This past weekend I went on a trip to Romania, Transylvania specifically. I know what most of you are thinking, "Why Romania?" Well I can answer that with two simple words, "Why not?" I got that question a lot in the few weeks before my trip. So many people couldn't understand why I would choose to go to a place with a struggling economy and a bad reputation over all the other beautiful places I could go for the weekend. Italians have a prejudice against Romania, calling it unsafe and a waste of a trip. After having visited I can say for certain that that is absolutely false!
Our Agenda for the Trip: (Pictures on Facebook)
Day 1:Arrive in Tirgu Mures (rainy day), find our hotel and roam around the city for a little while.
Day 2: LONG DAY! Wake up and take the 3 hour bus ride to Brasov. Get lost in Brasov looking for the bus that would take us to Bran to see Dracula's castle. Finally find the ONE bus station that would take us there and ride for another hour. Wandered around Bran and saw the castle but couldn't go inside because it was closed :( Beautiful city though. Then ride back to Brasov and wait seemingly forever for the bus to take us back to Tirgu Mures. Get home super late!
Day 3: Wake up and go to Sighisoara. Adorable little Medieval town about an hour away, do lots of exploring and get back to the hotel in time to walk around the lake near our hotel while watching the sun set.
Day 4: Try to shop in Tirgu Mures, but everything is closed on a Sunday :/ Give up and go to the Airport early before flying all the way home to Italy!
It is definitely true that Romania is currently struggling. I could see it everywhere, people are mostly poor and work on farmland. I would say that from what I saw, most of the country is agriculture based. However, it was also obvious that Romania is a country going through drastic change. In between the tiny farming towns, there were expanses of land that are being transformed into industrial economies. We were not quite sure what kind of industry is being developed but it was very apparent that Romania is trying to change. Taking a bus ride through the country was extremely interesting because of the stark contrast between agriculture and industry.
As for the accusation that Romania is unsafe for travelers, I would say that it is no less safe than traveling in any other country. Wherever you travel, you have to be careful and pay attention to your surroundings. That is just common sense! This rule applies to Romania as well, as long as you are aware and pay attention to the people around you then you won't encounter any issues. Throughout the course of the trip I did not feel unsafe at all. However, the smaller cities are definitely better than the larger cities. In the small cities we visited, the people were very willing to help. In fact, many people even went out of their way to help us. For example, when we landed at the Transylvania airport we quickly saw that we were in the middle of no where. Before we had a chance to start thinking about how to get into town we were approached by a mother and daughter who immediately offered to give us a ride into town. They were so nice and did not even accept our offer to pitch in for gas money, they just wanted to help us. On the way into town, they gave us advice on what cities to go to and what the best mode of transportation to use is.
One of the amazing things about the trip was the complete lack of tourists. We quickly realized that Romania is not a tourist attraction and is therefore not accommodating towards foreigners. Instead of making our trip less successful, it added another element of adventure. We had to rely on random people to get information about transportation and directions. This also enriched our experience because it allowed us to really observe the culture of Romania, nothing was sugar-coated. We saw everything as it is. we saw the poor people working in the fields, we say the gypsies on the street. Because of this, we had a cultural experience instead of a tourist experience and I am very grateful for that.
This trip made me realize why I love traveling. We met so many people that were eager to talk to us and learn more about us as well as share their lives with us. Even though there was a language barrier that made it difficult to communicate, people still wanted to communicate with us any way they possibly could. We were the only Americans and instead of avoiding us like the plague, they welcomed us into their country. I could tell that many people wanted to change the bad reputation that Romania has. They no longer want to be known as an inhospitable country where everyone is out to get you. I can say that I would not hesitate to suggest a trip to Romania for the adventurous traveler.
I realized that we all get comfortable in the cities we live in. We all forget that there are amazing, unique places out there. On this trip I realized that it is good for you to get thrown into a place that you know nothing about and where you are totally lost because it gives you a chance to be amazed at the variety in the world. The variety of people, landscapes, cultures... everything. When you travel to places like this, you see that we are all people and we all have things in common no matter where you are from. Traveling is about making connections to the world, not just taking a picture and moving on.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
New month, new schedule...
