Crina Babina

It’s fair to say I’ve failed with the blog posts this time around. I blame the APEX Reflections. Anyway, since it seems that every time I fly to Atlanta there’s a delay, I now have time to write one! All hail the three queens of Winefeld! My internship with the Umbra Institute was incredible. The people I had the honor to work with were kind, helpful, and life-changing. I lived in an apartment…

I’m sitting at my gate. The Dirty Chai Latte is the only thing keeping me sane as I watch the clouds roll in and try to ignore the delayed flight time. It does seem a bit ironic given that this has happened to me the last two summers I left for Italy. How’s that for tradition?  Granted it’s not for 7 months, but I thought I’d bring the blog back for the summer. SO HEY THERE!  Please don’t take…

In typical Crina style, my departure from Italy was only slightly, incredibly chaotic. After having lived in Italy for 197 days (not gonna lie I’m mad about not having 3 more for an even 200) it was difficult for me to say goodbye. There were the places I went to everyday, like Arco. Bailey and I went for our last caffè macchiato and cornetto cioccolato. I had gotten small gifts for Debora,…

"Call Me Cheesy" You try to fit studying abroad into the simplest terms. The most convenient definitions. I've had my food, my cheese and wine. I've had the Book Club. I've had experiences that will shape the rest of my life. But studying abroad cannot be defined and neither can I. My time abroad was my time to go off and be a monk. Who knows if I found myself, but I found an adventure.

Things I learned abroad include calling myself out and right now I’d say I’m REALLY behind on a blog post. Like 3 weeks and a few days late. I’d say this is due to being busy, which is true, but I could’ve written a post. My only excuse is this: Netflix finally arrived in Italy. As a result this will be an obnoxiously long post. So call me late, but please, call me cheesy. The last post I…

"Never Far From HΘme" Whether in Denmark, Spain or Italy...I'm never far from home.

In my 6 months abroad I’ve only seen friends from Wooster on a handful of occasions. Now this wasn’t by design, but I ended up seeing them all towards the end which on one hand helped fix any homesickness I was having, it’s also made me even more ready to go home. First, I saw Cara for Eurochocolate where we crawled through the crowded streets of Perugia. Then I found Celia in Dublin and we…

With a pint glass in hand and "Dirty Old Town" playing as the soundtrack to our adventures, I fell in love with Ireland. "Dirty Old Town Dublin"

In no way was I in Ireland for a long enough amount of time. Getting to our Air BnB at 2:30 PM on Friday and leaving it at 4:30 AM on Sunday made my trip last barely 2 days. For some cities that wouldn’t be enough time; it’s too overwhelming, too big, too much. Dublin and Howth were the perfect size, though. We hit most of the main tourist sites and had an unforgettable experience that could be…

Hello from the foodie side

Alright, I’m starting off this post with the fair warning that I am indeed enrolled in a Food Studies and Sustainability Program in Italy. So this post should be read in that light. If you find that it is a slightly green-tinted light, well, sorry. Last Monday we had a Pizza Making Workshop and since I was here during the summer, this was my second one. Where during the summer only two people…

Perhaps what may be Perugia’s biggest call to international fame, besides Amanda Knox, would be Eurochocolate. A festival where the once picturesque ancient streets are flooded by booths bursting with different (but incredible similar) chocolates, tourists clog the walkways and the ever reliable MiniMetro is shut down. A somewhat short playlist of chocolate themed songs is on repeat and there’s a…

How to Keep Trooping

As humans we like to fool ourselves. For instance, when climbing Florence’s Duomo you start to hear everyone say, “we’re almost there,” after we’ve climbed a hundred or two hundred steps. There are 463 steps. At the beginning this seems reasonable, but then you start to climb, the incline increases, the passages become smaller, and you realize this is a two-way street with barely enough room for…

All I Do is Win(e)

The food dreams continue to be a reality and I think I will have a horrible time adjusting back to the reality of Lowry food. So when I’m mulling over the “chocolate chip jalapeño bacon banana bread” in a few months I will remember these days with fondness (desperation). So many glasses of wine after all, so many glasses of wine… The life of a student in a Food Studies and Sustainability Program…