by Emma Albertoni, University of Denver and Umbra Rep Fall ’19

Studying abroad can be one of the most exciting, wonderful, and rewarding experiences during a student’s time in college. Many universities offer programs all over the world for students to apply to and resources to help them get everything they need to get where they need to be. Studying abroad gives you the opportunity to learn in a classroom with talented professors around the world and allows you to learn about different opinions, teaching styles, and ideas while contributing to your education. It allows you to travel to exciting places seeing beautiful landscapes, architecture, and history everywhere. By living in a different country for a semester, you get to learn about a new culture while living in it; seeing local people interact with their environment, listening to their language and how they speak it, their thoughts and opinions on things, what they value and what they don’t, how they do things differently than your own culture, and more. You learn just as much (if not more) about yourself as you learn about the culture, too. Trust me when I say if I could do this again, I would do it in a heartbeat.

I don’t believe that it is a surprise to anyone that, while studying abroad can be an amazing experience, it can also be very challenging. You’re in a foreign country, where you might not know the language very well, if at all. The culture might be very different from your home culture, which can be very shocking and can take a little while to get used to. You may not know anyone in your program and feel isolated from your friends and family back home due to time changes and physical distance. However, all of these are completely normal feelings to have. I can guarantee you that if you asked any student who is studying or has studied abroad, they would agree that they felt these feelings at some point during their semester abroad. I definitely felt feelings of homesickness and anxiousness while I have been abroad, which is why I wanted to write a blog post for future study abroad students to give you some advice for your time abroad!

1. Listen to yourself!

I first want to reiterate that it is completely normal to feel homesick/sad/anxious/nervous/etc. leading up to and during studying abroad. It is also okay to not have any of these feelings. Everyone prepares and reacts to new experiences, new environments, and new obstacles differently. You are the only one who knows what’s best for you, so listen to yourself. Take time to figure out what works for you and seek out what you need. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from advisors, professors, administrators, health care professionals, friends, or family during the process leading up to going abroad and during your abroad experience. No matter where you go or which program you select, you will most likely have someone that you can go to for questions, help, or just talk to when you need an ear.

2. Let it out

The day I left for Perugia, I was so excited and ready to jump into it that I couldn’t sleep the night before, and I kept imagining all the amazing things I would be able to experience. I also sobbed all the way through security in the airport to my gate, to the point where strangers asked if I was okay. I look back and laugh about it now – and yes, you can laugh at me too – because I knew I would be just fine, but I couldn’t stop crying. It was how I was feeling at the time, and it was how I wanted to handle the emotions I was experiencing. I knew I would be okay, and I knew I would have an amazing experience abroad, but I was nervous to be away from my family and in a new place on my own. Completely. Normal. Feelings. I just needed to let them out.

Time magazine’s Hilary Jacobs Hendel wrote an article about how ignoring your emotions can be bad for your health. She discusses how a person’s brain processes emotion and how it affects your body. Not acknowledging how you’re feeling can lead to increased chances of anxiety, depression, or stress, as well as physical symptoms like insomnia, headaches, or intestinal issues. It’s better for your mental and physical health to acknowledge your feelings and release them in some way than to keep them bottled up and festering inside your head. You can draw them, talk about them, write about them, scream, hit a pillow, or release them in whatever way you prefer!

3. Take Care of Your Mind and Body

We all have been told that eating well, staying hydrated, getting enough sleep, and exercising is good for our health. Studies have shown how these aspects of health improve mood and promote mental wellbeing!

When you first get to your program, adjusting to the time change is important. Try not to nap during the day and go to bed between 10:00 pm and midnight so you can get at least 7 hours of sleep. Try to stay consistent with getting 7 hours of sleep throughout the semester as well, as it can help your productivity and focus as well as your mood. And then, instead of napping, you can explore new places!

Make sure to stay hydrated by bringing a reusable water bottle and drinking safe drinking water. Here in Italy, the tap water is safe to consume. In many Italian cities, there are fountains with signs that say “Acqua Potabile” that you can drink from as well.

While pizza and pasta are plentiful and delicious in Italy, make sure to eat enough and eat a balanced diet that includes vegetables and protein. My roommates and I love to make pasta with pesto sauce or red sauce and add in prosciutto, Italian sausage, eggs, eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic or onions, depending on what we have and what is in season. We’ve also made big batches of vegetable soup and chicken noodle soup that we can store in the fridge and eat throughout the week.

Exercise is also shown to be greatly correlated to mood. If you study abroad, especially in Europe, you’ll be walking a lot. However, take opportunities to go for a run, follow yoga videos on YouTube, or look up exercises you can do in your apartment without equipment. In Perugia, there are also some nearby gyms that you can buy memberships to if you prefer. (See Kate Donati’s workout tips.)

