Ciao!

This last week was my first official week of classes. I will usually post on Tuesdays because I will likely not be traveling (as could be the case on the weekends) and Mondays are very busy days for me! This last week began with my Italian language class on Monday and ended with ethics on Friday. I was able to go to the market on Tuesday and truly experience shopping in Italy. Nobody at this outdoor market spoke English, so this was one of the very first times I experienced the struggle of trying to explain what I want and understand what they were telling me. I was able to practice a few of the Italian phrases I have learned, though was frequently corrected by the locals in terms of pronunciation and context. I feel like these encounters actually strengthen my use of the language and it is nice to find people that care enough to help me practice my language skills correctly! Sunday I went on a day trip throughout Tuscany, including Pisa and Sienna, where it rained on us very heavily. We also did laundry here for the first time! We took some things to the laundromat to have the use of a dryer for our towels, but it was slightly more expensive than we anticipated so we will probably hang things to dry in the future. I also went with a roommate and a friend to hike to the top of piazza Michelangelo, I will attach pictures of that spectacular view as well. I currently have a slight cold, which I expect is a direct result of that experience combined with the lack of sleep I still seem to be getting (the time change is still messing up my sleep schedule!). It seems to be a mild cold, however, and luckily I am well stocked with cold medicine from home (though I heard the “farmacias” here are very helpful). I am hoping to feel better soon so I can pick up the pace again and continue exploring! Here are some pictures from the week:

Ciao!

-Alexis

The last two days have been a whirlwind. Orientation began with an introductory seminar and a tour, followed by a tour of our neighborhood, and finished with two seminars, one of which we got lost on the way to! Later that day CIS Abroad treated us to a wonderful four course three hour Italian meal. Needless to say I left the apartment at 8 am that morning and didn’t return until 11 pm! There was just so much to see! Yesterday after a full day of exploring the city and running errands to get settled into my new home, FUA hosted a welcome reception with a buffet and desserts. Today is the first day to take a breath, relax, and prepare for the start of classes on Monday! At this point, any initial assumptions I in initially had coming into this experience have been changed. The main thing I have noticed is that there is a huge difference between the tourist parts and the local parts of Florence ; especially when it comes to the restaurants. In the tourist-heavy parts of Florence, there are extra charges in restaurants for tourists called a cuperto. This is charged per person and can range from 1 to 4+ Euro, many tourists are unaware of this. The service is good enough, but usually gets worse if they find you will not be tipping (tipping is uncommon in Italy, as the employees make a living wage, but many servers have come to expect it from Americans).Servers will sometimes say this to Americans, regardless of if a service charge and/or cuperto was already charged, in an effort to guilt them into tipping. At a local establishment, there is rarely a cuperto, and if there is, it is often very low. The staff are friendly, though rarely speak much English. They encourage American guests to practice their Italian and provide excellent friendly service. I will attach a picture below of a note our server made for us when we were inquiring about various Italian phrases. I have also learned a lot about what is and is not socially acceptable here, there are many things we do with out thinking in America that would shock or disgust the locals in Italy. Some examples are: asking for food to go after not quite finishing a meal at a restaurant, eating while walking in general (food is meant for the table), coffee sitting down or to go, asking to change something about the menu while ordering (this is very rude to the chef), and various others. I will try to update these as I find out more!

Ciao!

-Alexis

Since I came a few days early with my grandparents, my initial post is occurring from within Italy after my arrival and recovery from the extreme jet lag. I do have a few pictures from the ride to the airport I will attach as well. My initial thoughts before arriving were that this place seemed almost imaginary. People were constantly telling me how wonderful it was and how it was a great experience and that I would have a wonderful time, but all I had seen of Italy was out of a book or movie. I honestly didn’t know what to expect, all I could picture were these fairytale images! I expected the language barrier to be difficult, since I do not yet speak Italian, and was told the people were friendly and welcoming but that they, and the city did not always smell the best. These were my first thoughts heading into this adventure. Orientation is tomorrow and I will follow up afterwards about my reaction to actual Italian life as well as how my orientation went!

Ciao!

-Alexis

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Last one!

As I explained before, this comes as a slight delay. With all the craziness of traveling and re-adjusting to reality, I found myself consumed in just being home. I actually find my postponed blogging to be of benefit, because it gave me more time to reflect. At this point, I have been home long enough to totally re-integrate. In fact, it didn’t take me long. Only being gone for a month has its benefits, one of them being a shortened recovery time. The major differences that I noticed were as follows:

I understood what people were saying! I got so used to not comprehending the conversations as I passed them on the street, but the moment we got on the airplane headed back to the United States, English was everywhere! At first it was almost annoying, hearing everyones private discourse, which was surprising! But eventually it was comforting.

