2009 College of San Mateo Martha J. Tilmann
[FLORENCE STUDY ABROAD PROGRAM] For more information goto website: collegeofsanmateo.edu/studyabroad/
January 1, 2009
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The Centro Linguistico Italiano Dante Alighieri School Piazza della Repubblica, 5-50123 Firenze, Italia
Piazza della Repubblica. Notice the “Edison” bookstore. The entrance to the school is two doors to the right and upstairs. By the way, everything is “upstairs” in Florence!
Carousel at Piazza della Repubblica
Vendor on the piazza
Most classes are held at “Centro Linguistico Italiano Dante Alighieri” which is Florence’s first private language school, built in 1965. Classrooms are also located at the ABC Palazzo Malvisi School. 2
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[FLORENCE STUDY ABROAD PROGRAM] Professor of Philosophy, George Freund is from Santa Rosa junior College. His classes include: Introduction to Religious Studies, Introduction to Philosophy, and History of Western Philosophy: Ancient & Medieval.
Professor of Music, Rob Knable, is from Sacramento City College, Los Rios College District. His classes include: Survey of Music History and literature, Jazz History, and World Music.
Professor of Art, Diane RicheyWard is from American River College, Los Rios College District. Her classes include: Elementary Drawing and Composition, and Art Survey: Renaissance to 19th Century. This classroom is located about a 10-minute walk from “Centro Linguistico Italiano Dante Alighieri” at the ABC School.
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Professor of Biology, Michael Bucher from College of San Mateo, is shown here in the Life and Culture. Because all students in the program attend this class, it is located in a nearby hotel that can easily seat 148. Michael’s classes include: Life Sciences, and Human Biology.
Professor of Political Science, Dorrie Mazzone is from Diablo Valley College. Her classes include: Comparative Politics, International Relations, and Money, Power and Politics in the United States. She is shown here eating at an amazing dinner compliments of AIFS.
AIFS provides computer with internet access in the lobby outside the classrooms. They are used but not extensively because most students have their laptops. The lobby/lounge is a very comfortable and well lit area. 4
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AIFS’s outstanding staff is responsible for daily operations. This team, works under the direction of Sophie Monkman. One person takes an emergency phone home each night giving students 24/7 access to help.
Sophie Monkman
Ged McAteer
Laura Masters
Philippa Nicholson
The local AIFS office has a constant flow of students coming in for advice, tickets, reservations, doctor appointments, and recommendations.
Kirsty Isherwood, AIFS Program Director, and Ailsa Brookes, AIFS Senior Vice President, work at the main AIFS office in London, but visit the programs regularly.
Kirsty Isherwood, Program Director, AIFS
Ailsa Brookes, Senior Vice President, AIFS
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Edison Bookstore is two doors down from the school’s main entrance.
Bottom two photos from Qype.
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Student Housing Students stay in apartments, all within walking distance from the school.
Bedroom
Studying student!
Kitchen
Patio
Studying student! In this same room, another student was Skype-ing her mother.
This BS graduate joined the program to better understand herself and what she hoped to do.
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Living room
Van Gogh Bedroom
Studying student (sort of)!
Flowers from Women’s Day
Student artwork.
Conflict resolution chart!
Studying student!
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Italian Life and Culture In addition to living in Italy, the program offers many ways to learn and participate in Italian life. All students must take “Italian Life and Culture.” This course is collaboration between our faculty and local lectures/tours arranged by AIFS. -
Cultural Differences Workshops Urbanization of Florence Visit to Palazzo Vecchio Visit to Pitti Palace Religion in Italy Bella Figura The Mafia & Organized Crime
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Walking tour of Florence Medici-Godfathers of the Renaissance Italian Politics Visit to the Uffizi Visit to Santa Croce Visit to Fiesole Curiosities of Florence
Students are also required to write a weekly journal of their cultural experiences. This is reviewed by the students’ home college professor. During my visit I attended a Life and Culture lecture on “Growing up Italian.” I refer to many of the things I learned that night later in this report under “Social Comments.” Students can also sign up for optional cultural events sponsored and subsidized by AIFS. Events include: wine tasting, olive oil tasting, Italian film night, day trip to Siena and San Gimignano, Cinqueterre daytrip, hiking in the local hills, cooking class, pizza making, Charity Classical Concert for African Children’s Home, weekend trip to Sorrento, artisan workshop tours, cycling, and many others. During my visit I attended a white wine tasting evening shown below.
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If footwear and scarves are any indication, our students have definitely assimilated into the Italian culture. If I didn’t know this young woman (below) was one of our students, I’d bet she was a local.
