Day 7

        Ciao! Well today was an early start. We went to Bologna in northern Italy, as a group to sit in on a “medical conference” based on emotional intelligence. We left Firenze (Florence) at about 8:00 AM. My goal was to enjoy the view of Italy from the bus as we drove to Bologna, but that backfired quickly, as I feel asleep within the first couple of minutes of the drive. However, when we finally arrived at the medical conference, which was in a small city outside Bologna, it was beautiful! It didn’t see real, it seemed like were in the movies. The conference itself was interesting. It was not what I had expected at all. I pictured a bunch of men and women in suits, inside a large auditorium, with a professional and serious persona felt around the room. What I found myself walking into was completely different. The conference was held in a modern museum of some sort, surround by beautiful gardens. Before people took their seats to listen to the speakers, everyone was directed outside to this beautiful garden-like area to enjoy an array of cookies and espresso. Personally, I indulged myself in the cookies, I am pretty sure I consumed at least 12. Needless to stay I only had a small croissant for breakfast and was starving! Due to the large consumption of cookies, I willingly decided not to get gelato today… Going back to the conference and the topic itself. Emotional Intelligence is something we spent a lot of time discussing in our leadership class the previous day, so I found it interesting to see the first speaker (who is American and spoke English) to put it into his perspective. He showed to quick videos, that each displayed signs of emotional intelligence. Neither video had words, just actions, but it was interesting to see how one can still understand and respond to the videos by the emotions expressed in them. The video that really stuck to me was one showing the importance of wearing a seatbelt. A father was shown figuratively driving a car smiling, while his wife and daughter were sitting down smiling back. Then you see the fathers face turn to fear, where in response the wife and daughter rush to his side and form a seatbelt around him with there arms, prohibiting him from expelling forward. I have attached the link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-8PBx7isoM. The videos effect was very impactful, watch and see for yourself! In addition there were due (two) more parts the lecture, one in Italian and one in English. The portion spoken in Italian just flew over my head, but the other portion spoken in English was interesting. The same man gave the lecture, as the one I described before. However, this time he discussed how the importance of teaching emotional intelligence to children at a young age is something that can greatly lead to positive change in the world. He developed a school designed to cater to this idea. His approach to education was very unique and quite intelligent. After having been through schools designed to teach students in different ways, his idea was something I had never come across in my lifetime.

            Our next stop for the day was Bologna, for lunch! We went to this cute little restaurant in the center of the city as a group. We sat outside in this enclosed area with an open roof, which was gorgeous. It almost felt a little Spanish. The food was delicious! The bread alone was so good; I believe it was potato bread, which was really light, but so rich in taste! I definitely eat an equivalent of a loaf of bread today. I received the vegetarian dish, which consisted of potato noddles with some sauce and mushrooms. Needless to say I ate everything on my plate. Although, Bologna is known for their tortellini, so I was a little disappointed when we were not served any. After lunch, we were scheduled to go on a tour of the University of Bologna. Going into the University, I thought nothing of it, but I quickly learned that the University of Bologna is the oldest university in the WORLD and is over 1,000 years old. I couldn’t believe it either! After hearing this, I began to pay attention to the tour guide. Pertaining most to me was that the first medical school was established at this university. There was a museum showing replicas of what was discovered in the first cadaver dissections known and even a whole room displaying the birthing process and what caused certain deformities of children, while being delivered through the birthing canal. I personally loved the medical aspect of the university and Bologna itself was nice, just a little more quite and older than Firenze.

            When we finally made it back to Firenze, it was about diner time (8:00 PM on the dot). Regina (my roommate) and I made it back to our homestay, to walk into fresh mozzarella and tomatoes on plates waiting for us at the table. Anna (our homestay host) came out of the kitchen with bowls full of pasta with cheese and zucchini. Italians always seem to start their meals with pasta. So by custom is was necessary I eat the pasta first. There was so much pasta and all I wanted was the tomatoes and mozzarella. I was basically sitting at the table dying of pasta overdose and staring at the tomatoes and mozzarella the entire time. The good news though, is that I finally managed to eat everything!

            Today was a really long day and tomorrow will most likely be another long one, so bouno note everyone!

Center of Bolonga!