Students on the program live with Italian families, learning as much from the experience as they do from their course work. Given that Catania is not a typical tourist destination, the people of the city embrace visiting students with a sincere interest.

Over the course of the semester, students also make four weekend trips around Sicily to experience the many landscapes of the island and the various architectural styles of its cities. A trip to Palermo and its surroundings bring them to the city most exposed to Arab influences; another to Agrigento showcases the Valley of the Temples; yet another, to Trapani and Erice, on the western coast, brings them to medieval villages and at finally a trip to Ragusa, Modica and Scicli provides a taste of these wonderful baroque cities of the south.