Local identity, final blog.

Unfortunately it has come to an end. Such an amazing experience. This was such an amazing opportunity that we were all given and I'm so glad we all did. Econ 215, you will be missed! Italy has by far changed my views on life and has taught me many great things along the way. From learning how to be flexible with time to also getting places on time. As well as being open to many new ideas and to completely indulge into another culture I have never experienced before. Definitely a humbling study away program. 

Getting the chance to learn about the economics of the areas we went to was like a dream come true. Growing up I had always seen the history and the travel channels show Ancient Rome and walking through the streets of Venice. But to be able to actually be in these areas and to go to other places I had never even heard of before this, put me into shock. Having learned about so many different cultures and how the economics ties into all of them was fantastic. Actually getting the chance to be up close and personal with a lot of these economic projects was a great way to learn and really helped me understand how the economics played into it. 

Throughout our entire study abroad program we saw a lot of preservation of old buildings, artifacts, roads, terraces, etc. And in the last article that we presented on, we learned how preservation vs new technology can play a large role in the Abruzzo community. We all saw the damage that had been done to this region through many earthquakes, it was quite horrifying. And what was so amazing was the fact that a lot of this region had still not bounced back from the earthquakes and buildings were still in shambles. This was when the question of why don't the people in this region rebuild a lot faster but that's because they want to preserve the art and history here. To them preserving is more important and if they rebuild and find new infrastructure who's to say another earthquake won't hit again. A great example that we saw from this was going to a house where they were restoring old fresco paintings, the question of is it worth it to find all the pieces to the paintings, and who's interested in this. But to them it didn't matter they were doing what they wanted to do. It was amazing to see the dedication that these people had. Abruzzo was just one of our beautiful stops along the way and we could not be more happy that we were blessed with these opportunities, until next time Italy!

Bailey Takacs, Jackson Leech