Prior to arriving in Siena, I was already terrified. Don’t get me wrong; I was very excited too, but it was going to be the first time I would be completely on my own which I feel is reasonably daunting for anyone. Despite being scared though, I was determined to embrace the venture outside of my comfort zone and open up my mind to the possibilities of individual travel. Learning the language posed a similar anxiety, as I was worried I might fall behind my peers. Throughout the course of my program, I came to realize the impact of immersion in a language. Being in a classroom just doesn’t compare to living among the people who speak it fluently. I had amazing instructors who were not only encouraging and patient, but they were kind and warm. Attending the Dante Alighieri school felt like learning alongside lifelong friends and family, even with the people I’d just met.
I won’t say that the beginning of my stay in Siena was an easy one because it wasn’t. I was very scared and, like my instructor reminded me regularly, I worried too much. After about a week or so of settling into a routine, I felt more confident and capable of straying from it with purpose. I was able to practice my language skills and participate in class activities without being scared of messing up. I learned that learning a language takes practice, and most things in life are like that too. Starting from comfort takes practice, straying from a routine takes practice, and pushing confidence takes practice too.
The best advice I could give to someone looking to partake in a summer language study, is to trust that no matter how daunting it may seem, the nerves do not compare to the joy and excitement of participating in learning about what you love. Learning a language is a beautiful endeavor to engage in, and taking that leap into language immersion is exhilarating. I have made some of the best memories of my life over the last few weeks, met incredible people in the process, and I am so grateful for the opportunities I was given to learn about life and culture through a different lens.
I think one of the most honest things I can say about my time in Italy is that I discovered two different sides of one coin. On the one side it was, in fact, a dream come true and so much more than what I had hoped for. However, I also came to learn that Italy, despite its many wonders, is still a city that faces the issues of modern-day. I think that social media has a way of convincing an individual that going abroad and traveling is a magical experience all the time, and most of the time it is. Even so, there is still the reality that you can run into similar problems abroad as you could in your home country. And of course this isn’t the standard or the rule that one is bound to find trouble, but in the short experience I had, I still ran into a couple of predicaments I would have rather avoided.
One of the people who I met during my time in Siena was a part of my class (who for purposes of this blog I will call Remy). I’m not sure how the topic came to be discussed in the midst of our class break, but after telling me where he came from, Remy explained how since in Italy, he has been faced with a variety of unfortunate incidents. Remy came from a small country in the middle east – the name of which I cannot for the life of me remember – and according to him it is not an incredibly well-known place. We got to talking after class and Remy explained that in Italy, due to his appearance, there would be times in which he would be treated unfairly. Remy said he was used to that kind of treatment and that being from the Middle East, he was used to receiving that kind of treatment. After this conversation, I tried to figure out why I was so astounded. Being from the United States and knowing my fair share of certain issues today, I wondered why the reality had struck me so hard. I came to the conclusion that in my mind Italy was romanticized; it was a place full of amazing things to do and sights to see without any of the typical anxieties.
Unfortunately, I myself shortly after faced a couple of uncomfortable situations too. While talking to a classmate about my culture, I was faced with mockery and painful jokes. About a week later, I had run-ins with a couple of men who acted quite inappropriately asI walked home. It was interesting to learn that specific lesson that way, but it opened my eyes to the truth. Remy faced many instances of bias, racism, etc and after listening to his story, I learned that being aware of these issues isn’t limited to my home country. The videos I had seen online of living carefree summers were only videos curated to show the best aspects of certain places, while the truth was that caution and awareness are always necessary.
I will say as well though, that learning these lessons and taking the time to reflect on my expectations and their place in reality was essentially a positive experience. It taught me not only to consider the issues I face everywhere both as a woman and a Latina but to also consider the struggles of the people around me even when I don’t perceive there to be any issues at all. The reality is that in many places most of the time, there is someone like Remy who could be dealing with important problems in a place that others would consider paradise.
Going to a school for language proved to be a very formative experience for many reasons. One of those reasons is that while attending this school I was able to meet a lot of people from a lot of different places around the world, and all of these people came with the goal of better immersing themselves into Italian, or to be more specific, Senese culture. In the five weeks I attended the Dante Alighieri school, I met people of all ages from Spain, Germany, Libya, and Switzerland just to name a few. The experience really forced us as students of the Italian language to communicate with each other exclusively in Italian no matter what level we were at.
