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<\/a><\/p>\n1. I hate that it\u2019s a Roman tradition to have a Siesta.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0For now I\u2019ve come accustom to never going out from 1 to 3pm everyday because I know every tabacchi, restaurant and store will be closed. I must accept that I can\u2019t get a take away pizza down the hill from my favorite place, pick up pear juice from Simply or get my prescription from the pharmacy because it\u2019s a time for everyone to take a break from the motions of everyday and relax because life deserves a break at times, just so you can keep going. It holds the intention of being a time when workers can take off in the middle of their workday to go home and enjoy time with their family, take a nap so they are fully ready to go out later that night before walking home at sunrise, and smoke a pack of cigarettes. It means that for the rest of my life when seeing 1pm on the clock I will think of the streets of Roman neighborhoods being empty and windows filled with families joined together in perfect harmony. No other place in the world does it, but Rome finds it necessary. It\u2019s 120 minutes when everyone gets the chance to realize that work isn\u2019t everything, that life isn\u2019t about who\u2019s more successful or makes the most money, that you must take time to reward yourself each day for your accomplishments, and that home is everything.<\/p>\n \u00a0 2. I hate that when sitting down for dinner you already know its going to take three hours.<\/strong><\/p>\n Italians do not believe in eating quickly or eating little meals and find it necessary to include multiple courses for dinner, although they understand in taking calories that late in the day stay with you. Meals are not intended to be rushed, but instead are there to be savored. Due to this habit in Italy, it forces me to enjoy every bit of the food placed in front of me from the antipasti of bruschetta to the pasta dish followed by meat and potatoes to ending with a shot of lemonchello. It\u2019s allowed me to experience the best food the world has to offer and taste each spice that comes my way. It\u2019s given me Buffeta Pizza that literally has taken a pizza my heart, gelato crawls where I\u2019ve experienced 18 flavors in one afternoon, and vino straight from the vines of Tuscany. Italy\u2019s food has reminded me to not count my calories, but count my blessings. It\u2019s not a time for rushing, but holds the intention of truly enjoying all aspects of life that others seem to forget. At the end of what can be a very eventful and busy day, it\u2019s a time when I am reminded of how fortunate I truly am. Of how I have never ending amazing food placed in front of me when others around the world go hungry, about how it\u2019s a time to get to know those sitting around the table with you because God brought them into your life for a reason, and about how in that moment everything is forgotten, except for what\u2019s right in front of you so you must fully experience it. It\u2019s a new habit that\u2019s made my stomach, heart and mind nourished.<\/p>\n 3. I hate that the words \u201cRome\u201d and \u201cRoam\u201d sound the same.<\/strong><\/p>\n For before even entering this city you know what you\u2019re in for: a lot of walking and unknown destinations. The buses seem to only work when the drivers feel like it, so you\u2019re forced to walk if you want to get anywhere. This without realizing it is the greatest blessing Roma has to offer. It not only allows you to embrace the carbs you are in taking because you walk a marathon daily, but enjoy life the way were all suppose to. It forces you to see every detail around you from the trees blossoming with wisteria, to the kids running in the school playgrounds, to the street performers playing the accordion, to the people riding four wheeled bikes in Villa Borghese. It allows you to feel the air around you, hear the joys of life through strangers, and see the world as it is from the cobble stone walkways. It reminds you that your destination is not a place, but a way of seeing things. It\u2019s Rome\u2019s special way of being. Rome gives you the beauty of roaming allowing you to accept that you are never lost, but simply going to the destination you didn\u2019t know you were meant to be at. It encourages you to wander and see the adventure we all seek. It reminds you that life is one great adventure full of endless possibilities. It\u2019s a constant example of one word having two meanings that constantly intertwine. It\u2019s special to put it simply.<\/p>\n 4. I hate that no matter where you are in the city you can always see the Vatican.<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019ve been given the opportunity to attend 6 Papal Audience Events, multiple masses in different churches around the city, and see people called to the religious rite daily. I\u2019ve purchased rosaries in the bunches, said prayers in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica, served God\u2019s people through the Panini distributions on Fridays, been blessed by Papa Francesco and gotten lost in the beauty of the Sistine Chapel. I\u2019ve completed the \u201cTo Do List\u201d of all religious things in Rome, but found that while living here anywhere I go, I\u2019ve been reminded to see God in all things; for if I turn to the right angle I can see the tip of the Vatican from any point in the city. Every day without trying, I\u2019m reminded of how good my life has been due to God making it possible and how seeing the world is the greatest gift I\u2019ve received. By living here I\u2019ve been given a new appreciation of the religious component of my life and strengthened my relationship with Him and his people. I\u2019ve seen the gifts God has given me in the center of the Catholic Church found within the walls of Vatican City and even through a little keyhole on top of Aventino Hill on the opposite end of the city. God has made me a part of this world that\u2019s filled with beauty and I have full faith that wherever it takes me is where I\u2019m meant to be. My current place of living has been the key of reminding\u00a0me to stop my worries, praise the goodness of life and have faith in the world around me daily. It\u2019s the Eternal City, reminding you that there\u2019s more to life than what you\u2019re living.