So much has happened already so I know that I’ll forget something. Italy is amazing and I think that it definitely qualifies as one of the best decisions of my life.
The airport made me so nervous about the trip that I wanted to vomit. My flight from Buffalo was so delayed that I would have missed my flight in Philadelphia to Frankfurt, and subsequently I would have missed my flight to Rome. Fortunately the airline fixed things so that I got a flight from Philly to Rome. Awesome.
The flight was freaking long to Rome and there were so many Italians on the plane that the only English I heard was from the announcements. It’s really hard to describe how I was feeling the whole time, because the mixture of excitement and terror was making my head and stomach hurt, not to mention that I was really sore from the flight. Baggage claim and customs blah blah blah the airport was confusing and everything is in Italian first and not necessarily in English ever. Nevertheless, we found the guy holding the sign that told us where to go.
The bus ride to Perugia was another 3 hours of travel on a hot bus when I hadn’t had anything to eat for hours. The first views I had of Italy were stunning and impressive and I loved it. Some things look the same but the trees and the buildings sometimes just are stunning. It was great to see Mary again and it felt like we’d never left each other.
Grocery shopping was a challenge, but we were so hungry that we tried it. I don’t know how people automatically know, but a lot of the people around the hotel would just stare as we went by them. It’s strange to be a foreigner and speaking only a minimal amount of the language. I know that in the US if someone came up to me and asked if I spoke Italian or really any language I would not react as nicely as all of the people I’ve met here. Everyone is really patient when we point to things and say “uhhh pollo?”
I really like my apartment, except everything is uphill from it. Everything. My legs feel like they are going to fall off, but when I chant “I’m going to be in such good shape” things feel better. I love my housemates, and I think it’s going to be a really good experience and a fun semester.
The Italian boys are as cute as I expected, but they are more forward and persistent. We’ve been told that ignoring them is the only way that they will leave us alone. After going to a few bars (and ordering drinks legally no less!) we discovered this to be quite true. They really do just come right up to you and if you give them any type of answer it’s encouragement to continue. They told us we will miss such “aggressive” behaviors in the US and I think I can understand why. Still, it’s an odd experience.
There’s so much to write here that I know I could fill up pages and pages. I’ve only been here for 3 days, but it has already made me more aware of myself and pretty much of the world. I love Italy and I can’t wait to see how the semester unfolds.
Intensive Italian for 3 hours in the morning was fun! My instructor’s name is Francesco. I know this happens to people a lot, but I’ve never been in a room where someone had a similar name to mine, so that was quite a confusing but kind of cool experience. Francesca gets a pretty cool reaction from people here since I’m American, but a lot of people think it means I speak Italian. I don’t. Soon, but not yet.
And really, there is a possibility that I might not come back. I love it that much.
Ciao!
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