In May 2019, I spent a little more than two weeks in Calabria, Italy. I love to travel, but this trip was different than any trip I’ve taken before. That’s because this trip was organized by the Italian Diaspora Studies group, which is associated with the University of Calabria. The program included writing workshops for poetry and prose. It also included a book review and excursions to places that were relevant in the book. There were also other excursions to visit beautiful and historical places around the area. We had speakers, film, and tours as part of the workshop as well. We stayed in three different areas – Morano Calabro, Amendolara, and Cosenza. I will write more about those places at another time.

The experience of attending this workshop and participating in all the activities was incredible. I was on sensory overload most of the time. For starters, I was in beautiful Calabria. And yes, the food was wonderful. The countryside is breathtaking. The wine was delightful. Just as memorable are the people that I met and spent time with.

People from Italy of course, since that’s where we were. The other countries represented were the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Israel, Ghana, and Australia. We quickly formed a tight knit group. At the end of the first week, we were sad to see some of our group depart since they were attending only one week of the program. And then we were joined by a few new people during the second week and they integrated into the group quickly. I think we were so fortunate to have the group we did. I enjoyed getting to know each and every one of them. Some of us will remain friends for life.

These are people who laid bare their emotions along side of me. People who I laughed and cried with. People who shared my sense of awe and amazement at the beauty surrounding us. We walked this path together that has bound us in ways none of us could have known would happen before we met.

I’ve gathered some photographs of the people and wanted to share them with you.  I don’t think I have enough words to describe the people. I will let my photos speak for me.