Avventura di Amanda
Stapled on the last page of my passport is a small folded piece of paper stating my name and my Italian address. That, combined with my student visa on one of the stamp pages, has allowed me to live in Italy for the past four months. It is hard to believe that those days are officially behind me. I have left the country and am now traveling with a friend from home before I go back to the United States next week.
The question I have been asking this past week has been, where has the time gone? Within the blink of an eye I am finished with finals and it is almost Christmas!
While the semester as a whole was even better than I ever could have imagined, I have to admit that this last week was tough. The stress of finals combined with all of the feels I had knowing my time in Rome was coming to a quick halt made it hard to focus. I just wanted to be out in the city, exploring and eating gelato. Instead I was in the library, trying to finish up all of the final papers, tests and projects I had. The stress was overbearing, and no amount of pasta helped. I texted one of my friends who studied abroad last semester and explained how I felt. She said that it was very natural to feel overwhelmed-I was leaving my new home very soon and that was hard! But what helped me the most is when she told me, “everyone always talks about how hard the first week is but nobody ever tells you how hard the last week is”.
Hearing her echo exactly how I felt was very insightful. I took a good, hard look at who I was when I got to Rome in late August, and who I am now in December. Of course, the two are very different, and in a good way! I have always had a sense of adventure, but now it is heightened so much more because of all of the travel I have been able to do this semester. I am glad I go to school in a city like Chicago, where there are always things to explore!
At the beginning of the semester I started putting the hashtag #avventuradiamanda on all of my Instagram and Facebook pictures. At first it was for convenience, when you clicked on the hashtag it would take you to the pictures I posted while abroad. But the Italian translation of “adventure of Amanda” quickly became my silent mantra this semester. I could list all of the adventures I have had these past three and a half months, but that would be endless (booking hostels, finding train stations, stumbling on one of a kind book stores, climbing coastal hills, etc…)! Instead I invite you to go to Instagram and search the hashtag!
In the end, I have realized that leaving my new friends, Rome, Italy, and Europe is very different than leaving Chicago or Louisville. At least with Chicago and Louisville I can attach an exact date to my eventual return. With Rome, I am not exactly sure when that will be (soon I hope!). I guess that is all part of the adventure.
My excitement to see my family and to live in Chicago again builds everyday, but I also already miss Rome. Everyone always says it, and I believe but it is definitely true…
Rome=Home.
