Study abroad in Italy

[CMdeux]

Europe was so interesting to DD and I that (truly) we didn't mind not really being able to experience the food as part of the culture.

But I do think that you have to go into things with that mindset.

[Andiamo]

She is fine with baked milk.  Bread, cookies, cake, all fine as long as there is no peanut cross contamination.  When I lived in Italy decades ago, breakfast was bread, butter, and jam.  She`ll be fine with bread and jam.  For lunch and dinner she plans to eat a lot of pasta with marinara sauce with no cheese or butter, but I worry that they will agree to no cheese or butter, but make a mistake.  Cheese in the pasta sauce may or may not be obvious, and butter definitely would not be obvious.

Good points about the pickpockets.  That is worrisome.  It sounds like it has gotten worse since I was there.  She is not street smart at all.  She is 18, will be 19 by the time she goes.

[CMdeux]

Truthfully, though, I think that there is a difference between two "not street smart" people when one of them has food allergies.

DD has an awareness of her surroundings that is really unsurpassed even by my DH, who grew up in a city environment and is by every indication "street smart."

I think most kids who grow up with food allergies do have that awareness of other people around them, if that makes sense.  They are really in tune with human behavior and body language/nonverbal cues.

I noticed this with my DD (13yo) and one of the 18yo students on this trip-- had a chance to observe them both together in Paris, and while there was superficially almost nothing that separated them-- same type of day bags, same basic body postures, roughly the same size... and roughly similar interests and maturity levels, my DD had this, I don't know... casual, relaxed sort of ALERTNESS about her that the other girl seemed to lack.  There just wasn't any indication that my DD was consciously doing it, but she seemed far more aware of it all-- she was able to walk WITH the pedestrian flow seamlessly while sightseeing, able to match the pace and know how to be out of the way or dart quickly through a crowd to catch a train, that kind of thing.
  I don't know if I can explain it better than that.  She was clearly aware of what others were doing around her without gawking or looking nervous (which marked many of our tour group as inexperienced).  I attribute that wariness to YEARS of paying attention to what others are eating, where they are putting their hands, etc, without being rude about it. 

It was quite an interesting thing to watch.  Some kids had it naturally, and some didn't. 

That seemed (from our observations) to be what separated those that got targeted by pickpockets and those that did not-- we did see groups of them working in Paris, and who they were watching most closely.  It certainly wasn't experience alone, because my DD has not spent much time in urban settings, and nearly NEVER on public transportation or in that kind of crowding.

I don't know that all FA teens could translate that life experience from the one domain to a more general one, but it might help to consider it.  I suspect that it is a skill that many of them have.

Or just do what Rick Steves advises-- carry nothing much  of value in your day bag-- bottled water, snacks, a guidebook, that kind of thing.  Nothing irreplaceable. 

[twinturbo]

At the risk of sounding incredibly insensitive (bear with there's a point), have you lately thought about a milk challenge of some sort to see if her tolerance is more than just baked by this time? I have no idea what the background with her baked milk consumption is and I certainly don't intend to push for a challenge per se, but if she's tolerating baked and cross-contamination it could present one option to talk to your allergist with her history (obviously including reactions) and maybe perform a modified challenge for next stage from high-heat treated? Only because she'd be going to such a milk heavy area with not a lot of experience. One way or another it's already pushing a boundary for tolerance/challenge, or revert to most safest option assuming she will react to a certain amount above traces which means more restrictions. Nothing wrong with the latter but where there is some tolerance it's possible to explore in a clinical setting before testing it out thousands of miles away.

Again, not recommending a path. You know best, you know all the details.

[CMdeux]

Oh, that is a really good thought-- knowing what that tolerance is (even approximately) might really prove helpful if it's at all feasible.

[Andiamo]

She had an inadvertent exposure to unbaked milk due to a restaurant mistake and had to use her Epipen.  This was while away at college.  I am happy to say that she used it quickly, which makes me a little more okay with this trip.  She did not wait for the reaction to get bad.  She had mild symtoms, but at least two organ systems and used it, as per her action plan.  So she is definitely still allergic to milk, unfortunately.

