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Home at last

I miss Europe, but I am so happy to be home. I had no problem readjusting back to the culture at home. So far, the only thing I’ve almost messed up on is tipping. I almost forgot to tip when I went to a restaurant. Oh and taxes, everything is slightly more expensive than is actually marked again.

I will say I cannot drink coffee here anymore. Its either too sugary or not properly done. I’ve become a coffee snob, something I never expected to happen. I’m sure I will readjust to the bad coffee again, but right now I’ve switched to tea.

Plus, all I want to do right now is sleep for about a week. My time abroad was definitely action packed and non stop which has taken its toll on me mentally and physically. I gained about 10 pounds while abroad because the best way to experience another culture is to try the food. I’m also very tired of planning anything because of how many trips I planned while abroad. So as of right now, I don’t want to do anything.

I’m sure I’ll get back to normal in another week or two, especially when I start working out again and regain a routine, but even with all of that I am super happy! My time abroad was an incredible experience that I will talk about for the rest of my life!

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Bye Milan <3

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Last night with these amazing people who have touched my life forever.

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A story has no beginning or end: arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead.

Graham Greene, The End of the Affair

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At the end of the day, it isn’t where I came from. Maybe home is somewhere I’m going and never have been before.

Warsan Shire

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Ciao Cattolica, Ciao Italy, Ciao Europe

School’s out and its time to fly home. I am going to miss Milan and its well-dressed population as well as travelling every weekend to somewhere new and exciting. Cattolica treated me well with amazing professors and awesome students. I will cherish the friends I have made here and hope that I can meet up with them again. 

I will forever hold these memories dear.

Ciao <3

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Bormio

I leave for home in two days and its a bittersweet thought. I do not want to stop adventuring, but at the same time I can’t wait to see my friends and family back home. I am going to miss the friends I made here, but I know I can stay in touch with them when I’m back in the states.

This picture is from the bath house called Bagni Vecchi in Bormio, Italy. It was an incredible experience being in warm water and looking out over the beautiful snow covered mountains. It took a three hour train ride and an hour bus ride to get here from Milan, but it was well worth it. 

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ROMA

Kylie’s family and my family and I toured the Vatican which was absolutely massive. The scale and grandness of the place is incredible. We did not get to see the pope but we did get to see his guards with very colorful uniforms. 

For one of my meals here, I had spaghetti all’amatriciana which is a classic dish from Rome’s region which I learned in the cooking class I’m taking. It was delicious!

My parents leave tomorrow to head back home to Phoenix and part of me wishes I could go back with them. This homesickness is not going away.

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Parent’s visit

My parents are in Italy!!! I’ve been having some pretty terrible home sickness, so they could not have visited at a better time. They told me to facetime them more often which may help with my homesickness and I agree. Just seeing their faces and talking to them for a little bit at least once a week should help. It’s just hard with the time difference!

Anyways, I took them to Verona, one of my favorite places in Italy and explored the arena, Juliet’s house, and the wine festival. At the arena, there was a choir group that sang a couple of songs which sounded beautiful echoing around the arena. We didn’t see the entirety of the arena because it looked like they were still taking down the stage from the last event they had. My parents went into Juliet’s house and I waited outside (I had already gone in the first time I was in Verona) and took pictures of them on the balcony. Then we bought tokens to taste some local wines at the wine festival that was set up in the city. It was a great day! We plan on going to Rome with Kylie and her family in a couple of days, which I’m excited about!

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Lago di Como

Went to Lake Como yesterday with Kylie and our friend Meribel. It was absolutely gorgeous and we got to visit a villa for the day. Super fun compared to class today. This is something that I would never have dreamed of doing.

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Learning Italian

I’m taking an Italian course while I’m here in Italy and it has been extremely helpful so far! I am now able to speak some basic Italian. I can order my food/coffee in Italian and have the person helping me respond in Italian rather than English... However, if they ask a question back in Italian, I can’t answer. By the way, people aren’t kidding when they say coffee in Italy is good! I’m not a huge coffee fan and I absolutely love it!! I think I’ve had an espresso or cappuccino everyday since I got here!

