The men favor black leather jackets, the women short skirts and high heels, and everyone carries a cellular phone. It's the guy next to me, taking a call. The center's Americans enjoy their immersion in an unfamiliar culture, but find, here and there, bits of home. Murray announces that he's found a cheese shop that carries cheddar, important news if you're an American with a taste for burritos. He notes that the shop's owner sold him tonight's Stilton, but made him purchase some Italian cheeses to go with it.
Many students use their stay in Bologna as an opportunity for other travel in Europe.
In September, this crop of master's students will come to Washington for their second year of instruction. I'll be curious to see if the Europeans and other non-Americans respond to Washington as the Americans responded to Bologna. Some of them I'll recognize from the time I spent in their midst at the center.