Also, participate in self-care! Do a facemask, listen to some music and scream along to the lyrics, watch a movie, eat a cupcake (see Taylor Feehan’s post on the student favorite restaurant Pinturicchio, they have delicious cupcakes).

4. Bring Comfort Items

Bringing something from home might provide you comfort when you are feeling homesick, anxious, or lonely. I personally brought a stuffed animal bear, a blanket, and some letters and notes from loved ones that I have collected and saved over the last couple years. At the beginning of the semester, I would curl up with my blanket and call my mom or read through my notes before I went to bed. It wasn’t exactly home, but it was a piece of it, and it reminded me that home wasn’t as far away as it seemed at the time. Saving room in your suitcase to pack something small from home might be something you could consider, especially if you haven’t been far from home before and are anticipating homesickness.

5. Stay in Touch

As much as I wanted my family to come live in Italy with me for the four months I was here, it wasn’t a possibility. But for me, it was incredibly important that I had the ability to call, text, Facetime, Skype, email, send snail mail, or get to talk to them in some way on a regular basis. I made sure before I left to research and get a phone plan that worked for me. I ended up using the phone plan that Umbra offered at the beginning of the year in a partnership with Vodafone. It gives me 500 minutes of international calling, unlimited calling within Italy, and 35 GB of data a month (which for me is plenty, especially if I try to stay on Wifi during the week so when I travel on the weekends I don’t have to worry). I try and keep in contact with my family and my friends who aren’t here with me and talk to them a few times a week.

Find a way to keep in touch with your family, even if it is just Skyping over Wifi a couple times a week. It will help you feel less isolated, less lonely, and feel like you aren’t missing out on things going on at home. Plus, you’ll get to share all the amazing things you’re doing and seeing with the people you love!

6. Surround Yourself with Positive and Supportive People

Everyone that you’ll be studying abroad with is in the same situation; in a new place and culture with new people. Everyone will be somewhat unsure at first, and chances are they’re afraid they won’t make friends, just as you might be. I was worried about this at first too. However, a study abroad opportunity allows you to make friends in this unsure situation, which brings you together with people in a different way and makes you closer as friends in the long run. I can guarantee you’ll find friends who will travel and do things with you while you’re abroad! But also make sure that you surround yourself with good people who will support you while you’re here, so that you have someone to talk to who might be feeling a similar way. You can help each other work through any emotions and problems you’re having, and keep each other accountable throughout the experience!

7. Find Structure

Structure in your day to day activities can provide you with a sense of normalcy and expectation, especially in a setting like study abroad where everything can feel radically different. You can start to feel like you have control of your surroundings and begin to plan out what you want out of your abroad experience as well. Starting classes, planning out activities with your new friends, and scheduling time to explore the city you’re living in is a great way to start living in a new place.

8. Keep Busy and Go Places

One of the best ways I found to feel better when I first got to Perugia was to keep busy with school or activities, as well as leave my apartment to explore Perugia, Italy, and Europe. I found that by immersing myself in the culture, seeing amazing places, and sharing experiences with people, I kept myself from feeling lonely and homesick, and distracted myself with excitement and wonder. Sure, I still missed home while I went out and did things, but it reminded me why I came abroad in the first place; to gain independence and prove to myself I can do things on my own.

9. Try New Things

It’s always scary going into the unknown, but it’s an important part of personal growth, because it forces you to learn about how you handle different situations. Try to move just outside of your comfort zone (in a safe way) and experience new things while you’re abroad. This could be interpreted however you want and in whatever ways work for you! Start small by going to a café by yourself or ordering a new kind of food you haven’t tried before. Don’t push yourself too much and be smart about your safety, but study abroad is a great time to experiment. You’ll learn more about yourself and grow more as a person than any other time in your life!

10. Use Your Resources

Many study abroad programs offer several different resources to help students adjust to their new environment and provide support, advice, or an ear whenever necessary. At the Umbra Institute, for example, they has several very kind, open, and knowledgeable administrative staff members available to students to help them with different needs. Some of the key ones I will mention are Renilda Zajmi, the Coordinator for Student Health and Well-Being (she’s very helpful, she has gone with me to find the right medicine at the pharmacy and she has helped friends of mine get doctor’s appointments) and Alessandro Varazi, the Housing Coordinator (he’s a very nice and patient man, he helps with any housing questions you have, even if it’s getting you a new lightbulb or fixing the Wifi several times).

