Umbra Blog – Page 79 – DEV – The Umbra Institute – Study Abroad in Italy

For once, the six hour time difference between Italy and the East Coast worked to our advantage! Yesterday afternoon, Umbra students finished up classes just in time to catch live coverage of the presidential inaguration festivities in Washington, DC. Students gathered in the lounge in Umbra I and in Professor Michael Chiariello’s classroom up in Umbra II to watch the speeches and swearing-in ceremony, and several pubs around Perugia showed the Presidential Parade and other inaugural events into the later evening. Tanti auguri for President Obama!

Umbra students hailing from St. Bonaventure University, the Center for International Studies, Lebanon Valley College, Richmond College, the University of Mississippi, and Newman College were all invited for a daytrip to Assisi this Saturday. Local tour guide Marco Bellanca led an especially detailed walk around Assisi, and did his best to convince us that behind the heavy fog there really are spectacular views out across the valley.

Students learned about the importance of the original frescoes in the Basilica of St. Clare to Renaissance art history, and crossed into the breathtaking sanctuary at the Basilica of San Francesco d’Assisi.

After everyone had a chance to

pick up souveniers for the nonne a casa — grandmothers back at home — as Marco

had suggested, students left the center of Assisi and took a short ride down into the valley to the Agriturismo La Carfagna for lunch. Despite our late arrival, the family was ready with a full course meal: several types of homemade pasta, roasted Umbrian specialities, and zuppa inglese for dessert. All returned back to Perugia that afternoon with full stomachs and ready for a long nap before another Saturday night in the center got underway…

Formaticum, formaggio, formage, caseus, queso, Käse? Call it whatever you like, but one thing’s for sure: Cheese tastes good, lots of cheese! Last night 27 incredibly well-palated students gathered for Umbra Institute’s first cheese tasting or “degustazione di formaggi” of the year. Each region in Italy is known for its unique and specific flavors so the choices seem endless to a foreigner, and ordering can be an ordeal. To remedy that, students tasted each of them so they could know what suited their tastes. Eleven cheeses in total were nibbled, from the strong, I’m-here-on-your-palate-to stay Asiago to the subtle, creamy Stracchino.

Staff member and cheese enthusiast Paul Schiller also gave a little cheese history and provided the “cultural context” for each of the cheeses. The production of cheese is a proud tradition in Italy, from the passionate pastoralists taking to the hills with their flocks, to the deli worker who can eye perfectly the desired amount, and then cut it from a great “forma” or wheel of cheese. Thanks to all the students who came, and apologies for our cheesy jokes.

For the 10th semester, a special group of seventeen Umbra students are taking all of their classes during their semester in Perugia at the University for Foreigners, one of the oldest and most prestigious Italian language schools in the world. The University, or Stranieri as students in Perugia generally refer to the school, opened in 1921 as a language program within the University of Perugia, and classes were held in the Sala dei Notari at the Palazzo dei Priori — the very room where Umbra holds our welcome orientation meeting for all students at the beginning of each semester. The impressive Palazzo Galenga opened in 1926 as the primary seat of the Universita, with a large library, frescoed classrooms, and incredible views out across the valley. Over ninety years later, several thousand students from all over the world come to Perugia each year to take intensive immersion courses to improve all aspects of their Italian language skills. Our seventeen students studying at Stranieri arrived in Perugia several days ahead of the general studies students for their own orientation to Perugia, and during the semester they will meet with Umbra professors for weekly tutorial sessions. These meetings will be especially helpful this semester since the current group has embarked on a particularly challenging course of study. In boca al lupo a tutti!

For more information, check out Stranieri’s website: http://www.unistrapg.it/english/.

The Umbra Institute welcomed its new students for the spring semester Friday morning at the airport in Rome. After a three hour journey by bus, the students arrived at the famous Hotel Gio. In the evening students met their semester roommates as well as the Umbra staff, and everyone dined together at the hotel. Saturday morning, after a long two days of travel, the students were taken to their final destination, their apartments. In the afternoon everyone met in the center piazza for a group photo and orientation meeting at the Sala dei Notari, Perugia’s frescoed 12th century town hall. As always, special guest Chief Inspector Michele Caneschi of Florence was present and talked at length to the student body about health and safety, and how to be streetsmart in Italy. Coming out of the orientation students were surprised to witness a peace protest in the main piazza. The protests took place all across Italy, and were conducted to help bring awareness to the Israel and Gaza conflict.

This week each student will go through an intensive “survival” Italian program, where students will learn practical Italian for everyday situations. Elective courses will begin the following week. Benvenuti a tutti! We hope you all have a great study abroad experience!

The reading of the Literary Anthology for Professor Clough’s creative writing class took place last night at La Tana. Students read from the essays that recorded their study abroad experiences in Italy. We laughed, we cried, but most of all we were enlightened by the impromptu puppy poem for Professor Clough’s famous dog Desiree. Thanks to all the students for having the courage to get on stage and share your memories and stories with the rest of us.

Students of Contemporary Italian Culture and Society as well as International Marketing boldly presented their semester projects last night to a room full of people at Palazzo Sorbello. A hand-full of students were also fortunate enough to have an “adopted Italian family” and they shared their interesting cross-cultural experiences that accompany being welcomed into the Italian family nuclease.

Hard to believe that the Fall 2008 students arrived in Perugia only four months ago! Exams are finished, suitcases are almost packed, and everyone is running out to buy last minute gifts and reminders of their favorite little town in Italy. Most are excited to get home to see family and friends for the holidays, but like everyone else who spends a few months living here… you might miss passeggiate on Corso Vannucci, Parma panini, and the new friends that have become familiar faces more than you expect. And from the sign we found in the library yesterday,you may miss the Umbra Staff as well!

Thank you so much to all for an especially wonderful semester — new school buildings, professors, and staff, and a particularly special group of students. We hope that many of you will come back and visit in the future. From everyone at Umbra, safe travels as you head home, and Happy Holidays!

Wednesday evening at the Umbra Institute, the Uguccione Ranieri di Sorbello Foundation awarded the academic prize to Sophia Schwatka for most outstanding student of Italian. Each of the 22 participating candidates for the prize submitted a short essay on the topic: “Describe how the understanding of the language opens a window into the Italian culture.” The essays were judged (without the names of their authors) by the school’s faculty. Thanks to all the prize nominees for participating and to the Ranieri Foundation for your very generous contribution, and your active involvement with the Umbra

Institute.

Last night, students and professors gathered together to gander at the displays for the Umbra Institute’s biannual Student Art Show. In the hallways and classrooms, students showed off their best semester works from drawing, fresco painting, and photography classes. Thanks everyone for coming out, and thanks to all the up-and-coming artists and photographers for sharing your excellent pieces.

Yesterday’s olive oil workshop was an easy sell. Almost thirty Umbra Institute students filled a local enoteca to hear about Italy’s number two (after wine) food export. The first part of the workshop focused on the biochemistry of an olive, as well as its processing. The second part, on the other hand, was dedicated to the actual tasting. Students tried a range of oils, from a light Sicilian oil made on lands confiscated from the mafia to a local oil, just pressed last week. The workshop was a third in a series and will be presented in the Spring semester as well!