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I had been very ill the first few days after our arrival in Florence. It took me a while to get over the jet lag and habituate myself to my new surroundings. Sunday was the first day I felt well and I wanted to take advantage of it. I had planned to go exploring with my neighbors across the hall, who had already visited many of the sites but, unfortunately, they were not feeling well. I happened to hear some girls say they were going to take a walk, so I asked them if I could tag along with them. I had no idea where they were taking me (I had only been outside the hotel to pick up groceries at the Coop), but I didn’t care – I just wanted to see some of Florence. They eventually led me to Ruth’s Vegetarian Kosher Restaurant, where we met up with some other members of the program. Then we went to the “Sinagogo e Museo Ebraico”, the Jewish temple. There were small repeating patterns on the walls and ceilings. It was not like the Catholic churches I am used to seeing. The museum upstairs contained pictures of the ghetto, linens, pointers and other artifacts. For most college students, the winter break is the glorious month of no school between the end of finals and the beginning of a new semester. We spend this precious time working extra hours at our jobs, watching television and recovering from our classes. Did you ever think that this time could also be used to travel to another country, get acquainted with other CUNY students, visit famous sites, and have one of the best experiences of your life? How about if I told you that you can do all this and earn six credits to boot? Hunter College offers a study abroad program in Florence, Italy during the winter inter-session (what we know as January). The trip costs about $2,000 and includes airfare, a nice, though small room in a three star hotel (with one or two roommates), an international breakfast buffet every morning, an International Student ID card, and free admission to the museums visited as a class. An energetic, humorous and helpful Hunter professor, who is originally from Italy, teaches the classes. Professor Fasoli, who usually acts as if he just drank ten espressos, is very approachable and helpful. There will also be a number of “student life” people on the trip to answer your questions, whether it is where to find the nearest laundry mat, a good restaurant, or to recommend a city to visit. Different classes are offered every year, but there is usually one class focusing on Italian literature (don’t worry, it’s in translation) and another on some aspect of Italian culture. You can chose to take just one of the classes, or neither (and go along for the ride), but the professor recommends taking both. I took both classes offered and noticed a lot of areas of overlap between them. It was in my best interest to stay in both classes, but many people preferred to take just one class so that they would have more free time to travel, shop, and of course, study (yeah, right)! The morning class started at 9:30 am and ended at noon, and the afternoon class was from 1 pm to 3:30 pm. Class is held Monday through Friday with an hour break for lunch and a ten-minute break during each class.
Approximate Word count = 2305
Approximate Pages = 9.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
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