Featured Blog Articles – Page 3 – DEV – The Umbra Institute – Study Abroad in Italy

Our ever-eager and intrepid students dove nose-first last night into an integral part of Italian culture – wine tasting! Local enoteca ‘Enone’, located in Perugia’s most ancient district, Borgo Bello, played host to the evening of sniffing, swirling, and savoring, which was masterfully guided by sommelier Silvia Bartolini. Silvia (and her adorable assistant/daughter) demystified the wine-making process from the very first grape to the very last drop in the bottle and everything in between.

Having been enlightened to the ways of glycerin content, “aged” versus simply “old,” and what to really pair a hardy red with, the audience then practiced proper tasting technique. They appreciated the color, aroma, and texture, as well as taste, of three wines (a white, a red, and a dessert wine) which had been paired with appetizers chosen to balance and enhance their flavors.

The evening concluded with students attempting a quiz decidedly less stressful than those in the classroom – matching different drinks, from whiskey to grappa, to the appropriately shaped glass.

Silvia left the group with some parting words of wisdom: “It’s not, ‘expensive is good, cheap is bad.’” Perhaps then the old saying should be amended – life is too short to drink bad wine. Salute!

Conversation flowed freely during the fall semester’s inaugural Tandem language exchange, a much-anticipated and invaluable language-learning opportunity. American Umbra students met with their eager-to-learn-English Italian university counterparts during two lively hours at local haunt Il Birraio. The relaxed, informal setting allowed students of any proficiency to improve their conversational skills in small, mixed groups of Italians and Americans.

Umbra student Sathvika R. described the atmosphere thusly: “It didn’t feel like typical studying. It felt really natural, and the Italians didn’t judge you. I learned so much just from one night.”

Participants debated matters of international significance in both English and Italian, such as the merits and pitfalls of the Italian and American university systems; the worldwide reach of American pop culture; and the Sophie’s choice of our time, peanut butter versus nutella, before heading out into the night with a newfound clutch of friends.

You’ve heard the best things in life are free and so Tandem will continue to offer ingresso libero (free entrance) for Umbra students learning Italian and Italians studying English. See you for the sequel, Wednesday, September 25th, 7:30 p.m. at Il Birraio!

After enduring (sometimes several) long-haul flights and a bus ride through the Umbrian countryside, the Umbra Institute’s Fall 2013 students have arrived! Perugia’s new foreign contingent was eagerly welcomed to the “green heart of Italy” with a night at the Hotel Gio’ and a traditional Umbrian meal. Students then made themselves at home in their apartments in the city’s historical center while getting acquainted with one another.

The semester kick-off weekend continued with a practical walking tour of essential locales: everything from pharmacies to supermarkets to the best place to sample the iconic aperitivo. Orientation capped off with a two-day open house, health and safety meeting, and group pizza night at local spot Merlin’s.

Next up for Fall 2013 is Intensive Italian Week, when students will be immersed daily in Italian language study while familiarizing themselves with their new surroundings. We wish them all the best as they learn to navigate the ins and outs of Perugia’s ancient roads, cappucini versus espressi, and of course how to properly live la dolce vita. In bocca al lupo!

One of Perugia’s most celebrated events, Umbria Jazz, begins today. Since 1973, jazz lovers from around the world have flocked to this festival, a time when the streets of Perugia vibrate with music and culture from dusk to dawn. This year, students enrolled in Umbra’s Intensive Italian Language through Culture program have the opportunity to partake in the revelry; in fact, one co-curricular activity features an afternoon jazz concert at Bottega di Vino.

Past festivals have featured acclaimed musicians, including Elton John, Van Morrison, James Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and Sting. This year, the likes of Diana Krall and John Legend will perform during the 9-day festival. In addition to ticketed concerts, the international audience may attend free shows throughout the city. During Umbria Jazz, one can’t walk through the center of Perugia without stumbling upon some tunes.

Buona musica!

Faculty and staff take pride in Umbra Institute alumni, especially when the alumni incorporate aspects of their education abroad into their post-graduate careers. From presenting her Harvard thesis at a conference to the acceptance to a prestigious culinary academy, two Umbra alumnae recently drew on their experience in the Food Studies Program for “real-world” success.

Recent Harvard graduate Teagan Lehrmann, an Umbra Fall 2011 alumna, presented her thesis “Sweet as Honey: The Beekeeper’s Fight Against Corn Sugar and Objectivity, 1926-1932” at the Association for the Study of Food and Society annual conference in Lansing, Mich, on June 20. Lehrmann began her research while abroad.

“The Umbra Institute’s Food Studies Program led me to take a critical look at the way we think and interact with our food,” Lehrmann said.

Umbra alumna J — Alumna Julia Rackow poses in a Parmesan cheese cooperative on a FSP field trip in Spring 2012.

Recent Tufts graduate Julia Rackow, an Umbra Spring 2012 alumna, was recently admitted into the San Francisco Cooking School. Like Lehrmann, Rackow said that her experience abroad was key in her decision to pursue a career in food.

“The Umbra Institute’s Food Studies Program led me to (realize that) how we understand and interact with food is constantly in flux,” Rackow explained. “It’s fascinating to see how the old-world techniques and values we once left behind are now becoming increasingly popular in current American food trends.”

Auguri, alumnae!

