Sarah's Blog

Io ho finito!

(with part one)

I am finished today! I am finished with my first (of 3) programs in Italy this year. Wednesday we had our EU Politics Final (I passed .. yay!) and the final of our papers due and then we were DONE! It was a great feeling. It feels like it has gone by so fast and looking back at all I have done in the past two months is just unbelievable. I can't believe what has gone on since I left the States at the end of August.

For those of you who don't know what I am doing here, this is what's happening:
I am tying together 3 study abroad programs (because DU is that awesome) and I am spending September - April in Italy. As a double major in History and Italian there is really no better place I could be to further my studies. But also there is really just no better place I could be in general. Tomorrow I leave for a quick 10 day hiatus in between programs for Florence. I am staying with a friend who did the Bologna program here with me and who is also participating in the Bari program. The Bari program is a REALLY cool deal. Basically, it is offered to 6 Italian majors every winter interterm and one of our professors takes us to her hometown in Mola di Bari so that we can work for 4 weeks in a place where only Italian is spoken. It is a full-immersion program and no English is said to be allowed. I will be working in a cafe' and tutoring children after school. I start there on November 25th and I can't wait. That program ends on December 22nd and that is when my family comes to spend Christmas with me! I have like 15 days before my final program begins so I will just travel around with my family and eventually make my way north to Perugia (Bari is on the southeast coast). On January 8th I start a program with the Arcadia-Umbra Institute (this is through DU as well) and I am on a basic semester program and will be taking awesome classes about Italian history and the language.

So I still have A LOT ahead of me. And I know that all of it is going to be amazing.

I'm in a hotel for the next 10 days and no word as of yet about internet so I will do my best to get at least one post up while in Florence, but otherwise I will fill you all in as soon as I can!

Advising & how it works

Because DU is such a small school, every student meets and works with an adviser on a much more personal level.  After speaking to friends of mine who go to large state schools, I feel so grateful to be at DU. Some of them have "advisers" who are there simply to sign a paper - they want them in and out of their office as quickly as possible.  I cannot imagine having to deal with this because my advisers do SO much for me.

Because I am a double major I have advisers in 2 departments: History and Italian. Overall, I have met with a total of 7 advisers at DU: my freshman seminar professor, an adviser from the Career/Education/Services department, a professor in the journalism school, 2 Italian professors, and 2 History professors.  But 2 of those people are most important: my Italian adviser and my History adviser.

Usually, students are assigned to their adviser, but it really depends on the department.  I know that in History I was generically assigned with an adviser, but I have yet to change because I haven't totally picked a specialty and my current adviser is REALLY good.  In Italian, though, I picked my own adviser by simply asking her if she would approve my classes and help my go over my schedule to make sure I was on track to complete my Italian major.

Advisers are really there for 2 things: to approve classes (and in turn credits) and to help you structure your academic experience.  They are there to recommend classes they think would be good for you and also to figure out what it is you HAVE to take to get the degrees you want. They are basically just there to help you, and I have yet to meet someone who doesn't need the help of an adviser - the University system is tricky!

They are also a source of information and guidance even when it isn't registration time.  When I decided last minute to study abroad for the year, the first people I turned to for advice weren't my friends or my family, but my advisers. I needed to know if I could spend a year in Italy and still graduate on time with a double major. I remember the day I went into my Italian professor's office and handed her every single important paper I had regarding credits/classes.  She did a little math, drew some schedules, and told me that I was fine and that I could go for the year. 

It's just little instances like this that make it nice to have an adviser that you not only feel comfortable with, but feel like they care about your time at DU.  Even all the way over here I have been in contact with her and I think that's a pretty cool thing. So, once again, just another way in which I am grateful for the fact that I go to DU!

Pompeii, Napoli, & Roma!

I just got back from a fabulous weekend in Southern Italy with my entire DU group who is here in Bologna right now. It was our final "field trip" so our professor and his family, as well as the amazing girl who runs our center here, accompanied us.

