The first week of CIMBA is officially over! Exactly a week ago today, I was arriving to the campus and locating my room to unpack. This first week was nothing short of an amazing time, as I met so many new people, tried new foods and drinks, and got to see beautiful views from weekday and weekend traveling.
The week began with orientation, which was long, but it was essential and helpful in getting comfortable on campus. We got a tour of the campus and got to meet the professors that would be guiding us during our four weeks here. After that, I signed up for laundry, evening activities and went straight to bed around 10 (you have no idea how exhausting that day was… an 18-hour travel day is a LOT)! However, the early bedtime was needed because classes began bright and early the next morning.
I had my first class, Italy Live at 8 am and my second class, International Marketing at 9:45. Classes were not daunting at all, and I was able to meet other students very easily in class. I have found Italy Live to be a very useful class because it has taught me some “survival Italian” which has come in handy quite a bit. During the first week, my International Marketing class took us to the town of Bassano del Grappa, which was beautiful and a lovely place to spend the afternoon. Here, I was able to put my Italian speaking skills to use, and I managed to successfully order a cone of hazelnut gelato (I highly recommend). Overall, the first week of classes may make you nervous in terms of having to meet new people, however, they make it so easy at CIMBA that I would not want that to prevent anyone from trying it out. The CIMBA staff purposely provides students with the opportunity to meet others and they are there to provide support to anyone that is in need.
After our last class on Friday, we packed our bags and got on the bus to spend the weekend in Cinque Terre! This was extremely exciting and was an absolute blast. My friends and I spent time in the city of La Spezia, where we were dropped off and where our Airbnb was located, and then made our way into the 5 villages the following day. During this trip we got to visit four out of the 5 villages: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Vernazza, and Monterosso al Mare. My personal favorite was Monterosso because we were able to see the annual lemon festival! We spent the weekend eating out, spending time with new friends, and exploring the villages. One of the last things we did at Cinque Terre was in Vernazza where we attended a pesto-making class with wine, cheese, and oil tasting! It was the highlight of my weekend, as pesto is my favorite pasta sauce. I will be using my new pesto making skills back at home for friends and family. This experience was even more compelling because of the wonderful teachers that explained the history and importance steps in pesto making. The group that I went with loved the experience and I will be looking for similar things to do during the other trips this month. Finally, we ended the trip by enjoying the view of the town with friends by the water. The views are unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, and I would highly recommend that anyone visits this destination.
Overall, my first week here at CIMBA was fantastic and I’m very excited for the next three. My next week is going to consist of pizza making in Asolo, visiting Asolo again for Italy Live (where I will be giving part of the tour after researching the city), pasta making, and leaving to spend the weekend in Rome!