When junior Brandi Burton arrived in Italy, she was walking around in a cardigan and enjoying the sights and sounds of a new country, but within a few days she was forced to bundle up in layers upon layers due to a large amount of snow that began falling and has continued on and off ever since.
The AccuWeather website reported a normal winter in Europe would average about 5 to seven degrees Celsius (the low 40s in Fahrenheit) but this winter, Time reported that temperatures have plummeted down to 13F to 25F below normal.
The Greece, Florence and Paris programs have all had to deal with rapidly dropping temperatures, snow and cold wind, but that has not kept the students and faculty members from enjoying their time abroad
“Despite the cold temperature, I have loved the days that it has snowed, especially while in the city,” Burton said. “The graceful snow fall is just so beautiful while walking through the streets of Florence. It hasn’t put a damper on the daily adventures; it has just made them a different kind of experience.”
Sophomore Hannah Robison said that despite the abnormal weather in Greece, she was speechless with how beautiful the environment was. The weather has not stopped Robison from enjoying herself.
“We had to reschedule our trip to Marathon because of the cold,” Robison said. “Overall, nothing stops this group from experiencing everything, rain or shine.”
Junior Jessie Boyd, who is traveling with the Harding in Paris program, said that as the trip to the south of France continued, the temperature decreased significantly.
“It made exploring a little more difficult because it was too cold to go out at night,” Boyd said. “When we were in Avignon, the wind chill was -2 degrees. I was definitely not prepared for that. Despite the cold, we still saw as much as we could. I decided that I wasn’t going to let the weather stop me from seeing as much as I could.”
Assistant Professor of Communication, Dr. Jim Miller, who is traveling with the HUF program this semester, said that because of the cold temperatures and wind, walking around in Florence was brutal at times but that it has been well worth the inclement weather to spend time in Italy.
“It’s important for college students to understand that a bigger world exists outside of the one in which they live,” Miller said. “Many Harding students already know that because they have traveled abroad at some point in their life.”
