Leaving Casa Cares for Rome Hotel- June 3, 2016

Paul Krieg at Casa Cares

At the beginning of this trip Paul told us that we were doing exactly what we expect our clients to do in counseling. We are asking our clients to pack up all of their important stuff and leave behind all of the unwanted baggage. We are asking our clients to take the risk of moving forward even if they're uncertain of what's ahead of them. Traveling abroad has taught me to be comfortable with bumps and bruises that traveling and life has to offer. On this trip we have learned more than a book can tell us about counseling in Italy. We had the opportunity to see how art is intertwined with everyday living. We learned how to understand Italian culture in the here and now. As quickly as we learned all of these things, traveling home was fast approaching. It's time to say goodbye to our Italian friends.



The Coliseum in Rome, Italy

The majority of our day was packing and riding on the bus. After arriving at the hotel, many students rode the train/bus into Rome to see the fountains, churches, and coliseum. Rome was fast-paced and busy like small city. There was a ton of construction being done and the city was crowded. It was a nice end to this years counseling abroad trip.

2016 "Counselor's View of Italy" Faculty & Participants

Mindy Eastling

Pisa and Lucca June 2, 2016

Our last day of traveling was to Pisa and Lucca. I may be speaking for myself, but I think we all were a bit sad knowing that it was our last day trip and our time in Italy was almost over. It was also a bit of a bummer because it was supposed to rain heavily all day. 

First, we had a long bus ride to Pisa. Not only were there were a TON of people the moment we stepped off the bus, but it was pouring rain. We herded ourselves into the baptistery to try to dry off and that was a pretty cool place to escape the rain! We learned that the baptistery had some amazing acoustics and we had the opportunity to listen to them “test” the acoustics, which is something they do every hour. Then we made our way into the Cathedral. The body of St. Ranieri, the patron saint of Pisa was encapsulated in one of the wings of the Cathedral and it might sound odd to say that it was beautiful. The entire Cathedral was strikingly beautiful. It is just amazing how much detail went into every part of that Cathedral. The ceilings, floors, walls were all works of art. After we made our way through the Cathedral, we braved the rain again and went out to help hold up the tower. There were so many creative photos being taken, it was fun to watch people try to get the correct angle. After everyone took their photos with the tower, we walked through the vendors and made our way back to the bus.

 

We had a bit of a drive to get to Lucca and it rained the whole time. I was particularly excited about Lucca because I heard we could ride bikes on the wall that surrounds the city. Unfortunately, the rain required us to find a nice restaurant to spend a couple of hours. We walked around for a little bit searching for the best place to eat and we came to what seemed to be an alleyway that led to a courtyard. We found three nice restaurants there to choose from. Our group split up and three of us ended up at a restaurant that opened only 10 days prior. We were so excited! We had a wonderful meal and drank some fabulous wine. We made friends with the owner and he introduced us to the chef, an American from San Francisco. We learned about his culinary training and he told us about his grandmother who shared her fudge recipe with him that was enjoyed in his family for 80 years. It was delicious! The rain stopped while we finished our meal and we had a little bit of time to explore Lucca. We found some gelato and enjoyed the charming little town for about 45 minutes before we had to leave for the bus. We saw many of the faculty members enjoying spritzes in various pubs and joined them for one before we had to leave.

After a long bus ride home, we had our last dinner at Casa Cares and had one final meeting with Paul to debrief our experiences. We all had a chance to talk about what impacted us while we were together at Casa Cares. Many of us became emotional as we spoke about how our experiences  at Casa Cares and in Italy changed us. I think we were trying to soak up as much as we could. After our debrief, we played games in the basement with some of the volunteers at Casa Cares to celebrate our final night in the villa. Once we finished our games, we all stayed up late packing and planning future trips. I think we all made great connections in Italy. And needless to say, I think we will all  remember our time at Casa Cares very fondly.

Until next time Casa Cares,

Emily

Art Journaling and Cultural Connections - June 1, 2016

Today we spent the morning in presentations and the afternoon in Florence! Dr. Jayne Miller began the day with a presentation on using art to improve mindfulness and decrease stress. She spoke about her journey toward becoming a counselor and how stressful it was for her. She gave us some cute little books we can color in or take notes on, whatever we want, because that's what art is all about. There are no rules and nobody ever has to see it. She gave ideas how to use these art journaling strategies with clients to reach them on a different level. She showed us some of her work and work that her clients have done. It was a very nice presentation and many people really enjoyed it. 

The second presentation was from Dr. Robinson, Dr. Duncan, Crystal and Simone, who facilitated a cultural scavenger hunt where we divided into small groups and moved around the room to find people who have had certain cultural experiences (like who has been followed around in a store, who knows a folk dance, who can say hello in 4 or more languages, who has been to a Native American ceremony, who can name 4 or more types of cultural bread, who can name each term within LGBTQIA, who knows sign language... etc.). Then we processed each of the cultural experiences and people who have had them were able to talk about them a little bit. It was an interesting and energizing experience for all who participated. 

After lunch we had a free afternoon. A few people went into the small town of Reggello, others stayed back at the Villa to pack, and about half the group went into Florence. It rained on and off, which was perfectly reflective of our mood - sad to be leaving this amazing place. We sent some postcards, grabbed more lunch on the second floor of the mercato centrale (http://www.mercatocentrale.it/en/), ate gelato, bought souvenirs, and enjoyed the beautiful sights of Florence once last time before we left Italy.