Hello again! I know I haven't posted in a while but that was mostly because the 3 week intensive Italian course became quite monotonous and nothing really exciting was happening. What I can say is during my leave of absence I started 4 new service projects!
My first project is with horses, which I'm sure most of you could guess makes me really really happy :) I am working with an organization that works with children with disabilities and uses horses for therapy. It is a really great program and I am so excited to help in any way possible. I don't know much what I am doing but I think largely I will help take care of the horses and also work on desensitizing them so they learn how to behave around young kids. My second project is with a cat shelter and basically my job is to pet cats for 2 hours. Not a bad deal for me. Third project is serving people at a soup kitchen run by a sassy nun (yes actually). Last but not least I am working on an English language conversation class with young adults about my age and a bit older. I am so excited to get more involved in all of these projects so I will update you as I better learn what my role will be.
Last week we ended our intensive Italian course with a trip to the south! It was such a great time and a fantastic opportunity to relax after all of the work we have all been doing. We started on Thursday and we went to a place called Tivoli where one of the Roman emperors built his gigantic vacation villa. The place used to be extravagant and outfitted with only the best of everything. Unfortunately though, most of the artwork and anything valuable was stolen about a hundred years ago so only the collapsed stone structures remain. It was very interesting to walk around a place where an emperor spent most of his time. Not many people were invited to the villa unless they had business with the emperor, you could just sense the history that happened right where you stood. Really, that is how I feel in most Italian places. People lived here centuries ago, and now I get to walk the exact same streets.
The next day we went to a Buffalo mozzarella factory and literally ate balls of mozzarella for lunch... it was delicious. then we ended the day by getting to the island of Ischia. Ischia is near Capri, where i have been before but it is so much more interesting! There are beautiful beaches and mountains all within about 40 square miles (give or take). I loved this island because I was able to go to the beach and swim in the crystal clear water. Great way to end the month of September. We ended the trip on Sunday in Pompeii and then drove all the way back to Siena where we got the unpleasant surprise of pouring rain on our 30 minute walk home!
This week, we started our regular schedules. I only have three classes but I will be completing about 15 hours of service each week. I have Italian for 2 hours every day except Wednesday, Reflective writing every Friday and Institutions in Society every Tuesday and Thursday. I am excited to get settled in a regular weekly routine that does NOT include 5 hours of Italian during the day. I think now it feels more like real life and not so much like a very long vacation here in Siena.
Today was a fun day because I actually got to see my Aunt Renee and Grandma! They have been in Florence since last week and they have finally gotten a chance to get into Siena. Today we only got a chance to visit for a couple hours and have some lunch but I will get to see them again this weekend when I go to Rome!
More updates to come after this weekend! Also, there are tons of pictures of my 4 day trip on Facebook so check them out!
Haley
My first project is with horses, which I'm sure most of you could guess makes me really really happy :) I am working with an organization that works with children with disabilities and uses horses for therapy. It is a really great program and I am so excited to help in any way possible. I don't know much what I am doing but I think largely I will help take care of the horses and also work on desensitizing them so they learn how to behave around young kids. My second project is with a cat shelter and basically my job is to pet cats for 2 hours. Not a bad deal for me. Third project is serving people at a soup kitchen run by a sassy nun (yes actually). Last but not least I am working on an English language conversation class with young adults about my age and a bit older. I am so excited to get more involved in all of these projects so I will update you as I better learn what my role will be.
Last week we ended our intensive Italian course with a trip to the south! It was such a great time and a fantastic opportunity to relax after all of the work we have all been doing. We started on Thursday and we went to a place called Tivoli where one of the Roman emperors built his gigantic vacation villa. The place used to be extravagant and outfitted with only the best of everything. Unfortunately though, most of the artwork and anything valuable was stolen about a hundred years ago so only the collapsed stone structures remain. It was very interesting to walk around a place where an emperor spent most of his time. Not many people were invited to the villa unless they had business with the emperor, you could just sense the history that happened right where you stood. Really, that is how I feel in most Italian places. People lived here centuries ago, and now I get to walk the exact same streets.