I can’t mention Umbra Institute’s fabulous resources without mentioning the counselor and psychologist who partners with the Umbra Institute to provide students with an outside resource that doesn’t answer to the school and will keep any and all information private. She holds open office hours at the school for anyone who needs them throughout the semester, and she’ll set up appointments with you through your insurance if you would like more support. I can’t express to you how much I appreciate her help; she’s very supportive and open and is happy to help any student with any issue at any time! She has helped me immensely by working and talking with me through some of my homesickness and anxieties since being abroad.

If you don’t feel comfortable with anyone at Umbra (or end up at a different program), International SOS (ISOS) has some amazing resources all over the world and are available 24/7 over the phone or through email. They offer resources for both doctors and counselors and are very nice and helpful when you call them. My school required students studying abroad to call them before we left to open a ‘file’ with them, just by asking a few questions about what they offer, medications we took and how we might find them in the country we were going to, and any other questions we might have had.

Bonus tip

Pet the dogs! There are many studies on how animals make us feel better. Plus, who doesn’t want to pet a cute dog on the street? In Italian, you can ask the owner, “Posso accarezzare il tuo cane per favore?” or just ask, “Posso?” and wave your hand near the dog. I have found the dog owners here in Perugia are very nice and will let you pet their dog for a couple minutes!

https://time.com/5163576/ignoring-your-emotions-bad-for-your-health/

https://www.mhanational.org/helpful-vs-harmful-ways-manage-emotions

https://aspiria.ca/maintaining-mental-health-studying-abroad/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/what-works-and-why/201803/how-your-mental-health-reaps-the-benefits-exercise

https://www.nopanic.org.uk/dehydration-anxiety/

https://www.umbra.org/about/onsite-staff/

https://www.internationalsos.com

By Taylor Feehan, University of Southern Maine and Fall 2019 Umbra Rep

Italy has so much to offer.
The beautiful scenery, the culture, the kind faces that you pass by every single day, and let’s not forget… the food & drink. Being in Italy for the semester has completely changed the way I view food and even how I eat.
I mean, how can you resist the smell of freshly-baked croissants stuffed with pastry cream made early that morning? The truth is… you can’t.

One of My Favorite Cafe’s, Mythique Cafè, located on Via dei Priori, 81 in Perugia
Croissants aren’t the only tasty pastry that most cafes and patisseries have to offer. There’s always an array of sweet treats – buttery-flaky tartlet shells with ricotta and dried fruits, pistachio-cremes, biscotti’s and so on. If you find yourself at a hotel, or visiting an agriturismo… (highly recommended by the way) the typical Italian breakfast buffet consist of prosciutto, fresh fruits, sliced cheeses, homemade marmalades, coffee cakes, and so much more.

The affordability of it all makes it that much easier to indulge in these magnificent treats. You can get most of them for only one euro, and a hand-crafted cappuccino for under two euro. Italian breakfasts are almost too good to be true.

With that being said, one comes to realize that American breakfast culture has its own identity.

Pancakes, waffles, french toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and mounds of each of them at that.

While I will never get tired of my (almost daily) Italian breakfast… I do get the occasional craving for the standard stack of flapjacks that can so easily be comendered in the United States.

When I heard word of an “American breakfast place” through other Umbra students, I knew that I had to do some exploring.

Pinturicchio Café + Kitchen, located on Via Pinturicchio, 26 in Perugia
My first visit to this place was surely one to be remembered… and you best believe I’ve been back. For the sake of this post, of course… (and my belly)

The Atmosphere

The atmosphere is a mix of modern and historical. The vibe of Pinturicchio is relaxed, cozy, and comfortable. The furniture is mitch-matched old chairs, couches, and tables. There are books placed all along the restaurant as they encourage learning of all sorts. They have weekly Tandem nights where students and citizens of Perugia can come together and mingle. I mean, what else is a meal for if not for coming together?
It is safe to say that Pinturicchio is a perfect mix between cafe and restaurant.

According to the website,
“Pinturicchio Café + Kitchen, a collaboration between friends from three different countries that offers a constantly evolving menu of delicious home-made dishes, American cuisine served with friendly hospitality to an international clientele.”
The atmosphere of Pinturicchio Cafè is exactly that – friendly, hospitable, and welcoming to all who walk through the door. Even after they’re being flooded with 10 American students in the morning after Italian class…
The menu has a comforting mix of Italian treats and American favorites. Including, but not limited to, banana pancakes, french toast, bacon, sausage gravy and biscuits, breakfast wraps, and even iced coffee… You read that correctly. Iced coffee. They even named it “American Iced Coffee.” This treat is not commonly found in cafes in Italy.

My personal favorite. Sausage gravy with cheddar biscuits.
A dish that takes me across the ocean all the way back to my home in Maine, just like my grandmother makes.

