Tag: Away From Home

A Sicilian Easter Weekend

A Sicilian Easter Weekend

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Easter has always been a holiday I celebrated with big family meals, Easter egg hunts, and attending church, so I knew this year it would be hard to celebrate this holiday away from home. Because my friends and I were all in the same home-sick boat we did our best to make our most of Easter in Italy by taking a little beach vacation to Sicily (the island the boot of Italy is kicking).

As soon as we landed I could tell we picked the perfect spot for our long weekend. Sicily is filled with all sorts of cliffs, hills, mountains and of course the beach. The coastline was absolutely beautiful and the Mediterranean was an incredible blue and turquoise.

The AirBnB we rented for the weekend was in the town of Mondello–a tiny beach town just north of Palermo. The apartment was just around the corner from the center of town, 3 blocks from the water, and had a view of the sea from the bedroom. Yea, it wasn’t too bad.

We ate lunch at a pizzeria just off the boardwalk and we were proud to say that we could definitely taste a difference between the Roman pizza we’re used to and the Sicilian pizza (I like Sicilian better). Then after a quick afternoon nap we laid on the beach until the sun sunk below the hills. We did a little grocery shopping at the alimentari for snacks and ingredients to make our own Easter dinner on Sunday. We ate dinner next door to the pizzeria we were at for lunch. My friends enjoyed some fresh seafood pasta, while I opted for pizza again. The rest of our evening was spent playing card games in our apartment.

After sleeping in on Sunday morning we inspected the goodies the Easter bunny left us (thanks for sending us sweets Mom and Dad!), put on our swimsuits (even if it wasn’t quite warm enough to swim) and made our way down to the beach. We laid in the sun for the next few hours, managed to get a little sun burnt, then ate some gelato.

We decided that the best way to make it feel like a holiday was to cook dinner ourselves. It wasn’t the ham and potatoes I usually get at home, but we cooked up some pretty good (and authentic) pasta. I think we pulled off a pretty good holiday weekend for ourselves. I was grateful to be in place where the only thing I wanted to see was the beach, rather than a bunch of museums and monuments.

Sicily on Easter made for one Buona Pasqua!

For When You’re Missing Home

For When You’re Missing Home

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It’s been a while since you’ve seen your parents, your siblings, or your pets and at this point in the semester you’re probably dragging. It’s already been a month since fall break and we’ve got another month to go before Thanksgiving break, so how do you cope with the homesickness that just kicked in?

Well, in my year and a half of college I’ve gone through my fair share of homesickness. At times I’ve overcome it quite easily, but other times that hasn’t been the case.

Last year, I definitely found it hard to be away from my family for such a long time. When my roommate and I were having serious cases of homesickness we thought it best to spend time with our other good friends…Ben & Jerry. Not so much spending, but actually sharing a pint of our favorite flavor of ice cream. Every once in a while this is the perfect homesickness strategy, but I would suggest a different game plan.

If you’d rather skip the ice cream therapy, try one of these strategies instead:

  1. Talk to Your Roomie.  I always feel better after I talk things out. Plus, the chances are pretty high that your roommate is feeling the same way you are and will really appreciate having someone to talk to.
  2. Take a Chicago Adventure. Doing something fun in the city with your friends will be a quick way to get your mind off of anything. Hang out in Millennium Park, explore a neighborhood, or eat some authentic Chicago deep dish.
  3. Go Ahead and Call Home. Your family will be excited to talk to you. Hearing a little bit about what they’ve been up to will be good for you too. (Be cautious with this one though, if your parents live close enough a surprise visit to cheer you up might be in the works.)
  4. Do Something that puts You in a Good Mood. Try watching a funny movie or having a dance party. Anything that is sure to put a smile on your face is perfect

When it comes down to it almost every college student will get homesick at some point. Don’t panic. Over time you’ll learn what strategies will cure your homesickness.

Under The Weather And Away From Home

Under The Weather And Away From Home

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Being sick is the worst right? Wrong. Being sick 170 miles away from home, or, more importantly, 170 miles away from mom is the worst!

It was about midday Tuesday as I was sitting in my Sociology class that I realized I was feeling a little groggy. I struggled through the rest of my day but by the time I returned to my room at 7:00p.m. I felt like a brick wall had hit me. My body ached, my head ached, and I even had a fever. Normally, at home my mom would be all over it, making me soup, fluffing my pillows, and reassuring me that the rest of my obligations can wait.

Unfortunately, she did not come to school with me so I was left to fend for myself. My roommate, being the generous human being that she is, went out and got me some medicine. With the help of a little Advil PM I slept through most of the day Wednesday and was able to recuperate.

Luckily, when I woke up Thursday morning I was feeling much better. I was able to go to return to my normal routine and even catch up on some homework. I returned to babysitting Friday morning and found out that the family I babysit for is all sick as well! There is a bad cold going around and everyone needs to do what they can to avoid it.

Some steps to avoiding getting sick are:

1. Wash your hands! This is probably the biggest and most important one of all.

2. Drink plenty of water.

3. Take a multivitamin.

So, be sure to be on the lookout for the flu and don’t let it get you!