Next, the food… this was probably the most disappointing thing about coming home. Not so much the variety, but the quality! I missed the freshness, the abundance of fruit, the organic and free range meat! It is much easier to notice the difference in processed food when you are spoiled for over a month. I also found it almost offensive coming back and being rushed through a meal! I got used to sitting at length when we would go out to eat, and hardly ever having a waiter come and bother you. The simple difference of having to ask for a check versus them handing it to you after a mere half hour was notable.

Lastly, the pace of everyday life. I grew up in the country, so living in a city was interesting.  I appreciate the calm streets, green scenery, and wildlife at very turn. In Barcelona, there was a constant buzz of noise at all hours of the day, the city never went dark, and many people stayed up until the early morning! The only animals I saw were pigeons, seagulls, and dogs on leashes. I was definitely happy to drive home from the airport and see mountains, valleys, forests, and rivers.

Needless to say, there was a roller coaster of emotions as a result of coming home. I do believe it when they say that returning can actually be more difficult that arriving! This entire experience has opened my eyes to joys and pitfalls of so many types of travel. Whether it be for business, school, vacation, asylum, immigration, etc. No matter what, there are adjustments that must be made, and I was lucky enough to have had immense support and guidance throughout my entire journey. I will forever look back and deem this trip as totally necessary and worth it.

Adios..

Hola!

I am regretfully writing this much later than anticipated. Due to a series of unanticipated events called “life”, I was unable to keep up with my photo blogging as much as I had wanted.

Nevertheless! I am ready to finish my story. I ended my study abroad experience with absolutely no regrets. I saw amazing things, made incredible friends, and fell in love with a city that once seemed so far away, and is now so close to my heart. My last week of schooling was slightly less exciting as before, because I was busy with studying and writing my final paper. I went out to dinner a few times with friends, and spent a relaxing day on the beach by myself! The day of my finals was a whirlwind of anticipation, excitement, joy, and curiosity. I say curiosity because leading up to this day, I received some interesting red flags. My boyfriend, whom I had been texting quite regularly, informed me that he was going on a camping trip with friends and wouldn’t have service for a few days. But what was odd, was that he stopped texting me right around the time that my parents were supposed to get on the plane to come visit me in Spain….as it turns out, it was no coincidence. My boyfriend surprised me that afternoon, and flew over 5,000 miles with my parents to join us on our extended European vacation!!!! As I walked into the hotel lobby and saw him standing there, I couldn’t believe my eyes!!! I felt like a little kid, glancing over at my parents for reassurance that this was real life! They already had phones and cameras pointing at me to catch my reaction, and even though there were several other people in the room, I didn’t care. I also was able to see my former foreign exchange student from Denmark! My 5th week in Barcelona was about to prove how spontaneous and lovely life can be.

I instantly realized what an awesome experience it would be to show them around the city. None of them had ever been to Barcelona before, and it was even my boyfriends first time out of the country!!! I was honored with the duty of being their tour guide for the next five days, and put all that I had learned about the city in the past month to the test. I taught them how to use the metro, how to avoid the tourist traps on Las Ramblas, how to find amazing food, and how to see the city for its beauty, warmth, and comfort as I had. Because I had known about my parents coming, I purposely waited to do many of the tourist sight-seeing with them. We went to Barceloneta Beach, saw the statue of Columbus, went to Park Guell, saw many more of Gaudi’s buildings included the famous Sagrada Familia Cathedral, and we of course had our fair share of Paella! In fact, the reason I chose Barcelona to begin with, was because of my uncle. He backpacked through europe when he was not too much older than myself, and Spain was by far his favorite country. Barcelona in particular. So for their second night we went out for Paella (his favorite dish) on what would have been his 71st birthday.

Leaving Spain was much harder than I had thought. I had been there long enough to feel comfortable and to create a routine, so letting go was tough. I thought maybe having my parents there (and now my boyfriend) would make things easier, but there was no way they could understand the connection I felt. I promised myself then that no matter what, one day I would return.

Our two and a half week trip continued on. We visited Paris next, where the real turn of events took place. As we stood in the city’s largest building, overlooking the Eiffel tower as it glittered, my boyfriend took my hands and got on one knee….he proposed to me on our four and a half year anniversary in the city of love!!!! I was living a real life fairy tale, and all I could do was be thankful. My whole life changed from that day on, and with the support from our family and friends, we are very excited to start the next chapter of our lives. However, our excitement is pre-mature because we (along with the guidance of our parents) have decided to have a long engagement. We would both like to finish school and get stable jobs before taking such a big step.

After France we went to Munich, Germany, Austria, and then ended in Denmark with Mia (my foreign exchange student) and her family. We ended the trip with lots of laughs, good company, and a lifetime of memories to treasure forever. I will never forget the lessons I learned, or how I felt stepping off the plane when I had first arrived. I came, I saw, I conquered!

See you soon Barcelona <3

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