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Snow, Rain and Hail

February 14, 2013 in Blog, CET Academic Programs, Italy, Siena - Leave a reply

Written by Megan Kessler (Brandeis University)
History of Art and Italian Studies in Siena, Student Correspondent, Spring 2013

I write this first blog to prospective and declared CET Siena(ers) from the comfy couch of my homestay. Cuddled up under my blanket, thankfully, I do not have to go to class this Monday morning as it is snowing in Siena and the whole city has essentially shut down!!! When it snows, the buses don’t run so no one can get to work. Having been here in Siena for almost three weeks, it is not a coincidence that the snow came at a perfect time for my classmates and I to have the morning off. After two weekends in a row of traveling, I think we can all say that a couple hours to get ourselves back together is just what the doctor ordered. I am a New England girl, and being pretty familiar with inclement weather, I have felt right at home here in Siena, Italy.

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After these past weekends of traveling, there are so many clothes to wash, photos to upload, and homework to finish up. Here in Siena, we have almost all Fridays free of class, which makes traveling every weekend too good to not take advantage of. My first weekend here, all ten of us in the program hopped on the morning bus to Firenze, to spend the day. This major Tuscan city is so close by and a perfect trip for a day of sightseeing. Having Florence less than 1.5 hours away by bus makes Siena really feel like our home outside of the big city. Walking around Florence and ending up at the top of Piazzale Michelangelo was the moment where I realized, “Wow! After a week and a half of being here, I am actually in Italy.”

I spent the night in Firenze and the next morning hopped on a bus with my friends from another program to Venezia, destined for Carnevale (Via bus2alp.com, which I highly recommend to all).One never realizes how much of a task it is to find the perfect mask for dancing in Piazza di San Marco until you see five stores on a street filled with their beautiful creations.

And here enters my next encounter of precipitation-Rain. It poured the whole day in Venice and we froze. However, that did not stop us from enjoying ourselves. We had an amazing time exploring Venice’s water-filled beauty and I plan on returning on a weekend where the rain does not confine us to the indoors. The city is truly unique where its system of public transportation is basically a boat subway. This Blew my mind. After a long day of trekking through the rain, my friends and I realized that it was about time to give in and have a drink at the one place we knew would make us feel at home, the Hard Rock Cafe in Venice. So American of us, but it had to be done.

When I finally arrived home Sunday night to Piazza Gramsci in Siena, I was welcomed back with another one of Mother Nature’s presents, a hail storm. After losing my umbrella in Venice, I lacked coverage and was being pelted by the tiny, frozen rail balls. I had to run home as quickly as possible. I cannot even explain the relived feeling as I walked into my warm, Italian homestay where my host mother greeted me and immediately offered tea and biscotti. I had survived the weather and made it home; Siena is where home is for now.

Gilman Scholarship Applications for Summer and Fall 2013 Now Open!

January 17, 2013 in Blog, CET Academic Programs, China, Czech Republic, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Tunisia, Vietnam - Leave a reply

Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program
Summer and Fall 2013 Application Deadline – March 5, 2013

The Gilman International Scholarship Program is happy to announce that the online application system is now open for students participating in study abroad programs during the Summer 2013, Fall 2013 or 2013-2014 Academic Year terms. We anticipate this to be a competitive cycle so please encourage your students to seek your guidance and utilize all available Gilman resources. For more information about the Gilman Scholarship, webinar schedules, and other helpful resources please visit the Gilman website at www.iie.org/gilman

For students applying for any academic term (Academic Year, Fall, Spring or Summer) please find the eligibility requirements below:
*         Enrolled as an undergraduate student at a two or four-year U.S. Institution
*         United States citizen
*         Receiving a Federal Pell Grant at the time of application or during the term of study abroad
*         Participating in a study abroad program that is no less than 4 weeks (28 days) in one country and no more than an academic year
*         Receiving academic credit
*         Study in any country not currently under a U.S. State Department Travel Warning or Cuba

For more information, please contact the appropriate person below:

STUDENTS

Last Name A-D

Phone: 832-369-3477

Email: gilmanforms [at] iie [dot] org

Last Name E-K

Phone: 832-369-3484

Email: gilman [at] iie [dot] org

Last Name L-Q

Phone: 832-369-3475

Email: gilmandocs [at] iie [dot] org

Last Name R-Z

Phone: 832-369-3485

Tips Before, During and After: Things I Wish I Had Known

December 17, 2012 in 30 Top Ten Lists, Blog, CET Academic Programs, History of Art & Italian Studies in Siena, Italy, Italy, Learning Center, Packing, Siena - Leave a reply

Tips on what to expect while abroad in Siena from CET Alumus Aimee Crouch.

