The most incredible, indescribable, best time of my entire life. Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I learned a lot from my 'Art in Florence' class and 'Villa and the Gardens'. They were extremely informative. I really enjoyed my Studio course, however I did not learn much new information.

On-site administration of your program

Everyone at ISI was very helpful and resourceful. They helped us with everything from classes, finding our way around the city, helping us plan our fall breaks. Everything. They were all very nice.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

There were some issues with our apartment. We had a lot of things broken when we moved in and many things broke right after getting there, but just from being used. The toilets broke repeatedly, as well as the showers. We emailed housing at ISI a few times and eventually emailed the Director of ISI. Eventually our landlords were contacted and they came over a few times to fix everything from our list. once it was all fixed, our apartment was great.

The food was great. Every restaurant we went to was incredible. I loved Anticcos sandwich place right by the Uffizi.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I feel like we eventually fit in with the culture. But they didn't think we did. They still knew we were american tourists, even though we didn't stand out as much in December as we did in August. We made friends with some locals over the time in Italy, and we got to experience parts of Florence with them.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I don't know if Ebloa was a serious threat in Italy as it was in USA, but we weren't informed at all about it. But when my friend needed to go to the doctors in Italy, it was very easy and they were nice and helpful.

I think if you're aware of your surroundings, you will be fine. but, one night I was at a club and I got pickpocketed and my phone was stolen. That same night, my friend got mugged in front of his apartment. He got everything stolen from him, and was beat up pretty badly. Other than that, I felt very safe.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

I spent much more than I exected on food each week. I didnt go out to eat often, but paying for food got expensive.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

In my Italian class, we were encouraged, but not in all our classes.

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• Apartment

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• Americans

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• Americans

• the People
• the City
• the Traveling

• communication about dues

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