Umbra Blog – Page 69 – DEV – The Umbra Institute – Study Abroad in Italy

With Martedì Grasso (Fat Tuesday) yesterday, Carnevalecame to an end. Children and adults alike celebrated during the day and night by wearing costumes, masks, and painting their faces. Last weekend, some fortunate Umbra students even found themselves at the celebration’s epicenter, Venice, masquerading about in good tradition. Carnival typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, masque and public street party. People often dress up during the festival, which mark an overturning of daily life.

Traditionally in Christianity, carnival marked the last opportunity to celebrate and to use up special foods not allowed during Lent. The term Carnevale is in fact derived from older Italian, meaning to “remove meat” literally “raising the flesh”, and thus raising meat from the diet for the season of Lent. The Lenten period of the Church calendar, being the six weeks directly before Easter, was marked by fasting and other pious or penitential practices. Traditionally during Lent, no parties or other celebrations were held, and people refrained from eating rich foods, such as meat, dairy, fats and sugar. While it forms an integral part of the Christian calendar, particularly in Catholic regions, some carnival traditions may date back to pre-Christian times. The ancient Roman festivals of Saturnalia and Bacchanalia may possibly have been absorbed into the Italian Carnival.

Last weekend, 37 Umbra students in Professor Bevagna’s Roman Civilization course spent three days exploring the rich archaeological heritage in the Naples area of Italy. Despite temporary museum closing due to protests, unusually rainy weather, and the famous Napolitan traffic, the trip was a total success and the group was able to visit the ruins at Pompeii, the Villa Oplontis, and Herculaneum, all of which were preserved in time by volcanic material when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD.

Do you Facebook? Blog? How about YouTube? The Umbra Institute is plugged in with all three in an effort to help students see what it’s like to live in Perugia before they make their decision to come here. The Umbra blog documents the activities and day-to-day life while the Umbra Views YouTube page gives insights on Perugia life in tidbit-size bites: want to know about what your apartment could look like, what a pizza workshop entails, or what a Renaissance Art fieldtrip sees? And for those of you with Facebook (who’s without, though?) click here for our site.

Umbra: plugged in!

Last Friday, students in Professor Adrian Hoch’s Michelangelo course braved the unusually winter weather — SNOW in Rome! — to visit some of Michelangelo’s most famous works of art. Students started out at the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel, and then made their way around tthe city to see the Campidoglio, the famous Moses at San Pietro in Vincoli, the Porta Pia, and numerous other works designed by the Renaissance master.

Students may not have realized just how lucky they were to see snow falling in Rome… it was the first snowfall in the Holy City since 1986!

Four years ago Erin Jordan came to Italy and the first thing she ate was gnocchi, Italy’s potato and flour reponse to knoedel. At the Arrival Dinner on her first night in Perugia, Jordan sat down to the table with all her fellow students and had…gnocchi. It seemed only natural then that, when asked to write about an Italian food by her creative writing professor, Erin chose gnocchi.

“Write what you know,” is the old adage, so Erin decided to cook first, write later. A low-cost yet filling alternative to dinner out at the ristorante, gnocchi combine simplicity (potatoes, flour, salt) with versatility: like other kinds of pasta, they lend themselves to combination with practically any kind of sauce. Perennial Italian favorites are melted butter and sage or a simple tomato sauce, but gnocchi are forgiving, though not a quick meal.

Jordan, with the help from her roommates, spent about two hours peeling, boiling, and mashing the potatoes, then mixing in the flour and salt, rolling out the long cylinder of dough, and cutting up the gnocchi. The time was worth it, though, as the meal was delicious, providing not only nourishment but a perfect point of departure for Jordan’s creative writing assignment.

Complimenti and buon appetito!

In Italian the word for tongue and language, is one and the same: lingua. That’s why, in addition to the week of Intensive Italian and the obligatory Italian classes, the Umbra Institute sponsors the Tandem program. Run by staff member Rachel Bethany and Umbra’s hard-working intern Paola d’Amora, the Tandem program is a sort of mixer where American students and their counterparts from Perugia’s universities get to know each other. The low-pressure environment and activities often lead to friendships that last the whole semester and even beyond – it’s not uncommon for Umbra alumni returning to Perugia to visit the friends they made in Tanbehind Piazza Morlacchi, just around the corner from Umbra. Conversations flowed long past the official end of the event… perhaps tongues were loosened just a bit by the wine and prosecco aperitivo.

This past weekend Umbra Institute students headed out for the traditional Italian Carnival (carnevale) celebrations. Most Americans think of Venice as the obvious destination — and indeed the city has been the spot for carnival celebrations since the Grand Tourists of the 1700s. The Umbra students who crossed the lagoon to the island city weren’t disappointed: masks, music, and some subdued mayhem abounded.

Other students took the path-less-traveled (at least by foreigners) and went to the Tuscan city of Viareggio on Italy’s west coast. Viareggio, considered by Italians to be the “real” carnival, hosts a weeklong festival atmosphere which culminates in a parade of huge floats that move along the city’s main drag amid music and applause of the onlookers.

In 1889 the king and queen of Italy, in a bid to seem closer to their subjects, invited pizza maker Raffaele Esposito to the royal palace outside of Naples to make them pizzas. Esposito turned out three different types: one with garlic, one with anchovies, and one with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and a sprig of basil. As the story goes, the queen liked the last one the best and Esposito named it after her: thus the origin of the Pizza Margherita.

This and other olive oil-drenched food history nuggets were the main course last night at the Umbra Institute pizza workshop, aside from the pizza, of course. Students went to the almost-hidden Pizza & Musica pizzeria (on Perugia’s “Best of..” list!) and not only ate pizza but made it too. Three students got to pull the dough out, add toppings, and then actually spin it in the oven. The next workshop will be on February 16th, sign up soon!

The Umbra Institute offers a wide range of options for learning Italian.

Io sono, tu sei, lui è… Learning a language isn’t just about learning the conjugation of a verb, it’s about experiencing a culture. At the Umbra Institute, though, we know that there are many reasons for learning Italian, and so we offer a variety of approaches.

During the Fall and Spring semesters, students who follow the General Studies track take most of their classes in English but have one obligatory language and culture class. This can be either the four credit-hour course or the six-credit intensive Italian course, designed to give the student even more contact with the grammar and vocabulary.

For students who would like to concentrate completely on the language, there are two different language immersion programs. During the Fall and Spring semesters, students can choose to have their lessons at the University for Foreigners, a world-famous school for university level Italian instruction. When taking classes through the Umbra Institute students will receive credits transferable to their home institution. In the summer months the immersion option is the Intensive Italian Through Culture program, directed by Professor Robert Proctor of Connecticut College. Much like the Full Immersion program at the University for Foreigners, this course is taught entirely in Italian and provides a quantum leap for those studying the language more seriously.

Io vengo, tu vieni, lei viene… We hope you’ll come to the Umbra Institute, where learning Italian isn’t simply learning the language, it’s living Italy.

Congrats to Ali Millrood from the University of Colorado-Boulder for her winning photo entitled “An Umbra Snapshot.” Ali will enjoy a free meal from Quattro Passi Pizzeria!

Auguri Ali!