The next day we went to a Buffalo mozzarella factory and literally ate balls of mozzarella for lunch... it was delicious. then we ended the day by getting to the island of Ischia. Ischia is near Capri, where i have been before but it is so much more interesting! There are beautiful beaches and mountains all within about 40 square miles (give or take). I loved this island because I was able to go to the beach and swim in the crystal clear water. Great way to end the month of September. We ended the trip on Sunday in Pompeii and then drove all the way back to Siena where we got the unpleasant surprise of pouring rain on our 30 minute walk home!
This week, we started our regular schedules. I only have three classes but I will be completing about 15 hours of service each week. I have Italian for 2 hours every day except Wednesday, Reflective writing every Friday and Institutions in Society every Tuesday and Thursday. I am excited to get settled in a regular weekly routine that does NOT include 5 hours of Italian during the day. I think now it feels more like real life and not so much like a very long vacation here in Siena.
Today was a fun day because I actually got to see my Aunt Renee and Grandma! They have been in Florence since last week and they have finally gotten a chance to get into Siena. Today we only got a chance to visit for a couple hours and have some lunch but I will get to see them again this weekend when I go to Rome!
More updates to come after this weekend! Also, there are tons of pictures of my 4 day trip on Facebook so check them out!
Haley
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Even a place as relaxing as Italy can exhaust you
I have now been going through my intensive Italian Course for about 2 weeks now and I have to say, I am TIRED. I knew this would happen though. I have been through the exhaustion of constantly immersing yourself in a new language. It is difficult, frustrating and you usually feel like you are gaining absolutely no ground. Here in Italy, the transition may not be as extreme when I went to Sweden not knowing any Swedish. However, it is exhausting just the same.
Let me explain how I can be exhausted even though I live in a vacation destination.
1) Because Italian is not my native language (Obviously), I constantly have to translate every word I say from English into Italian before I actually speak it. Even when I am having simple conversations it is just natural for me to think it in English and then say what I need to say in Italian. This means that my brain is never fully resting when I am out and about or even just hanging out at home. As any college student can agree to, thinking is hard! The good news is that when my Italian gets better, this will soon go away. Eventually, I will not be translating anymore. A cat will simply be un gatto, my mind will learn to function in Italian. To make it easier on myself though, I have been walking to a place in the city that has fig trees and reading. For me, spending a few hours alone with a good (English!) book gives my mind the respite it desires.
2) Living with a host mom. I absolutely love my host mom, she is so sweet and helps me with Italian as well as makes sure that I am fed and happy. She does a fantastic job of doing anything she needs to do in order to make me feel comfortable here. That being said, I am still living in a stranger's house. It is only natural to feel less at ease in a house that is not your own with a mother that you met 2 weeks ago. I am constantly making sure that I am polite and respectful of her home. Of course, this is what is expected of me and if I welcomed a college student into my home I would expect no less. Sometimes though, you just need to be in your own bed in comfortable surroundings for your mind to be completely at ease.
3) Constantly being around new people. Anyone that knows me will immediately understand why this would exhaust me. Being around so many people wears out my energy and I often find that I need a little alone time to recover. This does not mean that I hate people or I am anti-social. I am simply an introvert and even though I love the people in my program, it does use a lot of energy for me to always be around 20 people that I hardly know. I am usually at home in a group of only a few people that I know extremely well but I am getting along fantastically with everyone and I feel that as time goes on it will become a bit less difficult for me to be around everyone all at once.
4) 5 hours of anything every day is tiring. This one is self-explanatory, I have 5 hours of Italian every day and that would make anyone tired.
5) Last but not least, being away from Aaron is really difficult. I am not quite sure how to explain it but being away from him sort of makes me feel like I am never fully energized. He is the one person that understands me the best and being around him does not drain my energy because I don't have to try to be anything special around him. I am doing so many amazing things here and Aaron is always in the back of my mind because I wish I could share this adventure with him.
