The first few weeks have honestly been a blur. In the blink of an eye I spent way over my personal weekly allowance, ate more than an acceptable amount of gelato, and have yet to get on top of my schoolwork.
I walk around with people I am still trying to get to know, I aimlessly wander to places I have not seen, and I find myself constantly out of time to do the things I used to love most: running, reading, and cooking. But in reality, aren’t these the things I should be doing abroad? Shouldn’t I be exploring with no agenda? Being so tired that I pass out the second my head hits the pillow? The thing I have finally started to realize is that my routine at home that I grew so accustomed to, is not a routine that I need to do for the rest of my life in order to feel comfortable. I wanted to come abroad to a program where I knew no one in order to be my own person, but to do that I need to step out of the comfort of going through the motions and actually experience new things in a new perspective.
The trick to truly going out and experiencing new things is to stop trying so hard to do the old things. For me, I realized I don’t have to run everyday and can just walk around and hangout with different people everyday. I don’t have to carve out time to run by myself, but rather I can talk with people and engage in conversations that running would have prevented me from even starting. I can cook, but I can also cook a single dish and go to a potluck dinner. I can actually get on top of my school work and read about the history of fascism in Rome, and go beyond the assigned readi
So, how does forgetting about an old routine actually help? Well, on Monday I told myself that I was genuinely in Rome and wasn’t leaving. This meant I really needed to generate some kind of routine if I wanted to get as much out of this experience as I possibly can, while still having money. This week is the first week I have felt good about everything. I have a set day to go grocery shopping (and I won’t deviate—groceries for the week gotten on Sunday are all of the groceries for the week that I will have), I exercise by either running with friends or walking a lot after class with friends, I cook with roommates, and I set aside time to be by myself and either do homework, grab a gelato, or people watch in Villa Borghese. All of these things really do make a difference if you give them a chance. My advice is to keep doing the things you love, but do them with a new perspective and a new attitude.
