Last night was a hectic combination of economics and deleted
PowerPoints. I slept just enough to make the 35-minute presentation
comprehensible. After my nap today and a delicious dinner of pasta, pesto, and
salad, I am realizing the program is almost over and that fact is becoming more real
every minute. My dad sent me the ticket confirmation for the flight home. May
31st. My god. I have only been in Europe a little over three months
but it feels much closer to a lifetime ago that I was in Decatur saying bye to
my family.
I am positive I’ll stay close with a couple classmates, if
for no other reason than to rehash the best three and a half months of our
lives. I was fortunate to find a group of friends that made
the experience better than I could have ever hoped. I was fortunate that everything happened. Even a month ago I thought
reentering the United States would be a breeze. I am beginning to think the
culture shock will be worse than the one I experienced when initially coming to
Italy. I have been pretty superlative when describing places I’ve been, but I
can assure you these places truly are without equal. I was left speechless several times each week. I feel stupid trying to explain the places I
have been and things I have seen. I usually erase what I have written and just
smile to myself.
It is going to be sad going back to America. I want it to
happen eventually, but not yet. It will be great to see my family and friends
and to eat at Steak ‘n Shake, but Europe is a different world. In my opinion it is a better world. I
will not be myself for the first few weeks as I remember how to live in America.
It was an eye-opening experience, living in Europe. And living is indeed the
correct word to use, because “being in Europe” does not do it justice. Rome
feels like home and I hope it always will. After Alex, Max, Tally, and I got
back from Spring Break Part II, we were patting ourselves on the back, as we
regularly do after a trip, because we had not scheduled another trip and could
enjoy the last three weeks at home. I did not visit a single city I would have
rather studied in. Rome is perfect, mostly for its imperfections. It is not
built for modern life, which means you must walk everywhere and therefore learn
the city. It combines La Dolce Vita of Southern Italy with the more realistically
modern Northern Italy. Stores close on Monday and sometimes throughout the
week, just because. The food is unmatched. The people find a way to be
passionate and lazy at the same time. Rome has a ruin around every corner and a
Vespa waiting there to run you over. It really is a magically city. Leaving Rome and
my friends will be emotional. I plan on returning but coming back will not be
the same as living here. Things will look different and I will have formed inexact
memories about what the city was like, but it will still be Rome. The Eternal
City. Someone from home asked me while I was here if I’d recommend studying
abroad. I think you have to. I think everyone who is able has to. I think
everyone who is able has to study abroad in Rome. My small group has plans to spend
the last night together. We may not sleep; we may just sit at the top of Gianicolo
Hill and look out over our city until sunrise. “Our city,” what an American
thing to say. But that is the only way to describe how it feels.
No comments:
Post a Comment