• A Transforming Experience

• Social Service

• Outdoor Adventures

• Cultural Excursions

• Living Accommodations

• Language Learning

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Lingering and learning in the most perfectly preserved medieval city in Italy

Siena’s history dates back 2000 years. At one time Siena was the capital of Tuscany. For nearly 500 years, between 1250 and 1700, the city was a major center for art and commerce.

Radiating out from the Campo, Siena’s fan-shaped central plaza, are the 17 contradas (neighborhoods) of the city. Loyalty to one’s contrada runs deep in Siena.

The tight contrada political structure and the close social relationships in each of these neighborhoods make Siena an especially safe city.

An hour south of Florence and just 2.5 hours north of Rome, this beloved city (pop. 59,000) in the center of Tuscany is large enough to be fascinating yet small enough to be almost immediately comprehensible.

As a guidebook suggests, "Siena has the psychology of a village and the grandeur of a nation".

The narrow, winding alleyways, car-free pedestrian streets, rich history, art and architectural beauty make Siena the favorite Italian city of many visitors and an ideal place for young people to sojourn.

Social Service
Because one becomes part of a community by contributing to it, social service is an important component of Siena Sojourn. Getting to know the townspeople of Siena intimately – by assisting a blind person, playing with orphaned children, helping an elderly couple with shopping or gardening – one gets a sense of belonging in Siena. Serving others in such ways presents learning opportunities beyond anything in conventional "study abroad" programs. Assuming an appropriate internship furthers individual interests and imparts new skills. And all are pleasant ways to practice speaking Italian!

Cultural Excursions
Acquiring cultural sophistication is an engaging activity for Siena Sojourn participants. Because Siena is a veritable museum, sojourners absorb its fascinating history just by living there. Sojourning in Siena provides time to frequent the city’s museums, old palazzos and churches, as well as time to linger in its cafes to appreciate il dolce far niente of present day Siena.

Venturing beyond Siena’s encircling walls on weekends, we explore the rural surroundings of la bella Italia. Especially the charming hill towns (Cortona, Montereggioni, Montalcino, Montepulciano, Pienza, San Gimingiano, Volterra) and their romantic ruins, old churches, monasteries, piazze and open-air markets.

Intermittent weekend excursions include visits to notable cultural destinations – Florence, Venice, Pisa, Verona, Rome, etc. Visits are timed to coincide with major festivities – Spoleto’s world famous music festival, the Carnevale in Venice, Easter in Assisi or Rome. There is so much to explore and discover.

Living Accommodations
The ideal way to learn about Italian life and language is to live with an Italian family. The low-keyed Sienese affability makes easing into a Sienese family a pleasant experience. These carefully selected families provide an intimate taste of Italy, of Siena and of their local contrada. Apartment living can also be arranged. One’s souvenir Palio scarf gradually becomes a prized possession!

The Resident Director of Siena Sojourn meets participants when they arrive, introduces them to their families and visits the homes regularly to be sure that sorjourners have settled in comfortably.

A Transforming Experience
Sojourning in a new and different culture abroad, especially in one so historically and aesthetically rich, is an ideal "time-out" experience. It provides an incomparable opportunity for personal growth.

It broadens perspective, deepens awareness and heightens compassion. Ironically but inevitably, it also provides oblique, provocative insights into one’s own culture. There is, however, a vast difference between a mere experience and a learning experience, one that is truly transforming.

Siena Sojourn includes an extraordinary level of support, a varied program of enriching activities and on-site mentoring.

Customarily a 12, 10 or 6 week experience (fall, winter & spring, and summer), Siena Sojourn operates year-round so individualized stays can also be arranged. College credit is available.

Outdoor Adventures
Italy is celebrated for its beautiful scenery: Lofty mountains, rolling hills, dramatic coastlines and views and sunsets that touch one’s heart. Together we explore Italy al fresco in various ways – bicycling on the back roads of Tuscany, horseback riding in the nearby Val de Chiana; skiing on Mt. Amiata an hour south of Siena, swimming in the Mediterranean an hour to the west. And on casual walking excursions in the lovely, surrounding countryside and longer hikes through Cinque Terre on the Ligurian coast, or north of Assisi in the footsteps of St. Francis.

Supplementary Activities
In addition to language study, homestay involvement, outdoor activities, travel experiences, and social service, there are numerous activities for sojourners in Siena: concerts, lectures, exhibitions. Naturally we enjoy the conviviality of the cafes, the buzz of the piazza during the evening passegiata, the excitement of local sporting events, the gelati shops, and varied indigenous Sienese festivities. Of course, there are movie theaters in Siena, with American films dubbed...for our benefit?...in Italian! (On Tuesdays the films are in English.)

At the Siena Sojourn‘s Centro, conveniently located within the city walls, there are numerous ongoing activities: cooking classes, weekly communal dinners, an Italian film series, and evening gatherings with distinguished visitors. An engaging activity at the Centro is a writing seminar, and participants are encouraged to keep journals. Those who want to can become really competent writers. Private lessons can be arranged for serious musicians and artists.

Language Learning
Few languages are as melodious as Italian. Small, daily Italian language classes emphasize conversation skills, augmenting the language learning which occurs quickly in a homestay situation. Supplementary private Italian language tutorials guarantee that each sojourner makes steady progress in learning Italian.

Those who have previously found "studying" a language to be discouraging find that learning a language by living it – acquiring it experientially – is painless. As Mark Twain noted, returning from Europe, even the little children abroad speak the foreign language! Within three months, Siena Sojourn participants will be speaking Italian. Those who have studied Spanish find Italian delightfully familiar!