Ciao! Today in Roma, we had our first Italian course at the UWRC. Aurora, our professor, introduced us beginners to the basics teaching us phrases like “Come Stoi” (How are you?) and “Buona Cera” (Good evening). After repeatedly practicing popular phrases in Italian, we had a one and a half hour break to head to the Piazza and test out our knowledge thus far. As I headed to the Tobacceria to purchase stamps, I decided to test out some of my new found phrases. The woman working the counter at the Tobacceria applauded my efforts saying “Perfecto!”. It was nice to see my efforts being appreciated and my broken-Italian being understood. After grabbing a panini, I headed to my next class. During this class, Manka opened with a short lecture about the divides of the North and South of Italy. Along with many of the other students in the lecture, I was shocked by how divided the country of Italy truly is. Similar to how the North and South of America were once divided, the North and South of Italy is as well. Manka also discussed with the class the effect that emigration has had on the country of Italy. Italians deciding to emigrate to the North of Europe and to America truly had a devastating effect on the Italian culture as a whole. While Italy was not expecting emigration, it caused many foreigners to move to the south of Italy, creating a racially mixed society. This emigration of Italians has caused much of Italy to struggle with the formation of an identity for their society. While America is prideful of their multicultural society and often termed as a “melting pot”, Italy was unsure weather the idea of multiculturalism is something they wanted to term their society. With the Catholic church being such a prominent part of society throughout Italy, charitable organizations existed for refugees and migrants but only of they followed by the rules of the Catholic religion.
After Manka's thought provoking course, we had a few hours break before our group was to attend a mixer at the Rome Center where we would meet students from the Catholic University in Washington D.C. And also from the CHID program at the University of Washington. This mixer was a great opportunity to network with other students and professors teaching and attending school at the UWRC. It was interesting to hear what the other students' programs were focused on as well as their initial impressions of the Italian culture. After a bit of networking, it was time to settle down and watch a showing of the Roman Holiday.
Tomorrow we will continue on with our language classes and I must say, I cannot wait to use more of my Italian on the streets of Rome! I must say, it is great to feel like less of a tourist and more of an authentic Roman. Until then... Buona Notte!
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