Meeting with Matt

            My first meeting with Matt was slightly uncomfortable. We met with Leah as well where he told us that he had changed our internship. Instead of working on separate projects, we would both do the one I was originally assigned which I was happy about. That event was to plan an event for students that they could potentially put on every semester. The reason it was slightly uncomfortable was that Matt is a pretty awkward person. He does not talk very much so a lot of our meeting he was just sitting there quietly while Leah and I tried to make conversation. We were also confused as to why we were assigned this project as it had absolutely no connection to his company Roman Candle Tours. We were also confused as to what the guidelines for the event were. When we asked about cost, number of people expected, or anything else he wouldn't give us a straight answer and usually just said do whatever you want. It did not seem like he cared much about what we were doing or had much invested in the project at all.

            We met again the following week to pitch some of our ideas to him. We still weren't exactly sure what we should be doing but he had seemed to lean towards it having to do something with food or alcohol so we tried to have some ideas including that. A couple we came up with were a cooking class, a wine tour, or a sort of cultural "pub crawl" but with more sophistication. We ended up setting on the latter and deemed it a "wine walk". We were embarking on our spring break the following week so we agreed to research possible restaurants the week after and then met again.

Party for Peace

I really enjoyed going to Tyler's Party for Peace and the idea behind it the Artisan reject is inspiring. I truly believe if there were more people and projects like the ones within this organization, the world would be a better place. It was also inspiring to see them being so proactive about their future and wanting others to have a better chance than they do now. With everything they have been through it would be easy to give up yet they continue to work hard to make something of themselves. We have discussed in class a lot about how many refugees come here only to have nothing. As we discussed, many times their only option is to succumb to the Mafia so it was interesting to see a different side to that.

Hearing little bits of their stories you are reminded that what one refugee has gone through is completely different from the rest. When they are grouped into a name it is much easier to stereotype them into having one story when that is definitely not the case. Everything they talked about really struck home for me with my beliefs. I truly believe that it isn't some great new governmental policy that will save people. It will be people simply helping other people. One of the refugees made a good point in saying look how little they have and yet they still work to help their neighbors. If they can do it then why cant everyone else?

Italy: Love it or Leave it

            I absolutely loved going to Italy: Love it or Leave it! I think both of the directors are such talented people and they were able to portray actual issues while keeping you engaged and invested in their story. That was a great way for us to see another example of people who actually live in Italy and have to deal with the pros and cons of that. It is sad to see people struggling because they love their country but know they could probably be more successful going somewhere else. I think the farmer that made a stance against the mafia was a great role model and i'm glad they included him. Even though it would probably be much easier to run off to somewhere else, if the good people all leave there will be no one left to force a change. The corruption will simply continue uninterrupted.

            It also amazes me that there are people here who don't realize that anything is wrong and still support their government. It was ludicrous to see the older people at the Berlusconi rallies giving him their unwavering support. How can people's judgement be so clouded that they think he is even close to being someone that should be running a country. Not only should he not be in charge of a country, he should be in prison.

           I would definitely suggest continuing to show this to future students even if you aren't able to do a Q&A like we were able to. I think everyone would benefit from seeing it!

Guest Speakers: Miga and Isaac

           Hearing from Miga and Isaac about their experiences was heartbreaking and a wonderful learning experience. I am so thankful that they feel comfortable enough to share their stories as that would be an extremely difficult situation. I believe that the more people are able to spread their stories, the more others will step up to make sure people don't ever have to go through that. It is very different reading about stories like theirs or hearing them second hand than listening to them directly from the person that suffered.

            Listening to their life struggles made me feel even more grateful for the life i have lived and the opportunities I have had. I have never once in my life worried about where my next meal would come from or if I would even survive to see the next day. The fact that there is such a huge difference in lifestyles and basic human rights in different parts of the world is such an odd thing. I've always felt grateful for living in the US but being outside of it truly makes me see how much that has really meant. That has been kind of a theme for me throughout the semester and as we are nearing the end and I am reflecting it is even more true. Italy is a beautiful country with a beautiful culture but while actually living here I have been shocked to see how stunted it seems in many ways. In the US we are fighting equality battles so far past what people here deal with it seems ludicrous.

Guest Speaker: Maria

          Hearing from Maria about her personal experiences in the Italian workplace was very interesting and slightly refreshing. A lot of what we have been learning about is how horrible the job market is currently, especially for young people. It was nice hearing someone's story that has actually been decently lucky and successful. I also found it interesting that Maria pursued her degree to the end even though she left a well paying job to do so. Especially with her being a teacher it was good to see how dedicated she was to her own education. It is crazy to me that people well out of their education would accept unpaid teaching positions at universities. I believe at least most if not all of our unpaid teachers are grad students that are doing it as a part of their education. There are definitely unpaid internships available to many people but not typically within the education system.