You Gotta Run Real Far Before You Ever Feel Close to Home

Benvenuti!  I’m excited that I can share my experiences here; I’m sure they will be plentiful.

I feel odd posting an entry before I even leave, but then again, it’s been an experience just preparing myself to leave!  I have been planning on studying abroad in Rome ever since I sent that deposit off to Loyola two years ago, so this has been a long time coming.  I’ve been planning my schedule around what classes I could and couldn’t take in Rome since my freshman orientation! And as for saving money for it, I was blessed to find a full time paid summer internship that is making everything seem that much more real!

All the planning should make it feel more real, but alas, I still can’t completely wrap my head around it.  I mean, you’re telling me there’s a country full of people even more in love with coffee than me?  A country with gelato so good that American ice cream is a joke?  A country that devotes itself to eating great food, and drinking fine wines?  A country with so many gorgeous cathedrals that it’d be a miracle in itself for me to see all of them?  A country with so much history, that a history buff like me will feel like I’m in heaven?  I’ve been told all of these things are true, but being that I’ve never left America, I’m afraid it all seems fictional to me still.

I’m excited, I’m ambitious, and I’m terrified.  But mostly excited. I can’t wait to share my experiences with you all!

Ciao for now,

Patrick Gilsenan

P.S. The title is from the song Not There Yet by Eric Hutchinson