Ciaowdy,
Today we once again started our day with breakfast within Castiglion Fiorentino. Coffee was, like always, fabulous. A group of us attended the traditional catholic mass service within the town. The church was quite spectacular and service was interesting attempting to understand the sequence of events. Lunch was left up to us and we all separated into small groups, with a few attending a bakery while the others attended a pizzeria. Today was mostly a rest day. Just like we planned, a few of the students washed their clothes at local laundromats. The prices at the laundromat were quite high in comparison to the machines back in the states that cost a quarter, so a lot of us stayed in the hotel and hand washed a few of our belongings. What an experience! Others in our group had life mapping today with members of the staff. In life mapping, we discuss our future goals and concrete ways to achieve them. An early start in planning our experience in Aggieland will help us make the most of our time there, and ensure we achieve our higher educational goals. After a little free time, we learned about student organizations and how we can get involved in leadership as Aggies from Jake. We also learned about the TAMU tenure process with Dr. Datta, and played a game that better informed us about the qualifications of becoming a tenured professor at TAMU. After Dr. Datta’s time with us, half of the group made the trek into the Castiglion Fiorentino city walls and tasted 7 types of cheese at a local restaurant. We all dined on the exquisite smorgasbord of cheesy flavor with our Italian teacher Rosella, and ended our experience with the Aggie War Hymn. While today was technically a rest day, it was as packed with amazing experiences as any day previous. Thanks and Gig ‘Em!
-Jimmy Callan ’22 & Michael Opiela ‘22
