Learning new dimensions of italian people. April 24, 2022

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Some classes expected so much out of the students whereas others it almost felt like I could have just shown up for the test and been okay.

On-site administration of your program

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

In a host family it felt like i was less than a guest, the host mother also made it seem like such a big deal for me and my roommate to go out to see friends at night. The maids at the home would always be rearranging my personal belongings both on my desk and in my closet, to the point where a printed out sheet of paper that i had went missing. It was also brought to my attention by the host parents that they didn't like when we didn't travel or spend the entire day out on the weekends, because they didn't want to leave us in the apartment alone; also during the last weekend of the program they went on a trip and have left us alone with the two maids 'babysitting' us.

At the beginning we had to eat exactly what the mother ate, which was not preferable since she had gone on a diet (little pasta, almost no meat, pretty much only vegetables {mainly cabbage}) part way through the time they must have realized that this was unfair and started to give us more pasta, yet we were severely lacking a source of protein. I feel like this family has never seen a food pyramid before, and when I kindly and discreetly asked for more proteins to be served I was told "it is unhealthy to eat meat every day". The meals we were served also weren't like how i was told italian dinners go, we would only have 1 course and occasionally a desert; I had been told previously that it would be appetisers, 1st course, 2nd course, then dessert. Aside from the meals made by the host family every meal that I purchased myself was fantastic.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Felt less integrated because of feeling like less than a guest with the host family, and I felt like i was doing something wrong when I would meet friends out at night.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Only having access to the school dr once a week was a bit hard, I had a sore throat a couple of days after she was there, then it cleared up before she came back, but i had wanted a recommendation for cough drops/ medicine when she was unavailable. Never used the local healthcare system.

The classes were good and i enjoyed the field trip opportunities,

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

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

Select all that apply

• Host Family

Select all that apply

• Americans
• Host Family

Select all that apply

• Americans

• The location
• the field trips
• traveling

• host families
• food provided
• distance from school

The Nearly Native or Trail Blazer