Acclaimed academics from across the globe are trickling into the Umbra Institute to collect registration packets for Bridges Across Culture, an international conference on the arts and humanities. The conference will launch its first session from 3-5 p.m. Thursday at the Ranieri Foundation and Umbra’s Via Bartolo location.

bridges

Running through Sunday, Bridges Across Culture serves as an environment in which academics with cross-disciplinary interests meet and interact with their international counterparts. Lecture topics range from Dante to African Studies to the “Art” of War, presented by professionals from Wyoming to Istanbul.

Umbra is sponsoring the first-time international conference in cooperation with Washington & Jefferson College.

“These international conferences reaffirm the Umbra Institute’s role as not simply a study-abroad program for highly motivated students, but also a place where intellectual exchange and research takes place among faculty and scholars from around the world,” said Bridges Across Culture organizer Dr. Elgin Eckert, an Umbra professor who coordinated last summer’s Food Conference.

Conducted in English, the conference is free and open to the public. Eckert encourages Umbra students to take advantage of the opportunity. For a detailed schedule of the conference, click here.

Sunhats in hand and sunscreen applied, 40 Umbra students and three staff members boarded a bus Friday morning, ready for the Optional Trip to the South of Italy.

The first stop on the Umbra Optional Trip was Pompei.

The first stop was a guided tour of the ruins of Pompei. Led by local experts Vincenzo and Natalia, students walked through excavated villas and shivered at the bodies of the ancient Pompeiians, forever encased in lava from Mt. Vesuvius’s great eruption in 79 A.D.

Next up was a visit to scenic Sorrento, a small, vibrant city along the Amalfi Coast known for its lemon groves and charming views of the Bay of Naples.

The group unwound at Hotel Mary in the coastal town of Vico Equense, where students unpacked and ate a deluxe dinner before exploring the beach, only feet away from the hotel.

Students ended the trip with a meal at the famous pizzeria Brandi, home of the margherita pizza.

Saturday morning, the group went to the port to catch a ferry to Capri. Students took full advantage of their free day: They took boat rides around the island, swam in the Tyrrhenian Sea, took the funicular up Anacapri, enjoyed the area’s typical seafood, and sipped Capri’s famous lemonade. After a (slightly more sunburned) dinner at the hotel, another full day was over.

Sunday was dedicated to Naples. Two Neopolitan guides led the group on a bus and walking tour of the city, neatly wrapping up thousands of years of history, pointing out places for the most authentic margherita pizza, and warning students to watch their wallets, at once.

By Sunday evening, the group was sleepily riding the bus through the hills of Campania, Lazio, and Umbria, happy to be headed home to Perugia.

After its coldest May in what many locals declare centuries, Perugia is experiencing a scorching June. When students heard that Tuesday was Umbra Gelato Night, they swarmed Gelateria Veneta without a second thought.

Students gathered at Gelateria Veneta for Umbra Gelato Night Tuesday evening.

An age-old Umbra tradition, Gelato Night offers students the opportunity to mingle over free gelato. They may practice their Italian while ordering, chat about their experiences in Perugia, and sample the more daring flavors Gelateria Veneta offers (malaga, anyone?) or classic favorites (you can’t top the dark chocolate-coffee combo, in this blogger’s opinion).

Long recognized for its icebreaking capacities, the history of Italian gelato is particularly rich.* During the Italian Renaissance, the infamous Medici family of Florence held a contest for the greatest frozen desserts — most likely during the last June with temperatures stretching humidly into the 90s F, like today’s. A chicken farmer named Ruggeri won with his frozen blend of sweet fruit juice and ice, more a sorbet, really.

Umbra student Haemee Kang enjoys a refreshing cone.

We can thank the Florentine Bernardo Buontalenti for improving on the dessert (that’s right, sorbet lovers). In the late 1500s, the Medici commissioned Buontalenti to prepare a feast for the King of Spain. For dessert, he whipped up a creamier version of Ruggeri’s dessert: the first real gelato.

Strolling down Corso Vannucci centuries later, Umbra students licked their cones in the warm evening breeze, enjoying the dessert of kings.

*Thank you, whygelato.com, for the history of gelato.

Students flock toward one of the many panoramic views on the Nooks and Crannies Tour.

Sunday, the sunniest day Perugia had seen in weeks, coincided with the Festa della Repubblica, a national holiday celebrating Italy’s transformation into a republic after World War II — and the world-famous Nooks and Crannies tour.

A group of 30 students followed staff member Addy past the festivities and through winding, medieval alleyways to the spectacular panoramas of Perugia. Among their stops were the old orphanage, a piazza described in Dante’s Divine Comedy, and the giant, age-old Etruscan arch. Along the way, they learned why local bread tastes terrible (no salt), how French author Alexander Dumas spent the night on Corso Vannucci, and where people were hung in cages (no exaggeration).

The tour ended in Piazza IV Novembre, where hundreds of elementary school students had already started to perform songs honoring well-known primatologist Jane Goodall’s visit to Perugia.

Almost 100 percent of the Summer 2013 General Studies attended last night's Welcome Aperitivo. — Students bond at the Welcome Aperitivo.

Il Birraio — Italian for brewery — was bustling with Umbra faculty, staff, and students at last night’s Welcome Aperitivo.

Sitting on plush cushions or under exotic umbrellas, the group enjoyed refreshments while trading plans for the summer semester.

The aperitivo was a success, according to Umbra staff member Marco Bagli, who organizes student events.

“It was the real first time when students and visiting faculty members could meet after they had already settled into their apartments,” Bagli said. “They could get to know each other in a less serious situation and meet the staff when we’re wearing ‘other hats.’”

Students enrolled in Elementary Italian will return to il Birraio tonight for the very first Tandem, a language exchange with local Italians, at 7:30 p.m.