News articles

Here are some sources you can use for your news articles search. Remember, you only need one article from any one country, so look into the news from the country which most interests you!

News of Malta: http://timesofmalta.com/core/index.php

News from France: http://www.french-news.com/index.htm

News from Italy:
This source can sometime help you: http://www.agi.it/english/news.pl?id=agionline-eng.oggitalia

News from the Vatican City: http://www.vatican.va/news_services/or/or_eng/
This is the official voice. The site will lead you to a PDF link.

While not a news source from a country we will actually visit, the BBC (British Broadcasting Company) covers news from all over Europe: http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Here is a news source with a name you’ll no doubt recognize: http://news.google.com/ You can find a lot of news articles from any country on this site.

CNN also has a European website: http://edition.cnn.com/EUROPE/

Uffizi update

One of our delegates found this interesting article about the Uffizi gallery on the Guardian Unlimited news website. If you find the Uffizi and/or archeology interesting, it is worth your viewing. Here is the link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1423795,00.html

New scavenger hunt

Here is our new scavenger hunt, centered on Florence Italy:

1. What is the “Uffizi?”
2. What is the Uffizi’s full name?
3.What is the address of the American Consulate in Florence?
4. If we were driving on the highway in Italy looking at road signs, and we were looking for directions to Florence, what should we be looking for on the signs?
5. Who painted “The Birth of Venus” on display at the Uffizi?
6. Rome is Italy’s capital today. Has Florence ever been the capital?
7. What river flows through Florence?
8. Who is/was Niccolo Machiavelli?
9. What is the Duomo?
10. What is the Ponte Vecchio?

Also, if you haven’t already done so, please visit People to People’s featured destination of the month site, as this month they feature Rome, one of our destination cities. Here is the link: http://www.studentambassadors.org/ambassadorgrams/featured%5Fdestination/

What to bring on the 27th?

Be sure to bring your completed journal entry. It will be returned to you at the March meeting, so you can get any feedback from us. Also bring your completed health form and your "extra set" of passport photos. As you may have guessed (if you find me predictable), there will be a scavenger hunt, which I'll post later this week.

Homework on the trip?

I've been asked if there will be a lot of homework on the trip. First of all, let me assure you we'll be very busy while away, and we'll be learning all the time; fun learning, no doubt, simply through experiencing all of the fun things we'll be able to do and see. So no, there won't be any time for 'homework.' There will be occasional journal writes so we can reflect and remember what we experience (yes, 'we', because I'll want to keep a journal so I can remember all of it, too!). These will usually be done while we have down time, for example during a bus ride from one town to the next. But you need not worry about homework. Remember, it is summer time for the teachers, too!

Journal entry number one

At our January meeting you recieved a journal assignment. In case you don't remember what it was you were to write about, we're reprinting it here:

Journal Entry #1 (one page or approximately 250 words)
Please address each of these three points:

1) The role of the Student Ambassador and what it means to you.
2) How a Student Ambassador should behave, and why. What does being “ambassadorial” mean?
3) What you learned about People to People, including how, why, and by whom it was founded.

In future journal entries, you will be writing about each of your orientation meetings, information about fund-raising activities, questions for delegation leaders, and any other information that you feel would be worthwhile in preparing for your travel.

February meeting

Our meeting this month will be at the Round Table Pizza in Tacoma, at 7901 S Hosmer St Tacoma, WA 98408-1101. Here is the link to a map of the location: http://maps.yahoo.com/pmaps?csz=Tacoma%2C+WA+98408-1101&state=WA&uzip=98408&ds=n&name=&desc=&ed=35q9F.p_0TqhoL2_vx1ba2P_zOPT.tACzvPY5jE1r9BmSWJ6SUYnFU60GMyG.JapGvnh.o2WDjILRiLOg1vMGtM.hqHtthLZ2gQ0cYL72KkUqtm8jg--&zoomin=yes&BFKey=&resize=s&mag=2&trf=0

For those of you who were at the Tacoma interviews, it is the same place, but a different (larger) room. As I announced at the last meeting, we'll meet Sunday, February 27, at 2:00. We'll finish the regular meeting at 4:00, but I encourage any of you who want to stay and practice French and/or Italian to do so; we'll finish by 4:30. Any families who want to get a pizza, I know Round Table would appreciate it.

This isn't an ideal location, but it is the best I could find. Does anybody know of a better location for our future meetings?