What Siena Has to Offer!

            Buongiorno! That means good morning or good afternoon in Italian. In just two sessions of my Italian 101 class I have learned how to count, say my alphabet, greetings, and forms of “to be” or “to have”. It really helps to come home to an Italian family and hear them talk in Italian all the time. The two different classes I am taking this summer are an Italian language class and a history and culture of food and wine in Tuscany, Italy class. They are a lot of fun and even today we had our food class held at a local bakery where we watched them make traditional Siena pastries and even got to try some of them!

            I haven’t even been here a week yet and Siena has given me so much. I have the perfect scenery, beautiful churches, a wonderful host family (I’ll tell you about them later), and a center with awesome staff members and students to share my experiences with, and most importantly a true Italian culture. I am even lucky enough to be able to experience the famous Palio on July 2^nd. Only the students who part take in the summer session get to experience it. Last week we went to a festival for one of the contrades in Siena called the Tartarugas. It was a really cool event to meet locals celebrating a important time of year for the people of Siena. Then yesterday we went to the Piazza de Campo to watch some of the Contrades practice for the actual Palio that is just around the corner!

            Each week I will showcase a new student who is also here studying with me in Siena so that you can hear different stories than just mine. Since I am in a homestay, I don’t know what it is like to be living in the apartment in the center of the city. So I will be learning just as much as you all. I will showcase our first student this week sometime!

            I am so excited for all the adventures and experiences that await for me this summer. I have six weeks left in Siena and I don’t plan to waste a second of it! Ciao!