A L U M N I M A G A Z I N E - Colby-Sawyer College

ackground is sometimes helpful,
they wish they knew more Italian.
“We’re so stuck within our group
and want to venture out so badly,”
says Paige, and Amanda adds, “We’ve
tried to talk to Italians and it just
ends in laughing fits because no one
knows what anyone’s saying.”
In the market, though, no one
laughs at them. Paige and Amanda
make a beeline for their favorite
cheese vendor, a man who beams
at them from behind the counter r
and calls them “bellissima.” Over the
shouts and hum of the market, he
talks to them like a father who hasn’t
seen his daughters for too long and
gives them slices of bread generously y
Strasbourg, France. The Cathedral of Our
Lady of Strasbourg was the world’s tallest
building from 1647 to 1874.
Just walking around
Strasbourg, it’s beautiful.
I like the program; the
idea of going across the
sea to study is a brilliant
idea, and it’s definitely
something that’s going to
be useful later on in life.
– Miles Wylie, Mass.
smeared with ricotta cheese and topped pped with salami to try try.
Against a backdrop of unpackaged meats piled high in a display
never seen in American supermarkets, he patiently waits
while the girls consider their options, ruling out cheeses they
have already tried and choosing new tastes. He gives them their
cheese with a smile, and they move on to a fruit vendor.
Selecting apples, Paige and Amanda talk more about the
group dynamics of the Global Beginnings Program. The 12
women are split into two apartments, and the five men share
one. While incredibly bonded and supportive of each other
overall, the students live together, eat together, and take all
the same classes together at the learning center located a few
minutes walk from the apartments. The men seem fine, and the
women in one apartment are getting along well, but the others
are still negotiating the challenges of group living.
“We were talking about this last night,” says Amanda. “We
spend all our time together and should be going out every night
to meet people. But, at the same time, we’re taking six classes,
so I think that’s part of it—we get a lot of work so that pulls
us down. n. I just
love it here ere too much to
have enough ough time to see everything I
would like to. Everywhere we go, I love.”
Oh, to be able to clone yourself like Michelangelo’s statue
of David, versions of which overlook the city from Piazza
Michelangelo, guard the Palazzo Vecchio, and stand in the
Galleria Academia. To have three selves in Florence would be
almost enough. Almost.
SETTLING INTO STRASBOURG
On the fourth floor hallway of the Château de Pourtalès, tucked
under the eaves of the 300-year old palace, Elise Nichols from
Wilton, N.H., has found a quiet corner for working on her
laptop. The ring of a telephone interrupts her and she clicks on
the Skype icon on the computer screen—her mom is calling.
Photos (Left to right):
Alex Greenlee of Maryland
and Alisa Slater of Azerbaijan
pause on the latest version of
the Ponte alle Grazie, rebuilt
after World War II bombing.
Professor Uberer explains
Renaissance architecture.
Amanda Martin and Paige
Estabrooks select cheese at
the market.
Grand Duke Cosimo I
de’ Medici commissioned
the interior painting of
the Duomo, which was
completed in 1579.
Students relax on their
courtyard balconies.
WINTER 2010 41