Ciao! My name is Diego, a student at the University of Washington
majoring in Computer Science. During spring quarter of my Junior year, I studied abroad in Italy
where I gave myself the opportunity to study something outside my comfort zone and truly lived
my best life. I participated in the Anthropology Rome: The Culture and Politics of Food in Italy
program led by Ann Anagnost with the assistance of Daphne, leaning about the slow food
movement and the importance of supporting local agricultural/farming efforts rather than
industrial farming. This program lasted from 03/30/2022 to 06/01/2022 and within that time I
experienced traveling across Italy from Florence, Amalfi coast, Pompei, Cinque Terre, Rome,
and smaller towns along the way allowing myself to connect to different Italian communities
through their gastronomy and different paces of life.
Coming from a Hispanic background I’ve always identified with a strong connection to
food, which inclined me to pursue this program. This program has offered a wonderful balance
of hands-on learning and lectures exploring different topics relating to every aspect of food and
farming, from production, manufacturing, to consumer and how all these pieces interact with
each other within the food system. Belonging to a stem major I stressed whether I’d be able to
jump into an anthropology focused class and complete all the work at the same quality as the
other students, but also whether I’d spent too much time sitting in front of my computer these last
three years in college to be able to appreciate all the architectural and artistic beauty Italy had to
offer. What I wanted to get out of this program was the opportunity to explore a new city with
people outside my major and reconnect in the process to the outside world. Although I love to
code! It can take a toll on your social life, and I can say some weeks I’ve spend more time
in front of my screen than interacting with people. Truth be told it’s been an uphill battle since
the beginning of the program, having to reintroduce myself to how the rest of the world
socializing, which has been a learning curve and adjustment. As my CSS students could support
me on this point, people skills aren’t meant to be strongest attribute and often in the program I
found myself wanting some alone time, which in hindsight is a good problem to have abroad,
because every day we were doing so many activities, which was great! Being confronted to new
and unexpected challenges is why I wanted to travel, and this program has had its share of both
which has been a great growing opportunity.
As Benjamin Franklin quoted “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember,
involve me and I learn,” and this UW Faculty led program has done nothing else but offered
students the opportunity to learn an array of diverse culinary techniques and how to make
tradition recipes from scratch. From learning to make bread, pizza, pasta, participating in wine
tastings, and learning the intricacies of preserving (spoiler! flash freezing) and cooking
freshwater fish. Coming from someone who already felt comfortable cooking almost anything,
learning to cook alongside others have been a real pleasure and humbling experience as I’ve
come to realized how many talented young chiefs there are at our age! What was most excited to
witness was everyone’s unique techniques and hidden tricks they had to share with everyone
when working in the kitchen. Personally, I was always impressed seeing how our guest chiefs
and instructors cut the ingredients or shared special technique making every cooking activity fun
to participate in. Our pasta making lab at a restaurant in Trevignano really gave me some
valuable techniques to take back home and teach friends and family when making pasta from
scratch. That day one of my professors showed us how to make four different types of pastas:
orecchiette, tonnarelli, gnocchi, and ravioli. Although before the program I’d never had gnocchi it has quickly become one of my favorite pastas and I learned how important it is to use older
potatoes when making them and to let them sit after being cooked to allow for the moister to
evaporate. That day we all ate too much pasta and I felt like I was in a food coma for a couple
hours but what a way to spend an evening!
As the program nears its end, I look back at where I started and how far I’ve come in
these 10 weeks. From my first day in Rome not knowing how to navigate the city to soon
becoming a city mouse, walking its streets at 3 am and understanding their transit system down
to a science. I get the hype! I really do and why so many people are obsessed with this country
because everywhere you look its beauty, history, and food! Towards later in the program
transitioning to a country mouse moving out of Rome to Trevignano, an enchanting small town
next to a lake to learn and visit firsthand Italy’s countryside, Vineyards, and farms (bees and
agricultural) for the last part of our program! The memories and friends I’ve made here I’ll keep
with me for a long time, and I hope to continue practicing and perfecting the culinary skills I’ve
picked up here.
Italy for all it’s great history and art doesn’t have the diverse food and culture scene I’ve
taken for granted back home. It was very challenging finding a non-Italian restaurant when
you’ve had enough pasta and pizza, which in comparison to the United States is a big culture
shock as it would seems we have every type of cuisine at our doorstep. This being said, It’s very
noticeable how divided Italians are with their native immigrant population, and it almost feels
like they’ve rejected any effort to incorporate or open their doors and letting them set up stores in
their city centers. Now I understand Italy relies heavily of tourist foot traffic and having non-
Italian restaurants and stores in their touristy cities could ruin the romanticized Italy, tourist
come to see and expect to experience. In doing this I also feel like generational Italians
subconsciously develop a mild prejudice again anything that isn’t Italian, which shows the
importance of having an open mind and accepting new cultures openly. I know that I’ve become
more open minded and compassionate on this trip seeing how people live differently than I do.
Overall, I’d say this experience has showed me how adaptable I can be and how any challenge
no matter how big can be overcome, but if I had to do anything differently I would have liked to
do one solo trip and stay at a hostel to experience what it’s like traveling alone and better
practice my Italian.
Ciao!
Diego G.
