Life@CIMBA
The travels to England went smoothly, and I was the “man with the clipboard” leading 33 Italian teens through airports and train stations. It was a blast! This past weekend, we had some time to settle in with our host families before school started Monday. We visited Canterbury and Brighton. Progressive towns (Brighton boasts as the gay capital of the world) with a lot of fascinating people-watching opportunities. Some of the guys and I swam in the chilly surf of the English Channel in Brighton. There were sailboats out, as the gusts reached 30 mph.
June 27
I have been back in the United State for almost a week now and when people ask me about Europe I cannot put into words the amazing experience I had.
I am so blessed to have this international experience. I think it helped me grow up and learn alot about my future goals. As corny as it sounds…its seriously true!
June 24th
After exploring Italy for four weeks during study abroad, I traveled 13 days. I did not have any plans when I came to Italy, I only knew that I had to make it to London by June 23rd for my flight home. In my two weeks, I went to 6 different countries (Italy, Germany, Czech, France, England, and USA)!!!
A VERY brief overview of my trip:
June 10th
I cannot believe the 4 week summer program is almost over! Tomorrow I have my last final in the morning and then its CIAO CIMBA!
I am back home now. It is so great to come back to Iowa. This past month was a great experience for me, although it was tiring. After the
program ended, I went to France and Greece. It was like a dream for me. When I was a kid, I dreamt about going to Paris and visiting its
sights. The sky is really blue and beautiful. Paris is a really nice place. Greece is another style. Its strike imposed some difficulties for me, but
May 26
Now that I have almost completed my second week at CIMBA I really feel like I have fully adjusted to campus life. The campus is small and it is nice walking next door to class every morning. Every night the computer lab is full of students planning their weekend trips. Personally, I enjoy the food but some people are getting tired of it. In town there is a convenient store, a small market with sandwiches, and a hotel cafe. The prices are reasonable and many students opt to eat locally instead of in the cafeteria.
This week is the end of the program. We left the campus on Friday and I am in Paris now. I carried a super
large suitcase, because I promised my friend to help her get around with her lugguges. It is a little bit
heavier than I can hold. When I take the train or the metro, they always have lots of stairs which almost
made me crazy! Can you imagine a girl carrying a big suitcase along with another small but heavy bag
climbing the stairs? That is my experience. Luckily, I met some nice people. They helped me carry my
It is 8am (1am for everyone back home) on Monday, June 7th and I just returned from an amazing weekend at Cinque Terre.
On Thursday four girls and I left for the train station at 1:30 and after sprinting into the station and up the steps we missed the first train. So….we took a bus…then a train….then another two trains…then the final train before arriving in Montorossa at 9pm. It was stressful but so much fun! I guess that is part of the sacrifice its takes to arrive in one of the most beautiful places in the world!
Hi:
The program only has one week left! I still feel like I just came to this small, nice town. Next week is our final week. We have a formal dinner on
Tuesday. I am quite looking forward to this event. I have never been to a formal dinner before. I think it will be fun and I brought a very nice
dress for this event.
This weekend I went to Rome with my friends. Rome is a big city compared to Venice or Florence. The Roma Pass was very useful for us. It is valid
ROME ROME ROME!!! May 27-May 30
After my first weekend in Florence I was feeling pretty confident that I had the Italian travel system down…WRONG! Rome is much faster, crazier, more confusing, more crowded, and much different than Florence. We stayed in a hostel right be the train station which was a great location.
