IPSL in Siena
After the airport pick-up, students all travel from Rome to the orientation site which might be in Rome, Pisa, the Tuscan Coastal Region. During Orientation, students will get to know each other, learn about many program details including: Italian host families, program excursions and activities, service sites and agencies, as well as courses and general program structure.
Following Orientation, students travel to Siena to meet their host families. The following day is Siena Orientation, including tours of the city, program facilities, and service agencies.
The first three weeks include an Intensive Italian Course as well as an immediate introduction to the various service sites. The standard semester includes 15-20 hours a week of service in various agencies in and around the city of Siena. This might include teaching English in the elementary schools, volunteer ambulance service, volunteering in the hospitalŐs virology lab, working with the elderly or organic farming with a local organization that employs disadvantaged citizens. In addition to service, the academic component during the semester includes the following courses: Italian Language, Socio-Anthropology and Reflective Writing. Students will also participate in a variety of program excursions and activities including: hiking trips, day-trips to Florence, tour of nearby Tuscan hill towns, Tuscan cooking lessons, visits to various museums in Siena, tour of the Bottini (galleries that run under the city of Siena), a weekend excursion to a chosen location such as, Bologna and Modena, Pisa and Lucca, Padova and Mantova, etc. Each semester concludes with final exams and projects as well as a final dinner, when students will have the opportunity to exchange their final farewells.
