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Week 6 - Coronavirus :(

I am absolutely devastated, heartbroken, and shocked. Because of the coronavirus outbreak, my study abroad program was cancelled, and I am being sent home. My classes will continue online. Currently, I am sitting in an airport awaiting a flight to Atlanta, where I am flying to stay with Jake for a while. On Thursday, my life was carrying on as normal, until it wasn’t. This past week has felt like an entire month, as it has been filled with tears, goodbyes, and realizations of unfilled dreams. I have cycled through emotions one after the other: sadness, anger, confusion, shock, you name it. My time in Italy was cut short by more than two months (and I lost a heck of a lot of money on non-refundable travel). I had trips planned for almost every weekend to explore every corner of Italy and venture into other places in Europe as well. I know that God has a plan and that everything is His will, so I am trying to stay optimistic and hoping that there was a reason that I’m being sent home.

Rome started to be a real home for me. I have the streets of the city memorized, and no longer need Google Maps to get to any location all the way across town. The doorman in our apartment complex greeted us every morning, the ladies at the coffee shop on the corner knew our order, and even the people at the local grocery store started to know us. I started tutoring English at a local Italian school, where last week a young girl typed into Google translate, and then showed me, “I love you very much!” She then pointed to me and said “friend!” The Italian girls in our finance class became very close friends of ours. I had plans to go to their homes and have dinners with their families next weekend. Our professors became friends, and we often went out for meals with our favorite, Luigi. All of these connections made the goodbyes so much harder. Rome has a piece of my heart, and I will never forget the experiences I had and the lessons that I learned.

Nevertheless, the circumstances were out of my control. I am hoping to venture back into Europe at some point during this semester, and also to do some traveling around the U.S. I am so thankful for this experience and so overwhelmed with the love that I have for Italy. I will you see you again, Roma!

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