Our Excellent Italian Roommates!

Posted by Janet Lawrence, Resident Director for CET Intensive Language and Culture Studies in Catania

Claudio De Leo:

(Claudio left, Sam right)

Claudio is 23 and comes from Messina. For his first few years of university, Claudio studied Economics at the University of Messina. He then moved to England for six months and worked in a bed and breakfast to improve his English. When he returned to Italy, he registered at the University of Catania where he studied Foreign Languages. This semester he is taking one course and working at Vodafone. He can’t wait to return to being a full-time student next semester. In his first week as an Italian Roommate, he spent a great deal of time with the American students. They played music and ate dinners together. He brought them on a trip to a shopping mall to find Sam the perfect Italian scarf. Now Sam and Claudio plan to travel Europe together over spring break.

Ivana Pulvirenti:

(Tess left, Ivana right)

Ivana is 23, comes from Catania and is interested in languages, history, and sociology. Last year, she spent a semester studying in Spain where she learned to love cultural exchange. So far, Ivana has been showing her new roommates around Catania. She has introduced them to the active night life, the delicious, homemade culinary inventions of her mother, and made up silly nicknames for everyone in the Residence – basically showing the Americans what la vita siciliana is all about.