" I was able to walk around as the sun rose and reflected off the " famous canals. - junior Jessi Metcalf 22 /I student life florence Strangers become friends while studYing overseas in Italy I ike a scene from a reality TV show, 33 strangers gathered in the Atlanta airport in September not knowing what the future held for them. The students lived together in a 16th century villa in the heart of Tuscany, just outside Florence, Italy. Even students coming from large families had to adjust to life in the villa. With essentially 32 siblings, people learned to tolerate each other's quirks, whether that was playing the guitar all the time or snoring. Eleven girls shared one toilet upstairs; there was always a wait for the computers; and chairs were crowded tight in the dining room. This was the first year that director Robbie Shackelford took the group to the southern coast and Sicily instead of Greece. The southern coast of Italy, once known as Magna Grecia (greater Greece), contained plentiful Greek temples and artifacts. Another ancient treasure was Pompei, the 2,OOO-year-old city destroyed by a nearby volcano. For an entire day students walked around Pompei, examining the ancient buildings and the molds of the victims' bodies, which still lie on the ground. "We got to see so many neat historical sites and artifacts, but really my favorite part of the week was the 'water day' we spent at Gole Alcantara," junior Rebekah Mohundro said. The Gole was a freezing gorge cut into slick, black volcanic rock. "I loved holding onto each other and trying not to fall as we waded up the stream and climbed the waterfalls," Mohundro said. "It was so cold we could hardly breathe." During the four weeks of free travel, students broke into smaller groups and headed all over Europe, deciphering train schedules and road signs in every language. Greece, Derunark, Sweden, Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom were just a few of the countries students saw. "My best memory from free travel is my first morning in Venice," junior Jessi Metcalf said. "We got there in the middle of the night and slept on the streets, but the next morning I was able to walk around as the sun rose and retlected off the famous canals." After visiting so many of the big cities, small towns and famous sights Italy offered, students gained a thorough understanding and appreciation of the Italian people, land and language. - Carrie Springer Juniors Allie Osborne and Kyle Chan– dler sit in a plaza in Barcelona, Spain, while participating in the HUF program during the summer of 2003. HUF students traveled on their own across Europe during the course of the summer semester. (Photo by Melissa Wilson)
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