Ciao a tutt*! 

It is hard to believe that it is finals week and I will be leaving in a few days. I will miss Bologna but I am also excited to see my dog. 

For my work with the Paulson Initiative, I worked with two groups, Legambiente and the Italian-Ukrainian association. With Legambiente, I attended monthly meetings and helped maintain their community garden (it was so lovely to see the change in the garden from February to May!). These meetings were a great way to practice Italian and to meet other people in Bologna, and more often than not the meeting switched from climate change to socializing after ten minutes. Working with Legambiente helped me feel more integrated into the bolognese community. 

I also worked with the Bologna branch of the Italy-Ukraine association, and it is with them that I did my final project. We organized a day to make vynok, a traditional flower crown. We made a list of flowers and their meanings and had a combination of fake flowers and real ones. Overall it was a success and really fun to talk to Italians and Ukrainians about flower meanings and their importance in Ukrainian culture (and encourage people to go to the Legambiente community garden and start their own gardens). Other events I helped with included easter egg painting and dinner-fundraisers. 

I definitely believe that working with the bolognese community helped my time in Bologna and helped me feel more integrated with the city.