian tutors. Tania really would love to help, or even just be a native speaker to practice on and hangout with!
Federica is tutoring and attending Tandem this semester. She has truly appreciated the opportunity to assist Umbra students in figuring out her native language. Federica wants to keep helping out students in any way she can. She hopes this experience will help her to continue developing her own language abilities in English, and also to improve her teaching skills in Italian.
They agreed that learning at an American institution amongst American students has been an exciting experience because of the:
This unique ‘AmericUmbra’ experience of exchanging cultures, languages, and the classroom is one that the University of Perugia and the American study abroad students in Italy are likely never to forget.
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