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Renovating Italy Every region and city we visited seemed to have areas under construction and/or renovation. Show here is either end of the Pitti Palace. On the right you can see the very well done faรงade hiding construction.
Here you can see the extensive scafling showing work on all levels of these buildings.This was an extremely common sight.
Skilled artist refurbish the old and design the new sculptures, columns, and facades.
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FOOD and ART Good food in Italy can’t just taste good it must also look terrific. “Anche l’occhio vuole la sua parte, the eye also wants its part”. Crowding your food is also unacceptable and consequently each food item is served on a separate plate. Italians seem to love food and beauty equally and there is absolutely no math associate with food. No tip to calculate and no counting calories.
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Fresh fruit and vegetable stands populate street corners. Produce may be colorful and varied like the one on the left, or a single-crop like the local farmer’s truck on the right.
Thi s stand is outside Forte Di Belvedeare. In the back are locals eating lunch at a tripe stand.
A local Sicilian farmer sells his artichokes off the back of his truck.
Italy is home to sixty percent of the world’s art and you don’t have to go inside to see it. Streets are filled with artists, statues of antiquity, and magnificent architecture.
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Many of the outside statues are replicas. This one is not!
Pitta Palace Gardens
David, The Man!
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Street artists in Florence
Street artists in Rome
Duomo Ceiling, Florence
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Galileo’s Tomb, Santa Croce
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(Above left) Michelangelo’s Pietá. Commissioned by a French cardinal in 1498. Resides in the Basilica of San Pietro. (Above Right) Tomb of Michelangelo by Giorgio Vasari in Basilica di Santa Croce. (Left) Holy Water Font in Temple of Athena. The ritual of cleansing oneself when entering a place of worship is rooted in the Old Testament. When Israelites entered the Temple they had to undergo purification by immersion in water. Catholics still practice a similar “cleansing” today when they bless themselves (cross ourselves) using holy water upon entering our churches. Holy Water is believed to remit venial sins.
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Social and Cultural Comments Florence shows an active interest in solar energy. Here overlooking the city from Santa Maria del Liore (also known simply as the Duomo), you can see solar panels covering a fairly large roof.
Moral obligation and tradition dictates at least 80% of Italians’ behavior. Here are some unwritten but fully understood do and don’ts: - No walking bare foot, anywhere anytime. - No showering after a meal - No eating without a table cloth - Don’t wear shorts in the city even in August - Always cover your shoulders when entering a church - No toilet paper to blow your nose - No washing your hair everyday - No cappuccino after a meal If you ask “why” the answer is simply non si fa, we don’t do that!
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Most televisions appeared to be analog and were small compared to those in the States.
In Italy, no simple question has a simple answer. Most things are qualified and virtually everything dipende, depends. Take for example when asked “What is your favorite color?” An Italian will respond with depende, “I like, , , red for flowers, and if the flower grows in a bush, pink.” orange when in love,
yellow when angry,
green for water,
red for flowers,
and if the flower grows in a bush, pink.
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Italy suffers from a negative population growth. Some attribute this to economics, other to a cultural shift from rural to city life. The above billboard in Sicily shows a government campaign offering 3000 Euros for any couple having a 100% Italian baby. Another shift has taken occurred in the rearing of children. On the left is a “nonna� and caring for her grandson. Historically this is a standard role for the mother of the parents. Today, many children are enrolled in daycare nurseries. These children were on a field trip to Equestrian Portrait of Cosimo in Florence. As can be clearly seen, gender stereo types are alive and well in Italy, as boys wear blue XXX and the girls pick.
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At the Giardino di Boboli
The only way down to the toilettes
Door at bottom of stairs.
Sign on the door.
This woman was begging day and night on the 1220 a.d. Ponte Vecchio or “old bridge.”
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There is lots graffiti. It can be found in natural settings, on ancient ruins, and along many streets.
Italian wildlife roams the streets …
…and hide quietly in the hotel lobbies. Italians believe it is good luck to rub the nose of a pig!
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Water is sacred. It is standard to order and pay for bottled water (natural or gassed) with your meal. Here is a young man collecting drinkable water from the public fountain. Public fountain in Rome.
In Sicily, the hotel window overlooked the breakfast room’s roof. It was being repaired and with great care. Workers threw away broken tile and cement, but save any materials that could be cleaned and reused.
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There was a workers’ demonstration taking place in Siracuse, Sicily.
The crowd had a nervous but peaceful energy. Police were present and answered questions from nearby observers. Our guide (lower right), on the other hand, was not so willing to engage in conversation about the event. He was extremely dismissive and quickly walked us to a side street to continue the tour. “Issa nuthing, justa ignora it.”
