Author: Ashley Bornancin

One of the greatest things about Teaching English in Italy is that I have the opportunity to visit nearby countries for a fraction of the cost that I would pay visiting from the US.  As someone who loves to travel, it would be crazy for me not to take advantage of this opportunity. Currently I am in the midst of preparing for a weekend road trip to Switzerland with my friend Rosanna, but  the other week I took advantage of Easy Jet’s reasonably low airfares and traveled to Paris for the weekend with my friend Natalie to visit my American friends, Chantal and Andy.

Paris has always been a city that I was curious about, especially after studying fashion. Many of my friends who have visited Paris have told me that they have fallen in love with it immediately, so I was pretty eager to see what the buzz was about.

After arriving and settling at Andy’s cute apartment in the Montparnasse area, he and I took advantaged of the warm weather and strolled through Jardin du Luxembourg on our way to meet Natalie. As I walked through the park, I was surprised to see the amount of people lounging around in the middle of the work day with their shoes off and reading books.  Even though I was the one on vacation, it still sort of made me jealous to see…

After about an hour walking through the park and surrounding neighborhoods, we arrived at Hotel de Ville (which is not  actually a hotel, it’s Paris’ City Hall) where we met Natalie. Andy had to go to work so Natalie and I were on our own to explore the city. Our first stop was to get me a Nutella crepe. There was no way I could be in Paris for another minute and not have a crepe with Nutella, especially since every cafe we walked by was practically inviting me to stop and eat there! Once I got my crepe we ventured over to Notre Dame. We got very lucky and was able to witness an evening mass there. Obviously the entire service was in French so we didn’t understand a thing, but just to say we experienced a service in Notre Dame is remarkable in itself. While at the mass we also had the opportunity to go up to the alter and participate in the Veneration of the Crown of Thorns. Although its authencity is not certified, it is said that the relics of the Passion  include a piece of the Cross, which had been kept in Rome and delivered by Saint Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine, a nail of the Passion and the Holy Crown of Thorns.

We spent about 3 hours at Notre Dame before heading over to walk along the Seine River where we came across the Love Lock Bridge.  I was amazed at how many locks there were. There had to of been at least hundreds of thousands of locks (and no I didn’t add to the count)! Natalie was very much  interested in seeing Palace de la Concorde, the execution site of Marie Antoinette and King Louis XIV. Meanwhile she headed over there, I headed over to a nearby stand to eat another Nutella crepe (I can’t help that I am so addicted haha).

The final thing on our list to visit for the day was  Louvre with Chantal and her friend Jemma (who also went to school with me in New York, but I had never met her until that day). On Friday evenings the Louvre is free if you are under the age of  26, no matter what your nationality, which was a pleasant surprise.

The Louvre is a HUGE museum so we had to be very selective about what we spent time seeing since we had a short period of time. The one thing that was a MUST was seeing Mona Lisa. I have had 3 art history courses in my life and in 2 of them I studied Mona Lisa, and I must say she is even more beautiful in person! I kinda developed a woman crush on her!

The next day Natalie, Chantal, and I headed to Versailles, the palace of  King Louis XIV and Marie Antionette. We spent 3 hours there and didn’t even see a quarter of the palace! Luckily since it wasn’t raining  we did get to experience a bit of the garden, and even then we barely got to walk through it  because it would have taken hours! After Versailles we headed back to the city center where we walked down Champs-Elysees Avenue and visited Laduree  for some macaroons (because no way you can come to Paris and not eat macaroons!). We continued from there on to the Arc de Triomphe where we saw some sort of ceremony with uniformed men, possibly veterans of the military. The finale of our trip was the Eiffel Tower. Since it was in the evening we got to see the tower as it lit up. It was truly breathtaking.

Our trip was very short, but it was definitely one that was enjoyable. Since arriving back I have been asked several times  if I would ever move to Paris and my response is that although I enjoyed my experience there, it isn’t where my heart is.  I think for someone to truly be happy in a city, there has to more of a connection there than just glam or cool attractions. You have to feel at home and you have to be genuinely interested in the culture there.  I could definitely see why people fall in love with Paris. In a way it reminds me on New York because of the the different types of neighborhoods within the city, the endless varieties of things to do, and the diverse group of people that live there, but I already have the real New York in my heart, and now Italy, and for now I am perfectly content with these two places 🙂

Ciao!

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So far my experience in Italy as a volunteer English teacher has been so remarkable! At first it was difficult adapting to a small town (I’ve always lived in a big city), but now I have fallen into an every day routine here and I am not at all homesick or anything!

