13.
Thirteen is the number of days until I am on my way home back to New Jersey.
Before I came on this study abroad, everyone would ask me if they think I'm going to love it there. And every time I would respond with the response, "Of course I'm going to love it! I even plan on moving there once I graduate to open up my pastry shop!" Sadly, for me, that's not the fact anymore.
As much as I loved my time here in Florence, I'm ready to go home. I miss my friends, my family, my dog, my job, my bed, my everything. Don't get me wrong, I loved my time here: all of my trips, the friends i've made, the classes I've attended, the food I've eaten. But to be honest, I'm done with it all. I'm done with my classes. I'm done with the Italian food. I'm done with traveling. I'm done with my roommates. I'm done with my life in Italy.
This was the experience of a lifetime and I am telling everyone to go and study abroad in any location because you will have the time of your life. Studying abroad is definitely not something that I would discourage in any way. It is something that you need to experience on your own, make your own adventures, make your own friends, and make your own memories. I know I did. The first month of being here, I would wake up, go to class, pass the Duomo and stop. I'd look up and shake my head because I couldn't believe the fact that my dream of eventually studying in Italy and learning pastry had come true. I was standing in front of a masterpiece. Why? Because that was my home for the next four months. This was the city that I was going to wake up in for the next 120 days of my life. I'd be surrounded by Italian culture: the food, the music, the people, the weather. Everything.
I've traveled to countries that people have DREAMED of going to. I have eaten foods that shock so many people back home where it's a delicacy here. I have seen monuments and sculptures that so many people have always wanted to see. I have been to about 7 countries when there are people that haven't left the states. I've received the chance to be one of the luckiest people on the planet.
But time is winding down, I'm approaching the day that I leave my home here and return to my original one where I grew up. Proxy-Connection: keep-alive
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last minute to actually take out a suitcase and throw in everything right before I have to leave because i was upset to leave my home for the last four months. I think, what did it for me, why I'm so prepared to go home and excited is because I miss that comfort about being around things and people that I know. I want to go home and see a Target or an A&P, not a Zara's and a Billa Billa Billa. I want to say, "1 pound of meat please" instead of "Quatro de kilo di carne per favore" I just want to carry around quarters and not 2 Euro pieces. It's those small things that just make me feel comfort; make me feel like I'm at home. But what I think it also is, is that money is such a huge aspect to living here and I'm out of mine. I have zero dollars left. I came with thousands of dollars and now I'm down to a couple of hundred. I'm one that makes money and saves it, not splurging it on expensive clothing or bags or jewelery. I use it for things that I've dreamed of having, that I've waited a lifetime for. Here I'm paying for the trips, all of my food, buses, trains, school books, clothing, going out, it's too much for me to handle. I need to go home and have a job. Knowing that every week I'm receiving money to put into my account. I need to know that I'm capable of doing that. And that's only possible in the states, at home.
I think what's killing me the most are my friends. None of my cloesest friends for life are here with me. Sure, I talk to them really often and I write to them and talk on Skype with them, but it's not the same. To know that I can't call them every single day to complain about my problem or to tell them a juicy story is hard on me. My whole life, I've had these friends to be by my side, to get me through problems, and I dont' have that access anymore. Even here, I've made good friends, but in no way do they compare to the ones at home. Every day, I think about them and what I could be doing with them right then and there if I wasn't in Italy and it was hard on me. These last few days I've been really upset because I know that I'm seeing them soon but still every day passes and I've yet to board that plane to land in JFK and see my mom and dad's faces.
Florence, I've loved you from the moment I landed in your airport. I've seen your sights, your locals, your markets, tasted your food, and danced and drank in your clubs. I've witnessed your weather, tasted your tripe, and spoke your language. But I know that it's time for me to leave you and my home and to go back to the place where I feel completely secure.
13. The number that brings me back to my True Home.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Would You Like Some Cheese with that Wine?
Sadly, friday marked the day of our last school trip before we leave to head home, and I must say, that it definitely ended on a good note. Our first stop on the trip with Gaiole, Chianti. When we first arrived there, we were brought to a castle to go on a short tour. But ever since I saw that disney-inspired castle in Munich, nothing compares, so I wasn't very impressed. However, the views that you recieved looking off the terrace could not be described in words.