To speak of “social issues” in Italy (as well as all of Europe) one must mention the various forms of transportation. Without a doubt, the most prevalent way to move is by foot. However, cars include some of the finest made such as Merzades Benz, VolksWagan, and Alpha Romero. Interestingly, there were also Fords and Chevys. Essentially, any car that is small can find a home in Italy. 23
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Bicycles and scooters are also extremely popular.
Bicycle rentals
Even utility trucks are small and maneuverable in the narrow streets. More than cars, Italians love their scooters.
Smart car.
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“Filling up” was done quickly and with little fan-fair. This “station” consisted only of signs and a pump, no building, no parking spots, no toilettes.
This is an interesting example of how Italy manages to make “progress” while still preserving the old. On the lower right you can see a model of the original building. Upper left shows the ancient columns incorporated into the new design. The left shows the building today.
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In Italy one can eliminate the 1-3pm hours from all clocks. This is the fiesta time and most stores are closed. The month of August can also be ripped out of calendars. The whole of Italy goes on vacations and only work of a dyer nature gets done. And the Webster definition of “dyer� cannot be assumed.
In Italy conversation is theater. Gli italiani parlano con le mani, Italians speak with their hands and take the role of a brushless artist. In the absence of a brush or chisel, the air itself becomes a means of expression. Sonia, our Italian guide in Sicily, was difficult to photograph without her arms a blur! Conversations are circular and rarely lead directly to the point. Whatever it is being relayed, is arrive at via the scenic route.
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From Florence, to Sicily, to Rome, the regional differences were vivid and unmistakable. Florence considers itself owner of the Renaissance, Sicily sees the mainland of Italy as an extension Europe, and Rome is the self ordained ruler of the western world. What each region shares is an unmistakable love for football (soccer). Students attend a football game of the National team, gli Azzurri.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MISTY! “I was in the class of 1923� does not refer to the year a person graduated school, but instead the year she was born with the listener expected to do the math. Several students had birthdays while in Sicily. Had we celebrated the Italian way, Misty would have treated the rest of us to dinner or wine.
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Italians consider it lonely to see a face only once. Many members of our group ate each night at the same Sicilian restaurant. By the end of the stay, we were “family” both with each other and with the restaurant owners.
Italians know they are the keepers of antiquity. It is nearly impossible to build something new without finding something old that needs to be restored and preserved for future generations. This is a curved street whose shaped was determined by the previous building’s foundation on which it rest. Excavation in Italy is a complicated problem. How deep do you dig? No matter what level is removed, it is destroying ruins and artifacts from past civilizations.
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Sicily Student Trip AIFS offers an optional mid-semester trip to Sicily.
This statue in Naxos marks the spot where the Greeks first landed on the island of Sicily around 735 BC. Not difficult to understand why they stayed! 29
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Taormina, Sicily Taormina is a medieval town midway between the towns of Messina and Catania. The most famous spot in Taormina is the view from the Greco-Roman amphitheatre. Mount Edna can be seen in the distance. Two days later students climb to its top. The Greek theater was built in 3c BC featuring classical plays and comedies. The Romans made this into an arena for circuses and gladiator fights. To show their power and worldly adventure, the Romans added a platform that would rise up holding exotic animals and plants from around the world. This theater held 5400 seats. Group picture below!
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Catania, Sicily Catania has fallen victim to numerous lava flows and earthquakes. A particularly destructive volcanic eruption occurred in 1669 and was followed by a serious earthquake in 1693. Thus much of Catania was constructed in the eighteen century using the grey volcanic stone which give the city a rather dark ominous feeling.
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Siracusa Siracusa was founded in 743 BC by Corinthians from Greece. In 212 BC, the Romans took over. The Goths and Visigoths invaded in the 5th century AD. They were followed by the Byzantines in 535 AB and then the Arabs. A 1906 excavation in Siracusa unearthed the largest Greek theater outside of Greece. It held 15000 and is still used each summer for a theatrical festival.
Nearby was found a Roman arena show below. Notice it isn’t round but oblong. Romans put two Greek theaters together to form a Roman amphitheater which resulted in this rugby shape.
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Mount Edna To the ancient Greeks, Mount Edna was the realm of Vulcan, god of fire, and the home of the one-eyed monster, Cyclops. At about 10,000 feet, it is Europe’s highest active volcano.
Mount Edna from the hotel room.
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Amazing Architecture of Rome The Vatican from atop the dome
St. Peter’s dome from the inside
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The Pantheon, Rome
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The Coliseum, Rome
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