Internship: This week at my internship, my company had a big event centered around fundraising in the third sector. I spent the entire day helping my company rearrange the office, set up chairs and supplies, and practice their portions of the speeches. I sat with one of my coworkers while she practiced her entire portion of the talk. While I couldn’t understand anything she was saying she was grateful. I also worked on the monthly press review my company puts out that contains a slew of articles related to ESG, B Corps, sustainability, etc. I enjoyed this as I was able to read articles from the WSJ, Financial Times, and even some European news outlets that I wouldn’t normally have read.

 

Class: This week in virtual class we watched Erin Brockovich a film starring Julia Roberts about companies dumping waste. When I originally told my office about watching A Civil Action they all thought I was talking about Erin Brockovich which is apparently a very popular movie not only with my company but my coworkers said it’s popular among a lot of Italy. I also had time to work on my research paper with my group, I found some of the research I did to be very interesting, such as Elon Musk releasing files that proved that Twitter censored information that was “contrarian but true” because it didn’t fit the narrative of the White House.

 

Culture: For our last weekend the entire group got an Airbnb in the Tuscan countryside. It was a 20 minute ride outside of Florence and 22 of us were able to make it and it was so much fun. We bought a bunch of food and cooked dinner both nights and relaxed all weekend. On Sunday we spent the day in Florence wandering around and seeing the city for the last time on this trip. I was able to find a jeweler who was able to fix my silver necklace and he did it for free. I bought a nicely painted bottle of meloncello and a charcuterie board made out of olive wood for my parents. 

My necklace that my dad got in Florence 30 years ago and gave to me  broke so I brought it back to Florence and was able to get it fixed

I love ramen and miss having it back home so I went with some people this week to get some

The before shot of the 1.2 kg steak I got in Florence

The after shot…

Class:

This week in class we discussed the movie on Monday and … on Wednesday. We had a full class discussion about corporations and how they played a role in the movie and also real life. This discussion was very interesting as we discussed how common it is for corporations to conduct business that could harm the public without reservation for the damage they might be causing. This was further hammered into my head while reading the article about the working conditions of the suppliers Apple uses after they said they would look into them after a string of suicides at one of the factories of their suppliers.

Internship:

I had an interesting week, my boss is vacationing to the US in August and was applying for a visa. First, I didn’t know that a visa was required to vacation to the US for less than 90 days, I also learned how hard it can be to travel to the US. For example, the really easy Visa to get, ESTA, takes a day or two but has some restrictions. If you’ve traveled to a list of countries since 2011 you are ineligible for the specific type of Visa. Iran is one of those countries which is also a very popular tourist destination for Italians, hence more than half of my office having traveled there and thus being ineligible. I spent my entire Tuesday helping my boss navigate US government websites, figuring out how to schedule an appointment with the embassy, and helping her fill out visa applications which were largely in English. She was very appreciative but I didn’t know that traveling to the US was such a chore.

Culture:

I went to Florence this weekend and had the best time ever. Friday during the day we went to the Uffizi gallery, the Duomo bell tower, Duomo Baptistry, and the Plaza de Michelangelo.  Friday night we met up with Professor Gupta in Florence for dinner. I then met up with a really good friend from high school, and a student from Lehigh who grew up in Italy and the UK that is in my fraternity. We all got drinks together and I was very appreciative of both friends showing me around and having a good time. On Saturday we went inside the Duomo Cathedral which was breathtaking, just looking up at the mural on the ceiling for too long made me dizzy, we also went to the Boboli Garden where we laid in the grass and I think I fell asleep, being around that much green for the first time in a few weeks made me feel at home.

 

The mural on the dome of the inside of the Florence Duomo

The steak I got at dinner in Florence, it was amazing!

One of the many statues we saw at the Uffizi gallery, the detail in the statues from this age is astounding!

Class: This week in class we had a debate on Monday and watched a movie on Wednesday. I thought the debate was particularly interesting because it referred to a short document that many companies signed that summed up said: “We’ll do better for stakeholders and shareholders, we promise.” The debate was about whether the document was useless rhetoric or not and I believe it is. The document made very broad and loose promises. My only question is aren’t big and popular companies already doing everything promised because if they weren’t they wouldn’t be popular? The movie we watched starring John Travolta was about a case of two companies dumping waste into a town’s water supply which caused 8 kids to develop Leukemia and die. The movie is about John Travolta, Jan, suing the companies and trying to do justice for the kids. I thought it was a very interesting movie and enjoyed the watch but I thought it was weird how blatantly the companies were trying to cover it up while clearly knowing they were at fault.

 

Internship: I had a very slow week at my internship, they allowed me to work virtually on Friday so I could take an earlier train into Florence but the bulk of my work included writing post-work survey questions. For example, after my company finishes a philanthropy event with another company they do a debrief and will give the workers a short survey to fill out reflecting on Corporate Social Responsibility, sustainable development, and diversity equity and inclusion. This survey is only about 10 questions long and tries to only include simple facts to not overwhelm the participant. My boss also told me that she’s going on vacation to the US in August and asked me for restaurant recommendations on the west coast and things she should do so I was happy to give her some suggestions.

 

Culture: On Sunday I went to Venice and am going to Florence from Friday to Saturday. I plan on meeting up with a friend from high school in Florence, she’s been abroad there in a program similar to ours since the middle of May and she’s going to show the group of us going around a bit. Venice was beautiful, easily my favorite city so far. We actually had some trouble getting there because our train was stopped early due to a bomb threat at the main Venice train station. We were able to make it in the end and have a really good lunch, look around, do some shopping, and we had a great seafood dinner. I also saw a seagull kill and swallow a Pigeon whole. The seagull was the size of a cat, the biggest one I’ve ever seen.