Once we finished our tour, we headed over to a wine cellar to learn about the infamous Chianti wines. After touring the cellars and seeing the barrels and bottles upon bottles of wine that they produce, we got the opportunity to try them. We walked into this room that was set up for our wine tasting and I felt like I was royalty. The wine glasses shined without a spot on them, there were baskets of crackers, bottles of water to clean the palate. It was the perfect set-up. The first wine we tried was from 2007 and was of course, a Chianti Classic. Despite the fact that I am by far, more of a white wine girl, I actually thoroughly enjoyed this wine. It was a dry, red wine but had a flavor that, for once, I really enjoyed. However, I could not say that for the second. I took one sip of the chianti from 2005 and couldn't swallow it. I think I've just come to the conclusion that I'm more of a beer girl. (I'll just put my pinky up when I drink it to make myself seem more classy) After, they took us for a lunch that was included in our trip and the whole way to the restaurant, I can't tell you how many times I heard the phrase, "If our lunch is another plate of proscuitto, I swear...." For once, I was actually one of those people. I even shocked myself. Thankfully, what we all wanted happened, we didn't get plates upon plates of proscuitto. The meal started off with a plate of cold cuts and bruschetta, however! only one piece of meat was proscuitto so no complaining for the other students (thank god!), then our main course, which believe it or not, I haven't had all of my time in Italy....LASAGNA!!! It was sooo good! Nothing like my mother's lasagna, but this was still reasonable hahaha. Then for dessert was this cake with apple inside of it and some sauce which many people didn't like but I loved it, so I was completely satisfied. After lunch, we got back onto the bus and went to our second stop.
Our last stop before we headed back to Florence was in Montalicino, the birthplace of the famous wine, Brunello. We weren't there for long but what we did was go into a castle looking building that apparently has some of the best views you can recieve there. So we climbed some stairs and ended up on a walkway that went around the whole perimeter of this castle. But the views were to die for:
After, we headed back on the bus and back to Florence for the last time ever being here. I can't believe all my trips are over. It's really sad to think about it, but I know I made friends and memories to last a lifetime.
Once we finished our tour, we headed over to a wine cellar to learn about the infamous Chianti wines. After touring the cellars and seeing the barrels and bottles upon bottles of wine that they produce, we got the opportunity to try them. We walked into this room that was set up for our wine tasting and I felt like I was royalty. The wine glasses shined without a spot on them, there were baskets of crackers, bottles of water to clean the palate. It was the perfect set-up. The first wine we tried was from 2007 and was of course, a Chianti Classic. Despite the fact that I am by far, more of a white wine girl, I actually thoroughly enjoyed this wine. It was a dry, red wine but had a flavor that, for once, I really enjoyed. However, I could not say that for the second. I took one sip of the chianti from 2005 and couldn't swallow it. I think I've just come to the conclusion that I'm more of a beer girl. (I'll just put my pinky up when I drink it to make myself seem more classy) After, they took us for a lunch that was included in our trip and the whole way to the restaurant, I can't tell you how many times I heard the phrase, "If our lunch is another plate of proscuitto, I swear...." For once, I was actually one of those people. I even shocked myself. Thankfully, what we all wanted happened, we didn't get plates upon plates of proscuitto. The meal started off with a plate of cold cuts and bruschetta, however! only one piece of meat was proscuitto so no complaining for the other students (thank god!), then our main course, which believe it or not, I haven't had all of my time in Italy....LASAGNA!!! It was sooo good! Nothing like my mother's lasagna, but this was still reasonable hahaha. Then for dessert was this cake with apple inside of it and some sauce which many people didn't like but I loved it, so I was completely satisfied. After lunch, we got back onto the bus and went to our second stop.
Our last stop before we headed back to Florence was in Montalicino, the birthplace of the famous wine, Brunello. We weren't there for long but what we did was go into a castle looking building that apparently has some of the best views you can recieve there. So we climbed some stairs and ended up on a walkway that went around the whole perimeter of this castle. But the views were to die for:
After, we headed back on the bus and back to Florence for the last time ever being here. I can't believe all my trips are over. It's really sad to think about it, but I know I made friends and memories to last a lifetime.
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