One of the best things about Italy is the fresh, sustainable, and local ingredients found in restaurants and stores everywhere… one in particular is the eggs, never will you see yolks so orange. They’re creamy, fresh, buttery, and oh-so delicious.

The bacon is crispy, the potatoes are hand-cut and seasoned to perfection. The pancakes are fluffy, made with sweet bananas and warming spices like cinnamon and nutmeg.

In Conclusion

Between the welcoming atmosphere, incredible food, impeccable service, and great company… Pinturicchio has a passing grade from us!
A+
Thanks for reading!

– Umbra Rep Taylor

By Nicole Flohr, Lebanon Valley College and Umbra Rep Fall ’19

Over 95 percent of Umbra students participate in community engagement each semester. Engaging in a meaningful way with the local community and Italian culture is one of the most rewarding aspects of studying abroad. Luckily, Perugia is the perfect place to get involved, and the Umbra Institute has many options available for students!
I have personally participated in many of these opportunities during the semester. I have loved getting to know the city and community better through my classes and service learning projects and have made some incredible connections and memories.

1. Make a difference in the local community

Community-based courses allow you to apply theory to field research and immersive activities. These courses also allow you to directly engage with community partners to make a difference in Perugia.

I am taking Placemaking, one of Umbra’s community-based courses. In class, we discuss theories about community development, public space, and inclusive participatory processes. In the community, we are working with neighborhood associations to improve a local park, Parco Sant’Angelo. We have engaged with the neighborhood through forums, children’s workshops, and community events.

2. Learn through hands-on experience

Community engagement is built into the curriculum at Umbra, which allows you to use the information you learn in courses and put it into practice in the local community. There is no better way to learn than through real-world experience!

I am taking two courses with a service learning project: Photography and Human Development in Culture. In Photography, we learned about marketing photographs before partnering with RE.LEG.ART. to take photos of their leather products, which are made by adults with special needs. These photos are then used for this organization’s social media outlets. In Human Development, we visited a Montessori elementary school and lead an educational English activity at the local public middle school. These two activities allowed us to investigate and make sense of the principles and psychological outcomes of the various education system as well as compare them to the American school system.

3. Engage in cultural exchange

While engaging with the community, you can both share your own culture and learn more about Italian culture.

I volunteer at Liceo Scientifico Galeazzo Alessi, a local high school, as an English tutor. Each week I create a presentation about American culture and the English language to share with the students. I have learned a lot about Italian culture and Perugia from them in return!

4. Support a global cause

The Umbra Institute has many community connections and offers a variety of volunteer opportunities. No matter your interests, from sports to gardening, there is something for you!
Every Tuesday for five weeks, four other Umbra students and I volunteered alongside local UNICEF staff to create Pigotta dolls. We stuffed the dolls, drew on their faces, designed their clothes, and sewed on their hair. The cloth dolls are put up for “adoption,” and the proceeds go towards the purchase of vaccin kits for children and mothers in need around the world.

5. Get to know the locals

Perugia is a great city to get to know the locals, from the produce sellers at the weekly markets to the owners of restaurants, gelaterias, and pastry shops. It is easy to meet new people even beyond community engagement opportunities coordinated through Umbra.
Because I am on the swim team at my home university, I wanted to find a pool in Perugia. Piscina Pellini offers semester-long memberships, which was perfect! Now, I swim every day before class with the same group of locals in lane 5. Although I am one of the youngest there, I feel welcomed and accepted and its really motivating to have people holding me accountable while I am away from my team. I am so lucky to have a little community at the pool that makes waking up early and working out enjoyable!

Piscina Pellini, where I swim with a group of locals every morning
Community engagement is a defining aspect of the curriculum and programming at the Umbra Institute. It certainly has defined my experience studying abroad. I will always remember the class time spent in the community, the wonderful women and students I met while volunteering, and the welcoming swimmers in lane 5!
One of my biggest pieces of advice for others studying abroad is to take advantage of the community engagement opportunities! Not only will you gain a better understanding of the culture and create connections with the community, but you will also grow personally.

To learn more about Community Engagement opportunities at Umbra, click here.

Rocco Catrone (right) and some students after their art therapy clinic at the Umbra Institute

An article by Rocco Catrone— adjunct faculty and Behavior Analysis practitioner at Elmhurst College, visiting professor and alumnus of the Umbra Institute.

It has been 7 years since my life changed in ways I never thought possible.

Some days, it feels like a lifetime ago but in even more ways, it was as if it only happened yesterday. In the Fall Semester of 2011, I studied abroad at the Umbra Institute in Perugia. A fairy-tale dream of a medieval town in Central Italy – a place you most likely never heard of beyond those delicious Italian chocolate kisses called Baci. Little did I know that the stone walls, warm welcome from the community, Italian lifestyle, and excellent education would leave me wanting to come back.