Written by Aimee Crouch (University of Iowa – Iowa City)
History of Art and Italian Studies in Siena, Student Correspondent, Fall 2012

*30 Top Ten lists for the 30th Anniversary of CET!

Ciao soon-to-be Siena students! I hope you all are getting some useful information out of my blogging!! This will be my last blog for CET Siena…sad! Since it’s my last I wanted to give you all some tips before coming here. Share some information I wish I had known and information I’ve figured out throughout my stay here! If any of you have ANY questions please please please feel free to email me if you want! Trust me, I know how nervous you all are probably getting, so bombard me with emails if you need to! I’m happy to help anyway I can!

Here are the tips I thought of for you all: (Hope they help you!)

First of all, RELAX!!! I know how nerve-wracking it is to come to a new country alone, leaving your friends and family behind in the USA. My brother-in-law studied abroad in Spain when he was in college and he told me before I came, and I’m so glad he did, that the first two weeks are always the hardest. You probably will be overwhelmed with the language, meeting new people, and wondering “what did I just get myself into?”! It is 100% normal to feel that way! I did for sure. This was the first time I traveled alone, without my family. I cried a few times in the beginning, actually I cried a few nights ago when I missed Thanksgiving. You’ll get over it trust me! Right now I have a week left and it’s bittersweet feeling; I miss my family so much but I don’t want to leave Siena. So first tips: Relax and know it’s normal to feel overwhelmed the first couple weeks.

CET Students at the theater

Secondly, packing… for all you girls that are like me and feel the need to pack 2-3 outfits per day just in case, DON’T!! I brought two big suitcases and didn’t wear half of it. Plus, it’s a lot to lug around by yourself. The shopping here is a little bit more expensive but it’s Italy, you’ll end up buying things! As for shoes, bring a pair of boots, tennis shoes, and a couple sandals and you will be golden! If you have rain boots I suggest bringing those too if possible. You’ll end up buying shoes here trust me! Bring clothes you can layer so one sweater that matches a few different shirts. Don’t bring your entire closet. I sent a suitcase home with my dad when he came. The weather here in the winter is cold, be prepared. I’m from Iowa so I’m used to it but if you aren’t used to the cold, pack warm clothes. Don’t forget you’ll be here during winter at first and spring during the last part of the semester. Pack accordingly to that. You’ll want shorts and maybe even a swimsuit if you go to the beach the last part of the semester. So second tip: don’t pack like Aimee and bring warm clothes!

Thirdly, I suggest ordering some euro’s from your bank before you come. Do this ASAP because it takes a couple weeks to get in sometimes. This way when you arrive in Italy and need to buy your bus ticket to Siena, you will have euros to pay for it already! Third tip: order euros before hand- cheaper and convenient! (Obviously they have ATM’s here so don’t order like thousands of dollars worth of euro’s!)

Fourth tip: I suggest trying to email the other kids before you come! Some of you may be on the same flight or coming into Florence within 30 minutess of each other and it might be nice to have a buddy to go to Siena with if you’re really nervous about it. Find people on Facebook and get to know each other a little before you come! Everyone is nervous, so be the one to bring everyone together before coming! I don’t have Facebook so I don’t know how it really works but if you can start a group discussion or even just a group email not through Facebook, I say do it! Just say hi and tell them your flight times, etc… Fourth tip: talk to the others before you come, it might help calm your nerves!

