Radford University Study Abroad Program
Dr. Jolanta Wawrzycka
European Literary Trails
Bliss Mulligan's Web Site 2003
English 314
In all honesty, when I first signed up and became interested in the European Literary Trails Program, I was for the most part just interested in traveling to Ireland and Italy. I really had no idea about what the trip would entail or what would be expected as far as the curriculum, I just knew that I had to go. I also knew that my parents would probably be more apt to send me since in was a "literary" and therefore "academic" trip, one that would not be available to me again. Once I had convinced my parents that I needed to experience Europe from a literary perspective (although my dad was still not convinced that the trip would educate me on anything besides how to party European style), I began to wonder what the trip was really all about.
In preparation for the trip there were several mandatory meetings with our professor, Dr. W. Wawrzycka, where we began to learn all that was expected of us. We would be taking along books of W.B. Yeats' poetry as well as The Dubliners by James Joyce. As we were traveling around Ireland we would be studying Yeats and Joyce and visiting places that had inspired their many works. While in Italy we would be studying Dante and learning about the Renaissance.
Before the trip I had never really read Yeats (not that I remembered anyway), but I had read Joyce's A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man and a portion of The Dubliners. Once we were in Ireland and began to visit all of the places we had heard about and were able to connect the places with the different works of the authors, it was so cool. The works of the authors had so much more meaning and I found that I did not mind reading the poetry of W.B. Yeats or James Joyce's stories from The Dubliners. I actually found myself wanting to read more and learn more about the lives of these authors. For two weeks we were immersed in Yeats and Joyce, but I learned so much more than what I ever anticipated learning. I do have to admit that after spending all day, everyday with Yeats and Joyce I was ready for a break and more than happy to move on to the nice WARM weather of Italy.
Italy was exciting for all of us because we were finally heading to a warm climate where we could pack away our wool scarves and socks and also because we would be learning all about a new culture. None of us could really speak any Italian (though we did all give it an honest effort), but we were dying for some food other than brown bread and soup (by the way, "soup of the day" was potato and lentil soup for two weeks straight in all of Ireland), and would go to any length to get pizza and gelato. Our stay in Italy consisted mainly of exploring Florence at our leisure and absorbing the culture. We were all disappointed (though not as much as Jolanta) when we discovered that Dante's house was being renovated and therefore was not open to visitors. I was easily able to fill each day visiting museums, looking at duomo, and walking the city and still did not manage to see everything that Florence had to offer.
I think that after my travels my parents are now totally convinced that this trip was educational and was not just an excuse to go over to Europe and party for a month. I am planning on returning to Europe after I graduate and living in either Italy or Spain for awhile.
Bliss Mulligan