First Presentation & Vocational Visit and Plenty of Sightseeing

From touring the city of Pisa, to visiting the Piaggio museum (Vespa), and traveling to places I don't even know where we're at, we've already seen a lot of the area that's part of our first stop on the GSE program.

My host family has been very sweet. Suzy and I are staying with the same family in the countryside. They've gotten us where we need to go, have fed us very well, and even helped us with our Italian grammar and pronunciation for the presentation.

Our first presentation was last night, but we didn't start speaking until 11:00 PM. Dinner was over 2 hours, but the audience was attentive and appreciative that we spoke their language, even if we did stumble a bit. 1 down, 11 to go!

Yesterday started at 9:30 and ended at midnight, and we were back at it by 9:30 again this morning. I went with Suzy and Ann to the Palazzo Blu, where we received a tour of the permanent collection and the special exhibition currently on display. I learned a lot about how different the nonprofit world is here from the States, specifically the fact that fundraising is almost nonexistent (which I sort of knew, but our host confirmed this for me), and that private organizations account for only about 5% of the total cultural organizations. The public organizations are funded by the government and generally speaking do not receive any other support. Even though Palazzo Blu is part of a Foundation, and the Foundation supports three areas of interest, it does not give money to public organizations. Individuals also do not support public institutions. The general mindset is that if it's supported by the government and available to me, why should I give above and beyond? Fortunately this is not the case in the States, otherwise I'd be out of a job!

The hospitality we've received from everyone here has been overwhelmingly generous. While our days have been quite full, we've also been able to see a lot in a short time. The Rotary Clubs of Pisa and the surrounding area have definitely set the bar high, and the remaining areas of the District will have much to live up to, but I'm sure they will all be fantastic experiences.

This was our last full day in Pisa. It will be sad to leave my host family; they've been so great. Tomorrow we take a bus to Siena, where I'm hoping we might have better connection with the outside world. It's been somewhat of a surprise to learn that Internet cafes, and Internet at home, are not common here. Being constantly connected via a computer and/or smartphone is not the norm here, which has made posting a challenge. I used Stephen's computer this afternoon to compose most of this (thanks!) and am now finishing up on Suzy's computer (thanks as well!). I hope to post pictures another time (so many to choose from...I've taken over 300 already).

I am really not looking forward to packing everything up tonight for the trip tomorrow, but it will get done!

And now on to the next stage of our travels...

Susan