Monica Smith

Monica Smith spent a four weeks studying in Florence, Italy. She took a History of the mafia course. She spent her weekends traveling to different cities learning about their history. She also made it a point to visit as many cathedrals as she could. She spent her time learning about the history of the chapels, how they were built and what all they are used for. She spent a lot of time focusing on religion and visited an active monastery. She enjoyed learning about the culture’s religion. Along with her history class she went to an anti-mafia rally. She saw so many people trying to stop mafia violence and corruption.  To embrace the culture she took a cooking class. The cooking class was called Embracing Italian Culture through Cuisine. The teacher explained how the recipe for the sorbet, pizza, and other items came about. It was like a history class along with a cooking class. She traveled on weekends and made it a point to go to Cinque Terre, a place she has always dreamed of seeing.