We left Thursday morning for Napoli and after the LONG train ride we finally made our way to Pompeii. It was late, so we hopped another train to Sorrento and went out to dinner to celebrate the birthday of one our group members.  We had a great dinner and then stopped in a little corner shop to sample the Limoncello that the region is so well known for and most of us left with a few gifts for people back home.

Friday morning we got up early and climbed Mt. Vesuvius! Ok, we didn't climb the whole thing, but we climbed from near to the top up to the crater and it was unbelievable. It was one of the coolest things we have done since being here. The views of the surrounding area and the bay of Naples were amazing and we had a lot of fun running around the outer limits of the crater, acting like pre-schoolers instead of college kids. After Vesuivo we met a tour guide at Pompeii for a 3 hour walking tour of the ancient city.  It was honestly just one of the most unbelievable 3 hours of my life. I have spent a lot of time researching the city, but to see everything come to life in front of me, as well as have an extremely knowledgeable expert feeding me information I had yet to hear, it was just amazing. The city is beautiful and so well preserved it is really just hard to wrap your mind around it. I was questioning my decision to write my senior thesis about the city, but being there made me realize why I wanted to do it in the first place. It is just the most unique place in the world and so unbelievably interesting to learn about.

After Pompeii we booked it to catch a train to Rome (yes, we were the large American group running through the train station). We got in late but my grandparents actually happened to be in Rome for the weekend so I met them for dinner, which was awesome. It was really nice to see them. I then spent the day with them Saturday, wandering the city and seeing the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Fashion District, and eventually the Sistine Chapel. That night it was my roommate's birthday so we had another huge birthday dinner and then made our way to a large piazza where it seemed like every college student in the city was out to celebrate Halloween - European style. It was a fun night and really cool to see such an American tradition being so largely celebrated in Italy. Sunday we toured the city a little bit more and finally made it back to Bologna. But just barely --- our train car caught on fire in the middle of the Italian country-side. Oh, Italy.

This next week is already mayhem and it just started. Between now and next Wednesday we have about a million papers and presentations to do, as well as a final to study for. And we only have 10 days left of living in Bologna. Ah ... time has flown by so quickly here.

The group in front of Vesuvio's crater

a 2000 year old snack bar in Pompeii

Fontana di Trevi

classes - Italian style

I have taken 5 classes here in Bologna. A DU CORE class led by a DU geography professor, a University of Bologna class about urban spaces and mapping taught by an Italian professor, another University of Bologna class about the history of the European Union co-taught by 2 Italians, a civic engagement course taught by the same DU professor, and finally an intensive Italian language class.

The CORE class was structured very similar to a typical DU class. It was writing intensive so we had a lot of reading, in class discussion, and weekly papers. We also have a final paper and presentation which are both due in the next two weeks. The class was obviously extremely interesting and beneficial, but so different compared to our two UNIBO classes.

The UNIBO classes, most especially the History of the EU, have really highlighted the difference between American and Italian university systems. The Urban Spaces class is different because it is only a 2 credit course and therefore only results in a final presentation - not a midterm or final. However, the EU class has been extremely challenging. We have two professors who have two extremely different styles of teaching, neither of which are really conducive to learning enough during lectures to easily pass a midterm and final. The older of the two professors uses no notes and simply sits in front of the class and rattles off various facts and information. He sometimes starts with a semi-logical plan, but he usually ends up jumping all over the place until all we know is that the Maastricht Treaty was extremely important and that it was signed in 1979 (I made that date up). The other professor at first appears to be more prepared: he comes to class with powerpoints. 5 minutes in, though, we are informed that all the information is 5 years old and not to copy it down. His lectures have a little more logic and flow and from him we again learn that the Maastricht Treaty was important and maybe even a little insight as to why.
For the most part, the information we are expected to learn comes from a textbook (which none of the Americans have) and the detail in which it will be covered in class is questionable.

