uwyoabroad
New Friends in Old Places by Taylor McCampbell
One of the methods of immersion my program employed was partnering with local restaurants and cafes to provide us with good meals and interactions with locals through something that is crucial to Italian culture, food and drink! This photo was taken on the day before I was to leave Florence with a friend I had made by frequenting a local café that was on my walk to school. Every day I went there for espresso and a pastry for breakfast and often for an amazing panino for lunch. Giuseppe, my friend in the photo, was always working when I would come in and always took care of me and talked with me in whatever language we could. He was learning English and I was learning Italian so sometimes the conversations were a mix of those two languages or, when we got frustrated, we spoke French to each other because we both happened to have studied it growing up in school and at university. Giuseppe introduced me to parts of Italian culture I would have never known about and without his friendship and his willingness to share his experience I would have remained ignorant. We discussed things like Italian politics, commonalities and differences between Italians and Americans, the southern regions of Italy (his home), the Italian education system, philosophy (his field of study), and I was able to introduce him to some Americanisms he was unaware of. I saw him almost every day and he became one of my best friends and a support system in a foreign place. Giuseppe showed me the proper way to welcome someone into your culture and make them feel at home. This picture is moments before our final goodbye overlooking the city of Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo. (Photo taken by Elana Scharff)
New Friends in Old Places by Taylor McCampbell
One of the methods of immersion my program employed was partnering with local restaurants and cafes to provide us with good meals and interactions with locals through something that is crucial to Italian culture, food and drink! This photo was taken on the day before I was to leave Florence with a friend I had made by frequenting a local café that was on my walk to school. Every day I went there for espresso and a pastry for breakfast and often for an amazing panino for lunch. Giuseppe, my friend in the photo, was always working when I would come in and always took care of me and talked with me in whatever language we could. He was learning English and I was learning Italian so sometimes the conversations were a mix of those two languages or, when we got frustrated, we spoke French to each other because we both happened to have studied it growing up in school and at university. Giuseppe introduced me to parts of Italian culture I would have never known about and without his friendship and his willingness to share his experience I would have remained ignorant. We discussed things like Italian politics, commonalities and differences between Italians and Americans, the southern regions of Italy (his home), the Italian education system, philosophy (his field of study), and I was able to introduce him to some Americanisms he was unaware of. I saw him almost every day and he became one of my best friends and a support system in a foreign place. Giuseppe showed me the proper way to welcome someone into your culture and make them feel at home. This picture is moments before our final goodbye overlooking the city of Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo. (Photo taken by Elana Scharff)