 

Some sushi I got in Milan this week!

One of the canals in Venice, my favorite city so far!

Ian’s dinner on Sunday, the scampi were so hard to peel

This week in class we were given a set of questions based on our groups and asked to answer them and present them to the class. My groups questions related to work I was doing at my internship so I was able to pull information from my company and use that to help me further explain our answers. We also watched a film in class called “The Corporation.” The most interesting thing from this film was that it mainly focused on how bad corporations can be but the film was funded by some of the corporations being slandered which shows just how bad they want to make money that they will fund films slandering themselves because it appeals to the other side of the coin and now they’re pulling money from everyone.

My internship too me to Padua this week, it is a beautiful city and definitely mot one I would’ve been able to see if I didn’t go with them. My company does consulting and one of their services is assistance with planning philanthropy events with companies interest. We visited Padua to see the site of the event, company that hired mine, and the group they were brining along to help with an upcoming event in the middle of July. After the business stuff my boss took me on a walking tour of the city where I was able to see the town square and the Basilica of Saint Anthony, as well as other famous landmarks.

I did a lot of traveling this week. On Sunday I went to Lake Como where I was able to take a gondola ride to the top of the mountain and hike about a mile and a half up-hill to a lighthouse that overlooked the entire lake/valley. We arrived right at noon which is when all of the Church bells were ringing and they could all be heard at the top, it was one of the most magical things I’ve ever experienced, later that night Jimmy and I went to a pizza place recommended by his boss called Pizza e Mozzarella which was the best bite of pizza I have ever had. Next weekend I have plans to go to Florence and meet up with some friends from high school.

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My pizza from Pizza e Mozzarella

The view from the lighthouse at Lake Como

Inside the Basilica of Saint Anthony

Class: This week in class Professor Gupta asked me to present my Wall Street Journal Article about the Skittles Ban Bill in California. This prompted a small class discussion about certain governmental organizations that we have in the US such as the FDA and also about what power the State should have over certain restrictions that steps on the toes of the FDA. We also had two facilitated debates in class on Monday about two scenarios we were given. The more interesting one was about a woman who was scammed and then sued the bank saying they should’ve protected her more. It interesting to learn that the court ruled in favor of the bank and no the elderly woman.

Internship: I had a lot of fun at my internship this week. One thing I was tasked with was collecting news articles and helping with  assembly of their monthly press report about sustainability, B-Corp, etc. Since they just moved into a new office I also helped a lot with hanging art and pictures as well and looking for good lunch spots around the new office. One day I went to a supermarket with a few of my coworkers and they helped me speak to the butcher to get some meat for lunch. This week I also found out that I will be going on a day trip with my boss to Padua this upcoming Tuesday to attend a client meeting and she also told me Padua is where the Aperol Spritz was invented so we would try one there as well.

Milan:

This week in Milan I did a lot! On Sunday a few of us from the program took a 6am train to Monterosso in Cinque Terre which was so much fun. We spent the day on the beach then Me, Jon, Sam, and Jimmy went to a sea side restaurant where we had the best fish I’ve ever eaten. Monday night we went to all you can eat sushi with Professor Gupta which was a lot of fun and on Tuesday we went to see the Last Supper painted by Da Vinci which was really cool but also sad because it’s really starting to fade and wear down so I’m happy that I was able to see it before it deteriorates any further. On Friday we went to Verona which was one of the coolest cities I think I’ve ever been to, I would’ve loved to have a few more hours to explore!

This is a box of Macaroons that Emily and I bought in Verona

This is my current Postcard collection of where I’ve visited so far

This is one of the amazing views in Monterosso

1: This week in class was very interesting. We watched the second video back from Lehigh and then discussed our survey results from our last class. Our survey results were very interesting as a lot of our answers contradicted themselves, this interested me as it made me realize that we seem to be trained to respond certain ways to certain questions. For example, one question was about trusting corporations and the majority of us said that we don’t but we then responded and said that we don’t have a choice when it comes to buying from these corporations. This made me think about if we actually do trust them as we constantly give them money, support and data.

2: This week was the first two days of my internship. My first day was also my companies first day in their new office so the first thing I did was help them set-up. One younger lady paired up with me and we set-up the kitchen area together and talked about my experience in Milan so far and her experience working in New York for a few months, after we finished setting the kitchen up we all went out to lunch and my boss bought everyone lunch. I was given some work to do that included collecting data on foundations and grants as well as data about B-Corporations and assembling them for Tuesday. My company is looking into expanding into US based foundations and asked me to do the research.

 

3: This week I learned how to speak some Italian in the IES classes and was able to practice it on locals. I took 8 years of Spanish throughout Middle and High school as well as in college so at one point I was close to fluent. Italian and Spanish are very similar languages and I have a lot of trouble switching between the two. When I ordered at a restaurant it came out half in Spanish and half in Italian and the waitress laughed and told me that not only does she speak Spanish if I spoke like that almost everyone in Milan would be able to understand me. When we were in class practicing I was having a lot of trouble with questions in Italian as they’re also very similar in Spanish, I have had a few more half and half interactions so-far and each time they’re funny so I hope that trend continues.

This is a pasta dish I cooked, it came out very well!

This was my first meal in Milan, I couldn’t tell if I was just hungry after a 8 hour flight or it was really that good!

I’ve never been so taken aback by a building before in my entire life, the Duomo is amazing!

This is wall of Jasmine that I found in a back alley of the canal district, it smelled amazing and remined me of home!