More to Italy than Pizza

Anna shares the real Italia with Alabama community
During International Education Week, I shared a bit of my culture with my American school. I started the activity by asking people in my class what they knew about Italy. The answers were pretty much the same: pizza, pasta, and Mamma Mia! So, to change their minds, I gave them a presentation about my culture.
I introduced myself in my native language and shared where in Italy I live. I also talked about my friends, school, and other facts about Italy. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised that everyone was paying attention. They were involved and curious.
After the presentation, we played a Kahoot! game about Italy, and they all did pretty well. After the game, I showed them a video about me and my experience here so far. Then, I showed them how to play a card game called Briscola.
I'm thankful that my program gave me the opportunity to share my country with my community here.
Then, I had them try some authentic Italian snacks that my mom sent me; they all said they were delicious and that I should bring more. Another thing that I shared with my class were recipes that my grandma uses for Christmas dishes. I was very happy to see that they were all taking notes!
Lastly, when I went home, I invited some of my friends over and cooked pasta al ragù and tiramisù for them. We all had a great evening—I even taught them a few phrases in Italian! I'm thankful that my program gave me the opportunity to share my country with my community here. Hopefully, they enjoyed it as much as I did.
—Anna (Italy), hosted by the Alred family (AL)