Misericordia di Firenze

Taking a semester off of science and pre-physical therapy courses to finish my other college requirements, it never crossed my mind that I would miss four hour labs and anatomy tests. Boy, was I wrong. After having to rack my brain on how to write a literary analysis on something written in the 1700s (I haven't done that since high school!), I realized it was time to get back to my roots. Lorenzo di Medici does not offer any science courses but API recently set up a volunteer program with Misericordia di Firenze. Misericordia is the volunteer based emergency and assistance service for Florence and its surrounding towns. Italy's government only reimburses Misericordia for gas usage, so all the emts and other people helping out all do so on there own time. I am writing this during my third week of volunteering here, and I can honestly say it is the most rewarding thing I have done in Italy so far.

The first week was daunting, but I stuck with it and showed up smiling and ready for a new experience for the second week. As I pulled on my bright orange jumpsuit I just had a feeling it was going to be a better day, I was completely right. We wait in the lobby for somebody to call in needing assistance, usually I spend this time catching up on the news on my phone, but that day I was blessed with meeting the wonderful Vincenzo. His warm smile and patience with my slowly improving Italian made a world of difference. We spent the whole ride talking about his favorite places to go in Italy and his suggestions on where a student would enjoy exploring around Tuscany. That day left me in awe of the amazing people you can meet everyday. He had served Florence for 40 years enforcing the law and was now guiding his daughter to become a captain for the Italian police force, and still has time to volunteer and help the people in need around Florence. His inspiring character encouraged me to continue volunteering with Misericordia.

The first two weeks my volunteering was solely involved with the servizi sociali (social services). This entails picking people up from treatment centers and bringing them home and vice-versa. But as Florence is a very small city there is not much room for hospitals and care homes, so this means driving to the outskirts and surrounding towns to assist these people. The first week we went up past Fiesole a hilltop town that overlooks Florence, from here we went through minuscule winding roads that would open up and produce the most beautiful views. The second week we spent more time driving closer to Florence which was interesting because it really illustrated how difficult it is to drive in Italy. I always thought driving in Boston was confusing, but wow it is nothing compared to Italy. The streets are so small, just barely wide enough to fit one car and all one-way, making it near impossible to navigate. Going somewhere that is a five minute walk for me turns into a fifteen minute drive because you have to circle around about 18 different streets to get anywhere. You can definitely tell that Florence is an ancient city because its streets are nowhere near automobile friendly but I would've never known that without zipping around in a Misericordia shuttle.

Today was a bit a of twist. As I said before it was mostly picking people up and bringing them home or to a care center, today I got to assist in a medical transport! Since I am still a student I just help carry the patients and open doors and what not, but since it was a transport I got to go into the hospital which was so cool! I have never been in a foreign hospital so it was really interesting to me to see how it differed from the US. Mostly it was interesting to see how much technology we have and rely on in the States for our hospitals and here that seemed to be less prevalent, but there were definitely more caregivers and doctors present.

Being inside the hospital gave me another insight to Italian culture that I would have never seen normally. Spending time with Misericordia I find myself understanding Florentines and their laid back lifestyle on a much more personal level. I've come to realize and appreciate that my weekly volunteer hours are my weekly direct cultural lessons.