So I did.

This summer, I am teaching a course called PSYC 260: Radical Communication which looks at how language affects the way humans behave in politics, education, and religion. Each week, we learn our topics and then apply this to the community through observations in schools, participating in clinics, or simply being integrated in the town we call home for this time.

During one of my favorite observations, my students and a local high school class were able to talk about and compare different idioms used in each of their cultures. The differences between “break and leg” and “into the mouth of the wolf” having the same functional meaning which is not immediately clear just looking at the words. My students and the high schoolers enjoyed this activity so much that we were asked to come back and further look at cultural differences through interviews to learn more about the differences and similarities in Italian and USA culture. This information was learned first-hand and not in some textbook.

The nuances of a culture are more apparent when you are directly living there, surrounded by others who did not grow up in your own cultural context. This is something, which was taught to me during my time here, that I try to bring to my students. We learn in class lectures and class activities how to be more culturally competent – How are choices made? How does different learning histories affect this? How does language factor in all of this?

Perugia is a perfect classroom to learn these topics as it is unlike the more popular Naples, Florence, Milan, or Rome. You live here and are a part of the community. We live in apartments in buildings with other local Italians – not dorms. We learn Italian by ordering food at the grocery store and connecting with the local merchants in the giant open-air markets. Evening walks with friends down the main drag while enjoying gelato. All of this without being glued to a phone or computer.

Perugia has its hold on me and a piece of my heart will always be here. The Umbra staff have been instrumental in my coming back and I thank them every day for giving me this opportunity to do so. I hope to return next year and every year after that to share this wonderful place with my students.

Be sure to check out my students blogs posts during their experiences here tying what they learned in class to the observations!

Click here to learn more about Umbra’s Multicultural Psychology Program and opportunities to study similar topics during a semester abroad.

by Teresa Cutler-Broyles

Perugia has won.
And it didn’t even know it was in a contest.

When I arrived in 2014 for my first year of teaching at the Umbra Institute I had no idea what to expect. I’d never been to this city; in fact, I’m not sure I’d ever been to Umbria. Not
intentionally, anyway.

My first visit to Italy was to Rome in 2000 and I fell in love. With all of Italy as a concept, of course, but with Rome itself. I spent six weeks in the city wandering its streets, discovering its secrets, learning all the dos and don’t and ins and outs, and filling my heart with its beauty, and its not-so-pretty aspects. The noise and the tourists (which for some reason I didn’t think I was) and the unending rush were all part of the reason I loved it, and I couldn’t imagine another city capturing my heart in the same way. Every time I came back to the country after that, I spent as much time as possible in Rome while I explored south to Naples and north to Venice—bypassing Umbria on the way via train.

Then I discovered what I’d been missing.

I arrived in Perugia on the same day—in fact, on the same bus—as my students that first year, having spent two weeks in Rome beforehand. The staff had met them at Rome’s airport as I’ve since learned they do every year, having traveled down the day before to be up long before dawn to meet the early arrivals. My students, jet-lagged and frankly terrified were gathered up with the other arrivals and we were all settled in for the ride north.

Most of them slept. I watched the countryside go by. As we rolled into Perugia I took a deep breath, excited to see a new city and the school, and the lovely little apartment they’d found for me, where I’d be spending my next five weeks.

And that right there is the key. The fact that I got on a bus and showed up in this lovely town without a worry. That I knew my students would be taken care of and that I’d have a place to live with windows that overlooked something amazing. And sure enough, it all worked like clockwork.

Umbra itself is located in a centuries-old building right in the main piazza with its gorgeous fountain. Classrooms are equipped with all the amenities we’d expect from the 21st century while maintaining their medieval character in the ceiling arches and the traces of doors and windows beneath the plaster on the walls. The library where computers for students reside is filled with heavy wood bookshelves and filled with research material anyone with a love for Italy would want to get their hands on—and students can (and do) spend hours in there working on their projects.

As an instructor at Umbra my job is to get students here, offer them an exciting and educational experience two days a week, introduce them to as much Italian history and food as possible, and then help provide them with guidance as they need it to negotiate their way through the city and the country on their own on the days we’re not together. Generally, they need me for about three days… after that, due almost entirely to Umbra staff and their ongoing and tireless support, students get it all figured out and they’re off into Italy to fall in love with it just as I did so many years ago.

And Perugia is easy to fall in love with. Its main piazza is alive with people at all hours, its food is exquisite and quite unique—Umbria has dishes that are found nowhere else in Italy, and while it does have its tourist restaurants, it also has fabulous gems hidden in nooks and crannies at every turn—and its museums and churches scattered throughout are as stunning as anywhere else in Italy. Twisty medieval streets, ancient Etruscan arches and walls, and one of the largest collections of in situ paintings in a nearby church are just a few of the reasons I keep coming back.

