Week 2 Update: Dynamo Camp, Cinque Terre, and Pisa!

Clinic: 

This was our second (and final) week at Prosperius, the outpatient clinic we were set up at while our main clinic was down to bare-bones for Italian holiday. We continued to learn Italian phrases that would help us in the clinic and were able to work hands-on with the patients. However, because it it August and pretty much everyone in Italy goes on vacation in August, the patient load was very low which lead to lots of down time. We still had a great time at the clinic and the free time allowed us to get used to being in another country before jumping right in to a busy facility. Lorenzo (our CI) and all of the other PTs were incredibly nice and patient with us as we learned Italian!

~Me, Lorenzo, and Janet on our last day~

Dynamo Camp:

Wednesday, Janet and I were able to go visit Dynamo Camp, a camp for children with special needs who are unable to attend a regular summer camp! I. Love. This. Place. 

~Dynamo Camp~

Kids are able to go to the camp for free and the entire campus is amazing and brand new looking! We spent the morning in the pool with a group of the older kids - first they performed three dances in the pool in an X-Factor-like competition and we were dressed up in costumes and acted as the judges. 

~X Factor Judges~

~Reporting for duty~ 

~The entire campus is gorgeous~

After that, we just played in the pool with the kids until it was time for lunch. Lunch was amazing - it was family-style bowls of delicious pasta and veggies, and we each got an entire ball of mozzarella - my kind of meal! After lunch, we went and toured a long term living facility near the camp and met some other American PT students working at that clinic. When we returned to Dynamo Camp later in the day, we got a full tour of the facilities - a theater for drama lesson, pottery studio, ropes course, rock climbing wall, archery, pool, and a barn with horses, donkeys, and goats. Even though we did nothing PT related at the camp, it was one of my favorite days so far! The entire staff was so incredibly nice and the facility was just amazing! Janet and I decided we just want to live at Dynamo. :)

~Goat!~

~More campus~

Cinque Terre:

~Leaving Monterosso~

One of the places I was most excited to go in Italy was Cinque Terre for the hiking and amazing views - and it did not disappoint (though my legs disagree this week after all the stairs!!) My dad had another trip to Italy and this time my brother, Scott, joined him. We all met in Cinque Terre on Friday (after an eventful first Italian train ride - including missing our train) - by the time we got there, we just got dinner and gelato and walked around the town we were staying in that night - Monterosso.  The next morning, we got up and had breakfast at the hotel then were off on our hike to Vernazza. The hike took 2 hours with frequent rest and picture stops, including some of the most amazing views!!

~Stunning views the entire hike~

When we got to Vernazza, we stopped for lunch and then dad and Scott had to catch the train to Milan for their flight home. Janet and I spent a little more time in Vernazza to get in the water and cool off some! 

~Lunch~

~Cooling off before hike #2~

Then the two of us were off on our hike to the third town, Corniglia. This hike was much more difficult because it was steeper hills, more stairs, and much hotter now that it was midday! We took a lot of rest breaks and finally somehow made it to the end! 

~And then there were two...~

The hikes from Corniglia to Manarola and from Manarola to Riomaggiore were closed due to unsafe conditions (not that we had any energy left to even attempt these hikes) so we took the train straight from Cornelia to Riomaggiore where our hostel was for the night. It was our first night staying in a hostel and were a little nervous about the accommodations but the place was nice and had a great view from the balcony! The one negative about this place was we had to climb 245 stairs from the main street to get to the room which was quite difficult after how many stairs and miles our legs had taken us that day. (Also, having never stayed in a hostel before, we didn't know it was common knowledge that bath towels are often not included!! Oops...) We met a nice girl from Germany staying in our room and got gelato that night and breakfast the next morning with her! Overall, our first hostel experience was definitely better than expected.

~View from our hostel balcony~

Pisa:

~If you go to Pisa and don't take this picture, did you really go?~

After missing our nonstop train to Cinque Terre on Friday and needing to transfer trains in Pisa to get there that night, we got the idea to stop in Pisa on our way home Sunday! Everyone told us that we really only needed an hour or so in Pisa - "it's just a small town, the only thing in it is the leaning tower." So we assumed that the tower would be really close to the train station and we could just walk out of the station, check out the tower, take some pics, and be on our merry way. Wrong. First, my makeup bag fell out of my bag/got stolen on the train from Cinque Terre to Pisa, so when we passed a make-up store while looking for the tower, we made a pit stop in there for a bit. Then, everyone we asked for directions pointed us in a direction and said we were about 15 minutes away from the tower... about an hour later, just before giving up and going home, we FINALLY found the tower - note to self and anyone else planning to visit Pisa - this is not something you want to walk to, especially the day after hiking half of Cinque Terre! The tower was great and we got all of our stereotypical tourist pictures then promptly asked someone where to catch the bus back to the train station because we were not about to do that walk again! After the 3 hour "quick pit stop," we were finally back on a train headed home, completely exhausted!

Home:

After an eventful and jam-packed weekend of travel, we were very glad to be home! I love all of the travel we've done and getting to see different parts of Italy, but there is something about San Casciano that is just very inviting and it really does feel like home now! We got home just in time for me to walk across the street to the park and watch the sunset - my new favorite part of the day!

~Sunset in San Casciano~

We started work at our new facility on Monday and it is great!! But I'll talk more about that in my next post this weekend! We don't have any travel plans for this weekend yet - just planning to stay around town and rest up some after two big travel weekends!

