IES Abroad Siena Summer – Tradition & Cuisine in Tuscany

My summer program in Siena fulfilled a lifelong dream of mine. I always wished to study food in Italy, and IES Abroad provided me with that opportunity. My History of Italian Food course allowed us to learn how make several traditional Italian dishes directly from a chef at his restaurant, plus included visits to a gelato laboratory, cheese factory, wine shop, and a few bakeries. In addition, lectures exposed us to the names and facts about dozens of traditional Italian dishes that I have not heard of before. As a foodie, I could not have been more grateful to study this material for credit at my school.

I had the experience of a lifetime with the IES Siena Summer program! The staff was incredibly attentive and truly cared about their students. I really appreciated that our teachers were native Italians who spoke excellent English, so they provided us with an authentic education about Italian food, language, and culture. The optional field trips were so informative, and the food was amazing-the staff did a great job of picking good restaurants and it was great to have a translator with us. We only had class 4 days a week, giving us time to travel on our own Friday through Sunday, so even though I was only abroad for a month and a half, I got to travel all over Italy. Siena was much beautiful, and the locals speak Italian unlike in Florence, so I learned more Italian than I would have in a bigger city. I stayed in a homestay organized through IES, and had such a positive experience-my host family was so welcoming and cooked an incredible dinner every night, and taught me so much Italian-io imparato Italiano molto subito!

Living in Siena was everything I wanted studying abroad to be about and more! Since Siena is a smaller city than others in Italy, it created a quaint, home-like feeling to it. By the time I left, I felt comfortable in the city and felt like one of the locals, and I always felt safe, even walking at night. I found it very fascinating to learn about the 17 contradas in Siena and how passionate each person is about their own contrada. Living in Siena was able to give me a more in-depth look at this. I also loved the apartment I lived in and how close it was to the Piazza del Campo- only a few steps away! The size of the program was only 9 students, so that created a very close, personal group. Most of the time, we all took additional trips with each other that were a blast! Overall, I am extremely happy I chose Siena as the city to study in through IES!