I am not trying to be mean or awful toward the UNIBO classes, but rather my point is that, here, we are not walked through school hand in hand with the University. At DU we are armed with syllabi, extensive office hours, and ratemyprofessor.com. At UNIBO, it's kind of an every man for himself kind of deal. We are much more on our own learning-wise and it has been interesting, to say the least.

But as a student who loves to learn I enjoy the challenge (sometimes) and am glad that I have been introduced to such a different way of schooling. It has opened my mind but also made me further appreciate DU. I also cannot wait to see what my classes will be like in Perugia. None of them are through DU so I am extremely curious to find out what they will be like.

But enough talk about academics! I am headed on the fast train to POMPEII tomorrow. The greatest historical site in the history of history. I am PUMPED. And then after that I am off to Rome for the weekend. I can't wait! Ciao!

Make yourself a list!

I have been chatting with a very close family friend of mine recently about her ventures into college searching.  She is a junior in high school, the same age as my brother, but unlike him she will actually listen to me (haha). Anyway, she was asking me tips about what to think about when looking at schools .. I did the best I could with her and I figured I would share with you all too!

I was a little one-sided and biased (story of my life) when making my college decision, so I was trying to list for her ALL of the aspects she needs to think about. When I applied, I applied to ONE school: the University of Denver. My family lived in Maryland, I had no qualms about going far, and I knew that I wanted to go to school in Colorado. As any responsible mother should, mine took me to visit Colorado schools, but she made me look at the big 3: CSU, CU, and DU. I came, I went, I saw, and I filled out one single application. I didn't really know what I wanted to do with my life and I didn't take the time to seriously consider other schools. I have been lucky because I have been extremely happy and very fortunate at DU, but I also could have been in big trouble. I didn't really approach college selection in the most "fair" way and that totally could have back-fired on me. Thank goodness it didn't!

But looking back, if I were to do it again, I would probably do it the same way, only armed with a list (I love lists), so that I could make an "educated" decision.
So decide what is really important to you and consider some of this ...

1. Academics. Do you want a prestigious academic school? A school perfectly balanced with academics and athletics? Or do you just want to go to college for 4 years, maybe attend a few classes, and then see what happens?

2. Price. How much does your financial situation need to affect your decision? What are the scholarship opportunities at the schools you are looking at? Are loans possible?

3. Distance from home. You may think you want to get as far away from home as possible, and maybe you do. I thought I did. Fortunately, my parents "followed" me to Denver so I realized how stupid that decision would have been. Having them 20 minutes away is the greatest thing in the world. But some of you may be shuddering right now after that sentence. So there's your answer.

4. Location. The US is huge! Where do you want to be? You might think where you are doesn't matter, but seriously consider where your campus is going to be, what state you are going to be in ... trust me, it matters. I have been told far too many times by friends at schools in the middle of Nowheresville, PA how jealous they are that I can go to a movie, out to eat, or even the grocery store without taking a 35 minute bus ride.

5. Greek Life. I could care less about Greek Life, but some of my friends from high school couldn't wait to get to college and rush a sorority/fraternity.

6. Major options. Even if you don't know what you want to do with your life, you know what you're good at. Don't consider an engineering school when your passion is writing.

7. Study Abroad. Never before would this have made my list of pre-college think-abouts, but after these few months I would put it at the top. If you are interested in studying abroad, make sure the schools you are looking at have opportunities.

8. Size. And think about it honestly. At first I thought I wanted a huge school like CU-Boulder -- until I saw DU. Size is a HUGE factor and it can really make or break your experience.

9. Athletics. I thought I couldn't go to a school without a football team. I picked DU where hockey is king. Every once in awhile I wish that I went to a big football school, but let's look on the bright side - my passion lies in the NFL and Mile High Stadium is 20 minutes down the road from DU.

10. Can you visit? Absolutely, under no circumstances, never, EVER, consider a school until you have visited it. Before my trip to CO to visit schools I was convinced that Boulder was the school for me. Wrong, so wrong. It took about 29 minutes on campus to realize that I would be miserable there. It took about 10 at DU to realize this was where I wanted to spend the next 4 years. It is the most cliche, and probably 90% mental, reason for choosing a school, but it is the most important. You will know, as soon as you visit a school, whether you like it or not. So make sure you can get there, get a campus tour, and experience the place for yourself.