I live in San Benigno which is 30 minutes from Torino by train. My host mother, father, and sister have been very welcoming. They are doing everything as expected, so I didn’t have any surprises, besides that fact that my host mother does my laundry, which is great! My host mother is the main teacher I teach with so she is fluent in English, my host sister studies English in school so she is pretty proficient, and my host dad does not know English, but he actually is trying to learn and speaks to me when he can in English. I do the same when it comes to Italian. I have my own room and bathroom, which is great because I don’t feel like I am invading anyone’s space. We have a very good family dynamic. Usually in the evenings after school/work everyone does their own work and then we meet for dinner and watch the news or a game show while we eat and we speak about our day or about something interesting going on in the U.S. or in Italy, and then we all hang out for a bit and then go our separate ways to prepare for bed.

Since I live in a small town it is difficult to meet people my age. I have met one person, but he doesn’t speak English and neither does his friends. For this reason my host family allows me to travel as I would like on the weekends to spend time with my friends that I have known in Italy previously as well as to spend time with the other Greenheart volunteers (we have all gotten very close over the past month). This week is Carnevale in Italy so my family and I are all going to a festival this evening and then on this weekend the volunteers are all traveling to Venice to celebrate the holiday because apparently this is a huge deal in Italy to celebrate it in Venice.

Since my host mother is my co-teacher, I drive with her to and from school everyday. We teach for a total of 18 hours per week. I work with approximately 110 middle school students and they love me and I love them! They put on a surprise welcome party for me and they all baked cookies and cupcakes and brought drinks. They wrote a song for me that they performed welcoming me to their school and Bosconero, which is the town the school is in, and they played the Star Spangled Banner for me as well. When they learned I loved Nutella they bought be a huge jar of it and a personalized Nutella logo name tag and they also baked me a cake with Nutella in it! They always give me candy and one student even made me a key chain.

I have begun teaching and preparing my own lessons about the American culture. Although all my students are not fluent in English, there are a few who are and they help me with translating the lesson into Italian (along with my co-teacher) so that way everyone can understand. We are in the process of orchestrating an event which would allow me to meet up with a group of students so they can help me to bake American treats for the entire school. They are all very excited about this and I am too. At first I was nervous about working with kids so young, but I am so happy with this placement. It literally warms my heart to wake up everyday and see them and see how happy and grateful they are to have me work with them. I have such a great bond with them all and the other teachers in the school.

 

 

On March 5th I celebrated my 23rd birthday. As one often does on their birthday, I spent a lot of time reflecting on my life. As well put together as I am, things have not always been sunshine and rainbows for me. I have been through many obstacles… There were many times when I had fallen and it almost seemed impossible that would get up, but by the grace of God, the  unconditional love my family, and and the support of my friends I had always found the strength to persevere and push forward stronger and harder than before, and because of this I am who I am and where I am today.

If you asked me 5 years ago when I celebrated my 18th birthday in New York, or even a year ago when I purchased my plane ticket for my first trip to Italy,  if I ever thought  I would wake up and celebrate my birthday with a new family in another country, I would have probably responded, “yeah, in my dreams!”. But thanks to the support of friends and family, along withGreenheart Travel and World Education Program, something that only seemed like a dream is now my current reality.

From the moment the clock striked midnight in Italy I was overwhelemed with tons of birthday wishes! From close friends singing me happy birthday to my students shouting happy birthday when I walked into each of their classes, I couldn’t help but to feel so special and so adored. The best part of my birthday came when I walked downstairs to my host family’s dining room to find the table set up with appetizers and all of our close friends waiting for me. We drank wine, ate cheeses from Tuscany and Piedmont, breads baked by local bakers, and fish fresh from the sea (my birthday was the start of Lent, so we couldn’t have meat).

After the antipasto, we enjoyed seafood pasta made by my host mom’s close friend, Barbara. IT WAS SOOOOOOO GOOOD! The seafood tasted so fresh that it seemed liked it was caught from the sea and immediately served to me.

No birthday dinner would be complete without the 3 C’s: cake, candles, and champagne. My host family got me a meringue bombe with raspberry sauce.  This was my first time trying this sort of dessert and it was literally heaven in my mouth! And the champagne made seem like a died twice and went to heaven, which was completely fine by me

Seeing that my birthday was recognized in two countries, I got to enjoy an additional 6 hours (technically 9 if you count my friends from California) of  birthday love from from friends and family back at home.

