The countdown begins till it’s the end of the semester, and everyone flies home. Time has been flying by. It doesn’t feel like November is almost over, and this mostly has to do with this semester being so busy with school and travel. School itself is not hard here, and all professors are very straightforward with what they expect from their students. They even respect that you are also here to travel, so if you miss class, they are more than happy to work with you. If you come to Rome and need to take a basic Italian course, I highly recommend Lucy. Her main goal is not to give tests and homework, but her intentions are to help you acclimate to their culture and know how to get around. She focuses on our daily activities that might have an issue with a language barrier. Italian is also very similar to Spanish, so if you have studied it before, it is easier to pick up Italian.
But the best part about being abroad is all the traveling. Who else can say they go to a different country almost every weekend? Rome has two airports so it is easy to get a cheap flight that fits the dates you need. When I studied in Spain last fall, every flight had a connection through Madrid. This made traveling take a lot long than it should have. I have two upcoming trips for my last three weeks here, and I will be traveling to Interlaken, Switzerland for thanksgiving. The weekend after I will be going to Budapest, Vienna, and Salzburg for the Christmas markets.
This is my second year missing thanksgiving, and it is a weird experience even if it is the second time. You miss out on a family dinner. Which at this point, anything besides pasta sounds amazing. You eventually hit a point where you want anything but pasta. I did not believe people when they told me that, but it is very true. I know I will miss it when I get home, but after 100 straight days of pasta, it can get old. I do not think I can get sick of pizza, so that is my go to when I need an Italian meal. It’s everywhere and there are so many types. I find it hard to find a bad meal here. I look forward to the next couple weeks (not finals), but I am also excited to get home and see my family and friends.