So even though my facebook may make it seem like my life is one never ending party, I wanted to make this blog to show everyone the reality of living abroad. It is difficult. There are things that drain the energy from you and may make you really wish sometimes that maybe one thing could be familiar and then maybe everything would be easier. For example, every day I wish that there was a shower curtain for my shower. But there isn't and that is just something that you have to adjust to, I have learned to just deal with the fact that there is a mirror right in from of me and yeah, its totally awkward.
Despite the difficult things though, there are amazing things that happen everyday that make you so happy that nothing is familiar. Because if everything was familiar, would you still be amazed? Doubt it.
Let me explain how I can be exhausted even though I live in a vacation destination.
1) Because Italian is not my native language (Obviously), I constantly have to translate every word I say from English into Italian before I actually speak it. Even when I am having simple conversations it is just natural for me to think it in English and then say what I need to say in Italian. This means that my brain is never fully resting when I am out and about or even just hanging out at home. As any college student can agree to, thinking is hard! The good news is that when my Italian gets better, this will soon go away. Eventually, I will not be translating anymore. A cat will simply be un gatto, my mind will learn to function in Italian. To make it easier on myself though, I have been walking to a place in the city that has fig trees and reading. For me, spending a few hours alone with a good (English!) book gives my mind the respite it desires.
2) Living with a host mom. I absolutely love my host mom, she is so sweet and helps me with Italian as well as makes sure that I am fed and happy. She does a fantastic job of doing anything she needs to do in order to make me feel comfortable here. That being said, I am still living in a stranger's house. It is only natural to feel less at ease in a house that is not your own with a mother that you met 2 weeks ago. I am constantly making sure that I am polite and respectful of her home. Of course, this is what is expected of me and if I welcomed a college student into my home I would expect no less. Sometimes though, you just need to be in your own bed in comfortable surroundings for your mind to be completely at ease.
3) Constantly being around new people. Anyone that knows me will immediately understand why this would exhaust me. Being around so many people wears out my energy and I often find that I need a little alone time to recover. This does not mean that I hate people or I am anti-social. I am simply an introvert and even though I love the people in my program, it does use a lot of energy for me to always be around 20 people that I hardly know. I am usually at home in a group of only a few people that I know extremely well but I am getting along fantastically with everyone and I feel that as time goes on it will become a bit less difficult for me to be around everyone all at once.
4) 5 hours of anything every day is tiring. This one is self-explanatory, I have 5 hours of Italian every day and that would make anyone tired.
5) Last but not least, being away from Aaron is really difficult. I am not quite sure how to explain it but being away from him sort of makes me feel like I am never fully energized. He is the one person that understands me the best and being around him does not drain my energy because I don't have to try to be anything special around him. I am doing so many amazing things here and Aaron is always in the back of my mind because I wish I could share this adventure with him.
So even though my facebook may make it seem like my life is one never ending party, I wanted to make this blog to show everyone the reality of living abroad. It is difficult. There are things that drain the energy from you and may make you really wish sometimes that maybe one thing could be familiar and then maybe everything would be easier. For example, every day I wish that there was a shower curtain for my shower. But there isn't and that is just something that you have to adjust to, I have learned to just deal with the fact that there is a mirror right in from of me and yeah, its totally awkward.
Despite the difficult things though, there are amazing things that happen everyday that make you so happy that nothing is familiar. Because if everything was familiar, would you still be amazed? Doubt it.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
What is it like to be thrown into a new culture?
It has been a week since I arrived in Italy and I am slowly finding my footing in Siena. I can find my way around if I am trying to get to the school or the main Piazza. Anywhere else is really a guessing game though, the good thing is that Siena is so small that if you are lost you will most likely find something you recognize in less than 10 minutes. My program made us do several activities that aimed to teach us how to find out way around and they were so helpful!