Fifth tip: you will probably fly into the Florence airport. The Italian name for Florence is “Firenze”… don’t freak when you see Firenze, you aren’t in France! When you arrive in Florence you will need to get from the airport to the bus station alone, take a deep breath! For the other girls and myself we all struggled with where the bus station was. The instructions are clear but once you arrive at the train station (from the airport) it can be a little overwhelming. The bus from the airport might drop you off at the train station and not the bus station. Some of us were dropped off at the bus station directly, but two of us were dropped off at the train station. For those of you that are dropped off at the train station just know that the train station and bus station are two completely different buildings. You will need to cross the street in order to get to the bus station. The bus station is a building that has other stores connected to it, it’s not it’s own building like the train station. Just take a right, and cross the street and it will be on your right. It’s not very far away. You may even see buses heading that way so just follow those! It’s easier than you think! For me, I was so nervous already that I felt like a chicken with my head cut off! If you need to ask, just ask! Everyone will know where it is!

Sixth: Once you’re here, remember you are in a different country. Respect that. If you show the Italians respect and show them you’re trying to learn their language they will respect you back and help you! If you are here to learn the language, stick with it. The Italians who know English will most likely reply to you in English, this doesn’t happen in every case, however just keep talking Italian! It’s kind of fun because you’re speaking their language and they’re speaking yours! So you are both getting practice with a foreign language! The Italians are really great people, however very different from Americans. At ristoranti you have to ask for the bill, they take their time eating and you will never be rushed after dinner! If you want the bill just ask for it: “Il conto, per favore!” It’s little things you will soon learn and soon wish we did it that way back in the States!

Un caffè, per favore!

Seventh: School is/can be a lot of work. You have time to travel on the weekends but in language class you will have homework every single day, so be prepared for that! My speaking skills have gotten so much better since I’ve been here because language class. For those of you who will have Ida, get ready! She is crazy fun!! We absolutely love her! She will help you anytime and if you don’t understand something, she will take as much time as you need to help you understand. Tim is also great! Truthfully, all the teachers are amazing here! We are lucky to have the teachers we have! Seventh tip: school isn’t a breeze here so don’t slack off but don’t get too overwhelmed; you’ll have plenty of time to travel. The teachers are amazing!

Eighth: Become familiarized with the train and bus schedules online. If you plan trips ahead of time, which I strongly recommend doing, sometimes you can get tickets cheaper from the bus and train stations if you buy them so many days in advance. If you familiarize yourself before you come it will make traveling less stressful at first. If you take a bus or train, you can leave from Siena and arrive back in Siena. If you fly anywhere you’ll either need to go to Florence first by bus or take a train to Pisa. Either is easy but make sure the times all match up so you don’t miss a flight or connecting train.

Here are the websites:

Bus: http://www.sienamobilita.it/

Train: http://www.trenitalia.com/

I suggest taking the time to check out different places to visit on the weekends before you come. You can look at my past blogs of where we went or if you have ideas yourself, check out the traveling options and have an idea at least. We basically did all of our traveling last minute, which worked but I don’t suggest doing that!

My last tip for you is to take lots of pictures and maybe even keep a journal. I have over 1,000 photos from my trip and I kept a journal and glued bus tickets, train tickets and other random things inside it. It’s fun to look back on it all and you don’t want to forget anything! They both will be a great way to look back years from now and remember everything you did here! You can buy a journal here for cheap!

A small tip, invest in a umbrella when you arrive! If you go to the 99-cent store, the umbrellas are 5 euro (super cheap!). Trust me, you’ll need it and won’t regret getting one! It’s something you can leave in your apartment if you don’t want to bring it back to the States with you! For those living in host families, your family may even have umbrellas for you to use already. Just ask!

As for Siena itself, it is absolutely beautiful and you will fall in love with it quickly. The first weekend we explored the city as a group, since there are only four of us here this semester, and we became familiarized with the city more from doing that. Don’t be nervous. First find Pizza del Campo, it’s the main Piazza here, and learn where you live from there. If you do this you will never be lost. Siena, inside the city walls, isn’t big enough to get lost! Explore a lot because there are hidden treasures off the beaten path! One suggestion is to eat at Bar Siena. They are one of the very few ristoranti who give you a meal to go! They are so nice and make the best salads in Siena! Christina will show you where it is! Remember you are all here to have a good time, be patient with each other and make the most of it while you’re here. For most of you this will be a once in a lifetime opportunity and you want to make the most of it while you’re here! It’s a big change from America but after you learn your way around it’s like home. Every time we came back from a trip and got off the bus we always felt like we were home. I’ve never felt unsafe in Siena.

