“It is late and after a most excellent night out which consisted of sweet wine, loud music, and even louder friends, the city is mine as I walk in mindful silence.
My feet hit the medieval cobble stones as I round the corner down to my apartment on top of the old Etruscan wall. It is late enough that I am alone on the road besides the few cats prowling for their next snack. The early morning fog is beginning to nestle in its bed of the surrounding valleys, which my room overlooks.
With each step I take, I am aware of something around me. A presence? A force? To this day I cannot accurately describe what this was like beyond a sense of comfort that a warm embrace only a friend or family member can give.
The walls breath slowly with life as I arrive at my apartment and lay in my bed knowing that when I wake up tomorrow, this living dream will be my reality for the next 5 months. A place which will forever be a home to me.”
I studied abroad at the Umbra Institute in Perugia, Italy the Fall semester of 2011 and it will be an experience I will never forget. The above passage described what most of my nights were like after a rousing day filled with gelato, fresh food, new friends, and an excellent education.
Perugia and those within it were extremely accepting of me. I was able to apply the Italian I learned in class at Umbra naturally by buying groceries, ordering food at the local deli, and traveling to the nearby towns (Assisi, Spoleto, etc.). Unlike some of the larger cities, those in Perugia welcomed attempts at using Italian and gently corrected any words or phrases I said incorrectly. The only phrases I knew in the language before going I learned growing up in an Italian-American family and they are not ones I should repeat here. I thought I knew what the Italian life was like before going out. This concept has since changed and this experience forever sits in my head as my happy place.
A place I am now returning to.
In the summer of 2019, I will be teaching a course looking at how language affects the way cultures are formed and the behaviors that we all engage in because of our cultures. The courses in cultural psychology, the research projects I was able to work on, and the countless other opportunities I had (history of food course, Italian literature, etc.) was an amazing, life altering experience. I found a sense of purpose and a confidence that has led me all over the world, through my doctoral degree, opening my own business, and now being able to come back as a professor at Umbra.
The second I left Perugia, I vowed to return and contribute to the wonderful city and programming that was offered. I am very excited to be welcomed home as I get to walk the streets of my city – Perugia.
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