The first day, our host families showed us the way to get to school from our homes. I walk about 30 minutes to get to class but I could take the bus if I felt like being lazy. I really love the walk because I get to take 30 minutes to watch and listen to Italian people. That may make me a creeper but It's a great way to observe the Italian way of life. After getting to class, we took a tour of Siena and then came back and took our Italian placement tests. I got placed in the advanced class with 3 other students, I was so surprised! Not much happened this day really but it was exciting to start talking to the other american students and getting to know my future friends.
The next day we began our Italian lessons (which we have 5 hours a day for 3 weeks). These are exhausting and go very slowly with only 4 people. I can definitely tell that they are making my Italian so much better and every day I come home with the ability to say more things to my host mom. I can now have a real conversation about my stance on American politics with my host mom when she asks. This is fantastic because all this Syria business is very important and I was very interested to know what opinion an Italian might have on the matter. Turns out, my host mom is just as Liberal as I am and completely opposes American intervention in Syria. Who knew that Italians disagree with nearly ever political move America makes? (oh, wait, everyone knows that!). It is also interesting to note that American politics makes up a large portion of the news programs here, it was also like this in Sweden. People in the U.S. sometimes don't realize that the actions of our government really are scrutinized by everyone in the world and that it is extremely important for everyone in the U.S. to be informed about what our government is doing because it affects so many people.
This past weekend wasn't too tiring but I was still getting used to the time change so I seemed to be endlessly exhausted. Thankfully I am now fully recovered from JetLag. Sunday, I got a new addition to my host family! A new student from New York is staying my my host mom and I until December so now we have a full house. This is great because there is always someone to talk to and I don't ever have to be bored. This is also a bit difficult for me because anyone who knows me well knows that I need my alone time, which doesn't really happen. Maybe when I have a more steady schedule I will be able to sneak away a few times a week and find a nice spot in the city to read for a while.
On Monday, we started our intensive Italian course and so far I am still working hard at it even though 5 hours of Italian language in a row kinda makes me want to slink under a rock somewhere. I will Talk more about this week when I post another blog post this weekend.
Ciao! (P.S. I gave up looking for spelling errors so do me a favor and ignore any that you may find!)
The first day, our host families showed us the way to get to school from our homes. I walk about 30 minutes to get to class but I could take the bus if I felt like being lazy. I really love the walk because I get to take 30 minutes to watch and listen to Italian people. That may make me a creeper but It's a great way to observe the Italian way of life. After getting to class, we took a tour of Siena and then came back and took our Italian placement tests. I got placed in the advanced class with 3 other students, I was so surprised! Not much happened this day really but it was exciting to start talking to the other american students and getting to know my future friends.
The next day we began our Italian lessons (which we have 5 hours a day for 3 weeks). These are exhausting and go very slowly with only 4 people. I can definitely tell that they are making my Italian so much better and every day I come home with the ability to say more things to my host mom. I can now have a real conversation about my stance on American politics with my host mom when she asks. This is fantastic because all this Syria business is very important and I was very interested to know what opinion an Italian might have on the matter. Turns out, my host mom is just as Liberal as I am and completely opposes American intervention in Syria. Who knew that Italians disagree with nearly ever political move America makes? (oh, wait, everyone knows that!). It is also interesting to note that American politics makes up a large portion of the news programs here, it was also like this in Sweden. People in the U.S. sometimes don't realize that the actions of our government really are scrutinized by everyone in the world and that it is extremely important for everyone in the U.S. to be informed about what our government is doing because it affects so many people.
This past weekend wasn't too tiring but I was still getting used to the time change so I seemed to be endlessly exhausted. Thankfully I am now fully recovered from JetLag. Sunday, I got a new addition to my host family! A new student from New York is staying my my host mom and I until December so now we have a full house. This is great because there is always someone to talk to and I don't ever have to be bored. This is also a bit difficult for me because anyone who knows me well knows that I need my alone time, which doesn't really happen. Maybe when I have a more steady schedule I will be able to sneak away a few times a week and find a nice spot in the city to read for a while.
On Monday, we started our intensive Italian course and so far I am still working hard at it even though 5 hours of Italian language in a row kinda makes me want to slink under a rock somewhere. I will Talk more about this week when I post another blog post this weekend.
