I have been at home for a couple of weeks now. I will forever remember my time abroad Italy. There were many moment where I had doubted myself and questioning myself on why I decided to do this in the first place. However, I am entirely grateful that I was able to do this experience. As previously said, the transportation system was hard to learn and get used to, but through time it was easier and easier to understand. Some misunderstandings that I had with the culture was pertaining to food. They are not really a breakfast country, that may seem weird because we are used to having big breakfasts with all the fixins. In Italy, they mainly eat pastries in the morning with some coffee and juice, but that’s mainly it. Also, the food bought at the stores don’t last as long as what we are used to in the United States. Most of the local Italians I had met kind of treated Americans as a nuisance and then be rude even if we were just asking for directions. That made living in Italy a little difficult. Another culture normality there was, were air drying clothes, now I don’t have a problem with that however when it got colder and it made the clothes take longer to dry and they usually would smell of mildew. Also, I’m not sure if it’s normal to have apartment building front door be unlocked and open throughout majority of the day was something I wasn’t comfortable with. The girls’ main building I think was the most unsafe building out of the housing. People were constantly coming through the building who seemed suspicious. I think a lot of people would be jealous that I got to go abroad for a semester however, I think someone would have similar outlooks and perspectives. This experience has allowed to become more mature and do more on my own which will help aid me in the future.
