Carlota Dorsi is a senior at CCAHS. Dorsi is from Italy. “In March when Italy had its first lockdown it was mass chaos. you were only allowed to go to the needed places, like stores to get food or medicine. When going out you had to wear a mask no matter what. During the summertime, things were more normal, but you still had to wear a mask everywhere. There were a few more lockdowns after that point. She likes it here in Iowa right now because there are fewer restrictions. “

The paramedic affected everyone and their families. The covid 19 pandemics affected her and her family. When they had the two or three lockdowns in Italy they had to stay in the same house, all together, for months. It’s something “I wasn’t very used to because my father usually worked outside and worked from home during the pandemic. Having my mom at home was also strange because after work I was always away from home. After all, I didn’t mind spending a little more time with them.”

One food that Dorsi thinks we should try from Italy is pizza. She says that the pizza here is good, but it is better to go back home. Something that Dorsi would like to teach everyone about her culture is. She would like to teach you something about the food, some recipes because Italian food is very good.  

Something that she found hard about moving from one culture to another is learning new customs and having to do what is normal for her and other foreign exchange students to the new living way of the culture they are in. 

School is different in all cultures. When you compare Italy to Iowa you can expect The school is very different, here you can choose the subjects you want to study, even if there are some mandatory ones, in Italy you can’t. There are different types of high schools and depending on the one you choose there are specific subjects (for example, Latin and Greek are studied in classical high school) but mainly we all study the same subjects. Another difference is that here the school is much more active, “I mean that many labs and more practical things are done here that we do not do. I really like school here.”

Teachers and staff are different from school to school. That is the same from country to country. Iowa and Italy are similar and different in the way students and teachers act.” I think teachers are very different, here it seems to me that they have a less formal relationship with students than my Italian professors usually have. As for the students, they are mostly the same, except that here you are freer to dress as you like, even with shorts or skirts, which we can’t do because we have a dress code.”

Dorsi would like to encourage new and upcoming foreign exchange students by saying,  she would like to tell them, don’t be afraid, be themselves. It will be a fantastic experience and you won’t regret it.