Again, if any of you want to email me please do! I’d love to help you with any questions you have. I bombarded Hanan with emails before I came so don’t feel like a bother, I know how you’re feeling because I’ve been there myself! I hope you all have a great time here. Christina is amazing at her job and is very willing to help you with anything. You’re very lucky to have her in Siena with you!! Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and get ready to start the New Year off in Italia!!

Mafia, Cannoli’s and Cooking, Oh My!

December 6, 2012 in Blog, Catania, CET Academic Programs, Italy, Siena - Leave a reply

Written by Aimee Crouch (University of Iowa – Iowa City)
History of Art and Italian Studies in Siena, Student Correspondent, Fall 2012

Last week Thursday we left Siena and went to Sicily for our Italian Cultural History class. It was quite the trip! We had to leave early Thursday morning to catch a bus to Florence, hopped on a bus to the airport, flew into Rome, sat in the Rome airport for a couple hours, flew from Rome to Catania. However, the Catania airport is closed due to construction on the runway so we flew into the Military base then took a bus to the airport, then another bus from the airport to the hotel. It was a hassle but we did it and all got there in one piece! It was a grand total of 11 hours traveling time. Once we arrived at the hotel my suitcase, the one dad and I had to buy when going to London, completely broke… it was not funny. All the wheels went rolling down the steps and it was a disaster, really embarrassing actually… so I had to buy ANOTHER suitcase. Let’s hope this one holds up! That night we went to dinner with the other CET students that are studying in Florence. After dinner we went right to bed! We were really tired!

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Friday morning we walked to the WWII museum, which I really liked. We got to see the uniforms, we sat in an anti-raid shelter and felt what it would have been like during the bombings, wax figures of Roosevelt, old guns used, we heard stories from men that were alive during this time period, etc… It was really neat to learn about the invasion of Sicily during WWII. Of course, we had a worksheet to fill out during the tour… school. We went to lunch at a little restaurant we found and it was DELICIOUS! After lunch I had a chocolate cannoli…I couldn’t get over how good it was, oh my word!! After lunch we had a two hour class, a 15 min break after, then a 2 hour meeting with an Anti-Mafia Organization. That was really neat to hear how they prevent the Mafia from taking over all the shops in Sicily. Fact: over 80% of the shops in Sicily pay money to the mafia. Also, every $10 I spent there, $8 of it went to the Mafia in some sort of way! Unbelievable isn’t it?! That night we went to dinner and found dessert with some of the girls from the Florence group. We had a blast with them! They were a great group of girls! I’m bummed we met them so late into the program because we would have been able to take trips with them if we had known them beforehand!

Saturday morning we were back in the classroom for another 2 hour lecture about food and how most of the Italian traditions come from the Arabic culture. It was interesting but did not need to be 2 hours long that’s for sure!! After class we went to the fish market with a lady and her family. They own a bed and breakfast in Sicily and let us come and have a tour and have a cooking class with them! It was great! Then we had a little bit of free time to eat lunch so the same girls from Florence and us Siena girls went to find the famous Sicilian dish, arancino. It’s a big ball of rice that’s fried but has other mixings inside. So yummy!! Oh my goodness! I think I gained 15 lbs there! Then of course I had to try the pistachio cannoli… After lunch we hopped on a bus and went to the bed and breakfast! This was a really neat place. It was family owned for many years, dating back to the 1600′s. It was absolutely beautiful. The cooking lesson was great. They use sardines in EVERYTHING!!! Not a fan. I did try them but meh… so nasty!! A fun fact is that Oprah Winfrey stayed at this Bed and Breakfast once. Like anyone really cares… Sunday morning we had another lecture in the morning then the rest of the day was free. It was nice to have a free day but we had four papers to write about the trip so that was a bummer. None of us really got to explore a whole lot because we were writing the papers and doing all the assigned readings! It was a lot of work. We flew back home (aka “Siena”) Monday but we didn’t get back until late that night.

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