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Cinque Terre

I visited Cinque Terre wtih Kylie and our roommate Shannon. Cinque Terre literally translates to Five Lands which is exactly what it was, five small port towns.  

My favorite town we visited was Corniglia. Corniglia had a very calm and serene vibe with plants overflowing everywhere, beautiful fruit stands, and quaint cafes. I loved it. It was very colorful and had great views of the sea. However, it did not have easy access to the water. We saw people lying on some rocks down by the water, but had no clue how to get there. I also enjoyed the hike between Corniglia and Vernazza, one of the three open hikes between the towns. It is from these hiking trails that you really get to see the classic Cinque Terre views. We also went on a boat tour of the towns and got to snorkel! We saw some pretty fish that seemed like they were close enough to touch! Plus, we met some fun couples on the tour which made it that much better! For swimming, we went to pebble beach in Riomaggiore. It is much smaller than the beaches in Monterosso, the largest town of the five, but not nearly as busy. Overall, this trip has been my favorite thus far and I wish we had spent another day or two there.

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Oktoberfest! Munich, Germany

I had such a blast with my friends last weekend at Oktoberfest! The food was amazing. We had soft pretzels, delicious crepes, and some of the best gelato I’ve had (which is ironic considering I live in Italy). Every person we interacted with was in a festive mood and extremely helpful. We got lost in Munich (what’s new) and a kind lady pointed us in the right direction without us even having to ask. Unlike Milan, where people tend to be more stand offish. 

People not only from all over Germany, but from all over the world were there and it was such a great experience! Overall I loved Munich and loved Oktoberfest! I will definitely go again!

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Verona, Italy

Verona stole my heart. Entering into Verona was such a different experience over entering Milan. Other than the different language and more detailed architecture, arriving in Milan felt like entering any other large city. While I have found many places in Milan that make the city truly unique since arriving, I did not really feel like I was in Italy until I visited Verona. Verona is more like the stereotype Americans think of when they think of Italy. More cobblestone streets, tall bell towers, small family owned stores, colorful housing and red tiled roofs. Overall a more relaxed atmosphere. It was beautiful. I was there with Kylie (always lol) and 6 other wonderful girls, 5 of which I met for the first time at the train station. 

That is one thing that I have loved about my experience studying abroad. It isn’t weird to meet someone and then go on a trip with them two days later and meet up with some of the people they met five days ago. Everyone is there to adventure, travel and just have a good time. 

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Are Italians ALWAYS Late?

My theory is yes, all Italians are late. If the public transport says that the buses run every 5 minutes, don’t trust it. ALWAYS plan an extra 10-20 minutes into your commute for tardiness. We joined an international student club called ESN or Erasmus Student Network and went on a couple of pre-planned trips with them and we always left at least an hour after the dedicated time if not longer. Anywhere we went, it took us forever to move on to the next place. Of course when you plan on a bus leaving late it leaves on time, so don’t lose your American punctuality if you have it where on time is 5 minutes early.

#studyabroad #trainride #train #como #travel #Italy

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Getting Lost

We got lost for a couple of hours yesterday trying to meet a friend for lunch and could not find our apartment when we made our way home. (We found it realizing we had passed the door 4 times while looking for it.) We also tried to locate our school in the middle of the city which took us two hours to find. However we did figure out later that we can take a bus to the metro and then the metro to school which takes about 20-30 minutes depending on the tardiness of the transport. We pass a pastry shop in the metro every morning after they just bake their pastries and it always smells so good. Its hard not to stop for one!

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The first week in Italy

The first week in Milan has been quite eventful! Kylie and I have met many other exchange students and a few locals too. We have struggled figuring out the new culture and overcoming the language barrier, but that is to be expected. One way we were able to overcome the language and culture barrier is to get over our fears. Originally, we were very shy and afraid to talk to people or ask questions, but once we became more bold and realized that more people spoke English than we thought it got better. So don’t be afraid to ask people questions or for help.