It’s A Different World

This week was intense in many ways. We had 2 days of normal classes and a 2.5 day program called LIFE (Leadership Initiative For Excellence). LIFE was definitely full of emotional and mental stimulation. For the sake of confidentiality, I won’t go into details about the activities in LIFE. There was a lot of laughter, some tears, and periods of action and reflection. Everyone was exhausted by the end , but I can tell you it was life-changing experience. The benefits of LIFE made it all worth it. I formulated life goals, “Big Why’s” became much clearer to me, and the 39 of us on the team bonded closely. I highly recommend LIFE to anyone and everyone. It opens your mind enough that you learn more about yourself than you ever knew existed.

Classes are great. Small groups, usually no larger than 20 kids. The professors are just as I expected; open-minded and encouraging of out-of-the-box thinking. We’ve got plenty of homework, which is a fun challenge in time management. With the ability to travel Europe with such ease, I’m going to stay ahead of the game so that I can enjoy my time off. The library on campus and the local Cafe are great places for reading/studying. The Alpina “Bar” (which means cafe in Italian) has outdoor tables, and we often enjoy coffee and the chance to mingle with the locals. The owner, Fabio, is a cool guy. He likes talking to students, and we exchange English and Italian phrases back and forth. The other day he was telling us about the Italian lottery. It was at an all time record high of like $177 million, and he shard with us his fantasy of making money without working haha!

Here on campus, we have pasta everyday as the first course “primero”. The cooks are becoming very creative with their sauces, great stuff! Meats range from pork, to chicken, to fish. Cafeteria really isn’t bad at all, we’re starting to get along with the cooks, they love it when we speak Italian. All water is bottled, which is a shame to see how many plastic bottles they go through here. They do have a very efficient recycling system, and I believe they are required by law in Italy to recycle. It has been suggested to drink only bottle water, but I took the leap of faith and started the tap water diet. Not very cost effective to buy crates of bottled water every week. All the locals drink tap water, so until a parasite rips through my gut like the movie “Alien” (circa 1979), I’ll continue.

I was all ready to hike to the top of Mt. Grappa with a group of classmates, and woke up with what I thought may have been strep throat. Stayed behind, slept in and layed in the sun most of the day. (Mt. Grappa, I’m coming for you soon!!) I think the stress of traveling then diving right into a program like LIFE may have gotten the best of my immune system. I went to the campus nurse who spoke nothing but Italian, and after a game of charades explaining the color of my mucus and my symptoms she mixed me an elixer and squirted spray in my nose. It was a funny experience communicating with no common language. For all I know, she may have diagnosed me with a broken nose and a concussion, but whatever she did worked and I’m on the mend.

Kupe (Jake Kuperman) really hit the jackpot with this local cycling coach he hooked up with. He rented a bike for the semester, and this coach, Ron Palazzo, asked Kupe if any of his friends would be interested. Of course, I said YES!! Having a bike allows you so much freedom from campus, and the ability to see the surrounding towns. All the towns are only like 2-3 km apart. I rented my own bike for the next two weeks, and the rides here are the best in the world. Cycling is one of Italy’s national sports, and the Veneto region in which we are studying is considered “The Mecca of Cycling”. Seeing the area from a bike is just the intimate experience I was looking for. City streets, farm roads, uphills, downhills, and of course “The Grappa”. We see elderly women sweeping outside, hanging laundry, men farming, bailing hay by hand! The Italians never stop moving, and it shows. There is literally no obesity here. Ron is showing us maps, routes, local favorite cafes, all while teaching the techniques and diets of champion racers. Ron Palazzo is a local legend, and it is a true honor to know him. He was born in Italy, but lived much of his life in the States. He was a champion racer with the USA cycling team back in the day. This guy has a glass ball filled with water, 1/2 Pacific ocean water and 1/2 Atlantic ocean water, from his golden days when he crossed the U.S.A. He set the TransAmerican record in 1976, L.A. to Maine in 17 days. He recently took 2nd place in the World Championships in Austria in the 80+ age category. That’s right, he’s 80, looks 65 and acts 25. Inspiring!

After three straight days of rain, the sun finally broke through and we enjoyed a gorgeous Friday afternoon. We attended Kepner-Tregoe problem solving and decision making analysis for two days, and we were more than ready to get out and move. I had been chomping at the bit to break-in my new bike , so Kupe and I took off headed West in the direction of the neighboring town, Crespano. Great ride through Crespano to another small village called Borso del Grappa and back again. 20 km total, which is around 12 miles. We hit some nasty climbs as we started up Mt. Grappa, finally coming to rest at a vantage point overlooking the entire Veneto region. I’m guessing we could see almost 50 miles. We talked to some Italian kids on bikes in Borso del Grappa, they were probably 8 yrs. old haha! We spoke broken Italian and they gave us directions to what we concluded to be “somewhere up the hill”. The young kids and the adults are much more approachable than the Italian teenagers. I think the teens (including the ones we share CIMBA campus with) are a little stand-offish due to territorial hormones. I can imagine that it would be a little tough to put up with American college kids on some days. No offense classmates!

Out of time, getting kicked out of computer lab now haha its 12:30 am.

Til next time! Ciao!