Two Weeks! - Elisa

Two weeks until we are boarding the airplane. Our presentation is a work in progress, but an exciting one. We are making ourselves very flexible - so that at any meeting we can give a ten, twenty, or thirty minute presentation. Similar material (our backgrounds, professions, and Pennsylvania culture), but the shift is all in the delivery. The next biggest challenge will be ensuring we know enough Italian words to go into detail for our longer versions.
An exciting portion of our presentation will be our video. Jeff is utilizing his filming and editing talents to capture all of us in our natural and work settings to compile a video. There are some childhood pictures mixed into the video as well (important to know people's roots), so it will be very entertaining.

Rotary District Conference –Nicole

Our team was invited by our sponsoring Rotary District to spend the weekend at Nemacolin Woodlands for their annual District Conference. For anyone who hasn’t had the opportunity to visit this Luxury Resort, it is rather impressive, and even after being there the entire weekend we still found ourselves having a hard time navigating from point A to point B without getting lost (or at least I found myself having a hard time). The district did set us up with some very nice accommodations and Elisa and I definitely enjoyed having the two bedroom, two and a half bath, condo all to ourselves. However I think the highlight for us all was having the opportunity to spend more time getting to know each other as well as finally being able to meet the GSE team from Italy. It was great getting to practice our Italian with actual Italians plus learning first hand what we should expect in just a few short weeks when we arrive in their district. They were definitely an impressive group of young professionals and I think we all wished that we would have had more time together but the weekend went fast and we were kept busy. The only other glitch was the fact that due to time restraints our presentation was cut short. So short that poor Andrew and I didn’t even get a chance to speak. A bit disappointing considering how much time we put in to preparing but things happen and I’m sure we’ll have our fair share of time to talk about ourselves in Italy. The only difference is then we’ll have to be talking about ourselves in Italian. Yikes! The good news is that we will be flying back to Italy with our new Italian friends so hopefully they can help us prepare on our way. May 4th will definitely be here before we know it but I think overall this great weekend together only helped increase our anticipation for that departure date. We’ll keep you posted!

Journal - Alex

I have a new journal to bring with me and write down everything I see in Italy. Can't wait to fill this blog up with everything I see so everyone back home can see what I am doing!

Uniform Selection - Elisa

Our team has been meeting throughout the winter to prepare for our travels and learning adventures together. A fun group activity to determine some of our preferences was to decide how we would spend remaining money that had not been converted to foreign currency. Within 2 minutes the team had selected beverages (it quickly determined the coffee drinkers of the group) and a snack (most likely 2 cookies to share). We knew we would want a nourishment pick-up in the airport to fuel our reading and practicing of Italian phrases.
However, we learned of strong preferences when the group had to select a uniform. Fortunately we had a wide range to choose from - all one color, khaki and black, navy and gray, red and black, etc. There were more options than one might even think about. Additionally, these outfits will be worn multiple times each week and for a wide variety of activities, so this was not a decision to be made lightly.
We balanced color combinations that are good for pictures, our own skin tones, what matches our own button-up shirts, and what we could wear for an entire day and still look presentable at dinner ... and our conclusion was: navy blue blazers and gray pants/skirts. You will see many pictures to come of us in this color scheme ... and thankfully we all agreed upon it in the end!

Partner GSE Team - Jeff

We are preparing to depart for Italy in May, but first we anticipate the arrival of our partnering GSE team members from Italy's Rotary District 2100 during the month of April. We are looking forward to meeting Vittorio, team leader, Sabrina, Giuditta, David, and Elisa. We already share a nice commonality with our Italian partners. By coincidence, our teams both consist of a team member with the distinguished first name Elisa.

Italian Lessons - Elisa

Ciao! Our journal entries will provide stories of our daily adventures in preparation for our journey, during our trip, and after our travels. We enjoyed the winter wonderland of southwestern Pennsylvania with record snowfalls this past winter. Fortunately the weather slowed down the daily pace of life so that we have had extra time to practice Italian.

My phrase book has become my lunch break reading. The Italian CD's have me riding in the car and walking around my apartment trying to make fluid comprehensible sentences. The on-line course improved my grammar, reading, and writing skills.