For the first week of class, we watched a documentary on Adam Smith and took a field trip to Circularity, a business in Milan. The documentary discussed Adam Smith’s most famous novels “The Wealth of Nations” and “The Theory of Mortal Sentiments”, and how they were applied/have shaped society today. I think it is really interesting to see how much Smith has had a lasting impact on society, culture, economies, and businesses. On the field trip, we learned what Circularity is (an economy that runs from production to use to recycling). I have only been in Milan for five days, but I can already see how much the city cares about the planet’s health. They are very environmentally conscious, I have run into several accounts where corrections were made to someone about what to do with plastic, or what gets recycled. As an example, yesterday I was at a cafe. One of my classmates threw out their plastic water bottle. An employee from the bar took the bottle out of the trash and made sure the barista across the counter put it in the recycling bin. This sort of transaction would not take place in the US. 

 

This week I started my internship on Thursday. I am working for an NGO called Alice for Children. They mainly support children, women, and families in the Nairobi slums (Kenya). The organization has been running since 2006, and they have started many projects such as long-distance adoption, culinary school (college), primary school programs, secondary school programs, a school of music, daycare facilities for mothers to have the opportunity to continue their education, and much more that I have yet to learn about. Today (Friday) was World Menstrual Hygiene Day. Alice for Children was given a table at the festival in Milan celebrating this day, and I got to help out! We raised awareness and money that will be used to provide young girls in Nairobi with menstrual products.

 

For the first week of Milan, I tried my hardest to a: defeat my jetlag, and b: be able to get around the city’s public transportation system without getting completely lost. While I still walk the wrong way down the street sometimes, I have pretty much figured out the Metro system, and I know how to get from the Aparto to my internship office to Professor Gupta’s class 🙂. I still think it is unreal that I have to walk across the Duomo on my route to the office. Our class had two Italian survival lessons this week where we had the opportunity to learn some basic Italian. After these classes, I have been attempting to communicate when I can in Italian, and can confidently order breakfast in cafes!