Live,Learn,Teach,Travel
Prologue
Stretching my cultural rubber band
Stretching my cultural rubber band
I adjust my overstuffed, black nylon Prada backpack, grab the handles of two
overstuffed wheeled suitcases, and trudge into Pisa’s Aeroporto Internazionale Galileo
Galilei. Inhaling the sensory overload of the terminal’s Tuscan food offerings, I crave one
final Italian meal, and of course, espresso.
I'm pleasantly greeted by my reflection in
I adjust my overstuffed, black nylon Prada backpack, grab the handles of two
overstuffed wheeled suitcases, and trudge into Pisa’s Aeroporto Internazionale Galileo
Galilei. Inhaling the sensory overload of the terminal’s Tuscan food offerings, I crave one
final Italian meal, and of course, espresso.
I'm pleasantly greeted by my reflection in the floor-to-ceiling airport windows. A fitter me: strong arms, tight legs and derriere – a hard-won payoff for climbing thousands of ancient stairs and steep
Italian hills for months.
I head to a restaurant from which waft mouthwatering aromas. As I savor fresh
mussels over pasta, I consider that even airport food, prepared fresh here, is far superior to offerings back home. But, where is home, now?
In the winter when I arrived, the hills were dotted with rows of wooden stakes that resembled
scarecrows or virtual skeletons. Now, as I depart what has felt like home, the hearty blossoms overflow their moorings.
“When you come back,” Giulio states matter-of-factly (in Italian, of course), "be here in October for festa. Then you will taste the new wine from the sweet, pungent, aromatic grapes that were the twigs you noticed when you arrived.”
"When you come back for Palio on August, 16th, arrive a few days early, and stay through October," suggests, Matteo, who wishes for me to witness a "palio" win for his Chiocciolla contrada.
"Why are they so sure that I'll return? I think to myself. "
Jeff Shapiro writes in his novel, Renato’s Luck, “The big upheavals always come from random, chance encounters," (2001, p. 28).
Unexpectedly, I was selected out of 300
faculty in my college and relocated to do what was mine to do. Plato refers to this as the "perfect pattern" - The Divine Design for each us. And, once I released the worry, anxiety, fear of the unknown, and lived that purpose - I was guided, supported, and protected.
Layers of experiences over five months abroad, left me profoundly changed. My throat tightens as a montage of memories, people, places, sounds and emotions flash in my mind’s eye: A hostel shared with undergrads in Napoli, white and-blue smocks on the elementary kids, our tight/knit cohort called ‘Siena girls,” le contrade drumming, interactive life in Oca (goose) and Civetta (owl) neighborhoods, cooking and savoring family-style meals, intense Italian classes, cramming for exams, gonging church bells, shopping at the Wednesday outdoor market, emotional visit to my grandfather’s town, eagles flying at Sanctuario di San Giovanni a Piro, and fond memories of "la vita quotidiana," (daily life).
My professor-self was responsible for the safety of university students while directing and initiating a program within an international community. But, my learner-self relied on the bond created with strangers and my students, who not only granted me access into their lives and thinking, but opened a place in my heart - that longed for that sense of belonging - that I had as a child when we gathered at my grandparent’s home on Sunday afternoons for meals. The unexpected hospitality rejuvenated me, the professor, whose nightly routine involved standing at my kitchen counter, eating meals alone, while reading emails.
My undergrads, served as travel companions, body guards, fellow foodies, program ambassadors, life coaches, and Italian-language study partners. They encouraged me to step outside my comfort zone, as Monica would chide, ”C'mon Dr. V" "Live a little! You're in Italy!" They included me and contacted me before they had weekends and allowed me to sign up just like everybody else for excursions to places that I would’ve never gone to on my own: Assisi, Naples, Cinque Terre, Venice, Pisa. I learned from their planning, how to navigate ticket encounters, online portals, train and bus schedules and the importance of packing light to avoid obstacles, especially flights of stairs - with no elevator in sight.
Strangers became friends, and students - extended family. I didn’t label the internal signs that echoed from the depths of my heart, how my solitary, independent life was eroding my sense of peace, community, and belonging… to something, someone, and some place, until I arrived in Siena with my entourage of university students.
9 months ago, this international duty post, was never, ever, on my radar.
I check in at my gate, speaking in Italian,because I can and will miss it so. As I secure my seatbelt and settle into Delta’s direct flight to New York’s JFK Airport, I ponder this:
What if a pre-destined mission, a Divine plan that is only ours to do, awaits each of us?
Stretching my cultural rubber band
Stretching my cultural rubber band
Stretching my cultural rubber band
I use the term , “stretching your cultural rubber band,” as a concrete reference to how we feel when we are out of our comfort zones. we are all used to living, acting, recreating, in ways that are familiar to us. Anything out of our routine, makes us feel vulnerable, cranky, anxious, or unprepared for the situation or experience. Conside
I use the term , “stretching your cultural rubber band,” as a concrete reference to how we feel when we are out of our comfort zones. we are all used to living, acting, recreating, in ways that are familiar to us. Anything out of our routine, makes us feel vulnerable, cranky, anxious, or unprepared for the situation or experience. Consider how a rubber band offers flexibility to expand and adjust. We too, have the ability to stretch our perceptions and be opened to new experiences and cultures. But like a rubber band when it is stretched beyond its capacity and snaps…. we too can be overwhelmed when immersed in a new culture, as we navigate language, societal norms, geography, and structures that are unfamiliar to us and our familiar routines.
As the lone faculty selected, relocated and assigned to direct a new university initiative,
an education track study abroad program in Siena, Italy with undergraduates, I was responsible for teaching, mentoring, supervising, and problem solving with the very same students I was studying Italian with - lively American college students who offered me access into the culture of 19-20 year olds. Living alone in a small studio, within a 5-minute walk to the Piazza del Campo, in the local commune of Siena, a UNESCO Heritage site with 52,000, mostly Italian mono-lingual residents, presented its own challenges. (p. i)
Teaching English to School children
Carnevale in Via Reggio Traveling with millennial undergrads
Carnevale in Via Reggio Traveling with millennial undergrads
Barbara, “It is quite plausible that children who are required by the Ministry of Education to study English from age 6-16, will never, over their entire school career, learn the language by listening to a native English speaker. That is why what you and your students are doing in the schools here, is so important… to me and the entire community.” p. 82
Carnevale in Via Reggio Traveling with millennial undergrads
Carnevale in Via Reggio Traveling with millennial undergrads
Carnevale in Via Reggio Traveling with millennial undergrads
Students research and secure the best rates on hostels, fares, and admission for every semester “break” and long weekend: Carnevale, Spring Break, Easter, Liberation, and May Day weekends. Not only am I amazed by their savvy planning, diligence, research, and organization, but I benefit too, as I tag along on planned excursions.
p. 36