Italian cuisine makes up the Italian identity and culture. It is amazing to see how much their cuisine impacted their daily lives and the traditions they have in Italy. While studying abroad in Italy, I made the most of my experience by trying different foods that represent the Florentine culture, as well as cooking different traditional dishes to connect with their culture. I adapted to the eating habits in Italy in hopes to feel like an actual Florentine and to connect to my family heritage to see how they used to live their lives. Food reflects the Florentine culture, as it does in all... Read More
Pitt Global Experiences Students' Blog
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Ciao! As I reflect back on the last four out of six weeks of the program, I can confidently say that doing this program has changed my life. The “Pitt in Florence” program consists of two 3-credit courses with a variety of course choices from Oil Painting to Cross-cultural Psychology. Through these last four weeks, I have not only come to meet amazing students and people from my program, but also residents from Florence itself. Within the first week, I had met a friend that I can honestly say I will have for life. She is a dual citizen of the United States and Italy, and had recently moved... Read More
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For my Food Studies Program in Florence, Italy, I was able to live in a home with five other students in my program from the University of Pittsburgh. I loved the house I stayed in and I am grateful for having such a great landlord and the ability to make amazing friends. Although we faced some challenges living in this house a couple of times, there were many positives about living there and I had such a great time.
I stayed with five other people from the University of Pittsburgh in a three-story house within a nice neighborhood, 30 minutes away from our campus.... Read More -
My study abroad program in Florence, Italy was definitely an experience to remember. There were many experiences that stuck out to me due to how different everyday life was in Italy compared to the United States. What stood out to me about my academic program in Italy was how many field trips there were and how much of a hands-on experience there was. What stood out to me about the culture in Florence, Italy was the importance of slow food, family connectivity, and how much of an impact cuisine makes on Italian culture.
My academic program in Florence was much different compared to... Read More -
Nursing School in Ireland is much different from that at the University of Pittsburgh, or any other school in the world for that matter. In the United States, students enter general nursing programs and obtain the same education. They take the same classes and participate in the same clinical rotations. Everyone in nursing school indeed has different aspirations, goals, and dreams surrounding their nursing careers, and that is no different in Ireland. However, the education needed to reach those nursing career goals is much different. Here in Ireland, they have four different nursing... Read More
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One challenge I did not expect to encounter while in Sydney were the hours of
operation for restaurants and businesses. In the United States, many grocery
and convenience stores, restaurants, etc. open early and close late - many
staying up until after midnight. But in Sydney, most businesses did not open until
10 am, and often closed at 5 pm. The latest restaurants stayed open until 10 pm
- so the only midnight snack available to me was at McDonald's! Because of this,
I had to shift my entire schedule to eat a late breakfast and an early dinner,... Read More -
In Dublin, we did not have the opportunity to stay in the campus dorms like international students in previous years had. Our group stayed in a hotel this year, each of us sharing rooms with one other student. The students that we were placed with were other students from the University of Pittsburgh, not from other colleges on the trip. This group was primarily made up of mostly rising junior nursing students, and seeing as I am a rising senior, I was unfamiliar with most of them before this trip began. When we were paired up in random pairs for housing, I was admittedly a little nervous... Read More
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Every morning was new and exciting during my time in Sydney. Especially during
the weekend, I never knew what I would do and where I was going next!
However there were a few routine places I would go to, for food and classes.
First every morning I would wake up, get ready for classes, and talk to my family.
In Australia the time zone is very different from back home - Sydney is 14 hours
ahead of where my family lives in New England! I would often be having
breakfast while they were having dinner; or be going to class when they were
sound... Read More -
The biggest piece of advice I would give to someone who is planning to study abroad on this Plus3 program is to take in every moment. The program is only two weeks long, and the itinerary is jam packed. It will be difficult to quickly get over the jet lag and deal with the early morning company visits, but your time abroad really does go by fast, so take a moment to enjoy every activity on the itinerary. After just two days of being back home, I miss it already.
To add on to the last paragraph, my biggest regret was worrying too much about our academic projects.... Read More -
During my Plus3 study abroad program in Augsburg, Germany, it was way easier to interact with locals than I had expected. It was my first time leaving the country, so I initially expected there to be a huge language barrier between us students and the Germans. Turns out, many of them spoke English.
Dr. Feick, our program professor, told us before we left Pittsburgh that all the students and faculty at the University of Augsburg that were participating in this program all spoke English very well. I had some doubt about if this was true, but I was immediately proved... Read More