Castiglion Fiorentino (or CF for short) is a walled city with a population of about 13,000 people. CF has been the home of ITALART (a study abroad program) for 30 years. About 12,000 students from several universities have gone through this program over the years and have walked the charming streets of CF. ITALART used to hold classes in the Santa Chiara Study Center. Because of the pandemic, this semester is the first time CF has seen a study abroad group back in town since the spring of 2020 (the semester students had to return to the U.S. less than halfway through the program).
Shortly after arriving to CF, I realized how big of an impact the study abroad program has had on the community. We’re basically local celebrities! Locals will approach us on the street and ask if we’re “the Americans,” or simply say “Texas?” A local cafe near our classroom/studio has several Texas A&M flags hung up with signatures from students that have been here before (we plan on leaving one, of course). The young owners have even made their way to College Station to visit the friends they made in years past.
Twenty years ago there were students just like us who heard and watched the horrible news of 9/11 here in CF. Although I was only a couple of months old when 9/11 happened, I have always known the impact this heartbreaking event left on the U.S. The community of CF mourned with the American students. Earlier this week George Terrill (one of my classmates) and I were interviewed shortly about our thoughts on being the first group back and how it feels to finally be here. We learned that CF had a monument made in honor of 9/11 and has a remembrance ceremony every year. It wasn’t until then that I realized how impactful 9/11 was to the world, not just the U.S. We were invited to participate in the ceremony this weekend. The community is also hosting a soccer tournament and we were asked if we could do the Aggie War Hymn at one of the games.
On our second day in CF, my classmates and I met the mayor, Mario Agnelli (he has gone to an Aggie football game, which is why he knew about the War Hymn). He welcomed us and expressed how excited everyone is to have American students back in town. Pre-COVID, multiple groups from different universities would come each semester, but a lot of schools have held back on studying abroad for obvious reasons. Only 11 students, 1 TA, and 1 professor came this semester (all from A&M). And from what we’ve heard, things are a bit different compared to previous years.
Gigs from Mario Agnelli Porta Fiorentina, one of the main entrances to the city The mayor greeting us on our way into town
Overall, I feel so lucky and blessed to call Castiglion Fiorentino our home for the semester. Being in a smaller town is allowing us to have a better understanding of day-to-day Italian life and culture. I can not imagine being anywhere else.
–Ruth Noemi Zuniga <3
P.S. Check out the link below for a quick Italian read. 🙂
Cindy Hennessy says
Oh Ruthy, is great. So glad that you’re doing it. Looking forward to seeing more. ❤️🙏🏻❤️🙏🏻❤️
Claudia says
So proud of you and glad you were able to experience this beautiful country ♥️
Alberto D. Harris says
Thank you for some other informative site. Where else may I get that kind of information written in such a perfect way? I’ve a challenge that I’m just now operating on, and I have been at the look out for such info.
🎁 Get free iPhone 15: http://sidim.org/upload/go.php 🎁 hs=9f8f0ebd2ead32f153c9f587970f7fe0* says
wen9vs