Another amazing week, and I got to spend part of it with my parents! The weekend was well spent exploring new places and sharing my favorites. We visited St. Peter’s Square, La Sapienza University Botanical Gardens, and Trastevere on Thursday, the Vatican Museums, Temple Rome, Piazza del Popolo, the Borghese Gardens, the Spanish Steps, and Barberini on Friday, and the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill on Saturday.
48,795 steps later, I was sort of willing to sit down in the library, write a research paper on the Roman Heat Wave of 2003, and memorize a mess of dates and images for Art History. As Temple Rome classes and my first Italian journey draw to a close, here are a few things I’ll miss, as well as a few things I won’t mind leaving behind.
What I’ll miss:
– The food. Pizza, pasta, bread, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, gelato, tiramisu, salami, sausage, pastries, cappuccinos, wine, bananas imported from Peru (trust me, it makes a difference), and all things hazelnut
– The lifestyle. Italians appreciate life at their own pace. Besides, I feel super productive when I am surrounded by the one-thing-a-day mentality and doing ALL the things.
– The weather. Cool in the mornings and evenings, sunny all day, with a nice thunderstorm every once and a while.
– The restaurant staff. They all seem genuinely happy to be alive and serving you good food, even when service is included in the menu prices.
– The cafés. There’s just something about watching macho Italian men eat pastries and drink coffee from miniature tea cups.
– The walking. To school, to the store, along the Vatican wall, beside the Tiber River…
– The views. Endless, incredible views of the city.
– The classes. Course content was relevant to the area and really enhanced my study abroad experience. “Students not tourists” is the best way after all.
– The professors. Temple Rome professors are passionate about what they do, and it was neat to have one professor who was native to Rome and very Italian, and another professor visiting the area for the first time, just like us.
– My roommates! I didn’t meet Jess and April until after I arrived in Rome and realized we were sharing a teeny bedroom for three…but it worked out perfectly.
What I won’t miss:
– The awkward sidewalk encounters… because passing on the right apparently isn’t a thing.
– The Italian style. Particularly women with their uber high heels fearlessly conquering Roman cobblestone roads by foot, bike, and Vespa, and I’m like yep…look at my Converse. They have arch supports.
– The lack of personal space. Shoving my way onto the metro at Termini comes to mind…
– European Wi-Fi. I thought I was going to have to submit my blog posts by owl. That’s why Temple got Stella…yes?
My study abroad experience passed quickly – at least in comparison to the speed of the Wi-Fi at the Residence – and as you can see, I’ll soon be missing Rome like its residents miss parking spaces.
Time flies when you’re eating gelato, but I’m ready for steak and potatoes.