Spreading so much time with these students from around the world, I had the opportunity to get to know some of them and more often than not they were willing to share bits about their backgrounds, opinions and ideologies. Granted, sometimes their commentaries could be considered intense but, nonetheless, I was always able to hear what they had to say. Today, I want to discuss the opinions of three individuals who unpromptedly offered their perspectives at different points of my trip. First I will discuss a bit about the opinion of a fellow student at the school, followed by the brief perspective from a worker at a local sandwich shop, and concluding with what one of the professors at the school had to say.
To start off, I met a student from Spain in my language class who humored me in a short conversation about herself and her thoughts about the United States. She was an older woman who, for purposes of this blog, I’ll call Maria. She was born and raised in Spain and is very much enamored with Italian culture. “There is just something unmatched about Romance languages and the cultures they belong to,” she remarked more than once. Her argument seems to be that, at least in her opinion, cultures that fall outside of the “romance origin” tended to have little to no appeal. (This is something I don’t personally agree with.) When I asked her about her thoughts on the United States, her general views weren’t necessarily scathing, only skeptical. She said to me that a lot of the things she heard about the United States confused her. “Controversial policies at the foot of debate today in the states are not topics I know a whole lot about,” she said, “But even I could argue that there are issues that need to be fixed.” Maria argued that, due to its youth, the United States hasn’t yet cultivated a strong cultural identity as captivating as Italy’s or Spain’s. However she also acknowledged her bias as a native of Spain who spent a majority of her life studying the rich history of Europe.
Keeping Maria’s perspective in mind, I had a brief conversation with a worker at Bocconcino’s – a local panino shop. Bocconcino’s was my favorite panino shop in Siena and I’d take a trip there at least once a week. The two men who were always working at the shop when I would visit were very kind people, and on my last day in Siena, I let them know that it was my last day and I would be returning to the United States soon. Excitedly, they recounted all of the places in the US that they had visited over the years. Both talked about how much they enjoyed the diaspora of cultures and geography of the states, as they had visited various areas themselves. Their opinion of the states was a positive one, and they were delighted to share their love of American culture; even more so to hear any little facts I may have had about my hometown.
At this point, I have heard two (kind of) contradictory opinions about the United States. However, throughout my five week language program I sporadically would get to hear someone else’ perspective on the matter. The professor of my culture class occasionally brought up differences between Italy and the United States. He described the different views in religion and the different approaches to culture, but he never imposed a particular narrative of “American culture.” Our professor is a very respectful and open-minded person, and he may not have explicitly mentioned either a positive or negative opinion on the United States. I did learn that through the eyes of many native Italians, American tourism can be exhausting. With hundreds or thousands of Americans entering Italy weekly, trying to find peaceful moments to appreciate the art and history of Rome can be difficult. Italy is itself a very touristy location which isn’t an issue. The issues arise when tourists treat the history disrespectfully, without taking the time to think beyond taking a picture.
I believe that now knowing about the different perspectives on the Unites States and American culture, I can myself see how different cultures from different parts of the world interpret who we are and what that says about the things our culture values. One of my favorite things about learning about different cultures and meeting people from different cultures is constantly realizing just how limited my own perspective can be. After speaking to other students at the DA school as well as my instructors and local residents, I was able to see that there is no singular idea of what the United States is, and that these kinds of opinions are subjective to personal experience.
On my last week in Siena, I took a cooking class at the Dante Alighieri School alongside other Notre Dame students and a group of students from the University of Illinois in Chicago. The class was led by three cooking coaches: Letizia, Massimo, and Aldo. I spent a majority of the class under Letizia’s guidance and a few of the things I learned about her were that Letizia’s primary job is at a bank, but she loves to cook. She and her husband, who happens to be Massimo, work part time at the school as cooking instructors, and they love it. In general, every recipe they share with their students they have memorized by heart, and their joy for sharing them is obvious. Like everyone else at the school, Letizia, Massimo, and Aldo were some of the kindest people I have ever met, and naturally, they were amazing teachers.
There were four courses on the menu for that evening, therefore four plates we would learn to make. In order of, the four courses we learned to make were pomodori ripieni di riso in forno, pici all’aglione, vitella in salsa tonnata, and latte alla portoghese. The class was split into three groups, one group per instructor. I chose to stay with Letizia; she was in charge of the sauce for the pici. Letizia explained, in depth, the process of this simple yet lovely sauce, and it was incredible to watch as her experienced hands swiftly handled each ingredient. She was adamant that everyone in her group had the opportunity to contribute to the sauce making; she gave me the chance to dice vegetables, blend them, and stir them into the pot. The tasks to get the end product may at first seem simple enough, but it was obvious that each step takes great care and technique.
