Wednesday started off quite well because we were to sleep in for a change. We began our day officially with a wonderful lunch at the Villa with our Harding University friends and several other important guests.
We were celebrating 30 years of the Harding University Florence Program (HUF). So we had many people invited to share this meal with us including movie director, previously mentioned, Jay Russell. The main special guests were Eugenio Giani — Presidente del Consiglio; a representative from the consolate; Tuscan American Association Presidents Lynn Weichman and Sergio Pezzati and Dr. Andreina Bianchini, Director at the Palazzo Ruccellai.
I was able to interview this interesting and kind accomplished woman to hear about her journey starting as a professor for Trinity College at Hartford and transitioning into the position she has today. She is the main director for the international program in Italy for several universities including University of Connecticut, Roger Williams, Arizona State and Virginia doing work much like Harding's own Robbie and Mona Shackleford. Read more about her in-depth story that will be posted later on the Link.
Later I did some more shopping with my friends in the HUF program until it was time for teh intercultural exchange that night. It was so nice to spend time with friends who have been overseas for this semester, but even more fun was spending time with students from other cultures that night. That evening we shared dinner with several Italian and Albanian students at a wonderful restaurant called Movida and afterwards went to the Florence Church of Christ to learn about these students' culture. We specifically were taught about the art of dancing by the Albanians, which was very entertaining as American students' tried to keep up (myself included). In authentic beautiful costumes, we were shown the ways of danceby our new friends. Lots of laughs were shared, and many great memories were made!
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