Ciao! (P.S. I gave up looking for spelling errors so do me a favor and ignore any that you may find!)
Saturday, September 7, 2013
This is just the beginning...
Ciao a Tutti!
I have now been here in Siena, Italy for 4 days and I have to say that I am extremely impressed! I came here not really knowing what to expect. I knew it was Tuscany and it was beautiful, great, fun and all those generic descriptive words but WOW, just WOW. Siena is beyond any place I have ever been to before. It has been preserved to look nearly exactly like it did in 1500. It is filled with interesting people and many places to explore. I am so excited to get 4 months here but somehow I feel like that will not be quite enough.
I arrived here Wednesday morning after a 9 hour flight with a belligerent drunk woman by by side, no sleep to be had. She thought she made a new best friend while I thought otherwise. As soon as we arrived in Rome, my friend (who randomly ended up on the same flight as me) and I made our way towards customs and then exited the terminal to find the designated meeting place for our group. We eventually found a group of about 35 students who looked just as lost and excited as us and decided that we must belong together. Indeed we did and about 1 hour later we all found ourselves together on our bus to Siena. In just a short 3 hours we found ourselves quite suddenly given to the complete strangers that would live with for the duration of our stay.
Another girl and I were put into the capable hands of two older women who promptly kissed us on both cheeks and brought us to their car. Turns out, neither of them spoke one word of English! I immediately had a small internal freak-out but as soon as they said something about dinner I pretty much got over any anxiety. It doesn't matter if I don't understand what you are saying as long as you fill my stomach right?
Anyways, my host mother has turned out to be extremely welcoming and just plain fantastic. As many Italian women do, especially older ones, Laura makes sure that my every need is fulfilled and keeps offering even after you say no several times. This is just how they are here, to serve someone in your home is the best way of making them feel welcome. I definitely feel comfortable here, and I am being fed fantastically! One thing that has come as a surprise to me is that I have been able to communicate fairly easily with my host mother. Who knew that 4 years of Italian actually do stick in your brain? They just hide until they are forced to come into use. However, I still need a lot of work but being able to speak Italian makes it much easier to communicate with Laura. She has also hosted several students from the U.S. and she really knows what she is doing so hopefully things will continue to go smoothly.
This post isn't very comprehensive but all of my orientation activities these few days have drained my energy and I will wait until tomorrow to tell you everything that I have had the chance to do in just these few days. I just thought this would be a good time to tell all of you that I am alive, I do NOT live with a crazy person and that I can actually speak Italian. If you want to know anything specific just make a comment and I will definitely make sure to answer!
A domani,
Haley
I have now been here in Siena, Italy for 4 days and I have to say that I am extremely impressed! I came here not really knowing what to expect. I knew it was Tuscany and it was beautiful, great, fun and all those generic descriptive words but WOW, just WOW. Siena is beyond any place I have ever been to before. It has been preserved to look nearly exactly like it did in 1500. It is filled with interesting people and many places to explore. I am so excited to get 4 months here but somehow I feel like that will not be quite enough.
I arrived here Wednesday morning after a 9 hour flight with a belligerent drunk woman by by side, no sleep to be had. She thought she made a new best friend while I thought otherwise. As soon as we arrived in Rome, my friend (who randomly ended up on the same flight as me) and I made our way towards customs and then exited the terminal to find the designated meeting place for our group. We eventually found a group of about 35 students who looked just as lost and excited as us and decided that we must belong together. Indeed we did and about 1 hour later we all found ourselves together on our bus to Siena. In just a short 3 hours we found ourselves quite suddenly given to the complete strangers that would live with for the duration of our stay.
Another girl and I were put into the capable hands of two older women who promptly kissed us on both cheeks and brought us to their car. Turns out, neither of them spoke one word of English! I immediately had a small internal freak-out but as soon as they said something about dinner I pretty much got over any anxiety. It doesn't matter if I don't understand what you are saying as long as you fill my stomach right?