As I stirred in the tomatoes to the big pot, Letizia walked over to me and asked, “Come va la salsa, tesoro?” (How’s the sauce coming along, treasue?) She then looked into the pot, complimented my contribution to the sauce making, and gathered the rest of the group to offer up further tips. Letizia loved watching us try our hand at the cooking and delightedly complimented us often. Needless to say, the process was just as fun as it was informative. The sauce took a couple of hours to make and consisted primarily of oil, tomatoes, lots of garlic, and some spices. As we let it sit in the pot for some time, Letizia led us over to the back of the kitchen, and there she showed us the process of making pici: a traditional Senese pasta. The pasta, she explained, was traditionally made with only water and flour in its origins due to availability of resources back in the day. However, today it isn’t unusual to make a batch of pici with the inclusion of a single egg, as is her method. What makes pici so special is that due to the quick hand-rolling method of each individual noodle, it has a bit of an irregular shape and texture. Each batch is unique.
By this point, Massimo and Aldo had finished teaching the other groups the process of making the veal and stuffed tomatoes, so everyone had gathered to watch Letizia knead the dough. She expertly and swiftly handled the batch, and as she finished incorporating the ingredients, dusted her hands and pointed to the batch of pici noodles she’d made earlier in the day. It had taken her two hours to make! Letizia stepped back and told us to try kneading; it wasn’t as easy as she made it look. Afterward, she explained the method of hand rolling the pasta – which also wasn’t as easy as it looked – and watched on as we together the class worked through the batch of dough. Thankfully, there were enough students to get through the task within the half hour. Our pasta was definitely irregularly shaped, and the cooking coaches looked pretty proud with our work. Once the pasta was finished, we quickly learned to make the dessert, and then it was time to serve and eat.
The class overall lasted about three hours, and we stayed to eat together out on the patio for a couple more. The dishes were amazing, and preparing them was even better. I think out of all the activities I participated in during my time at the DA school, this one was definitely one of my favorites, and no words can describe the gratitude I feel towards the school for providing these incredible experiences.
Letizia stirring in the garlic pasteMassimo garnishing the roasted tomatoesLetizia stirring in the oilThe evening’s menuAfter-class dinner
Before I arrived in Siena, Italy, I did some research on the city and found out a little bit about the way the city works and one of their most beloved traditions. I learned that Siena is divided up into 17 different contrade, or districts, and that twice a year 10 of the 17 contraderace a representative horse in the Palio. At first, I did not think of the Palio as anything more than just a common horse race, but during the course of my five week immersion into the contrade culture I learned that this tradition is the very essence of community in Siena.
Each of the 17 contrade in Siena is represented by a symbol and usually an animal as well. The 17 different contrade are Aquila (eagle), Bruco (caterpillar), Chiocciola (snail), Civetta (little owl), Drago (dragon), Giraffa (giraffe), Istrice (crested porcupine), Leocorno (unicorn), Lupa (she-wolf), Nicchio (seashell), Oca (goose), Onda (wave-dolphin), Pantera (panther), Selva (forest-rhinoceros), Tartuca (tortoise), Torre (tower-elephant), and Valdimontone (valley of the ram). Each contrada has its own community traditions and hosts traditional festivities for its members throughout the year, especially during Palio season. Preparation and excitement for the Palio is something that occurs all year long, and the rivalries between contrade are also ever-present. In the weeks leading up to the Palio, the city was alive with excitement of the upcoming race; the first since before the hit of the pandemic.
It was amazing to experience this part of the year as someone in the process of learning about the culture in Siena. I was attending the Dante Alighieri School, and all the faculty and staff were excited to share their knowledge about the Palio. In my culture class, my professor – a member of the Torre contrada – took us on a tour of the important buildings of his contrada. As a class, we were able to learn from someone who not only knows the history of the contrade in Siena but who is an active member of his contrada. Professor Luca Bonomi gave us the privilege of seeing historic clothing, banners, and items that Torre treasures.
