US European Relations

Just for funProfessor D’Alimonte has come to be one of my favorite people I have met in Italy. He is the only surviving professor from when the La Pietra campus opened in 1994, and he is loved and admired by the other faculty as well as students. He is also a Professor at the University of Florence. He teaches History, Politics and Economics, and he teaches everyone as though it is the subject he specializes in. He always wears a navy blue sweater and he says that’s the way he likes it, he doesn’t want any flash to distract from what he is saying.

I take a course with him called US and European Relation Since WWII. There is no one better suited to teach a class on this subject. Although he was born and has lived most of his life in Italy, He went to a few years of school in American and ended up marrying an American woman before returning to Italy. He follows American news as carefully as if he lived there, and he is an Obama expert. He recently gave an amazing lecture series on the first 100 days of Obama where he brought up points and facts that I was completely unaware of.

Since the class is very small, he invited us all out to dinner. To make the meal more interesting, he invited a dozen of his Italian students as well. We had dinner at his country club, a members only affair farther across the Arno then I had ever been before. He staggered us so that we wee sandwiched between Italian students, and he welcomed us to switch back and forth between Italian and English.

The meal was a huge success. Although initially uncomfortable, a few bottles of wine helped everyone loosen up and we were soon describing our political views in poor Italian. The students were quit a bit older then us, Italian students graduate high school later and don’t go to college right away as often. It was the first experience I have had in Italy were I got to meet Italian students like me, interested in the same things, even with similar life goals.

I sat next to D’Alimonte during the meal. He looked over the table, so proud of his students struggling to explain their views on NATO in a foreign language. It was an experience I could not have had without him, and I really appreciate it.