On Satuday I celebrated part 2 of my birthday with a few of the teaching volunteers. We  met up in Turino and attended apertivo at La Salumeria, located right by Fiume Po (Little River). I have been to a couple of apertivos before in Milan, but this one was the largest one I have ever seen. There was food for days! The volunteers and I literally stuffed our faces until we were about to explode! Luckily we got to walk it all off on our way back to Porta Nuova, a train station in Turino.

I couldn’t have imagined a better way to celebrate turing 23. The fact that I can say I got to celebrate it in one of the most beautiful countries in the world with some of the  most amazing people who have become so dear to me is awesome within itself. My 23rd definitely has been one of my most memorable birthdays <3

 

 

 

As I pack my bag to travel to Milan for the weekend, I can’t help but to feel proud. It’s been a week since I’ve arrived in Italy and so far I’ve adapted to living in a small town (much smaller than New York and even smaller than Wilmington), I’ve finally combatted jet lag, I’ve found a place that sells the most amazing Nutella crepes, I’ve improved my Italian, I’ve developed a close relationship with my host family and their friends, and more importantly, I’ve gained the trust and approval of my students after just a week of co-teaching.

Since San Benigno is a very small town, Marilena and I have to travel to the neighboring town of Bosconero to teach. I’ve had prior experience working with middle school aged students, but there wasn’t a language barrier blocking my ability to communicate with them, so this concerned me going into this experience.

Monday was my first day and within moments any concerns I had were pushed completely out of my head! Immediately the students and teachers embraced my arrival with a surprise welcome party. It was clear that everyone played a part in putting together this heartwarming event. Students hand made a welcome banner, baked cupcakes and cookies, and brought in beverages.

A few students performed the Star-Spangled Banner and another piece (I can’t remember the name) with their instruments, and a group of students performed a song that they composed THEMSELVES to welcome me to Bosconero.

And to top, it off they gave me roses and a hand made card that they all signed!

It was extremely amazing and overwhelming. I couldn’t have asked for a better welcoming.

As the week continued I felt like a celebrity because the students were all so curious about me! They were always rushing to greet me, they always asked me questions about myself and about America, and many of them even asked me to sign the postcards that I brought for them from New York.

The majority of the students have a decent background in English, and surprisingly they weren’t too shy to speak to me (wish I could say the same about myself when I speak to others in Italian haha). What amazed me the most is that many of them were so eager to learn and take in more knowledge about English and the American culture. This was surprising to me because I feel as if sometimes you have to push American students to be interested in learning something new or to add on to something they already know. This wasn’t the case with ANY of my students. When I corrected their grammar or their pronunciation, or shared the differences between American and British English, or the difference between American and Italian culture, they were very receptive and not one of them roll their eyes or became frustrated.

A major difference between Italian and American schools is the fact that the students don’t switch classes, instead the teachers switch classes. The students actually stay in the same classes until they graduate middle school and then in high school they switch classes, but once again they stay within that same class for the entire 5 years they are in high school. I guess this system has its benefits because it helps to build longer and stronger relationships, but I couldn’t imagine sitting in the same seat all day long!!

Just as the students were very welcoming, the teachers were too. Many of them didn’t speak English, but they still tried to communicate, whether it was in broken English or very slow Italian. The history teacher, who did speak English, asked me to put together a lesson about the Civil War. I will teach the lesson in English, and then she will translate it in Italian. She wanted to do this so that way the students would be able to improve their English by practicing it in other subjects that interest them.

I also had the pleasure of meeting the Mayor of Bosconero, Fabrizio Pen (his son is actually one of the students that I teach). He was very warm an welcoming. He even gave me an autographed book about Bosconero and took a picture with me.

Now that I am over my jet lag, I hope to explore more of what the region of Piedmont has to offer (like the Nutella factory) after I return from Milan. I also want to make it a point to get to know more of the locals this way I can continue to improve my Italian and also meet with the other WEP volunteers to discuss their experiences and possibly incorporate any positive ones into lessons with my students.

Until next time, ciao!

P.S.
I tried that nut creme that Antonella gave me and it tasted like Nutella without the chocolate. It was complete heaven in my mouth!

