How has it already been over a month since leaving my small town in New Jersey to come to the amazing Rome, Italy. Rome has surprised me in so many ways and I feel I have achieved so much since being here. At first the culture shock was real, I was confused on how to use public transportation, I didn’t know a word of Italian, and my body was already tired of eating carbs non-stop. Slowly but surely I can say that I am a pro at taking the bus, metro and train around the city, I am learning more useful phrases to get around and my friends and I cook healthy meals with all the local fresh food that we buy at our local supermarket.
It amazes me each day how old the city is and the culture that is still thriving. The neighborhood that I live in consists of old-school Italian families that have lived here their whole lives. With this it means no speaking English which was at first super difficult. My Italian class at school has helped me tremendously with buying food at the supermarket, navigating the city, and even giving directions to locals. Within the first two weeks of being here my friends and I got stopped multiple times with people asking us questions in Italian. At first with little knowledge of the language we didn’t know what to say but were happy to be looked at as Italians and not Americans.
I have managed to visit the Amalfi coast, Germany and Malta all three places were equally amazing and I can’t wait to explore more cities. In two weeks, it is our fall break where I will be visiting Paris and Amsterdam. I am excited to interact with people from both cities so that I can see how they relate and differ from the Italians I have grown accustom to.
As my days become numbered I want to take advantage of everything that Rome offers. I feel like I have done my best to maximize all my opportunities I have been given since I have been abroad. I hope to continue to have high energy and a growing excitement to dive into the Italian culture as I continue to become more comfortable living in such an amazing place.