Anyways, my host mother has turned out to be extremely welcoming and just plain fantastic. As many Italian women do, especially older ones, Laura makes sure that my every need is fulfilled and keeps offering even after you say no several times. This is just how they are here, to serve someone in your home is the best way of making them feel welcome. I definitely feel comfortable here, and I am being fed fantastically! One thing that has come as a surprise to me is that I have been able to communicate fairly easily with my host mother. Who knew that 4 years of Italian actually do stick in your brain? They just hide until they are forced to come into use. However, I still need a lot of work but being able to speak Italian makes it much easier to communicate with Laura. She has also hosted several students from the U.S. and she really knows what she is doing so hopefully things will continue to go smoothly.
This post isn't very comprehensive but all of my orientation activities these few days have drained my energy and I will wait until tomorrow to tell you everything that I have had the chance to do in just these few days. I just thought this would be a good time to tell all of you that I am alive, I do NOT live with a crazy person and that I can actually speak Italian. If you want to know anything specific just make a comment and I will definitely make sure to answer!
A domani,
Haley
Saturday, August 24, 2013
How does every adventure begin? ANTICIPATION
The weeks and months leading up to my study abroad have actually passed extremely quick. I have kept myself occupied with work and random worries long enough to delay the realization that my departure date is VERY SOON. I have been distractedly aware that it was approaching because I have been required to do a number of frustrating and tedious tasks just to be allowed into the country (getting a Visa once again became a source of stress in my life). However, the monotony of government paperwork and language tests did something to distract me from the real excitement that I now feel at full force.
Though I assume the majority of people reading this have been directed here by myself, I think I will still give a short introduction just in case any people I do not know have happened upon this blog. My name is Haley Stephenson, I go to the University of Denver and I am majoring International Studies. I will be studying abroad in Siena, Italy in a few short weeks.
The program I will be attending is not exactly the typical college study abroad experience. Mostly when people think of college students abroad they think of binge drinking in Australia. Although that sounds like a blast to me (and a few of my friends have gone that route and are LOVING IT), that has never really been my style. Because I was an exchange student in High School, I developed a strong love of going somewhere that I feel completely out of place. With this feeling in mind, I started my search for a study abroad program with one thing in mind: IMMERSION. I wanted the total package. I wanted to be forced to learn about the Italian culture and my language skills need some serious fine tuning that only full immersion can bring. Eventually, I found a program that seemed to fit my needs perfectly. My program is totally in Italian, I will live with a host family and I will work with children who can't speak a lick of English.
I know absolutely nothing about the structure of my classes, how much time I will be spending with the kids or if I will even have homework in the traditional sense. All of this uncertainty about what my life will be like abroad really adds to the anticipation I feel at the moment because I just want to get started!
Although I know I will take away many valuable lessons from this experience, I do have one overarching goal. I really need to get my Italian in working order. My Italian minor is a work in progress and by the end of this quarter I will have almost finished all the requirements. Funny thing about the Italian minor, you can complete a full two years and STILL NOT SPEAK ITALIAN. Granted, my Italian is passable in a class full of students who are all equally as lost as me. Honestly though, we spent most of the time staring into space or pondering the sexuality of the male professor (Do all Italian men dress this well? Doubt it).
For the moment I am still in Denver. I am living in my apartment near the DU campus where I lived this summer with my Boyfriend, Aaron. I think one of the reasons I have not fully realized my excitement for going abroad until now is because I have had the most amazing summer I ever could have asked for. I have treasured every moment of my time with Aaron and I know that we are both bitter that the summer has ended and we have to go our separate ways. Much to my dismay we now have to make due with Facebook and Skype for a daunting four months. Though I have spent much longer than four months in a foreign country I have never had to cope with leaving this particular person behind and it will be rough.
I will do my best to update my blog with pictures and anything interesting that happens over these four months. From previous experience I can assume that I will land myself in several interesting situations so there should be no shortage of awkward stories and exciting adventures. I will do my best to keep all of you entertained until Christmas!
Until next time, Ciao! (My Italian isn't completely hopeless I guess)
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