<\/p>\n \u00a05.\u00a0I hate that Italian is the only language I hear.<\/strong><\/p>\n There are three languages of love in this world, all of which I\u2019ve learned at some point in my 20 years of living, but only one has been spoken while I\u2019m dreaming. Italian, a language unlike any other because its hand motions are just as important as the words one is stating. Its sentences are faster than taxis; every vowel is emphasized no matter where it is placed and without trying it always sounds like you\u2019re happy. I hate that I\u2019ve learned Italian, for now I feel so connected to where I am that I can\u2019t get myself to accept that I am leaving. Because of the knowledge I\u2019ve gained by adapting to a world with a whole new vocabulary I\u2019ve been given the opportunity to actually connect to the people and feel a part of the country. It\u2019s not a place that even speaks broken English because it\u2019s so absorbed in sticking with the Italian tradition that it brings you in as if you you\u2019re one of them because you\u2019re forced to try to speak it even if you came knowing nothing. By learning Italian I\u2019ve learned the true Italian way and feel like I\u2019m no longer a visitor, but one myself. It may not be my heritage, but has become a large part of who I am.<\/p>\n 6.\u00a0I hate my address being Via Massimi instead of one in the heart of the city.<\/strong><\/p>\n By being placed on the top of the hill in Monte Mario looking down on the center of the city, I\u2019ve seen Italy in a completely different way. Tourists see Rome, I see that and the neighborhood of Balduina with the locals smoking cigarettes at the bar at the corner of the street, with the workers at the grocery store Simply that ask if you have change for that 50 Euro every time you walk in, with the running path filled with Romans in parkas in the middle of spring. I see Rome from the neighborhood and that\u2019s given me an even better reason to love it. I don\u2019t live with tourists. I live with natives. I wait in the same Pizza e Kebab line they do, I go to the Tabacchi to get AS Roma tickets weeks before the games, I take the 913 or 990 down the hill into the city. I see Via Massimi and look for the green gates leading to the olive garden and orange trees, I make my way to the big brick building filled with all the friends I\u2019ve come to call family and think of home knowing that at the end of every day that\u2019s where life will lead me.<\/p>\n If it wasn\u2019t for living on Via Massimi I wouldn\u2019t have my own Roman Family for it\u2019s forced me to come to know the 235 people living with me. Rome was the location of this experience, but the people who made memories with me were the reason why it gave my life so much meaning. It\u2019s as if God brought together the top 200 individuals in this world and brought them into my life. I\u2019ve yet to figure out why I got so lucky! Because of the members of the John Felice Rome Center community Via Massimi became more than address, it was home, but not just me, but everyone who had a key.<\/p>\n 7. I hate that Rome is centered around Piazzas.<\/strong><\/p>\n It shows that Rome\u2019s more than a bunch of sites and is centered around people coming together regardless of their differences. It was the first thing while being here that made me feel like a Roman. I had my Peroni in hand, found myself sitting on the steps overlooking a neighborhood and simply observing, taking everything I can in. There\u2019s Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere filled with young people every night of the week bar hopping, there\u2019s Piazza Navona crowded with tourists, restaurants and struggling artists, there\u2019s Piazza di Spagna with flowers and groups of people lounging overlooking Via del Corso filled with people and shopping bags, there\u2019s Trevi where all those with wishes find themself at, and there\u2019s Piazza Cavour with people leaning on the palm trees in front of the courthouse. When navigating around Rome one finds themself using Piazza\u2019s as their benchmark, for they are all unique found in different neighborhoods all known for something completely different. Whatever neighborhood you go into, you find something that gives it meaning. You take 5 minutes of your day and automatically discover what it is that makes that area so unique. You are welcomed into Rome\u2019s core of bringing people together and without realizing it get lost in the music of the street performers, variety of people, and ancient beauty. It welcomes you with open arms and shows you that there\u2019s more to Rome than just the buildings.<\/p>\n 8. I hate that ruins out number the amount of people.