[twinturbo]

Oh, no doubt to untreated milk. This is more of finding an impossible answer to a difficult question on avoidance in another country whose foods are deeply tied to the allergen, it's ubiquitous and the food service with regard to ingredients and disclosure is not as clear here stateside because we have more chain restaurant choices in terms of standardization. Did that give you a sense on how much avoidance she has to practice? If you had to put it in more concrete terms for the sake of determining how much avoidance is necessary?

For instance, no butter, no baked cheese, all the forms of ruminant milk she will have to avoid.

[twinturbo]

Another avenue is if she can't reliably go to Italy now then maybe Italy can come to your house in the form of a homestay student. Your daughter could practice Italian with a native speaker and you could learn a lot about a specific region and its cuisine and medicine from a local who has current knowledge, first hand experience. It would be a non-medical method of preparation.

[SilverLining]

Anaphylaxis Canada posted this link on fb.  I have not read it, but thought of this thread and it might have some helpful info.

http://blogs.iesabroad.org/ebenz1ithaca-edu/studying-abroad-with-food-allergies-part-i/

[Andiamo]

Just wanted to let everyone know that my daughter came back from Italy reaction free and having the best experience of her life.  Her tolerance of baked milk is excellent and she really had no trouble at all.  She only had to walk out of a restaurant once due to peanuts being served.  She found dairy free peanut free gelato and ate it daily.  She gained 6 pounds (prior to the trip she was 5 feet 2 and 95 pounds due to the milk allergy), so we are thrilled.  She loved the food, ate a ton of pasta, and put a zillion pictures of the pasta and the gelato on her FB page.  She spent pretty much the whole time with four or five other girls and taught her roommate the epipen.  Even the alcohol is labeled for ingredients in Italy, which I did not know.  She said they were very allergy aware in most restaurants.  The hotel where she stayed made her a special breakfast daily, as the bread they served came from somewhere else, so she could not be sure about peanut cross contamination.

The only problem really was United.  Her first flight out was late, she missed her connection, and she got stuck in Chicago.  United refused to put her on the next flight out, tried to re-route her and leave her in Newark for 16 hours from 1 A.M. to 5 P.M. the next day.  I said no, she was not spending the night alone in the Newark Airport, and she ended up spending the night in Chicago.  This was a big issue with the food allergies, as she had brought enough food from home for the flight, but now was going to arrive in Italy one day later.  United was really really horrible to her and someone in their Disability Assistance Office disability harassed her.  On the way home, United lost her luggage.  We did not get it back until 2 days later.

I am really glad I let her go.  However, if she were not so tolerant of baked milk or if she were sensitive to milk cross contamination, it would have been a lot more complicated.

[yelloww]

This is fantastic to hear! Except for the united part. Boo hiss to them!

What did she eat for breakfast? Just curious as that's our most difficult meal.

[Andiamo]

They made her pastries in the hotel.  It sounded like some sort of a sweet roll with powdered sugar most days.  Sometimes they would make fruit pies for her for breakfast.  Also, they served fruit for breakfast to everyone and on some days they served meats (not our usual breakfast here, but it was safe for her.)

BTW, unlike what someone else posted on this thread, she found that Italians LOVE Americans.  They were all so friendly to her.  It was common for strangers to stop her and ask to have their picture taken with her because she is American.  Also, she went to a One Direction concert in Milan, which she loved.  At the concert one guy asked where she was from and when she told him what city in the U.S. she said he was so excited he was screaming.  People on the trains were super friendly too.  Everyone wanted to know where in America she was from.

[Andiamo]

Also, her milk threshhold for baked/heated milk seems to have gotten much better while she was gone.  Yesterday I made her 1/2 a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch (so technically not even baked, just fried) and she had no symptoms.  We don`t think she is tolerant of unheated milk as she had a reaction requiring epi 9 months ago due to a restaurant mistake.  But her tolerance of baked milk has really gotten better.  We think it is because she ate pizza almost every day.