Part of the difficulty of putting your life at home on pause to study abroad is leaving the connections you have at home that define your everyday life. I love it here but of course I miss my family and friends. I even miss the baristas at my favorite coffee shops! My solution to this problem has been to challenge myself to make as many connections here as possible.
Aside from my daily life at the convent with the other students in the program, I found the easiest connection with the other intern at my internship, Massimo. Massimo is near my age and speaks Spanish with me and makes my work environment super fun and a lot more relaxed. It is nice to have someone there that speaks my language and I can communicate with easily and more comfortably. He gives me recommendations for places to hang out and we often grab lunch or a coffee together.
I have also made a dear friend, Marco, who speaks very little English so we speak in a mix of the languages we do know. I met Marco on a school trip to Florence. He is my age and he lives in Treviso, and we often talk to each other through voice messaged in which we practice speaking English and Italian, a small thing that helps me TONS with the language.
I have also made a friend of the employee at the gelateria I frequent. I go almost everyday to get that creamy, sugary fix of the best vegan dark chocolate gelato I have ever had at Panna & Co. on Via Marmorata. While we don’t know each others’ names, he knows my order and always chats with me a little. It makes Rome feel even more like home.
My advice to anyone studying abroad is to try your hardest to be friendly and open to others. It does not matter what the cultural differences are, everyone wants to connect with someone else. The world is bigger than your program 🙂