Until We Meet Again…

I am a mere sixty hours away from landing in the Philadelphia Airport, and, while I of course want to see my family, I just don’t want to leave this place.

These last few weeks have been incredible. Throughout this entire program, I’ve never felt more connected with the people on it than the past two weeks. Mary and I stood on top of the Duomo Facade the other day, on top of Siena really, and looked around at the city that’s become our home for the last four months.

On the top of the world! Mary and I have the most exciting, unplanned adventures.

You really can’t help but get nostalgic towards the end of any experience. These past four months have been too incredible. Study abroad is really kind of indescribable that way. In one sense, it’s a repeat of the usual themes: making friends, having fun, dealing with the stress of academia. On the other hand, you’re trying to express yourself in a new language, seeing places from movies and postcards, and discovering new places you’d never even heard of.

Verona, my most surprisingly spectacular adventure

Study abroad can make you discover more about yourself. You start off, in my case, with a bunch of people you don’t know. I lived in an apartment with a family that wasn’t mine, but became like mine. I met students from all over the States who I didn’t know and made friendships that I know I’ll carry with me into the future. I came to a city, a country, with a language I had a brief overview of, and attempted to order food, go shopping, make new friends in the Piazza.

I look this picture on the third night here. Feels so incredibly long ago.

I’m lucky because I get to go home for Christmas with the knowledge that I’ll be coming back to this city, if not the friends I’ve made in my program. I’m excited to see how my next semester feels, being about to get off the plane and say more than “Grazie” and “Scusa”.

Oh, and a tip for any future students: “Dove” is where. Trust me, that one will come in handy.

Not my best quality picture, but you get the point

Siena has already given so much to me, in that, like the transition into college, it’s hard to remember when everything was so new, too new, and seemingly intimidating. With this in mind, I’m reluctantly packing my bag, remembering back to the time when I arrived and Il Palio was just “some horse thing” I’d heard about, Italian was a language I’d only studied for one semester, and everyone around me was a stranger. This semester has been one hell of a ride, and I’m just incredibly grateful to have been able to enjoy it.

Venice

So please consider this post, my last post before leaving Siena, a love letter, a thank you note, and an extremely corny until-we-meet-again to every person, place, moment, and memory that was a part of my semester.

All of us at the beginning of the semester. (Photo Credit: Helen Kemeny)