Ciao CIEE Ferrara

CIEE Ferrara was the best decision I could have made for my study abroad experience this past Spring (2017). I was looking for a small program in a small town in Italy and that is exactly what I found. Ferrara is a quaint sleepy town in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Surrounded by old fortress walls that have been turned into a walking path, this town in loaded with charm and history. The market every Friday morning brings the town alive with citizens of all ages and Wednesday nights the local bars explode with young Italians out for a drink and cigarette. The program center is located a 5 minute walk to the central historical district and within biking distance to the train station. Everyone bikes or walks in Ferrara there are limited driving areas, which helps to preserve the old Italian way of slow living. During my program all 24 of us were in homestays. My host family was located outside the city walls nestle among the farm lands, in a very peaceful area with a path that meandered to the Po River (longest river in Italy). CIEE matched everyone up with the host family they believed best suited them, considering language ability, proximity to the program center, and interests. My host mom and I were destined for each other. We would enjoy 2 hour delicious fresh Italian dinners (pumpkin pasta is the town's specialty dish and it will forever be my favorite!) together every night where we would cover everything from travel to history to philosophy to literature. Having lived in Ferrara her whole life, I learned so much about Ferrara's history during those nights. In order to understand a place, you must understand the people and the homestay experience was my greatest resource for this. CIEE set up program dinners and activities around Ferrara and then longer excursions to Modena and Turin, which were so much fun and helped everyone in the program grow very close. I made amazing friends to travel with and experience Ferrara with. We would all meet up on Tuesday nights to eat at our favorite (and only option) Indian restaurant Taj Mahal and plan our weekend adventures. Situated in Northern Italy we traveled to many small northern towns on the weekends (we got most Fridays off to have 3 day weekends) and ventured further to Rome and Florence. Ferrara will forever have my heart and I am thankful for CIEE or I would never have found my Italian love!