Today we spent a beautiful day in Florence...and even had an opportunity
to see David at the Academia. -Dr. Michel
A Counselor's View of Italy
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Coming at you from Italy, it's Jenna!!!
Coming at you from Italy, it's Jenna!!! Today we had a couple seminars at "the Casa". We started with Asha, a Doctoral student at UAB, who gave us a seminar about black women in the American and Italian cultures. It was interesting to listen to especially since our large group here is so diverse. The next seminar was presented to us by Dr. Ted Remley, the preofessor from ODU that put all this together. He generated discussion about things we have noticed in the Italian culture versus the American culture. He also shared with us of a couple other countries he has been to and the need for counseling around the world. We also heard from Rachel, a student that has been living in Bejing the past five years. She enlightened us to the Chineese culture and the needs for counseling in China.
We then had the option to go into town. I went to Reggello to the super marcado with another student, Lesley, from Virginia. Then, of course, we had gelato like we do pretty much every day we go into town!! Other people went to local outlet malls to shop at stores like Gucci, Prada, and Armani. We are about to play a game, "Italian gestures", which is supposed to be like cherades.
We then had the option to go into town. I went to Reggello to the super marcado with another student, Lesley, from Virginia. Then, of course, we had gelato like we do pretty much every day we go into town!! Other people went to local outlet malls to shop at stores like Gucci, Prada, and Armani. We are about to play a game, "Italian gestures", which is supposed to be like cherades.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Siena
Today we took a day trip to Siena and Roberta led us on a tour of the
city. We have included a few pictures below. - Dr. Michel
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Greetings from Italy!
Greetings from Italy!
Sunday was a jam-packed day….after hearing several speakers
including our own beloved Dr. Michel and two speakers from an organization that
work with women involved in a lifestyle of prostitution and sex trafficking.
The speakers, one originally from Nigeria and one originally from Romania,
though they both currently reside near Florence, Italy.
Each woman was employed by their organization to be a
mediator for the women educating them on safe sex practices and if they wanted
to get out of that particular lifestyle, making sure they were able to do so
safely and how to navigate the legal system. It was mind-blowing hearing these
speakers share their experiences working with these women. Their profession
literally puts their lives in danger because they are a threat to criminal
organizations that profit from controlling these women, but they continue to
help and provide resources to these young women.
After the speakers and lunch, many of us took a trip to a
nearby town, Valombrossa in which we hiked through the wood taking in the beautiful
scenery at what seemed like a view from the clouds. Through whole this
experience I find myself once again able to stop and appreciate the beauty in
small things that you take for granted when you are in a continual rush. I find
myself stopping and taking a deep breath every now and again, enjoying fresh,
clean air. Moments in which I don’t have to do anything, but just sit and enjoy
existing. About six days left (not that I’m counting or anything) and it still
seems kind of surreal. Below are some pics. Enjoy and see you soon!
Ciao!
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Greve and San Gimignano
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Hi everyone, it’s Dr. Michel checking in from Italy! I think
everyone was happy when we had an extra hour to sleep in this morning after an
amazing dinner last night at Ristorante Archimede. Although it was very rainy
all day, we were still able to enjoy ourselves in Tuscany. We took a beautiful
bus ride to Greve, located in the Chianti Region. On our way we passed by acres
and acres of grape leaves which are grown for the famous Chianti wine. Once we arrived in Greve we were able
to take in a weekly market with fruit, kebobs, cheeses, and lots of fun Italian
clothes! After the market, I ate
lunch with one of the workers from Casa Cares, Tony, to help celebrate his 60th
birthday. Tony had been a police officer in New York city for a number of years.
During a visit to Italy, he fell in love with the Italian way of life and
eventually decided to leave America and move to Italy. It was a fascinating
lunch followed by wine tasting. After Greve, we travelled to San Gimignano. It
was like a dream to be driving through Tuscany listening to Andrea Bocelli
music. In San
Gimignano, we enjoyed gelato, took in museums, climbed towers, and shopped. By
the end of the day, we were quite tired and wet. We watched a DVD about the
Medici Family and enjoyed our relaxing bus ride back to Casa Cares.
Friday, May 24, 2013
Ristorante Archimede
As Dani mentioned, today we enjoyed an authentic Italian meal at Ristorante Archimede...it was fantastic!
Friday...
Hey it's Dani....today was a day filled with very interesting lecturers.
Our lecturers today was Eugenio Bacchini, and Italian counselor who
was one of the founding father's of one of the first counseling
associations in Italy. He explained how the profession of counseling
operates in Italy and where they are headed in terms of the different
associations and how they have come together in order to join the
European Counseling Association. Our next speaker, Amy Kleine was
supervised by Eugenion Bacchini, who is an American, and works for
Syracuse University in NJ. She was very warm and entertaining. Her
icebreaker included her informing all the women in the room where to
shop in Italy...Yay!!!!! She told us about her job and how she helps
students accumulate to the environment. After having a wonderful lunch
with these two counselors, we then had a presentation by Dr. Larry Tyson
from UAB. His presentation was very interesting in which
addressed master's students having to seek professional counseling as a
requirement of their program. It raised a lot of thought provoking
questions and discussions. We then had a presentation by two of our
doctorate students, Miranda and Crystal on cultural awareness. We then
had a break to get ready for dinner and took a group pic around 7:00 pm.
We then headed to Ristorante Archimede and ate a real authentic five
course Italian meal!!!!!
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