As I approach week three here in Florence, I fall more and more in love with my neighborhood and the city. My apartment is located in the heart of Florence with only a short 5 minute walk from the city center and many famous attractions. It is so cool to walk by popular landmarks everyday on my way to class. I live in an apartment tucked away in a cute little alley way with 5 other girls from Pitt. We have all become very close in just these 2 weeks and we’ve been having so much fun exploring our new home. At first, adapting into a new culture was a little overwhelming, but everyday I become more confident in participating in everyday Italian activities. I have been able to discover the best grocery stores and restaurants that all the locals frequent. Cea CAPA and Pitt are quite different just in the why how things like campus go. Here in Florence we are right in the city and have 2 different our buildings where our classes take place. While at Pitt it’s obviously much larger and has a campus feel to it. When it comes to academics and responsibilities Pitt and Cea CAPA are very similar which I really appreciate.
I chose not to partake in the internship aspect of this program to focus on classes and exploring Italy. The courses I am taking are International Marketing, which relates to my major and Exploring the Global City. I am really enjoying both of these classes because they are very immersive and make you think deeply. My marketing class is very interesting because we get to choose a company that hasn’t yet infiltrated the Italian market yet and make a case as why it should. This allows me to think outside the box and explore the different aspects that make a company successful in many different environments and cultures. My exploring the global cities class is also really cool because we get to partake in outside of the classroom filed studies and research. We get to interview locals and get their insight and experiences as to what living in a global city like Florence is all about. In order to be successful in this academic environment I will need to stay on top of my readings in order to get the most out of the material lectured in class. I also need to be open to the new ideas and way of going about certain projects in a new learning environment.
