Category Archives: Spring 2019

Dreams Really Do Come True!!

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I signed up for the Joseph S. Bruno Auburn Abroad in Italy program when I was at Camp War Eagle before my freshman year. I studied abroad in high school for part of the summer, and since that day knew I had to study abroad for a whole semester! So, after four years of saving, two(ish) years of getting excited about studying abroad, and weeks of preparing the time has come. I said Arrivederci “goodbye” to America and Ciao “hello” to Italy.

Our first evening in the Chigi Palace we read letters from the students who attended the JSB program in the fall. The letters were filled with encouragement, advice, and fun places to visit. Seeing how much this semester has meant to those before us makes it easy to see it is true when people say this is an experience-of-a-lifetime.

On Friday, we went to Rome on our first field trip out of the Ariccia area. We visited the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and so much more throughout Rome. It was such an experience to learn about the history of Rome. As part of a school assignment, each student was assigned something to either research and be an expert on,or to remind the class of something we have previously discussed. It was so fun to hear what my classmates found interesting at the sites we visited.

As my first week comes to end, I cannot help but feel blessed. Blessed to get to study abroad, blessed to make new friends, and blessed to get to see so much in Italy and all of Europe during my time here.

First of many adventures to Rome.

——Elizabeth Bundrick

Falling in Love with Italy

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Buongiorno or Good Afternoon!

The first week of Italy has officially ended, and it was a whirlwind. The moment I stepped off the plane I was immersed in Italian culture, language, and sights. I met the staff and some other students before going on our first tour of the Chigi palace itself, which is full of art and history. The major moments of this week, however, were spent in Rome and Albano Laziale.

First off, Albano is the cutest town right across the bridge from Ariccia, full of shops and restaurants. Like I said, after the first week the exhaustion sets in a bit, so I spent my Saturday night shopping and eating in Albano, which was fun and close to home. As a student I knew little to nothing about the geography of Italy, like navigating Rome, or even where Ariccia was in relation to other cities. Luckily, in this first week we had lectures on not only the geography, but also travel basics which includes safety and buying train tickets. To make the lecture stand out even more, we toured as an entire group Ariccia, Albano, and Rome.

For a bigger city feel, obviously it’s Rome. Luckily the metro system there is easy to figure out, and a bonus is that more people in the city speak English. The best learning experience was the scavenger hunt of Rome, which includes finding famous landmarks on a map. This forced me to navigate Rome alone, and eventually I began to recognize certain areas. . Walking twelve miles was a full, tiring day, but seeing the landmark of the Trevi Fountain made it all worth it. The fountain, which has been used for countless movies and even fashions shows, is as every bit as beautiful as people have said. Taking my Euro coin, giving it a kiss, and tossing it into the fountain has already made this study abroad experience special, so I cannot wait for what else is in store. I’m easily and quickly falling in love with Italy

Kissing a coin and tossing it into the Trevi Fountain means that one day I will return to Rome.

~Katharine Pippen~