Best Part of My Job

One of the very best aspects of my job is leading study abroad. I have spent all spring semester getting to know this group of students, and we just spent the last two weeks in Italy studying schools and the culture in general:

I did a horrible job taking pictures. The one above is outside my favorite school--the Liceo Artistico. It's a high school for students who want to become professional artists: jewelers, fabric designers, fashion designers, graphic artists, and architects. It's amazing to see what these students create, and it's so good for my students to see all that teenagers can do when given the tools. That is actually a huge thread throughout all schools. Students are given earlier and more access to tools and responsibility.

We also went to see my friend Laida and her olive orchard. We learned how to make pizza and pasta:

We also went back to the archives to see and touch books from the 1200s:

Schools do this tour to learn more about the history of the community, and my students took back so many ideas about how to partner and utilize the community as classroom.

One of my students also captured this:

I'm so grateful. I love sharing places and spaces I love, and I love that they wanted to learn. This group was intensely curious, and they spent far more time in each place than any other group I have taken.

The most meaningful moment for me, though, was at St. Peter's. This is a Jubilee year, which means the Holy Door is open for the first time in 25 years. The morning we were there, the Pope started a new pilgrim's walk from the edge of the square through the door. Every 40 or so people, a monk carrying a cross lead a group in responsive prayer. We had prayer books, and it was an invitation and a call to unity across denominations. It truly was a Holy walk.

We put our feet in the sea, ate a ton of amazing food, and laughed so much. I have written a 45 page journal about the experience, and I can't wait to go back again.