Which brings me back to the beginning. I don’t know when it happened, exactly, that my heart shifted from Rome to Perugia, or when I began looking forward to being in Italy without thinking immediately of how much time I’d spend in the Eternal City. This year will be my sixth one teaching with Umbra. And I’ve been in Italy since March 6 this year.

And I haven’t visited Rome once, because Perugia won’t let me go.

By Kate Donati, College of William and Mary and Spring ’19 Umbra Rep

If you’re like most students who come to study here, you have never heard of our little city before. I bet you a Turan Café cappuccino that you couldn’t tell me what region Perugia is in without peeking at a map. You’re definitely not alone! I had no idea that this place, that I now call home, even existed before clicking ‘apply’ all those months ago. And this is secretly one of the most beautiful things about Perugia. It’s a town relatively untouched by the waves of tourism that (some claim) have taken over Florence and Rome. Perugia is a university town that is not only used to an influx of students but welcomes them with the all the warmth of an authentic Italian grandma.

There are so many reasons to choose Perugia I don’t even know where to start…

The classes and staff at Umbra!

Reasons to study abroad vary from student to student but even though you might think you want nothing more than an extended spring break, the academics of your program should be near the top of your list. Umbra offers a wide range of class subjects, from ceramics to international marketing to psychology to contemporary Italian culture. There is something here for every major — yes, even the bio majors can find time in their rigid scheduling to study abroad. There’s no better place to study Renaissance art, the fine art of cooking and sustainability, or European Union market regulations than in Italy, and the small class sizes at Umbra mean you can really delve into the subject with your professors and on field trips to every part of the peninsula. You can also be assured of your professor’s interest in not only their subject but in helping you to succeed, and you’ll definitely be on a first name basis with the entire staff. (This picture was taken on my class trip to Pisa and Siena — after you spend the night in Pisa, you wake up leaning like the tower.)

The authenticity of Perugia!

While studying in Florence or Rome can be comforting, knowing you’ll be surrounded by a buffer of other English-speaking foreign students. If you’re looking for the most authentic “Italian experience” you can find, it’s the smaller cities you’re looking for. You will not only be able to witness the Perugini going about their daily lives, you actually get to participate in their customs and interact with locals. In the fall, Perugia is host to a huge chocolate festival and you get to bask in the gorgeous Christmas decorations. Spring semester brings the festivities of Carnivale, Easter, and the International Journalism Festival. The summer brings Umbria Jazz and the best opportunities for people-watching. The Umbra Institute hosts plenty of cultural exchanges with Italian students who want to practice their English, but beyond the walls of school, you can’t help but interact with native Perugini. The cafés, bars, clubs, restaurants, and gelaterias are all locally-owned and just bursting with opportunities for you to practice your Italian.

The people you meet along the way!

You’ll probably hear an echo of this same sentiment from every study abroad program, and to a certain degree, it’s always true. No matter where you choose to study abroad, you will find your tribe of people that just get you. Your travel partners, going-out squad, classmates, and flat mates are the only people who truly understand how profound (in any sense of the word) of an impact your time studying abroad has on you. You will find these people wherever you go — I’ve found, however, that the bonds just feel even stronger in Perugia. Maybe it’s because it’s a smaller program, or maybe it’s the hills we have to climb together, or maybe it’s something else entirely — something about this program that attracts people that tend to just fit together.

Ultimately, you come to Perugia for the program, for the classes, and for the cultural immersion. You’ll come back for the people and the memories you make here. (And the chocolate.)

By Gerardo Moceri, Arizona State University and Spring ’19 Umbra Rep

Studying abroad in a smaller town in a foreign country can be a scary thought at first, as the language barrier can sometimes be a lot. However, the experiences you gain from going along with them are well worth it. It is easy to become culturally immersed in a smaller town like Perugia, which makes learning and speaking Italian much more fun. There are many students from all around the world here with whom you can meet and practice Italian. The Umbra Institute also has many opportunities to allow us to practice with other local students. Along with the, living in a smaller city like Perugia, we get to practice our Italian a lot with the locals, and since it is a very popular university town, locals are very open to speaking with you.

I signed up to take Italian 310 at the Umbra Institute because I really wanted to challenge my skills in Italian. I had only one year of experience in Italian before, so I was a little nervous that I would not score well enough on the placement test to remain in the class. However, the test went well and after meeting and speaking Italian with Aimée and Francesco, my professor, I knew I would be ok. There are only six people in our class, so we have gotten very close and the small class helps us be more engaged. It also forces me to get out of my comfort zone, which makes speaking Italian in public easier. I have not only improved my Italian grammatically, but also learned fun expressions that make me feel closer to the culture.

