| Hi Dstark!
I studied in Italy many years ago for 3 summers.
1.-My first suggestion is to learn some of the language before you go. Most people there do know some English and all shopkeepers are fluent in English, however to truly appreciate the Italian culture I think it matters so much to know some of the language. However you will pick it up also.
2. Try to find a program that mixes you with local students. Again this will teach you so much about Italian culture.
3. Look for a program that may be based in a smaller Italian town that makes trips to large cities rather than based in a big city with trips to smaller towns . Rome, any way you look at it is overwhelming.
4. In my opinion foreign born profs can add so much more to your experience and teach you so much not only about Italy but about the European perspective towards Italy and it's culture.
The first summer I studied the Etruscans in Italy and worked on an Etruscan archelogical dig recieving history and art credits.We went to Tarquinia and Volterra and views many tombs along the western coast. The second summer I took credit in Medieval Italian art and we dug up an early Medieval monestary now in ruin. The monestary was on the site near a Roman road and bridge in Tuscany and wildlife such as boars, vipers, etc. surrounded us.(My advice, don't sit on the grass in a field painting with watercolors!) The third year I was the artist, that is drew the artifacts found from the previous years dig. By this time I knew the language better and a number of us traveled after the excavation. Spend maybe a week or two, in Rome there is so much to see there including the Vatican. |