My snazzy new school ID, courtesy of one of the four sets of passport photos I had taken in Argentina for various bureaucratic processes and then accumulated.
Today was the big day! And the sun was out. How glorious and polite of you, Mr. Sun. A good sign.
We all cruised into school (which, remember, is a castle) for a 10 AM meetup/ introductions galore. But before any of the fun stuff began, we had to sign a lot of papers so that we could get health insurance! How very Italy! Shortly thereafter, several mentions of how to check your scores from exams were made. I was like, “Exams? Really? We haven’t even met any professors yet? Ok…”
The next hour or so was spent on self-introductions. The who, what, where, when and why, if you will. Mysterious people who had not manifested themselves on our Master’s Facebook group were today revealed in real life.
Guess who went first because she was sitting closest to the front? That would be me.
It was so interesting to hear what brought my classmates to UNISG, what jobs they had left behind in pursuit of their gastronomic dreams and their potential plans for after graduation.
Some stats for you numbers people:
Average age: mid 20’s
Female to male ratio: 5 to 1 (really)
Bay Area (woohoo!) representatives: 3
Other countries of origin: Italy, USA, Colombia, Japan, Ecuador, Bermuda
After the self-intros, we headed down to the Tavole Accademiche for a casual 3-course lunch with pappa al pomodoro, roasted vegetables and vanilla gelato. Not your average dining hall.
And then in the afternoon, we got an overview of the history of Slow Food by former Slow Food Italia President Roberto Burdese.
For those of you who have not heard of Slow Food, it’s a eco-gastronomic nonprofit that was started in the mid 80’s by Carlo Petrini as a response to the arrival of McDonald’s (sigh) to Italy. Based on the principles “Good, Clean and Fair,” their programs, events and conferences support biodiversity, protect traditional food products and basically just help to form a network of people from all parts of the food chain and the globe. Bra is the world headquarters of Slow Food, so we had a visit from each of the different offices, including Slow Food Editore, the press which puts out guides for responsible eating, drinking and buying (how helpful of them). They also have a snazzy new app for all you world travelers out there called Slow Food Planet. Next time you’re in a new spot and need some noms or a drink or a good market, try it out.
Lots of firsts today and many more to come.
Note: I currently have no plans to pursue a PhD, so this is it, people. I did say that last August as well, but hey, there’s nothing like a spontaneous Google search to lead you to an Italian gastronomic adventure.
Aliment 