Church of San Giacomo – Torre ContradaTraditional clothing – Torre Contrada MuseumVictory banners – Torre Contrada Museum
As a visitor to Siena, I was lucky enough to experience a little bit of multiple contrade and feel like I had a connection to them in individual ways. First Torre, which is home to a marvelous aforementioned professor at the school. Next Tartuca, the contrada in which our school, where I grew to love both the staff and students, can be found. My apartment, where I was able to get to know my three brilliant roommates, resides in the Lupa contrada. Lastly, on the day before the Palio, the students of my class were granted seats in the traditional Gala Dinner hosted by the Istrice contrada, and we were guided by yet another wonderful professor of our school through the contrada he calls home.
Palio day was full of festivities and parades that all led up to the race. For hours the city and its residents held their breath in anticipation of the two-minute horse-run, waiting to see who would be the first winner in three years. My friends and I watched the race in similar anticipation, but what we felt could not compare to the intense emotions of the native residents of Siena. The race began after a frustrating delay, and upon its start we heard shouting as each contrada cheered on its horse and cursed at its rival. Suddenly the race was over, and the night was filled with tears of joy and sadness. This year’s first winning contrada was Drago; their celebratory festivities lasted all week, and we were able to experience the exhilaration of a Palio win that to Siena signifies the rebirth of the winning contrada. I feel so incredibly lucky to have experienced a taste of life in Siena during the Palio season, and I plan on keeping up with the turn-out of future Palii.
“The further you get away from yourself, the more challenging it is. Not to be in your comfort zone is great fun.”
Benedict Cumberbatch
Early on, I realized I was a pretty anxious kid, and that anxious kid grew into an anxious semi-adult who regularly struggles with a variety of fears and worries. One of my biggest struggles is the fear of facing the unknown – the new – and it is by far the biggest source of my anxiety. By now, I have made it a goal of mine to try and overcome this fear that has the power to stop me from a plentitude of opportunities and experiences.
A few months ago, I was talking to a friend who is also studying abroad soon and shares similar struggles with the new, and she said to me, “Here’s the thing, we are growing, and these experiences will be fundamental parts of our journey into adulthood. Shouldn’t we welcome our nerves and thank them for what they prepare us for?” I realized that she made a great point. Anxiety, despite how much we might not want to deal with it, is a major contributor to development. Without it, we wouldn’t have fears to overcome in the first place and no way to recognize the growth we achieve as a result.
With this in mind, I walked into the new year with a different goal in mind than just overcoming my fears; I wanted to walk hand in hand with them and use them as propellors for the actualization of my dreams. Going abroad and traveling beyond the borders of my home was at the top of my list, but it never seemed like a tangible dream. I grew up aware that money was hard to come by in my family, and although I knew that my parents would support me in any dream I could possibly have, I also knew I had a responsibility to stay alongside them as is traditional in my culture. The truth is, I have always been scared to leave them because I was raised in the comfort of my culture and immediate reality. I was anxious to stray out of the boundaries of my comfort zone.
How then, would I achieve this new goal of following my ambitions? The first step was to ask the one person who I am certain knows the answer to everything – my mother. She has never been one to sugarcoat things, and after I told her of my anxieties, she said to me, “Do you think I raised you to be scared? It isn’t money or responsibility that’s stopping you, it’s you. Get yourself together, and go for the things you want.” So I did, and thus I’d begun step two; I asked questions, did research, and told myself that anything was possible. I really wanted to go to Italy, so why shouldn’t I get the chance? I worked on believing that I deserved to actualize my aspirations and make real the opportunities I wanted to get. Before I knew it, I was presented with the resources I needed, and I felt the support of a multitude of people paving the way as I began this new journey.
It’s been a couple of months now since I have started preparing for my time abroad in both Siena and Rome, and it all feels so surreal. I go back and forth between the anxiety and nerves of being somewhere new and the excitement of realizing a goal that my heart has been set on for a long time. The transition is bound to be difficult and it will be a change from the comfort of the classroom, but the learning will be so much more fulfilling than anything a textbook can provide. I’m excited to have the opportunity to be immersed in a culture that I have respected and admired from afar for so long. I am looking forward to learning what students like me in a different part of the world experience, and I hope to understand the impact of their culture on those experiences.
During my time in Italy, I plan to develop conversational skills and learn about the colloquial language, making use of the basic language skills and cultural knowledge I have gained during my classes. Most of all, during my time abroad I want to learn to trust in my ability to be independent. I think I can discover a bit of the fun of life outside of the structure of my routine and outside of the boundaries of my fears. Hopefully in the coming months I replace my worries with the confidence that can only come from new experiences and self-discovery.
