RA CE S TO SIEN A B_y Brool..lyn Billner E\'cry summer, student. had the chance to study abroad ,,·ith th Harding uni\'crsity in Florence 1HU F) program, and in summer 2016, the students experienced Italian culture like ne\·cr before during a day trip to Siena. Senior ~atherine Ho\\"cll and IS other tudents got the opportunity to attend the Palio di . icna horse races. after asking for permission from the HUF director, Robbie Shackelford. "Duri11g our first trip to Siena we learned about the horse [raceJ, Palio di Siena, that takes place twice a year," Howell said. "Though it wasn't planned, we asked Robbie ifwc could go back, and he arranged for us to take another clay trip to experience the race." Senior. Becky O'Briant and Alexandra Longley also went on the H F trip and said th Palio di Siena was one of their fa\'orite e\'ent5 while O\'Crseas. "\\'e did not realize how big ofa deal the race wa. going to be," Longley said. "The entire town shuts down for this one event and people trn,·cl from far away just to watch the race. \Ve thought football was big in Lthe U.S.], but this race completely exceeds that." People traveled from other towns and cities to cheer for their contracla, or district, according LO O 'Briant. "Before the race, there i a parade where everyone is cir ssccl in traditional garmems,'' Longley said. "It k it like we had taken a step back in time and I felt so invc.Led in their culture.'· According to O 'Briant, each group wa established many years before and each contracla had its own unique symbol, mascot and color. ''\Ve just picked a team we liked and cheered for them," O'Briant said. "\\·c quickly realized that it wasn't a silly race to them, and that each com rada sat together in a group and cheered passionately for their horse." O'Briant and Howell said they cheered for the Porcupines and tied the flags around their neck. like the locals did. ·'The passion each group had for their [contrada] was unreal," O"Briant said. "The best way to describe what it felt like is Jby comparing it to the] houses from Harry Potter. \Ve loved being a part of the true Italian culture and not feeling Ii kc Lourists." According to Howell, those there LO watch the race gathered in the middle of the track three hour before the race. and then hor.e ran around the crowd on a dirt track. ·'The race took le s than a minute, but it was one of the most exhilarating minutes of my life," Longley said. ·'You could feel the ground shake under your feet as the horses ran. Though we had nothing invested in the race, it was a lruc adrenalinc rush :· \ ccording to Howell, the Lupa (She-Wolf") contrada won and they celebrated by running around thr track yelling and screaming, because it wa their first win in nearly 20 years. "It \\'as truly a clay and summer I will ne,·er forget," Longley said. ''I learned how to love other people from a different culture and lho\\' LO scr] the di\·crsity, and [I realized] that God made all these people and he loves all these people just the same as he loves me.''
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc5NA==