05/20/2009

Stay-at-home classes day. Our first seminar was conducted by Amy Kleine, an American counselor in Italy, and mentee of Dr. Eugenio Bacchini (who presented Lunedi- Monday). Ms. Kleine works for Syracuse University, handling their study-away students in Italy (as a home-away-from-home counselor). She told us experiences she had had, and some of the difficulties American women encounter in Italy, and why. She and Dr. Bacchini ate lunch with us; I was privileged to sit at the table with them, and listen to them talk.

After lunch, Mary, a co-participant (and doc student), presented on "is their room for God in the counseling profession?" She touched on spirituality, religion, their similarities and differences. (In a nutshell, spirituality is the "what" and religion is the "how").
After Mary, Alishea, another co-participant (and doc student) presented on "technology in counseling". Alishea's background is school counseling, and much of her presentation came through that lens; however, the ethics, legality, application, etc is just as applicable to rehab and community counselors.

After a busy day studying, it's time for an outing! We all got dressed up, and went to a local (we didn't even drive far enough on the road to get carsick!) restaurant: Ristorante Archimede. There, we enjoyed a traditional Italian meal: antipasto (appetizers-3 kinds); pasta (3 kinds); vegetables & salad (3 kinds); meat (3 kinds) & dessert. Between pasta and vegetables, we got a tour of the ristorante; through their wine cellars and all! (Unfortunately, my camera batteries died on me, or I would have gotten pictures of the walls of wine bottles, the hams curing from the ceiling, the wild boar, the whole experience). It took us 4 hours (at least!) to eatthe meal! I was impressed they did not stick to just what we know; they served us pollo pate, guinea hen, and wild boar; all of which was delicious. (Special dishes were prepared for our vegetarians, too). It was nice to be able to "do fancy" for a while, and put the education, both classroom & physical, behind us. It made (at least me) appreciate even more the educations (lectures and experiential) this trip is providing. Dinner was concluded with tiramisu e supenglaise (spelling??), and Brie was one of the few brave ones who tried a grappa shot!

By midnight, we were all exhausted, although a few were too wired for bed. Tomorrow comes early...