July 24
Ciaowdy! Today we have marked the halfway point on our adventure of exploration here in Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy. Many people decided to get an early start in their day and split into three groups – the walking, running, and stretching group. The running group ran roughly 3 miles around the city while the walking group took more of a relaxed approach. They traveled uphill and explored more of the city, and on the way back to the hotel, discovered an old, abandoned house filled with rubble and broken pieces of wood. The stretching group went to the top of the hotel and got a fresh start to their day with a yoga sesh!
Like any other day, we all met up for breakfast in the dining room at 8 am. We were greeted again with various fruits, cereals, yogurts, meats, pastries, and juices to fuel ourselves for the day ahead. After breakfast, classes started up again at the hotel, which was a much welcomed rest on our legs.
We started off the day with Will giving a great presentation on what to do and various opportunities offered in the first two weeks at Texas A&M. He gave us a lot of advice about how to enjoy our time throughout Howdy Week, but also how to prepare in the first few weeks of classes. He advised that we scout out our classes ahead of time to assist in time management. Related to this, he also emphasized the importance of planning our time, both for class and for self care. There are many opportunities to join various clubs and organizations throughout our first year as freshman. Specifically, Will covered the MSC Open House which provides incoming freshman information on joining various organizations.
Rick next led a lesson next on leadership. Throughout the beginning of the lesson, he asked many thought-provoking questions about the definition of leadership, what makes a leader, and some examples of who are good leaders. It was great to hear what everyone had to contribute and led to purposeful conversations within the group.
For lunch, a lot of the group ate at Tirovino Ristorante Pizzeria. At first, we had a difficult time understanding the menu because it was all in Italian. However, someone from the restaurant asked the group if we spoke English. Luckily, he translated the menu for us, and all of the waitstaff was very nice. In addition, some of us found a cafe that sells iced lattes, the first we have seen since arriving in Italy. The cafe also had a bunch of flags signed by Aggie classes who had studied at the campus here.
A few members of the group also went to the restaurant that Giovanni had recommended for their Florentine steak, Ristorante Da Muzzicone. It was really good, but quite expensive. Fortunately, they were able to split the cost of the 1.7 kilograms steak.
After lunch, we resumed our ed sessions and focused on relationships we will experience throughout college. These include professional relationships with professors, friendships with peers, roommates, and significant others. We were then informed about upcoming career fairs, learning about how to prepare, and what to expect.
Dustin then shared an intriguing yet slightly gross story while he was a freshman in college. He explained that his roommate was rushing for a frat, and would come home incredibly late to their dorm. For many consecutive days, he would then pee either on the floor or bed, having no recollection of what happened until Dustin told him. Together, Dustin and his roomate resolved the issue with the purpose of showing us how important roommate relationships are, and how much of an impact you can have on their life.
We were assigned to create a PechaKucha to be presented. A PechaKuchas are presentations with 20 slides and 20 seconds per slide. Dustin challenged us to work on our teamwork and public speaking skills by randomly dividing us into groups of two or three. It was a lot of fun to start work on drafting our topic ideas and slides on whatever topics we were interested in or wanted to explore, no matter how goofy the topic.
In the afternoon, we once again split into groups to enjoy our free time. One group went to the military surplus store in which Luke decided to buy a soviet union hat (I swear he’s not communist!). One group went to do laundry and another took a dip in the pool.
At dinner, we dived deeper into Kyle and Nadia’s addiction to sparkling water. Kyle stated that he drank “at minimum 13 glasses” and Nadia “at least 8” of that frizzante. Every time one of them finished chugging the last glass from one of the 1L bottles, the waitstaff would loudly slam a new bottle down on the table right in front of them. Some group members gave the city briefing for Rome (where we are going tomorrow) and then everyone broke off.
One group remained in the lobby to spend the rest of the night while another went to the playground to play soccer with the locals and hang out.
Overall, today was more educationally focused and had more individual free time. Tomorrow, we will be leaving the country (technically) to visit Vatican City. It will be a tiring morning so we can get on the train bright and early. Can’t wait!
Katherine Barkley ‘27 and Lucas Fitzgerald ‘27