<\/strong><\/p>\n For you can\u2019t appreciate where you\u2019re going, until you know where you\u2019ve been. Rome reminds you that you must cherish the past because it made you into what you are today. It brings history into your life every time you turn the corner and gives you a whole new view of what the world used to be. It makes you neighbors with the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Julius Caesar and Augustus. It reminds you that so many people came before you that have effected where you are standing right in this moment and it reminds you of what effect you will have. It\u2019s like signing up for a history lesson every time you want an espresso, and gives you a resting place at the homes of ancient cities and world leaders. It takes you back centuries and ruins everything you know, giving life a whole knew outlook and meaning. It\u2019s Rome and without trying, if you look at the rubble you can\u2019t help, but get a whole new outlook on where the world has been.<\/p>\n 9. I hate that when looking at a map it\u2019s close to so many other countries.<\/strong><\/p>\n Greece. Hungary. Slovenia. Denmark. Sweden. Spain. Czech Republic. Germany. The Netherlands. Belgium. France. Austria. Serbia. Italy.<\/p>\n It\u2019s because of Rome that I\u2019ve been given the opportunity to see the goodness of each of these countries, to not see the world from a map, but with my own eyes, my own feet, my own being. I\u2019ve seen all regions of the country I\u2019ve come to call my own, enjoying Chianti Classico in Tuscany, Michaelangelo\u2019s David in Florence, the views of the sea from Cinque Terre, the postcard perfect southern delight that is the Amalfi Coast, written my letter to Juliette in Verona, held up the leaning tower of Pisa, watched Mount Edna erupt in Sicily, enjoyed a gondola ride in Venice, saw glass being made on the island of Murano, explored the hometown of Leonardo di Vinci, saw the most colorful houses in the world off the island of Burano, walked through the 17 towns that made up Siena and ate what many would consider the best pizza in the world from Naples. I explored the country I\u2019ve come to call home and realized just how special it is to have an address with my name on it in Italy. In between all of this I found myself spontaneously planning trips around Europe landing my feet in different countries with different groups of people almost every weekend. It wasn\u2019t to see how many places I could go within a four-month period, but more that the travel bug bit me when arriving and I couldn\u2019t find a cure to the disease. I fell in love with the life I was living, the cities I discovered, and people I was meeting. I left a piece of my heart all around Europe and changed the course I thought my life would be taking. I\u2019ve left Rome for the Acropolis, thermal baths, Nyhavn, Swedish meatballs, the works of Gaudi, the John Lennon Wall for peace, canals of Amsterdam, World War II, Belgium waffles, the Eiffel Tower, classical music, and family. I traveled not to escape life, but for life not to escape me. Because of Rome, I was given more than a home, I was given the world having the opportunity of a lifetime to experience it fully.<\/p>\n 10.\u00a0But mostly, I hate the way I could never hate Rome, no matter how hard I tried because it made me into the person I\u2019ve always wanted to be.<\/strong><\/p>\n Gandhi once said \u201cbe the change you wish to see in the world\u201d, but how can you change the world if you haven\u2019t seen it? I came into this experience thinking it was my opportunity to change the world, but instead it changed me.<\/p>\n I came in search of finding the world\u2019s greatest foods, hidden gems, and roads less traveled, but instead found myself, what made me happiest, and why it is life is worth living. I just went and saw everything around me, met as many different people as I could, followed maps to their edges and then kept going. I never had a plan, but somewhere in between the airplanes, endless nights out, pesto gnocchi, multiple introductions, becoming the \u201csocial butterfly\u201d of JFRC, 4th<\/sup> glass of vino, winning the Calcio League Championship with team Rosa and Italian speaking 4 months happened. This adventure awaited me and I\u2019m so fortunate that I found it. I owe everything to this city, to the people who experience these past four months with me, to the John Felice Rome Center, and to my family. I experienced the world to it\u2019s fullest and lived a life far better than my dreams, I\u2019m still in denial that this is ending but will forever cherish the laughs, lessons, experiences and unforgettable memories for as long as I live. Life was meant to be one great adventure, and this was mine.<\/p>\n It took one day in the Eternal City for it to have my heart for an eternity. Rome became my home and will always be with me for it gave me life a whole new meaning and made me into the person I\u2019ve always wanted to be.<\/p>\n Ciao for now as I enjoy my last few days in the city<\/p>\n that\u2019s given \u201cGabs Great Adventure\u201d all its meaning,<\/p>\n Gabriella Lunich<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I sit on the second floor of the library looking at the covers of books around me and find myself stumbling upon an English Italian dictionary when I really should be packing. Without any purpose, I flip to a random page in hopes of gaining knowledge of something in which I didn\u2019t already know, but … <\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>
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