Ciao for now!

Week 1 Update!

This first week flew by so fast, I don't even remember which day was which! So I'm going split this up by category rather than by day! :)

San Casciano:

I continue to fall more and more in love with our little town. Every time I go out for a walk, I find something else amazing! On a walk one day, Janet and I found rosemary, lavender, blackberries, mint, and figs! We definitely took samples of each and now I'm trying to figure out new ways to use them! We've been here long enough that now when we are out exploring Florence or even Venice, I find myself missing our quaint little San Casciano (though I enjoy those busy tourist areas in a completely different way!) My favorite part of the day has become when I go sit on the outermost corner of the park across the street looking out over the town at sunset. It's so gorgeous!

~Side street near us~

~San Casciano at sunset!~

~Exploring~

~Rosemary Garlic Olive Oil!~

Clinic:
We had a great first week at Prosperius, our clinic for the first two weeks! Everyone there is so nice and has been extremely patient with our constant "how do you say ______?" Our CI speaks english very well, so he has helped us with our italian a good bit. Many of the patients and most of the other PTs at the clinic speak at least some english which has made conversation much easier. We are trying our hardest to learn, but we are currently only really able to say a few key words and phrases and use a lot of non-verbal communication!
As far as the actual physical therapy, it is very different from what we are used to in the US. The PTs here receive their degree in much less time and then have to spend their own time and money to take additional courses to learn many of the techniques that we learn in the DPT program in the US. Because of this, they have been very lenient with us. Day 1 we had our hands on patients doing joint mobs, PROM, and leading exercises. Our CI, Lorenzo, is always open to our ideas of what we would want to add to a patient's plan of care. 
Another big difference between here and clinics in the US is that they don't document in Italy. Documentation takes a good portion of your day in clinic at home and you have to come early or stay late to finish them. Here, the PTs aren't required to write any notes at all. The PTs also don't do the initial PT evaluation. A specialized doctor in the clinic does the initial eval then sends the PT a generalized plan of care (exercise, pool, massage, modality, etc) that the PT works within. It has been interesting to see the differences from an outpatient clinic in the US, which I just finished in July, to an outpatient clinic here. However, I am excited to get to our official clinical location next week when everyone gets back from the big Italian vacation month, August. I am still not entirely sure what kind of clinic it is, it seems to mix ortho with neuro with skilled nursing facility, but I'm definitely excited to try out a new setting! 

~Day 1 at Prosperius~

~The kitty that lives next door comes over to visit the clinic!~

~Playing with a new modality, Tecar~

Florence:

Thursday and Friday, we finally took some time to explore Florence! We went out with some of the guys at our clinic on Thursday - we were told to meet our CI at 5:30 and he would show us around some then we would get dinner at 6:30. Once we met up with him, we ended up walking around with him, another PT and one of the doctors from the clinic until around 8! We were starving by the time we got to the restaurant!! But the meal was amazing! We went to a place for aperitivo, where italians go to a restaurant around 6-8 and you pay one price (about 10 euros) for a drink and a buffet of "snacks." Each restaurant has a different amount/type of food, but at the place we went, the "snacks" were plenty for a full dinner! 

Friday, we met up with a girl named Nichole who is from the US but has been living and working in Florence for 1 1/2 years. My mom sat next to her dad on the flight home from Italy and they found out that each of them had a daughter here and exchanged info. We met up with her right after work on Friday for lunch and she ended up taking us all around Florence and telling us all about the area. We started at a prosciuttoria with meat hanging all over the ceiling. Not my normal scene.... But we ordered a snack platter that was full of delicious cheeses, grilled veggies, and eggplant spread (...and prosciutto). We all split a bottle of wine and it was a perfect meal. The rest of the day we just wandered as she told us facts about the city and gave us ideas for other things to do while we're here. We ended up staying in Florence until around 8 and ended the night splitting another bottle of wine in a piazza! Perfect Friday night!

Venice:

Dad had a trip to Venice with a 48 hour layover (he's a pilot for Delta) this weekend so Janet and I went to meet him there on Saturday! After a 5 hour drive full of traffic, we finally made it there around 4:30pm. We threw our stuff in the hotel and were off to the city! Dad has been multiple times before, so he knew exactly what sights to take us to! My favorite part was going up to the top of the tower in St. Marco's square for the panoramic view and wandering the beautiful side streets off the beaten path! We ended the night at a rooftop bar with a great view and fancy drinks - Janet's came with a lemon on fire and mine came with an entire fruit basket on top... Perfect! The next day we went and saw the rest of the sights and ate some more delicious food! It was a great trip and we can't believe how much we fit into just 24 hours in Venice!

Dad brought us a bag of American treats including trail mix, KIND bars, and ICE CUBE TRAYS!! (The biggest thing I have struggled with here is lack of ice!!)

~Lemon drop martini~

~Prosecco Pick Me Up~

~Dad brought American treats!~

~Top of the tower~

~Janet accidentally dressed like the Gondola men~

~Eggplant pizza~

~Favorite picture!~ 

Overall, we've had a great time so far on this adventure and are excited for the next 9 weeks! This is our last week at Prosperius clinic and we will also be helping out at a camp for kids with disabilities this week so that will be a great experience! This weekend, we are headed to Cinque Terre (possibly meeting up with my dad and brother). Stay tuned for more updates!

Ciao for now! 
~Haley