We’ve heard about many experiences that Hana Bobrow-Strain is having in Italy. Here are a few snippets from the past few weeks:

One of the first things I did in October was visit Capodimonte with my host family. It’s a town overlooking Naples. It was an important producer of porcelain as well as the location of a Bourbon palace, now a museum. The museum has art pieces from at least as far back as the 15th century and ranging into the 21st. The older collections come from the Bourbons and other noble houses. I saw my first piece by Michelangelo!

I went to my first rotary meeting here last week. There was an American professor speaking about his research in the nearby archaeological sites. After his presentation, I met a lot of Rotarians. It’s always a little tricky to explain that I’m from Washington state, not Washington D.C, even after I googled how to say: “It’s on the other side of the country.” Actually, a surprising amount of people had been to Seattle, Portland, or even some of the smaller cities in the area.

I got a lot of compliments on my Italian, which was cool, but I’m pretty sure it was just in comparison to how little most Americans try. I’ve heard lots of stories from people who’ve had colleagues who’ve lived here for years and can barely say buongiorno.

I got a passing score on a test in Italian, I enjoyed playing volleyball for the first time in my life, I’m looking for somewhere to do some volunteering, and I think one of my host mom’s friends might teach me some Italian cooking. I’m also looking forward to visiting Tuscany for the first time and going to another exchange student’s host family’s country house for a weekend.