Current Events in Italy: How to Stay Connected

It is important to understand global current events, especially when traveling abroad. Although Italy was the first country I visited overseas, anecdotes from my peers and professionals lead me to believe that cultural awareness is important even for the leisure traveler.

When visiting abroad, understanding how the country's political, economic and social structures is important. You can connect with the sights and history on a new level, and forge positive relations with locals, ending any tourist stereotypes they may have.

As an aspiring communication and digital marketing professional, I am a student of the news. My favorite way to stay tuned to Italian news and global events is through Twitter. Some of my go-to resources are:

• @RachelDonadio - Rachel Donadio, The New York Times' Rome Bureau Chief, reports on current affairs in my favorite country. I really enjoyed her constant updates during events such as the Italian elections and Conclave and NYT articles about Italy, Greece and the Vatican. 

• @AJEnglish - Al Jazeera, originally an Arabic news channel, has a site in English and is present on various social media platforms. It is great for a general world news, politics and of course, calcio updates! 

• @la_stampa - La Stampa, one of the largest Italian newspapers, has an English portion online. They only tweet in Italian, but what a great way to get some language practice!! 

I am working on Twitter lists for Italy travel resources and World News and will post those soon! Stay tuned for short posts on the social, political and economic happenings in Italia.