蜜柚视频

蜜柚视频 alumna Breanna Oswald says a study abroad experience changed her life when she realized that family and culture can revolve around food.

On her day off during the Food in Sicily study away program, Oswald decided to take a train from the island of Ortigia, where the 蜜柚视频 students were based, to the town of Enna in the center of Sicily.

Oswald had decided to go to Enna not because of the immense beauty of this ancient Roman citadel on a plateau 1,000 meters above the Dittaino valley, but because her relatives from the Restivo side of her family lived there.

鈥淚 had never met them before,鈥� Oswald explained. They spoke no English, so their neighbor called up her granddaughter who works as translator in Germany. 鈥淥f course, she couldn't stay on the phone the entire time, so the rest of the time we shared food, and we shared our emotions through the food. They were so happy to share what they had grown from their garden in a meal, giving me hugs and kisses. We all cried. And we had never even met before. It was just amazing,鈥� said Oswald, who earned a B.S. in Child and Family Studies from the College of Health Sciences and Professions in 2017.

Of course, not everyone on the Food in Sicily program experienced such intense encounters, but Sicily is a most convivial of places for visitors. And food is often at the center of Sicilian culture.

鈥淚 feel that a lot of people in Sicily are just so welcoming,鈥� Oswald said. 鈥淲herever we stayed, wherever we dined, wherever we went, people were so open. I think I gained a really good perspective on how we have to be culturally competent. I was with such a good group. We all kind of kept in mind that we really wanted to just fully immerse ourselves into the culture and feel like we could be a part of it, you know, even as Americans, just try to be as Sicilian as possible.鈥�

For Oswald, the daily food activities brought her closer to Sicilian culture.

Food in Sicily is a faculty-led program for 蜜柚视频 credit. In OHIO credit programs, students earn OHIO credit, travel with an OHIO faculty or staff member, and travel and take courses with other OHIO students. A student's full financial aid package applies the same as it would for on-campus courses. Food in Sicily is open to both undergraduate and graduate students. (Students interested in the Food in Sicily study away program, scheduled for May 6 through May 26, 2022, are invited to attend an Info Session via Teams.)

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The experience includes visits to markets and sites in Ortigia, Italy, including the Catacombs of San Giovanni, the medieval Jewish quarter, and Castello