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Background: Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the city-states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI established a Fascist dictatorship. His disastrous alliance with Nazi Germany led to Italy's defeat in World War II. A democratic republic replaced the monarchy in 1946 and economic revival followed. Italy was a charter member of NATO and the European Economic Community (EEC). It has been at the forefront of European economic and political unification, joining the Economic and Monetary Union in 1999. Persistent problems include illegal immigration, organized crime, corruption, high unemployment, sluggish economic growth, and the low incomes and technical standards of southern Italy compared with the prosperous north.

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By farfalla
September 28th 2007

Perugina AKA Perugia's Chocolate Factory Europe » Italy » Umbria » Perugia

MMMM

So I am doing a research paper on chocolate...sooo...where should I go do my research?!?! The one and only Chocolate Factory in Perugia!! If you don't know already, Perugian chocolate is amazing. For some background info Perugina was built in 1907 by Giovanni Buitoni. When they first opened they made sugar coated almonds. In the 20's they started producing their amazing hazelnut chocolate which made them the most successful confectioners in Italy. The company made its way to the US in 1939 during the World's Fair and became world known. Perugina produces many types of candy including, chocolat [View Full Entry]

By farfalla
September 27th 2007

Hellen't Paella and Civilized Sangria Europe » Italy » Umbria » Perugia

Sangria

Today was a long day of classes. I was excited though cause I got to go to the developing room for photography. I never realized how much work it was to develop photos. Steph I give you props for trying to major in it. I was shaking chemicals for ever. Although I was the fastest film loader in the dark. I was getting queezy being in such a dark room. I wonder if I could handle spelunking. Oh well, I'll worry about that later. Tonight was a special night - food wise - because Hellen was cooking up one of her [View Full Entry]

By farfalla
September 26th 2007

Il Presidente Europe » Italy » Umbria » Perugia

Cigar on the job

Also a cool point of interest the President of Italy came to town. It was a big deal, and there were people crowded in Piazza Italia waiting for him to come out of a building. When he did he was surrounded by guards, yet casually walked through the streets, stopping at a famous bakery and then continuing to another building for a meeting. A bunch of people swarmed around him, following and clapping right next to him. It was a cool sight. Supposedly he was here in regards to the giant earth quakes of 97', but that is just what I [View Full Entry]

By Margaret Nigro
September 26th 2007

Shannon's birthday and the President of the Republic Europe » Italy » Umbria » Perugia

Police on horses, Piazza IV Novembre

Today is Shannon's 22nd birthday, so we're going out to dinner tonight. It's gotten cold, and cloudy. It rained for a while this afternoon. Random note from today: I got out of every single class early. Unfortunately, I didn't benefit from this because I have four classes in a row, so I just had 25 about minutes between every class. I had my "debate" in Abnormal Psychology today. This boy and I had to present the con side of "Are Prozac and other antidepressants safe and effective?" It was some intimidating information. The general consensus of the class seemed to be [View Full Entry]

By farfalla
September 26th 2007

Class and Uncle Ben Europe » Italy » Umbria » Perugia

Temple of the Archangel

Today for Perugia Practicum I went to the Temple of Saint Michael Archangel, which was really pretty. And I learned how to determine the periods of which it was made. Since round buildings weren't popular around the time of the Romans this was thought to have been made by the byzantines who were around after the time of the fall of the Romans, yet still had their Roman pride. Etruscans mainly made their buildings out of wood, except for the massive wall around the city (which is why there is little evidence of the civilization); and since the building is made [View Full Entry]

By farfalla
September 25th 2007

Meatball goodness. Europe » Italy » Umbria » Perugia

MMMM
We used my special sauce I bought at the organic farm.

The highlight of today was the dinner, OF COURSE. All weekend during the trip to Cinque Terre Natalie was talking about her famous meatballs. Tonight she whipped out some of the best meatballs ever. I love having 4 hour meals, and I love this girl...She is going to make me a pro chef. [View Full Entry]

By tlh001
September 24th 2007

Breaking away from the crowd or at least the Americans... Europe » Italy » Umbria » Perugia

Orvieto

Most of Umbra went to Ischia, Capri, and Pompei but Shandra and I were put on the waitlist and didn’t get in. So we decided since all our roommates were going we were going to take a day trip to a neighboring town. We caught a train to Orvieto (1st time on a train for me) early Friday morning. Luckily we caught our connecting train even though there was only 5 mins between the time we got into the station and the other train we needed left and our first train was late. Once we got to Orvieto you had to [View Full Entry]

By tlh001
September 20th 2007

Our first attempt at interacting with Italian students... Europe » Italy » Umbria » Perugia

Last night we had our first Tandem, which is when Italian and American students get together to attempt and speak each other's language. Needless to say many of us American students don't know enough Italian to hold a conversation farther than "my name is" "I'm ...years old", etc. Luckily we were with a student, Carmelo, who knew a lot of English. It was a lot of fun getting to meet Italians around our own age. The student we spoke with was surprised that Jackie and I were only 19. Finally, a place where people actually think I'm older and not [View Full Entry]

By Margaret Nigro
September 20th 2007

Another weekend trip this weekend! Europe » Italy » Umbria » Perugia

I'm headed to Ischia and Capri this weekend. I'll spend the first day at Pompeii and Ischia, the next day in Capri, and the last day in Naples. We're being taken there on a bus, and it leaves tomorrow morning at 5:45. I think it will be really fun, and the weather is supposed to be fantastic. Today wasn't terribly exciting. I'm getting a cold, just like everyone else. We had a quiz in my Italian class, and my prior knowledge of Italian helped a lot, and my prior knowledge of Spanish screwed me up a lot. "Carrot" in Italian is [View Full Entry]

By Margaret Nigro
September 19th 2007

Fall seems to be here. Europe » Italy » Umbria » Perugia

I wore a sweater today, and it wasn't an altogether ridiculous move. I always get overheated on the trek to Italian class in the morning, but other than that it's been pretty chilly (mid-60s and windy. . . I'm spoiled). I intend to wear jeans tonight. Not much is exciting right now. I'm dealing with the adjustments of being so far away from home and all things familiar. It's strange to know I can't be home in seven hours if I really needed to, or even an hour by plane. I also feel like there's pressure all the time to perform [View Full Entry]

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