Today, I have been in Italy for exactly one week. The trip has been a blast so far. Our group flew out of Atlanta's airport at midnight on Sunday May 9th. We had several delays. Our flight was originally scheduled to leave at 5:45, then it was pushed back further and further due to ash from volcanoes, plane repairs, then the need for pilots who had not been awake too many hours. Finally we left at midnight. Then arrived in Italy around 3:00 that Monday afternoon.
For the trip at least two students are assigned to a host family. My roommate is Kirbi Johnson, a rising senior and elementary education major at Clemson University. We are living with Familglia Buccino Fava. They have a home very close to the center of the city and we share a flat with their daughter, Marcella, who is 22. The family also has a son, Farro, who is 16. The mother and father, Dina and Antonio, are both extremely kind and cook delicious food! Every night Kirbi and I eat dinner with the family. Dinner usually consists of pasta and then meat and salad or another type of side. Then we usually have fruit for desert. Dina makes olive oil and Balsamic vinegar which are from traditional recipes of her hometown in Southern Italy. They are both amazing! Dinner lat night was so delicious! Dina made lasagna from scratch. We also had salad, bread with a tomato spread, and prosciutto (a meat similar to ham). Dinner last night was also very interesting. Antonio is a director of plays at Universities around the world so two of his actors are in town and had dinner with us. The two men were from Paris and London so dinner consisted of three languages; Italian, English, and French! It was so hard to keep up with the conversations but I enjoyed the experience!
Kirbi and I have really enjoyed having Marcella to show us around time and help us settle in! She even took us out with her friends one night. It was so funny hearing about other exchange students that her family has hosted and Marcella is so comical! Her friend, Matte, has a great personality and speaks English very well. Its so crazy to think that when I get home I will have friends from half way across the world!
More news to update later, but for now the weather is nice and Kirbi and I are going to enjoy it since its finally not raining!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
Clemson University and other South Carolina Students Travel to Reggio Emilia, Italy
Ciao! This blog was created as a portfolio of Ashley Epperson for the Clemson University Study Abroad program in Reggio Emilia, Italy. This year from May 9-31st approximately 25 students, (myself included) from Clemson University, the University of South Carolina, and Benedict University, are travelling to Reggio Emilia and immersing in the Italian culture. While in Italy our group will be living with local host families, taking language lessons, observing students at local preschool and primary schools, and traveling to nearby cities.
Reggio Emilia is a small city located about an hour South of Milan, Italy. For several years, Dr. Dee Stegelin from Clemson and Dr. Powers- Costello from the University of South Carolina have taken education, psychology, sociology, and nursing students to Reggio Emilia to observe the "Reggio Emilia Approach." The approach is a very unique program implemented in the schools in Reggio Emilia and other local areas. The approach focuses on the student as an individual and promotes the use of language, music, and arts into all learning strategies.
I am a Clemson Nursing Student so my research on the trip will focus on the organization of health care in Italy and the nurses role in providing care. Since we are spending the majority of the trip in local schools, I will also be observing the role of the school nurse and the growing epidemic, childhood obesity. Since Americans tend to be much more overweight and obese than other countries, I will observe what factors prevent overweight or obesity in Italy. I plan on observing the school children interact with one another at work, play, and eating times and discussing the issue of overweight children with members of the family and of the school.
Reggio Emilia is a small city located about an hour South of Milan, Italy. For several years, Dr. Dee Stegelin from Clemson and Dr. Powers- Costello from the University of South Carolina have taken education, psychology, sociology, and nursing students to Reggio Emilia to observe the "Reggio Emilia Approach." The approach is a very unique program implemented in the schools in Reggio Emilia and other local areas. The approach focuses on the student as an individual and promotes the use of language, music, and arts into all learning strategies.
I am a Clemson Nursing Student so my research on the trip will focus on the organization of health care in Italy and the nurses role in providing care. Since we are spending the majority of the trip in local schools, I will also be observing the role of the school nurse and the growing epidemic, childhood obesity. Since Americans tend to be much more overweight and obese than other countries, I will observe what factors prevent overweight or obesity in Italy. I plan on observing the school children interact with one another at work, play, and eating times and discussing the issue of overweight children with members of the family and of the school.
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