Taking Study Abroad a Step Further by Susan D’Inverno
Last week I went to Capraia, a fairly isolated island off the coast of Tuscany in order to participate in a sub aqua archeology project with a group of 7 italians including 2 archeologists, 2 mooring men, 2 firemen and 1 owner of a bakery (random, I know). As we boarded the ferry that was going to take us to the island, I couldn’t help but think how the heck did I get here? I was about to embark on a once in a lifetime experience that I would not ever have had the opportunity to do if I didn’t do an internship in Florence.
During the week I intern at the Museo Archeologico working with the scuba archeologist Doctor Gambogi. Since I graduated in art history and am itnterested in the museum world, I thought the internship would be an excellent opportunity to gain some work experience. The internship turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made. I get to do hands-on research in the library, see how the internal museum works and the best part, I get to go on field trips, which led me to Capraia. Now Capraia is probably best known for the ex-prison that was situated on top of the hills, which is now in ruins. It has a population of only 80 in the winter months, but it swells to the thousands during the tourist season.
During our mission on the island I got to participate in most things, I would never get to do in my life otherwise. I got to help drive the boat, get in the water and snorkel, hike to the other ancient sites as well as take notes on everything that was coming to the surface during the preliminary excavation (ancient ceramics from etruscan and roman shipwrecks). I was also with a great group, and every night we had a grand old time, eating the local fish and drinking wine, culminating in the last night when the town had a party for us, including lots of toasts and kareoke. It was an unfrogettable week for me, and something I will never be able to do again.
The point of this post is to let all the international students know how great an opportunity an internship would be here in Florence. It allows you to get to know the culture a step further and will give you another dimension in which to see Florence and Tuscany. I know I certainly will never forget my experience in Capraia and with Dr. Gambogi in general.