FINAL WEEK BRINGS KARAOKE, DINNER PARTIES,
AND INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMACY
The week began with tired, stressed-out students tearing at the walls and cursing at their laptops as they struggled against all odds (and some late-night parties) to finish thier projects.
Web design professor Cindy Bonfini-Hotlosz was seen in the Atrium until the wee hours of the morning advising students on their projects, armed with only a small bag of "Big Frut" candy.
Thursday brought a group outing to the university town of Urbino, where students met with the city's mayor as well as the president of the region in a show of international understanding. The group sat in a darkened room and watched a video of the recent Urbino Press Awards ceremony featuring Arab-American journalist and self-help author Diane Rehm.
Following the event, students took a hired bus to the countryside dream factory of fashion fop Piero Guidi, where several female students spent prodigious sums on designer handbags.
The humid day was brought to a rowdy finish with a a few rounds of karaoke at Caffe' del Corso.
On Friday night the faculty retreated to a distant farm for eggplant parmesean while students shook and gyrated to various sounds during a dinner at La Lanterna. The students distributed chocolates and hand-made awards to their professors as a sign of their undying affection and as a tribute to that noble breed of educators who improve the lives of students everywhere.
More than one participant was rumoured to be near tears.
It was a bleary-eyed group of students that assembled the next morning at 9 o'clock for a verbal pat on the back and a through deleting of the computer lab hard drives as the groggy collegians planned their future endeavours.
"I'm going to Greece on Monday," student Allyson Carroll said with a smile. "Followed by Croatia, Cinque Terre, Milan, Barcelona, Holland, and London!"
"Just working," was Kristen Cesiro's response to her summer plans. "It's at a temp agency. But I'll be playing softball too-- second base, baby!"
Melissa Schantz, taking advantage of the computer lab internet connection before the network went down, could barely conceal her disgust at the job that awaited her back home.
"I make coffee at a gym. Lifetime Fitness. $9.25 an hour. And I have to sneak out to an industrial park to smoke," she sighed.
Jen McNamara planned a similarly low-key summer. "I'm going to take a shower when I get back," she said. "Then a nap, then see my friends, go to Ohio, and get a job. Pretty boring."
Kim Schurtz planned something more extravagant. "I'm buying a yacht," she explained. "I'm going to call it 'Schurtz 'n' Jerseys'. Get it? Like, New Jersey?"
Anna Youngquist, on the other hand, took the atruistic route: "I'm going to be taking care of my mom-- she's having surgery," she explained.
And Chris Nelson's summer is as busy as they come: "I'll be interning and getting an award, both on the same day," he told me. "There's the National Association of Black Journalists convention."
Nicole Luccarelli, whose mother Susan actually prints out and distributes copies of the Cronaca di Cagli each day for friends and family, will remain right here in Italy. "I'm going to Camerano," she said. "I'm looking forward to the beach and meeting all the new students."
Will Luccarelli's beau Matteo join her in that hilltop town , shears in hand, so that students in the Camerano Project might experience the haircutting experience so dear to females in the Cagli Project?
"He might make an appearance," Luccarelli said with a sly wink.