One way in which Umbra helps us better our language skills outside of the classroom is by offering conversation partners who are fluent in Italian. Along with two other Umbra students, we meet with our conversation partner, Pietrina, and she is great in helping our language skills develop. We meet at least two hours a week, playing games, exploring Perugia or going out to dinner, speaking in Italian and learning more about the culture of Perugia. It has definitely been one of the best experiences so far and it has improved my Italian.

About every other week, Umbra hosts an event called Tandem, which allows students from Perugia to meet with Umbra students in a language exchange opportunity. The Italian students get a chance to practice their English, while we get to speak Italian. It is a very open and comfortable setting, making it easier to not be afraid of making mistakes and to speak freely. We help each other out and even make some pretty good local friends. One friend in which I met offered to take us to one of the local Perugia soccer matches for Perugia’s Serie B squad. It was really fun, as he took us to the supporter’s section so we could get the real experience of being a fan of AC Perugia. It also gave us a chance to continue practicing Italian and learn the soccer chants for the team.

I have really loved being involved in the local community here and meeting new faces. There is a local track that I usually go running at in Perugia and there I met some locals who always let me train with them. They are very patient with my Italian and they even like the chance to practice some of their English as well. One of the first times I ran there, a couple saw me running and when I was done they asked what my workout was. They were just getting started with their run though, so I ended up running another thirty minutes with them just because they were very friendly and it was a great chance to meet some locals. The next time we ran together, Alessandro and his wife invited me out to pizza! Another time, they introduced me to some very good runners and I joined in on their workout of running four 1500 meter runs. At first, I could keep up with the runners and we would practice my Italian sometimes as we ran in between breaths. However, towards the end of the workout, my consistent diet of pasta and pizza caught up to me and they ran much quicker than me. Nevertheless, we all had a good workout and got to learn more about each other. I used to be a runner and the track felt like a common home between Perugia and Arizona. Making friends at the track then helped Perugia feel much more like home to me. It also made me learn that no matter what language you speak, smiling and being kind to new people you meet is a true common language we all share. After realizing this, speaking Italian to anyone became much easier. So if I were to offer any advice to students traveling to Perugia, it’s too just go for it when you speak Italian. The more mistakes you make while speaking, the faster you learn and the more immersed you will feel into this welcoming community.

by Ruby Dann, University of Connecticut and Spring ’19 Umbra Rep

My knowledge of Unicef used to be based off the colorful cardboard boxes we set out around the holidays to collect coins as donations for the organization. The boxes were decorated with tiny cartoon children and examples of donation amounts with their potential impact. When I heard about the volunteer opportunity at the beginning of the semester, I wanted to join not only for nostalgic reasons, but also because I believe in the overall child-focused mission.

Coming into the program, it was expected that we would each create a doll in the six weeks with help from the coordinators. The women at the Unicef Headquarters spoke only Italian, but we could understand their devotion to the organization and the gratification that it brought them. It was also enriching to be connected with a different generation and language.
We learned about the organization, each lady’s experience with Unicef, and the way Unicef functions on an international scale.

Before this opportunity, I had a biased view that America was responsible for most of the aid that is distributed on an international scale. The program expanded my knowledge of the efforts of other countries to assist with the well-being of kids everywhere. It is also exciting to note that the Pigotta dolls would be sold for collected funds that would go towards vaccinations for children. The necessity of vaccinations is a debate in America right now. We are privileged to work on raising money to benefit those around the world who do not have access to aid in a time when many Americans decide not to take advantage of essential vaccinations.

Volunteering for Unicef was not only a fun, weekly opportunity to be creative, but also beneficial to our overall cultural learning experience. Spending time with the Italian women who ran the Unicef Headquarters in Perugia immersed us in the Italian language as well as another generation. There are generally few opportunities to be familiar with older generations as students studying abroad, but we were able to learn much about the dedication and history of the ladies through Unicef.

For more information about Community Engagement Opportunities at Umbra, click here.

On March 9th and 10th, Dr. Elisa Ascione, Coordinator of the Umbra Institute’s Food & Sustainability Program (FSSP), facilitated the Food, Heritage & Community Conference in Prague, Czech Republic. The goal of the conference, sponsored by Progressive Connexions, was “to explore how food is perceived, constructed, celebrated and resisted as cultural heritage at personal, regional, national and global levels.” As the event leader, Dr. Ascione reviewed submissions and created a truly international program that included presentations by professors, activists, and independent scholars with over fifteen different nationalities. The range of topics covered by specific sessions—including Food and Migration; Food, Health and the Life Cycle; Representing Kitchens, Memories, and Identities; and Redefining Heritage and Sustainability—demonstrates the interdisciplinary breadth of the conference. At the end of the conference, participants agreed that it was an intellectually stimulating and professionally gratifying experience.