And that is my list ... hope it helps!

EuroChocolate

I just had the greatest weekend ever in Perugia at the world-famous EuroChocolate festival.

I left on Friday with a DU friend from Milan and we made the 5 hour trip down through beautiful central Italy and into Perugia. The town itself was absolutely gorgeous and from every angle there were amazing views of the Umbrian countryside - rolling hills, dotted with stone buildings. I fell in love immediately. And even better, I get to move there in January. So awesome.

I basically spent the entire weekend eating chocolate, enjoying the company of friends, meeting new people, and learning all about my future Italian home.

So for those of you who have never been to a chocolate festival, let me try and explain it to you. The streets of Perugia are lined with white tents all full of chocolate. Packaged chocolate, fresh chocolate, liquidized pudding hot chocolate, chocolate beer, chocolate churros, chocolate kebabs, chocolate popcorn, chocolate pasta, bruschetta chocolate, chocolate crepes ... it was just amazing. It also smelled like chocolate the entire time. And really, what better a smell is there than chocolate? For those of you reading from the East Coast, imagine Hershey World, only 29,000x better. On Sunday, huge blocks of chocolate were brought in for the sculpting contest. We watched as men hacked away with axes, mallets, and power drills; even greater ... bits of chocolate were just flying through the air for all the fortunate passerby to enjoy. I can honestly say that it must be one of the happiest places on Earth.

I really can't believe how lucky I was to have a free place to stay all weekend and such good friends to enjoy it with. I did not want to leave. Seriously, if mass amounts of chocolate were involved I would stay forever in a combined math/science class. So imagine how I must have felt while in one of the prettiest areas of Italy I have seen thus far.

But I did have to come back to Bologna and recover from the chocolate hangover in order to prepare myself for the 2 finals and 1 midterm I have this week. Hopefully I can keep myself happy for quite awhile though -- I brought back about 10 pounds of chocolate with me. Yay EuroChocolate!

Pioneers Abroad - Perugia!

Chocolate Kebab Towers

Chocolate sculpture in its first stages

Beautiful views from atop the scuola per stranieri

Travel, lots of travel

I have been away from Bologna for all but one of my weekends in Italy. I was told by previous study abroad students to spend many weekends in my home city and get to know it really well. But my CORE class has given me the opportunity to travel all over Northern Italy and I am taking advantage of everything I can.

This past Friday we went to Milano for our field trip. Milano is big, crazy, exciting, and totally overwhelming. We were given a tour of part of the city by a woman who used to be the editor of GQ: Italia. So basically that was awesome. We climbed the beautiful Duomo - the most unusual and different church I have seen so far in Italy. And then we left.

My roommate and I headed 2 hours west to Torino (home of the 2006 Winter Olympics). I absolutely loved this city. It was different, cooler, beautiful, and near to the mountains - almost like Denver. We spent our short time there visiting museums, walking as much of the city as we could, enjoying all the green (the trees and the park - things that don't really exist in Bologna), and indulging in too much coffee and chocolate. I am already planning a trip back and I can't wait.

This program has given me a chance to spend time in so many different Italian cities. I am learning so much about their similarities and differences from everything to architecture to culture. It is like rediscovering the regions of the United States only way cooler because it is Italy.

This week I have to get serious - I have a midterm tomorrow and a paper due Friday. Oh right, I am here for STUDY abroad. I get a fabulous reward though because this weekend I am going to Perugia to visit a good friend of mine from DU. And it's not just any weekend for Perugia ... it is their world famous chocolate festival. Yep, I love traveling.

6 weeks in!

