Studying Abroad: The Reality
Today was a good day. I slept in, I bought a cappuccino in the morning, I had lunch with my roommates in an adorable cafe, I got a weird Samsung phone to use while I'm here, I ate some gelato, and I bought groceries and wine.
But there is more to moving to a different country for 4 months than buying cappuccinos. It is very hard. I wouldn't say it's harder than what I expected, which I'm learning is the case for a lot of people, but it's still not easy. And I think that is the number one thing we don't talk about. Many friends and fellow students come home and impress upon you their fantastic experiences, which, please do not doubt me, I believe are more that fantastic, but there is a period of time when you don't feel so fantastic.
I told my brother today that I like it here, and that one day I will really like it here. And I believe that is absolutely true.
There is so much to learn and experience from Florence and from Italy and from Europe, but when you're jetlagged and almost no one understands what you're saying, some days are hard.
I have faith that I'll get used to everything in time and I know it will get better, but for now I have to learn to be okay with frustration and fear.
It's hard to exist when you're often misunderstood, but I have to remember I'm not just existing, I'm living.
The following are the good experiences I had today:
Wandering the streets of Florence.
Tiramisu gelato (so far the best gelato I've ever had) from Florence.
Erica and Madi at lunch on the 2nd floor loft of a cafe in Florence.
Shameless solo toursit pic in the rain in front of Il Duomo.
And we finished off the day with wine and pasta. One fun thing Madi did was accidentally buy pizza sauce instead of pasta sauce so we added our own spices and it actually tasted just fine. We'll see if our meals get fancier.
