I honestly did not know how hard saying goodbye to Rome would be. I’ve enjoyed my time here, had an amazing experience in a great city, but I thought that going home finally would feel like a relief. It doesn’t. Instead, I feel like a whirling mess of emotion.
This semester has been so good for me. I love Temple University, don’t get me wrong, but I just needed a serious change for a while. Rome has made me so much more confident in myself and my abilities. Not only did I survive by myself in a foreign country starting with only a basic grasp of the language, but I managed to get myself to 6 other European countries and plan a weekend trip to Morocco by myself. I honestly didn’t know I was capable of it. And this all while taking classes and actually managing to make some of the best friends I’ve ever had. This experience has been surreal, its like simultaneously a vacation from reality and the most vividly real experience I’ve ever had.
Some of my favorite memories of Rome are just hanging out with the city. There’s nothing more entertaining than sitting in front of the Trevi Fountain or the Spanish Steps watching all the tourists take ridiculous photos, or just hanging out and getting gelato after a day of walking around the city. Rome is a city that’s easy to get lost in, but that you can’t complain about it because you’re going to find something awesome down the road.
I’m so glad I was in Europe for Christmas. Seeing the Christmas traditions so similar to ours and yet so different has been so interesting. Shout out to the students at Mamiani for making sure I fully understood the Italian Christmas traditions!
Being in a city with so much history was my favorite. My family is visiting this week, and I didn’t realize how much I had learned about the history of Rome until I was able to answer all of their questions about buildings and give historical backgrounds for the artistic masterpieces everywhere and the historic buildings. Even with as much fun as this trip was, it still managed to be educational!
I don’t exactly know where this was going, I thought that just writing out my feelings would help with the mess that they are right now. Saying goodbye to everyone tonight is going to be really hard. I know that Gianni told us that we’d make some of our best friends here, but I didn’t believe him. Now I don’t know how I could have ever doubted it. It’s definitely been an amazing semester, and one that I will never forget.