Currently I am in San Benigno, Italy (about 30 minutes northeast of Turin) sitting in a room facing the snow frosted French-Italian Alps. As I stare at this remarkable view all I can think about is an article that I read about 3 months ago. The following lines stuck out to me the most:

“Even if you aren’t the traveler or the person you want to be in your head, it’s never too late to change. Travel is all about change. The more you say “tomorrow,” the less likely it is that tomorrow will ever come.” (“18 Life Lessons Learned from Traveling the World” by Matthew Kepnes)

A year ago I was on the right track to an amazing career as a fashion and beauty publicist, but reading this article helped me to realize that I wanted more. It made realize that what I really wanted was to indulge in the various treasures of the world and help to change and inspire the people I meet along the way as they help to change and inspire me.

Thanks to GreenHeart Travel and World Education Program (WEP), I will be spending the next 3 months working as a volunteer English tutor and studying Italian in the region of Piedmont, Italy. I am only 4 days into my adventure and already it has been the experience of a lifetime!

I arrived in Milan on January 23 where I met up with Cristiana B. (my WEP Coordinator) and several other college graduates who are also volunteering as tutors at schools around Piedmont. After settling at Eco Bamboo Hostel in Turin, we spent the evening walking around the city. While exploring, I got the vibe that Turin has the look of a big city, but has the feel of a quiet village. It’s a very diverse city with many beautiful buildings designed in medieval and renaissance architecture.

After dinner and despite of our jet lag, a few of the volunteers and I went to a local bar (in Italy a bar is a coffee shop that also sells pastries, soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages). While we were there we met a man named Romano. He didn’t speak a lick of English, but since I have studied a bit of Italian prior to coming here, I was able to translate some of the things he was saying with the help of another volunteer named Rosanna. We spent over an hour speaking with Romano and the entire time he kept buying us beers and telling us that if we ever wanted to visit his second home in Casablanca, we were welcome.

WEP volunteers with Romano (guy in the black leather jacket) and bar owner.

On the second day of my trip, I had orientation and met my host family. My host mother, Marilena (who is also my co-teacher), greeted and welcome me with open arms. After orientation we headed back home to San Bengino where I was greeted by my host sister Letizia, her boyfriend Manuel, and their friend Vittoria. Later that evening I met my host father, Antonio, who unfortunately does not speak English, but he still makes the effort when he can. After dinner, Marilena and I went to Letizia’s volleyball scrimmage were we met more locals. Vittoria’s mother, Antonella, gave me local nut crème. Apparently it is very famous in this area of Torino. I haven’t tried it yet, but once I do I’ll be sure to write about it!

On my third day I spent the afternoon with Marilena and her friends while they had afternoon coffee. They all tried speaking English to me and when they discovered they that spoke well enough for me to understand they screamed with excitement because they felt so accomplished. One of my biggest fears about coming here was the language barrier, but everyone has tried knocking this down for me. This amazes me because when a foreigner is in the US and is unable to speak English, some American’s respond by saying, “You are in America, speak English!”, meanwhile here in Italy (or at least with my experience in Italy) everyone tries to speak English, even if they don’t know English.

The highlight of my trip so far was last night in Turin when I went to dinner with Marilena, Antonio, Letizia, Vittoria, their friend Emma, and Vittoria’s parents, Antonella and Franco ( I thought Franco resembled Stone Cold Steve Austin, but he preferred Bruce Willis hahaha). At dinner we discussed the differences between our cultures. In Italy, many Italians think Americans are rich and that we live a good life. Although our economy is better than most, I explained to them that our economy still isn’t in the greatest shape ever. We also discussed Italian news versus American news. Italians are more aware of things that happen everywhere in the world because their news covers all aspects of current events and because of this they think Americans love to go to other countries and start wars. In American news we tend to focus more so on things that will impact Americans and it all makes us think that these wars the government invest in will benefit us. Schooling is also very different. Italians are forced to make a career decision before they go to high school because each high school’s curriculum is designed to focus on a specific career field. At one point in time an Italian high school diploma was equivalent to an American associates degree because of the amount of work Italian students did on a weekly basis– some students even have to go to school Monday-Saturday in order to meet the requirements for graduation. Despite these differences Italians also embrace the American pop culture. Letizia and her friends prefer to listen to American and British music because they feel there is no diversity in Italian music.

My host family and their friends

My host sister, Letizia, and her friend, Emma

My host father, Antonio

As I continue to immerse myself in the Italian culture, I am excited to experience and learn new and see how it will all change me. Tomorrow I start my first day of teaching and I already have a goal to make my students more confident in their English speaking abilities and hopefully inspire at least one student to travel to the US and have an experience like the one that I am having now.

Until next time, arrivederci!