I am basically halfway in to my first program here (next week I have midterms!) and I cannot believe how fast the time has flown by. Whenever I get a chance to talk to my parents they ask me if I am homesick and I feel bad, but I always answer negatively. I've really just been too busy here and enjoying my experience too much to miss home. Of course there are little things that I miss, but every day we find a way to make up for those (if we can). Like this week, last night 3 of us made a HUGE burger meal with real American hamburger buns and it was awesome. And tonight, we made a perfect American breakfast for dinner: pancakes, eggs, bacon ... so we've been letting in little pieces of home, yet we are still learning about a new culture every single day.

Finally, this week, we started the final 2 of our 5 classes. One of them is all about urban development and the way people interact with cities, especially the places they are from. Our professor asked us to start thinking about our final presentation which requires us to present on the way our hometown is set up and how we view it in our own personal ways. Because the 2 other girls in my group and I are all from different cities, we decided to do our presentation on the DU campus. We started brainstorming what our map was going to look like and it really made me realize how much of a home the University of Denver has become for me for the past 2 years. My map was a "personal narration map" aka it only showed the places that were important to me, so I decided to list the places that showed up as most important on my map for all of you.

1. Wash Park - the place that is the start (and finish) of almost all of Club Cross Country's runs.

2. Jamba Juice - any time, any day.

3. The Ritchie Center & Coors' Fitness Center - we are incredibly lucky to have such a nice gym on campus and a small enough student body that it is never overflowing. and If you do find yourself competing for a treadmill go at the most awkward times, especially early in the morning; you'll have better luck, I promise.

4. Penrose - because, being the bookworm and crazy studier that I am, there is no better place to spread out all my stuff than at one of Penrose's giant first floor tables.

5. Dairy Queen south on Colorado - because everyone needs a 9:15 pm Blizzard run at some point.

6. Jazzman's - whether I am grabbing a coffee and running to class or sitting at a table when I have some spare time to get some work done it's a good, central spot. Hey, it's not part of our student center for nothing.

7. Pei Wei - opened last spring on Colorado & Buchtel. Greatest fast Chinese food and totally cheap. If you haven't already been go immediately.

8. The lightrail station - has taken me to Broncos, Nuggets, & Rockies games, as well as so many fun nights out in LoDo. Take so much advantage of this, seriously.

9. Bruegger's - because more often than not you just get tired of dorm food and a bagel costs less than $3. And because Starbucks is attached. Bagel + lattee = perfect morning.

10. Sturm Hall - I live on the 2nd floor of this building: departments for History and Italian. On the very north side of the 3rd floor there is a great little nook with 4 big armchairs that overlook Asbury and the Club Sports Tower. Go find it.

And now after all of this I actually miss DU more than I realized. But tomorrow I am headed to Milan and then on to Torino for the rest of the weekend and I am so excited! So I really couldn't be happier with where I am right now and I'll leave DU to you all to enjoy. Eat a bagel for me - they don't exist in Italia. Ciao!

Venezia & Verona

In the past 48 hours I have been in Bologna, to Venice, back to Bologna, up to Verona, and finally back to Bologna again. It has been a whirlwind, but totally worth it.

In my DU CORE class we spent the last week discussing the acqua alta in Venice, or the high waters that flood the city, especially in the winter months. It is a combination of rising sea level, the city itself actually sinking, and high tides that are brought on by full moon and just simply the weather. When we were there on Friday we actually saw city officials assembling the walkways all over San Marco in case the tides came in this weekend (it was a full moon). The walkways are basically elevated sidewalks so that people can get around without having to wear galoshes. We spent most of the day wandering the confusing streets of Venice, but also had a 2 hour "lecture" in the office of Punta Laguna - basically the agency that is charge of bringing awareness to the acqua alta problem, and also advertising what is being done about it as well as all future plans. It was a really interesting presentation and we all learned a lot. After that we all wandered some more before finally making our way back to the train station and back to Bologna. Venice is an unbelievable city, but it is also very overwhelming. It is truly an international city and I honestly spent most of my day just looking for an Italian, or even someone who speaks Italian. There are a ton of tourists and everything about the city is catered to them. I could never imagine studying there and after really opening my eyes to the place yesterday I felt bad for its residents. The tourism and exploitation of the city seemed out of control to me and some of the magic of the city gets lost in it.

