This past spring break, 19 students, including myself, from West Boca, participated in a cultural exchange program, the Sister School Project, where we stayed in Italy for a week and experienced Italian high school life. Last September, 19 kids from Italy came to our school, and now, in March, it was our turn to visit them!
The Sister School Project is sponsored by West Boca’s Italian teacher, Dr. Marianna De Tollis, through the non-profit FATI (Florida Association of Teachers of Italian), in where she is a longstanding president, and also offered by former chairman of Palm Beach school board, Mr. Frank A. Barbieri, and Professor Claudia Tiezzi from the high school of Giovanni da Castiglione.
19 students from West Boca were paired with 19 Italian students from Giovanni da Castiglione, a scientific high school in a small medieval town in Tuscany called Castiglion Fiorentino. Each one of us stayed at our host family’s houses in the surrounding towns like Arezzo and Cortona. It was a complete cultural immersion from eating homemade meals every night, walking a lot up hills, and speaking solely in Italian.
Since it’s a small town, not everyone knows how to speak English, especially the host family’s parents, so we had to put our Italian to good use. Although not all of us spoke Italian fluently, the students with whom we were paired were practicing their English as well; therefore, this enhanced the aspect of the exchange of cultures in the Sister School program.
We spent ten days with our Italian hosts; we would go to school with them in the morning—even on Saturdays! We’d visit some of their classes, where we’d watch, talk to the teachers and students, and since Castiglion Fiorentino is a small town, we were the only ‘foreigners’ there, so everyone was thrilled to get to know us. We all made long-lasting new friends and lifelong bonds, which, at least for me, was one of the best parts of this experience. A student who participated in the exchange, Gabriela Lazo, also recalls it as an “amazing experience…we all had such a good time exploring the different cities in Tuscany and learning more about their daily lives. I can’t wait to see everyone with whom I bonded in Italy again.”
During the afternoons and the weekends, we traveled to many other places like Siena, Arezzo, Florence, and Foiano. One day, we participated in a papier-mâché workshop where we got to see the carnival floats laboratory, where local artists taught us how the floats were made and explained the town’s and Italy’s tradition of Carnevale (the carnival) and all the hard work that goes into it. As another student Micah Monds sums it up: “What an extravagant experience from the food to the tradition. Absolute cinema.”
We also received lessons in astronomy, science, and Italian, all in the Italian language, of course, and played fun Italian learning games as well. Not only would we learn about the history, art history, and Italian traditions, but we’d also explore everything first hand- one of my favorites was when we all participated in a photo scavenger hunt around the town of Castiglion Fiorentino, and we were assigned to take pictures of specific things, such as taking photos with someone walking their dog, with a statue, a tower, a church, jumping etc… and whoever had the best pictures would win. Although it was extremely cold and difficult to walk up the very steep hills, we were all still very dedicated and committed. Reflecting on the trip, senior Isabella Marcellino said, “I learned so much not only about the Italian language and food but also about the culture and way of life, truly la dolce vita.”
Towards the end of our trip, we were given a special dinner celebrating their Palio tradition, which is a historic horse race in which they take the utmost pride. At this dinner, we celebrated the Porta Romana’s victory among other districts. Before the dinner, some of us dressed up in medieval clothing and paraded around the town with the local musicians and flag-wavers; it truly felt unreal.
From staying at an authentic Italian household to attending school with them and being constantly surrounded by Italian language and culture, this program offers countless opportunities, as sophomore Ali Enlow also adds, “It was an educational and very fun immersion in a beautiful culture with great people, food, and architecture. I had a great time, and I would recommend it to everyone.”
I believe this cultural exchange is extremely important for one’s development and global perspective, and I strongly recommend it. If I could, I would participate in it every year of high school. This program will be offered every year, so if you are interested in participating in this once-in-a-lifetime experience, contact Dr. De Tollis at [email protected]
