Last day in Siena!

Posted by Stephen
May 7th - Final Day in Siena, Italy

We presented at the Rotary Club of Siena last night. The presentation went very well. It was good to have one under our belt. I was surprised in the middle of my portion on the economy of the region when members of the audience started yelling out "Ny-lon!" I assumed that I had made a major mistake in my spoken Italian. The audience members were merely showing their familiarity with DuPont! This was very exciting to realize!

The RC of Siena has been very gracious. A few specific members have shared their time and knowledge with us. Below is a picture of some of the team being led by Rotarian Fillipo Fiorentini through his beautiful San Fabiono farm. We learned so much about agriculture, wine production, art, and even health care during our time with Fillipo. His property is amazing. The website is sanfabiano.com if you want to see more about it. Rotarians Fillipo and his wife are very intelligent and sharing people.

Fillipo was such a knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide. It was such a pleasure to spend the day with him. During our trip to a winery, we actually made friends with a couple from Norway. We spoke with them about the GSE program and realized quickly that they were not familiar with Rotary. Fillipo encouraged them to start a club! :) I know we are all curious to find out whether or not Rotary has a presence in Norway.

Last night, our team was thrilled to see GSE Italy team member Riccardo at the meeting. Roccardo gave a brief presentation as well summarizing his time in the U.S. He said he has adjusted to life back but he misses everyone he spent time with in the US!

Massimo Innocenti, Secretary RC Sienna and Rotarian Fillipo Fiorentini posing with members of our team today.

The sun was shining today! We had only a few small spatterings of rain (we have had a lot of rain). We visited the historic town of Montalchino, Italy.

So far, we have had an incredible trip. A good deal of credit goes to our terrific leader Ann Bedient. Ann has been a champion for each of us. Not only is she helping us enjoy the cultural experience to the fullest, she is pushing to help us maximize our vocational exposure and opportunities as well. We are lucky to have her!!

Tomorrow, we are off to Firenze (Florence)!!

Stephen

PS: I am still figuring out how to move pictures around once you upload them to the blog. I apologize for the pictures being slightly out of chronological order.