It has officially been over 8 weeks since I arrived for my study abroad in Italy. One thing that I for sure have noticed is how quick time flies (not just for me, but all those studying abroad with me as well) and how you don’t notice until you look back and remember that it is already October and you arrived in August. I would confidently say that the experiences here have been unique and unforgettable.
Last week I mediated on the fact that I am a senior in college and that this experience is unique in many ways, one of them being that it is my second to last semester and the second being the opportunity to study in a different country knowing that this experience is not common. I have mostly tried to take advantage of the fact that I am here but the cultural shock is something that always gets me. As a fluent Spanish speaker I did not think that a language so close to mine would at the same time be so different and that these differences would sometimes limit me to do greater things. At times that I have wanted to buy or order something at a specific place, I have found myself limited to do so because of the language barrier. On the other hand, coffee has been the biggest cultural shock. In Italy, the coffee culture is to not drink coffee with milk after 11 am, and while Starbucks in the US doesn’t care, local Italian coffee shops will instantly realize you’re a tourist from doing so, because it is definitely not your typical Italian thing to do.
The biggest shock to me, and I have noticed to those around me as well, have been the air conditioning and the other stuff that make life in the US so comfortable, and you don’t realize until you are not there anymore. The current university in Italy, including its classrooms, has no AC and can be very uncomfortable to sit and concentrate on a sunny afternoon. I always contemplate on the classrooms of my university back home when I find myself in these scenarios. The good things about all of this is that as first instance they are just a shock of which you find yourself adapting to later, which is weird to hear from me (someone who enjoys AC so much). While the cultural confrontation in Italy is hard at first, you then want to experience it and almost adapt to it because you begin liking it so much as you live on your study abroad experience- well, at least in my own experience.