Hi everyone!
Yep, I have three days left before I'll be heading back to the good ole U.S. of A! It is still so unreal to me.
Yesterday I went over to our program director/Italian foster mom Giuliana's house to interview her for my project. She kindly let me eat breakfast with her family and when we were done with the interview, we started talking about the study abroad experience. She told me that she has done this program for 5 years now (and other similar programs before that) and she has seen countless different kinds of students that come through the program. She's seen students who are flamboyant and greet Italy with open arms, flirting with the locals and spending every night out with new friends. And she's seen students who never say a word to anyone the whole trip. She told me that even though all the students have been different, she doesn't worry as much about their outward appearances during the trip; she only cares about how they internalize Italy and the study abroad experience. One girl from this Sienna trip (the foreign language trip that goes right before ours) never spoke to anyone the whole time they were there, but she's been emailing Giuliana and telling her about all the ways that Italy has changed her life, and how she has taken a piece of Italy home with her.
I'll admit I'm probably more similar to the latter student than the former. I'm not exactly an outgoing person myself. And although I've struggled with quite a bit of homesickness on this trip, after talking with Giuliana, I feel a lot more proud of what I've done here. And I can honestly say that I will be taking a piece of Italy home with me too, whether it's in the fact that I will take the time to sit down and enjoy my meals more, or I'll have a greater appreciation for public transit, or even if I attempt to make a really good panini at home, I will carry a part of Italy with me for the rest of my life.
Anyway, on a side note, our little Italy group made the newspaper!! It's called the Secolo, and it's one of the top three largest newspapers in the world. Our story got a whole PAGE for our feature article! :) Obviously I can't read it because it's in Italian, but Giuliana says it's a huge accomplishment and we should all be really proud of it.
In other news, the Italy screening for our projects is on Thursday. THREE DAYS AWAY. So close!! Giuliana rented a space at the oldest theater in Genova, which is going to be really really cool. She's also inviting every Italian we have ever met in the past month (including all the new friends everyone has made while bar hopping and such) to the event, so it's going to be HUGE. We're supposed to dress up and everything. We will view all of the movies and then there will be time for Q&A afterwards. And then, after all of that, we are going out to a really fancy dinner at the pier. It's gonna be magical!
Well, except for the fact that I'll have to leave dinner pretty early. My flight leaves at 9:30 Friday morning, but of course with my luck there's no train that leaves Genova early enough to get me to Milan in time to catch a flight. So I'll have to catch a train to Milan on Thursday night, get there around 11 pm, and then find my way to a hotel for the night. I have a feeling it's gonna be CRAZY. Just like my trip here. So I guess it will all come full circle.
Anyway, that's all the updates for now! Currently I'm in a deep haze of editing editing editing (I swear my eyesight is getting worse from squinting at my laptop screen all day). I think my project is coming together quite nicely. I'm excited to get it done and COME HOME!!
I'll miss Italy, but I'm so excited to get back and see all my family and friends that I've missed so much during the past 5 weeks. It's gonna be awesome!!
3 days left. BRING IT ON!
No comments:
Post a Comment