Class Schedule and the Best Pizza in Perugia (and maybe the world)!

Ciao!

I must start this blog entry off by explaining our roommate dinner we had last night. My seven roommates and I went out to eat for my roommate Sarah's birthday. We went to (supposedly) the best pizza place in Perugia. And now that we went I must agree it is the best pizza I have ever had! It is a tiny restaurant and you can see them making your pizza in the oven. And the oven is a real hearth flame oven (so cool!). The pizza was absolutely delicious! We all agree we will be returning to "Pizzeria Meditteranea" again soon!

While looking over some of my previous posts I have realized that I never listed the courses I am taking while I am studying at the Umbra Institute. And since my studies are what brought me to beautiful Perugia in the first place I feel as though should explain the courses I am taking this semester. Below I have listed my courses by day and time....

Monday
11:00-11:50 - Elementary Italian 101
12:00-1:30 - Human Development in Culture
1:45-3:15 - Contemporary Italy: Culture and Society
3:30-5:00 - History and Politics of Modern Italy
Tuesday
11:00-11:50 - Elementary Italian 101
1:45-3:15 - Survey of Italian Renaissance Art
3:30-5:00 - History and Politics of Modern Italy
Wednesday
11:00-11:50 - Elementary Italian 101
12:00-1:30 - Human Development in Culture
1:45-3:15 - Contemporary Italy: Culture and Society
Thursday
11:00-11:50 - Elementary Italian 101
1:45-3:15 - Survey of Italian Renaissance Art
Friday
NO CLASSES!!

My first course everyday is Italian 101. This is a demanding course because it is everyday and our professor only speaks to us in Italian. She tries to use as little English as possible with us which is a great way to learn a language but it's also frustrating at times for us as students. But I think that with the combination of living, listening, and studying Italian everyday I might be close to fluent when I come home. Don't be surprised if I speak Italian for awhile when I return to the states :)

My Human Development in Culture class is fulfilling a requirement for my psychology major at Lebanon Valley College. We are going to be learning about different cultures and what it means to be from a certain culture. Certain topics we will be covering is humor, abnormal psychology across culture, and schooling across culture. We will also be visiting different schools around Perugia to see what the school system is like here in Italy. I also love this class because my professor is Irish and I could listen to her accent all day!

Contemporary Italy: Culture and Society takes a look at specific events, trends, and phenomena that have shaped Italy and the lives of Italians. Some specific topics include religion, gender relations/roles, organized crime, mafia, and mass media. In this class we also have a field trip to Siena, a small town in the Tuscany region.

For my History and Politics of Modern Italy course we will be discussing modern aspects of Italian government and history. There is only 7 people in this course so our professor asked each one of us which topic in particular we would like to talk about over the semester. Our professor restructured the course so we have enough time to talk about exactly what we want to talk about. I said I want to talk about Futbol (soccer) and its role on government. I have heard this can be a very hot topic so I am excited to learn about it! Some other topics we will be focusing on are the mafia (of course!), Italy's role in World War II, and the current government system.

My final course, Survey of Italian Renaissance Art, was the course I was most nervous about before arriving in Italy. The reason I was so nervous is because I do not like art history at all. But since I am in Italy I figured I should take some sort of art history course. I can now say I am no longer nervous about this class! My professor is an American now living in Florence, Italy and she is very relaxed about art. She just wants us to enjoy the art and not stress too much about it. She also has a lot of passion about art history and it makes us all love it when she is so excited about it. I already completed one field trip for this course which was my trip to Assisi (discussed in my last blog entry) and I have another trip in mid November. We will be spending two days in Florence visiting various churches and museums. We will be seeing Santa Croce which is a very famous church and also Michelangelo's sculpture David! I am sure this will be an unforgettable field trip for myself and my entire class.

Now that my week is almost over I am preparing for my weekend trip. The Umbra Institute has organized a trip for us to Capri, Naples, Sorrento, and Pompeii. I am so excited for this trip! We are leaving Peugia at 6 am Friday morning and returning around 9 pm Sunday night. I have been told by numerous people that I have to visit Capri while I am in Italy. It is a beautiful place with crystal blue water and cliffs all around. I am sure there will be many beautiful pictures up on this blog sometime next week so stay tuned!

I hope everyone has a great weekend planned and I will post again once I return from the Amalfi Coast :)

Italian word of the post:
mercato - market

Also, if you enjoy my blog the school I attend here in Perugia has its own blog! So check it out if you have a chance! Just copy and paste the link below into your internet browser....

www.umbra-institute.blogspot.com

Molto Amore (lots of love)

Morgan :)