CHRISTY CAPRICCIO
School: Northeastern University
Abroad: Umbra Institute in Perugia, Italy

Christy's Travel Diary...
I traveled a lot through Italy and Europe and made a trip almost every weekend. Within Italy, I was able to visit Milan, Florence, Rome, Siena, Pisa, Lucca, Cinque Terra, Naples, The Island of Capri, Positano, Pompeii, Tuscany, Catania and Palermo.  In each of the cities, I experienced so many different things -- foods, coffees, events, and cultures. It was really amazing -- and shocking! -- to see how different the culture was in different cities. Some of these were trips that I made with my classes as a part of the curriculum, and others were trips I made with friends and roommates on my own. My trip to Rome was with my parents when they came to visit me.  
Outside of Italy, I was able to travel to Paris, Amsterdam, several cities in Switzerland and a few of the islands in Greece and Turkey.

Sweet Perugia

One of my favorite parts about being in Perugia was being able to experience the International Chocolate Festival that is held there every year in October.  It was incredible and unbelievable how many different types of chocolates there were and different things that were carved out of chocolate. The hot chocolate in Italy was so thick that it looked like pudding rather than hot chocolate!  

Perugia is a smaller city in Italy which helped develop my language skills a lot more than if I had been in Florence or Rome where many of the residents speak English.  I remember arriving in Italy on the first day, we took a bus from the airport in Rome to Perugia and stopped at a pizzeria on the way.  We were exhausted and jet-lagged and this was the first time I had ever been outside of the U.S.  I had not spoken Italian in five years since taking a few courses in high school, and it was one of the most intimidating and uncomfortable experiences having to point and motion to the different slices of pizza without even remembering how to say please. By the end of the four months, while my Italian was by no means eloquent, I could get my point across in most situations. That was a huge accomplishment for me because it's something I would have never imagined happening if asked on that first day.
What I learned while studying and living in Italy was invaluable. I would go again in a heartbeat and would encourage anyone else to do it.  It was the first time in my life that I ever thought of myself as "American" rather than "Italian and German" which is my heritage and how I always described myself in the States. It was eye-opening to see how Italians portray America in the media and how important our politics were to them. In 2007, they had full, daily coverage on the race to the White House and many Italians knew more about what was going on than I did!

Culture Shock

The entire Italian culture, as well, was more different than I could have ever imagined.  There are no super-sized stores -- no Walmarts or malls. Grocery shopping was an all-day process. There were tiny stores where you could buy most things but if you really wanted to get a variety of foods, you had to go to the butcher and the fish shop and the open markets in the mornings for produce. There was a separate shop for cheese and one for breads and baked goods. While there were some brand-name clothing shops, most of the shops were little boutiques spread out all over the city. It was funny how you could go down tiny little alleyways that looked like driveways and end up finding little shops and restaurants, and all I could think was, "How do they make any money with this location?!"

The stores are closed on Monday mornings... all of them!  Why? No real reason, just because. The banks, the grocery stores, the clothing shops -- all closed until noon on Monday.  And at Lunch - closed - every day!  The way Italians eat was difficult to get used to  It is completely appropriate and normal for them to stay at a restaurant for 3-4 hours for a meal, relaxing, smoking, and talking. The waiters come and take your order, bring your food, and then you never see them again. Gratuity is unexpected in most cases. That was a much bigger adjustment than I thought it would be. Clothing shopping is different as well. There are no racks with every size of an item. Typically, there is only one size of an item displayed and you have to ask for your size in order to try it on.

The Best Part

I was also able to locate and meet some family that still lived in Italy that no one in my family had ever met before. This was by far one of the most memorable and emotional experiences I've ever had.  I cannot describe how overwhelming it is to meet family that split up generations earlier. They were incredible and took us back to the town where my family originally came from, Piaggine, which is high in the mountains near Naples.  We were even able to see the house that my great-great-grandfather was born in and ate home-made sheep cheeses that my family had made.

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