Submitted by Christopher Pfeifer on the 2019 winter session study abroad program in Italy sponsored by the Department of Philosophy…
As my program was coming to an end, I started to realize how incredible of an experience it was to get to become immersed in the Italian culture for a month. In 30 days, we went to 7 different cities—all very different. We saw the hustle and bustle of Rome, the ruins of Pompeii, the hills of Tuscany, the beauty of Florence, the uniqueness of Venice, the architectural wonders of Pisa and other beautiful sites and cities. I still can’t believe how much we were able to get done in just one month, and I have our professor and the Institute for Global Studies to thank for all of that. This program was something I would never be able to plan on my own and now I realize how much work it must have taken in order to plan so many programs over the winter. As a tour guide on campus, I always talk about how incredible and elaborate study abroad is at UD, but I never had any evidence to back it up. Now, I have my own stories to tell about being abroad and I can show that not only does UD have the first study abroad program in the country, but it also has one of the best.
We spent the last leg of our program in Rome and since we had already spent our first leg in the city, it felt like we never left. But this time, we got to stay in a different part of the city—only a block away from the Coliseum. During the four days, we were given much more free time than in the beginning of the program. We got to see all of our favorite sites again, go to our favorite cannoli place, and also see a few new things that weren’t on our original itinerary. Our professor took us to San Clemente Church which was one of my favorites of the whole program. The church has three different layers— the bottom most underground layer was built in the 1st century, the middle layer was built in the 4th century, and the top level was built in the 12th century. It was so interesting getting to see how different each layer was in terms of history and architecture. We also went to the site of the Circus Massimo, which is the site where chariot races used to be held, and we even got to have a few races of our own on that same ground.
This whole month was an experience I will never forget. I met some of the most incredible people in the world and now I have a great new group of friends. As an engineer, taking philosophy classes was a little outside of my comfort zone at first, but I’m glad I got to try something new. Our program’s motto was “Prepare to be Amazed” and I was amazed more times than I can count. I’m happy to be back in the U.S. now because it was a very long month, but I’m already itching to go back to Italy, or perhaps somewhere else in the future. Ciao!
