As the final weeks of study abroad come to an end, I suddenly feel a pang of sadness. Italy, in a mere 3 months, has become home. Quickly, I realized that I have learned more than what I could have ever dreamed of. I am now able to ask for directions and ingredients at the supermarket and not feel totally lost, (a big step since day 1). I have absorbed every single class that I have taken at the American University, and suddenly I feel a bit sad saying goodbye to my English professor. As we plan the last meals with our roommates and friends, reality begins to set in. I feel myself having grown academically, emotionally, and personally. After a rough beginning, which I felt plagued by sickness constantly, I have learned to adapt to the ins and outs of Roman life. These last three weekends, as we visited Amsterdam, Switzerland, and London, I suddenly feel myself attracted to a graduate program in London. Immersing myself in the culture of these countries as been un inexplainable experience, beyond my wildest dreams.
Just two weeks ago, we went Christmas shopping at one of the many outdoor markets in Switzerland. Feeling grateful I remember the first time I looked across the lake and saw the French alps. Suspended in time, I was speechless. I was moved to see that the many places that I had once seen on travel blogs and Instagram’s, was soon becoming my own reality. When my mother asked me how we travel from place to place, I laugh. Thanks to an Italian sim card we are able to map out the streets and figure out via GPS how to get from one corner of Lausanne Switzerland, to another. “Oh my god,” she exclaimed! “and you don’t seem to get lost?” I laughed. Sure, we did. We had found ourselves lost in certain corners of Rome at times with a Vespa beeping at us to get out of the way. Other times, in Barcelona we had boarded the wrong bus and after speaking to the driver realized we had to get off right where we were. But, that was the beauty of it. To be lost in Roman streets, places where Baroque art masterminds such as Caravaggio once walked down, and steps of places once walked by Popes. London was also a result of the same. Getting lost on our way to breakfast enabled us to find the perfect place to eat.
In London getting lost on the tube was yet another adventure and after everything, as our time comes to an end, I realize that those were some of my favorite days. We lost ourselves in some of the most breathtaking places. As I wonder the next time I will be back here, I feel myself prompted to look up graduate programs in London. The thought scares me all over again, just how I felt when I submitted my application to study abroad. However, the memories of my journeys springs back up, and I suddenly find myself laughing out loud. While I don’t know what the future holds, I am sure that if I took that risk all over again, I would find myself grateful knowing that I did. So, as the semester comes to and end we eat some gelato that expected. We start asking for two and three scoops, knowing that the creamy goodness, much like the experience, is coming to a near end. Roma, truly has marked us. It has changed us. It has challenged us. But most importantly however, it has taught us that it is not the destination, but rather the journey.
