A year in Macerata Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The quality of the classes varied quite a bit. I liked all the teachers, but some taught in the very traditional Italian manner, lecturing in a monotone voice for the hour and a half class with little or no time to answer questions and no student involvement whatsoever. However, I had some great teachers there, especially my Italian teacher the second semester. She was incredibly patient and pushed me to improve as much as possible without being harsh.

On-site administration of your program

The head administrator was very knowledgeable about the history of the country. However, I felt that he sometimes let his personal feelings get in the way of his job. He always treated me quite well and was warm and welcoming to many students, but he was disrespectful to others he didn't like. He also had a lot of personal issues going on the first semester I was there, when his behavior was the worst, which I have sympathy for but he should have been able to separate his personal life and feelings from his role as an educator.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Unfortunately, all the Italians thought we had the swine flu, so we were unable to live with host families or Italian students the year I was there. However, the apartment I shared with two other girls was quite nice and right outside the city walls, an easy 10 minute walk to the school (uphill but that's impossible to avoid in a hill town, and it's a good workout every morning!). All the cooking ware, bedding, sheets, etc were provided, as well as a washing machine and drying racks.

It's Italy--of course the food was great! We had meals out every once in a while, sponsored by the program, and they always involved the full 3 or so course, dessert, and wine. Vegetarian options were not plentiful, especially when we ate as a group because we all at the same thing, so vegetarians were offered usually pasta with plain tomato sauce, salad, and an omelet or a cheese plate. However, it was quite easy to cook vegetarian at home. They have little vegetable shops everywhere. And if you ate out by yourself or grabbed a slice of pizza there are plenty of options, vegetarian or otherwise. Pizzeria del Corso has great pizza and the owner is very friendly, though he'll probably tease you about your Italian.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I wish there had been more opportunities to mingle with the local students, as all our classes were separate. However, we WERE practically the only Americans living in a small city, so those who tried made plenty of Italian friends. All the field trips are amazing, though sometimes listening to the administrator ramble on and on detracted from the experience.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

The city is pretty safe, but on occasion girls were followed for a few blocks after coming out of bars. If you're not comfortable, don't be afraid to ask someone to walk you home. I never had that problem and I have experience with martial arts so I never felt uncomfortable walking by myself, even at 3 or 4 in the morning.

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

I had no problem because I had studied 2 years of Italian before coming, but although the program doesn't have a language requirement, it was very difficult for students who spoke no Italian on arrival. Very few of the locals spoke English, and often they were unwilling too even if they did.

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• Apartment

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• Americans