Among the presenters was Dr. Peter Naccarato, Interim Program Director at the Umbra Institute and Professor of English & World Literatures at Marymount Manhattan College. Dr. Naccarato, presented his paper, “Brooklyn Goes Global: When Local Culinary Culture Becomes a Global Phenomenon.” He explained that this paper was part of a chapter that he and his co-author, Dr. Katie LeBesco, are writing for a forthcoming book on “Global Brooklyn.” The goal of the book is to understand how and why a set of objects, designs, interior decorating, architecture and other practices have traveled from cafes and restaurants in Brooklyn, New York to cities across the world. For their chapter, Dr. Naccarato and Dr. LeBesco are exploring the differences between the actual New York City borough of Brooklyn and the imagined space called “Global Brooklyn.” They consider Brooklyn’s place in the cultural imaginary: Who does and who doesn’t inhabit Global Brooklyn? How do Global Brooklyn’s aesthetic and culinary practices interface with working class and immigrant people who have been displaced within the borough and who have distinctly different eating and drinking practices? What does this mean for the imagined version of Brooklyn that is translated around the world, and how does it impact those who inhabit the “real” physical place?

Asked about his experience at this conference, Dr. Naccarato said that he found it to be “a very engaging conference where he met many people doing creative and thought-provoking work in food studies.” He was especially enthusiastic about the “international breadth and disciplinary range of the presenters,” which he feels “underscores one of the best attributes of food studies.” Dr. Ascione echoed these sentiments, saying that she “was inspired by the scope of topics and themes that emerged from the presentations,” and that the exchange of ideas and research topics has been an enriching experience, professionally as well as personally.

For more information about the Food & Sustainability Studies Program, click here.

By McKenna Brooks, Fall 2018 Umbra Rep

Ciao! If you’re reading this, then that probably means you’re thinking about studying abroad in Italy. YAY! How exciting! When I decided to study abroad, I was very torn about where I wanted to go. I love traveling and I have so many places that I would love to visit. In the end, I decided on the Umbra Institute in Perugia, Italy. It turned out to be the right decision and one of the best of my life. In this blog post, I’m highlighting some of my favorite aspects of Italy and why I love living here so much. (See pictures below)

FOOD

If you’re a ‘foodie’ like me, then you’ll love Italy. It’s home to amazing pasta, yummy pastries, and fantastic pizza. I mean, who doesn’t love carbs, sweets, and cheese? Fresh mozzarella, buttery croissants, and homemade pasta will make you never ever want to leave. And if that isn’t enticing enough, the fresh produce is the best I’ve ever had. For all my chefs out there, the raw ingredients will take your grandma’s recipes up a notch. Honestly, if it weren’t for all the uphill walking and no elevators, I’m sure by now I would’ve doubled in size. Italy does live up to the food expectations.

ART

Tons of the world’s most famous painters, sculptors, and architects are Italian. People like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Botticelli to name a few. Even if you aren’t an art enthusiast, the buildings, frescoes (similar to murals), and statues are impressive to anyone, regardless of their interests. For example, Florence houses world renown, iconic works, such as Michelangelo’s “David” and Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus.” Even less famous works like frescoes painted by Cimabue and Giotto in Assisi, dating back to the 13^th century, can still be appreciated. Living in Italy and visiting numerous museums and cathedrals has given me a newfound love and respect for art.

VIEWS

Okay, if you’ve read this far and aren’t convinced, then maybe this will change your mind. Because of its location, Italy has everything from Mediterranean beaches, vast coastlines, lush forests, rolling plains, and beautiful mountains. The landscape is covered in towering cypress trees, umbrella pines, palm trees, fields of grass and flowers, and panoramic vistas where you can see for miles. Even the towns and cities packed full of buildings and people are undeniably gorgeous. Contrary to the States, seemingly every plaza, street, and apartment has been crafted with artistic care. You can find detailed facades, huge engraved doors with bronze knockers in the shapes of lion heads or hands, expertly paved streets, arches, and spouting fountains surrounded by sculptures. Italy is genuinely such a beautiful country that you’ll fall in love with it immediately.

There is so much I love about Italy. I can only write about a few things, but I hope you can understand how absolutely amazing this country is. Although, this is just my experience and what I appreciate, I’m confident in saying that no matter who you are, you’ll have an absolutely wonderful time in Italy. Grazie per la vostra attenzione! Thanks for reading!