Southern Italy: A once in a lifetime experience I'll never forget! Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

We met before the trip and had a couple short papers and a quiz. We had some readings and homework assignments too. When we were there we had to keep an intensive journal and try to keep up with it which was diffult because we were traveling and site seeing a lot. When we returned we had to finish our journals and do a short summary. Students need to make sure to stay on top of their journals so they don't have to try to remember everything when they return.

On-site administration of your program

The program was really environmentally based and students like myself who didn't have a background on geology or archeology felt a little lost at times and it was more difficult to complete some of the assignments. I would've liked to have more of a general overview of technology, society, and environment then go into so much detail with the environmental aspect. I would've liked to focus more on the language and culture of Italy too.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Our first place was a new hotel and was close to the supermarket and main plaza. All the other places were pretty close to supermarkets and shops too. We had to walk a lot to get to our one bead and breakfast which was difficult with our suticases.

Many of the meals were already budgeted, but we didn't get a choice on what to choose. The professor chose main dishes and we all ate from those. I would've liked to chose my meals more because it was my money. We ate a lot of seafood which some of us didn't always want to eat, but sometimes we didn't have another option. In Rome we had more of a choice on what to eat, but that came out of our pockets and wasn't already budgeted.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

The best memory I have is climbing the active volcano, it was amazing. I also liked touring Rome and riding my bike around the islands.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

For almost every place we stayed we could lock our room doors and had a key so that was really nice. We always were able to have roomy and could usually choose who we stayed with. A lot of times you could stay with 3-4 people in a apt. or 2 people to a hotel room. We didn't need any vaccines specfically for this program so that was convenient.

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

I practiced with people living in Italy and used the language in everyday interactions. Many people didn't speak English or only a little. Since I know Spanish that helped me understand the Italian language more and communicate better with Italian speakers.

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• Americans