DU girls on the Ponte di Rialto, Venezia

Venetian Harbor

Saturday morning we got up early and took the train North to Verona. It is a beautiful city and I was so glad that we visited. If the name sounds familiar its because it's where Shakespeare's Juliet & Romeo was set. The town is big into this aspect, but it also has a lot to offer if you are not so into the suicidal love story (like me). Because our Verona Card included it, we walked around the fabricated "Casa della Giulietta" aka, fake Juliet's fake house, and it was really one of the most absurd things I have ever seen, but entertaining to talk about afterward. Afterward, we climbed one of the city's towers for a great view, wandered around some Roman ruins, visited the archeological museum, saw a few beautiful churches, and toured a castello on the river. It was really a great day and Verona is just beautiful. The streets are tree-lined (something we don't see in Bologna) and the buildings are gorgeous, all full of little garden-covered balconies. It has definitely become one of my favorite places in Italy.

Pioneers abroad in Verona

Verona

Today I am just working on homework, catching up with people at home, and having a lazy afternoon around our Residenza. But this whole weekend there has been a huge celebration in Bologna for San Petronio (patron saint of Bologna), so tonight some of us are heading down to Piazza Maggiore (the heart of the city) for the last night of the festival and to watch the fireworks that the city is putting on. Yay Italy!

Permesso di Soggiorno

Today in between my classes I had an appointment with the Italian Immigration Office. Because I am staying in Italy for longer than 60 days I have to apply for a permesso di soggiorno, or permit of stay. The process started about 3 weeks ago when I had to wait about 3 hours in the post office to send a packet of important official documents off to some important official person. I then received my appointment date and time so that i could go to the Immigration Office and they could verify that I was who I said I was.

I had heard extreme horror stories about the immigration office from other people here who have been and experienced it, so I was honestly pretty intimidated about going today by myself. I showed up and there was absolutely no system in place. People were just sort of milling around looking confused and absolutely no one spoke English. The immigration officers are also totally mean and scary and are definitely not the most approachable people. I know a decent amount of Italian, but I couldn't quite figure out what was going on. Luckily, I found a British girl and we managed to figure out between the two of us that you basically congregate at this pole near the front of the office (you don't take a number even though they are beeping through numbers - go figure) and you basically just wait for them to come out and call appointment times.

After waiting for about an hour and still never hearing my time, I decided to just fight my way through the mob and go through to the place where I saw other people with my same paperwork coming in and out of. An official there stopped me and asked me my name so I tried pulling the "DeNapoli" card and throwing out my last name. I have realized that it is a total charm here and today it did not let me down - he looked me over & let me through! I was very excited by this. I then waited in line behind 2 other people until I finally got called up to the window. There I had to give the man copies of my health insurance, acceptance letters into my programs, passport photos (if you ever study abroad order about 200 - you will need them), and my passport. He did a lot of stuff all while whistling and singing along to "I've Got a Feeling" and stopping to have conversations with his friends (I realized this is why it takes so long) before finally telling me that my packet of important papers that I had sent from the post office a few weeks ago was not there. Oh no. He then started talking very sternly to me and I could only understand about half of what he said, but I got the gist of "you stupid girl you came on the wrong day." He then asked me to write down all my information and while I was doing this he left the room and came back with my packet. YAY! Miraculously, it was just hiding somewhere. Oh, and for the record, I was there on the correct day.  He finished officializing my documents, fingerprinted me, and then gave me another piece of paper with another date and time on it --- I have to go back on October 7 to get my actual permit.

The whole process is kind of mystifying to me. They basically look over again all the papers that I had to get ready for my student visa. I am not quite sure why if the Italian consulate and country of Italy gave me a valid visa to study here for 9 months I also needed to do this, but it is over and I am just happy to be accepted by Italy : )