What’s New for Terra Group? Exploring Florence and Trekking to Siena!

Written by Italy & Greece Overseas Students, Ryan Chun & Julia Rivard We went to Florence (Firenze) and made ourselves at home for a few days! We climbed the Duomo Bell Tower, explored the Palazzo Vecchio, and did a scavenger hunt of different city attractions, among other things. We also started our trek to Siena on the Via Francigena! Top Highlights of the Week: 🍨 Gelato Galore: Gelato, gelato, and… Read More

Embracing Italia: Adventures of the Terra Group Begin!

Written by Italy & Greece Overseas Educator, Ariana Agrios The Terra group is off and running! We landed in Rome on Wednesday and made our way to Passignano Sul Trasimeno where we’re staying at Panta Rei, a sustainable living community in the hills of Umbria. This week we’ve enjoyed hiking to and from town, exploring the beautiful landscape, making pizza and pasta from scratch, and getting to know each other… Read More
Ariana basks in sunlight on Castelnuovo di Garfagnana's walls

Buongiorno from the Terra Overseas Educators!

Written by Italy & Greece Overseas Educators, Ariana and Megan Buongiorno from the Terra Overseas Educators! Ariana and Megan have enjoyed connecting with each of you over this past week in preparation for our European adventure, and we hope you’re as excited as we are that we’ll soon be on our way to Roma! Bellissimo! A few fun facts about your fearless leaders: Irish Dancing Bookworm and Cat Lover Ariana… Read More
looking into distance mountains clouds

A Final Farewell from your Overseas Educators: Terra

  Written by Italy & Greece Overseas Educators, Meg & Mary And that’s a wrap! The Terra group has officially come to the end of its journey. This past week we stayed at Re-green, an amazing village nestled in the mountains of Akrata. The volunteers and village members that live there practice and promote permaculture principles, and were generous enough to let us into their community for a week. Our… Read More
laughing on boat students shoreline

Student Directed Travel in Aegina (Greece 🇬🇷)

  Written by Italy & Greece Student, Macey T. This past week our group got to spend time on the beautiful island of Aegina!🌴Our wonderful group leaders on Crete, Elizabeth and Liam, booked a picturesque 3 story house, right on the ocean. The weather was on our side as well, allowing us to swim almost everyday! It truly was a little patch of paradise. Aegina is very famous for pistachios,… Read More
close shot of students in group photo together

Life in Crete & the Many Highlights of Greece!

  Written by Italy & Greece Students, Elizabeth R. & Liam S. We arrived on Crete! Over the past ten days, we spent time in a small village on Eastern Crete! We started off the week with Greek language and culture lessons from our teacher Manolis. We learned the essentials of the language as well as Greek history and Greek dancing, which we all enjoyed! Then Carly taught us all… Read More
students smiling bue background

Book Fridges, Halloween, & our Last Night in Italy

  Written by Italy & Greece Students, Kate T. and Lillian A. Since the last update, the Terra group has completed our time in Matera and travelled to Greece! In a farm outside of Matera we were tasked with designing and painting recycled fridges to turn them into “book fridges” as a sort of lending library for a nearby town, Altamura. With the help of local contacts, at the end… Read More
collesseum tour of rome

Navigating, Learning, and Eating from Siena to Roma! 🍝🍕🍨

  Written by Italy & Greece Students, Zane & Justin We arrived in Rome after a four-hour FlixBus ride from Siena and split off into two groups after sending our bags to the monastery we’re staying at by taxi. One group walked an hour to the monastery and got Chinese food, and the other took the metro and got some Italian food. The next day we had lunch at a… Read More
with sea in background students group photo

Arrival: Panta Rei & the Italian Countryside

Written by Italy & Greece Overseas Educators, Megan & Mary Ciao! The Terra 23 group has been whisked away to the Italian countryside at the beautiful property of Panta Rei in Umbria. We’ve been knee-deep in orientation activities- fun games, learning about tools to build a healthy community, getting to know each other, and immersing ourselves in Italian language and culture. We have been spending time with Tom and Mauro… Read More
pillars athens greece standing in front of monument

A Message for the Italy & Greece Students

Written by Italy & Greece Overseas Educators, Mariana (Mara + Ariana)  What a semester! 10 weeks, 2 countries, 13 locations, 7 local partner organizations, 4 puppies, and countless gelatos and cats later – we’ve finally reached the end. Though the blog is traditionally written for your friends and family following your journey at home, as the journey has come to an end, it feels most appropriate to now write it… Read More
carpet group thatched dome drums lesson

Student-Directed Travel Week in Greece!

Written by Italy & Greece Semester Students, Tai and Henry After leaving our final permaculture community Re-green, we began our final week of student-directed travel. We arrived by ferry to Aegina an island to the south of Athens. We visited the archaeological museum and site of Kolona (which has the Temple of Apollo),  relaxed on the beach, rented bikes, and explored town. While on the island, we experienced stunning sunsets,… Read More
regreen house greenery garden

Gardens & Gratitude at Re-Green

Written by Italy & Greece Semester Students, Cat and Naomi This past week, we were at a permaculture community in the mountains of the Peloponnese peninsula. We participated in everyday activities such as morning movement, a morning meeting, and a drum circle. We did a main activity for most of the day. We helped prep and plant their gardens. We made a compost pile as tall as us. Hiked to… Read More

Arrival in Greece!

Written by Italy & Greece Semester Students, Jonah & Aiden This week, we left Italy and made our way to Crete, Greece! After a long day of planes, trains, and automobiles, we met our host, Xeno, in the airport and drove to Agios Ioannis, our village for the next 10 days. We enjoyed an incredible dinner made by Christins, the owner of the taverna in the village, and went to… Read More
Our group's last dinner in Rome, Italy before traveling to Greece

Paladini & Our Final Week in Italy

Written by Italy & Greece Semester Students, Tai & Henry   After we arrived in Castelnuovo di Garfagnana by train we were excited to finally arrive in Paladini. We were met by wonderful volunteers from Ireland, France, Italy, and Hungary. Our partner, Colm, his sons, and multiple fluffy friends made us all feel like a part of the community and family. We spent nights in tents and slept in some very… Read More
via francigena pilgrimage route

Trekking the Via Francigena across Tuscany!

Written by Aiden & Naomi, Italy & Greece Semester Students  After sadly ending our stay in Florence, we made our way to Gambassi Terme to begin our Via Francigena Trek!! That afternoon we met Lauren, our guide for the trek, and prepared to begin our journey. Lauren guided us the beginning of the hike as we walked through the nearby town, noting all the via Francigena signs and painted pilgrims… Read More