Posted by Dr.
Becky Michel
On Friday, May 20,
2016, the “Counselor’s View of Italy” most of the participants and faculty
members met today at the Rome airport and traveled together by bus to Reggello,
Italy. Unfortunately, two of the participants (Mindy & Paige) had flight
delays so they had their own travel adventures and met us at Casa Cares.
As our bus climbs the
winding roads throughout the Tuscan countryside we enjoy the spectacular views
of vineards and mountains. Occasionally we pass through a small town, but for
the most part, there is wide-open space. On the way, we
stopped for lunch and ate our first pizza and gelato and Dr. Remley shared some
“survival skills” about how to order and pay for your food and drinks at an
Italian café.
After lunch, several people drift off into sleep after a long day of travel, but others are snapping pictures and getting to know one another. There is a palpable excitement in the air. Although I have taken this road several times, I never know what discoveries lie ahead.
After lunch, several people drift off into sleep after a long day of travel, but others are snapping pictures and getting to know one another. There is a palpable excitement in the air. Although I have taken this road several times, I never know what discoveries lie ahead.
Soon we made it to
our home for the next two weeks, Casa Cares.
 |
| A welcome sign leading to our "home" away from home |
 | |
| The Casa Cares Villa |
Since our group is so
large this year, most people are staying in the villa, however, around 10 of us
are staying in apartments down the hill from Casa Cares operated by Ricardo and
Eva Pagni. We will also be having many of our lectures in the recently
renovated chapel rather than the meeting room at Casa Cares so that we can accommodate
our entire group. We dropped off our
luggage in our rooms and met an hour later for introductions and an overview of
the counseling institute.
Dr. Paul Krieg, our
host and a trained counselor, shared about his experiences at Casa Cares over
the past four decades. Born and raised in the U.S., Paul has a unique
perspective about what it is like to be an American living abroad. Dr. Paul
invites the group to share their name, affiliation, and what inspired them to
travel to Italy to join the institute.
 |
| Dr. Paul Krieg, Our Host |
As usual, our group
is wonderfully diverse. There are bachelors and masters level counselors in
training, doctoral students, counselor educators, faculty members, as well as friends and partners. Several
of us come from the Midwest (Illinois, Ohio) and South (Alabama, New Orleans). After introductions, we
move to the dining room for our first dinner together. We meet Cristina, the
house manager, as well as the volunteers and chefs. It was Cristina’s birthday,
so we all sang “happy birthday” in Italian to her and enjoyed a delicious
strawberry cake. Mindy arrived just as we were finishing our meal, and it was comforting
to have our entire GSU group together at last.
 |
| Mindy, Dr. Remley, Dr. Thomas & Dr. Michel |
After dinner, we took
in a magnificent sunset on the balcony and enjoyed lively conversation about
what the next two weeks would bring.
 | ||
| Sunset from the hill above Casa Cares |
No comments:
Post a Comment