To wrap up my September Study Abroad theme, I’ll give you a look at what a day in my life in Bologna looked like. I hope this article encourages you to think about the nuances, clichés, and realities of what a study abroad experience will be for you. For a little background, I studied abroad in Bologna, Italy with Dickinson College while studying international security studies.
Just for the sake of argument, let’s say it’s a Friday in September. Yawn* It’s 90 degrees outside and we have no air-conditioning, the frozen sheet trick only lasted about half an hour, so I might need a shower. Luckily, today’s art history class is meeting in the university area, which means there’s an indoor coffee shop with incredible croissants in the piazza. I put on my lightweight airy dress, mildly brush my hair, and walk outside. Forgoing the croissants, I decide to grab a prosciutto and sweet bread sandwich from la paninoteca and walk down via Marsala to via Zamboni. It’s a short walk, but by 9:50, it’s pretty warm. We listen to our Italian professor talk about the Bentivoglio family while pointing out buildings and architecture while having a mass of 20 American students bumbling around him. We wander under the portici and stay in the shade as much as possible. The orange, red, and yellow roofs and sidewalks look like they were born out of the sun that’s rising behind them. Our trail leads us up to the two towers and a market that takes up half of the square.
Next, we have our Italian 101 class. All eager to get back into the air conditioning, we speed walk back to the Dickinson Center. La profesoressa walks in, late and bubbly, allowing us to talk and joke with her before we have to delve into Italian grammar and “dove Yukio,” an incredibly weird children’s story about an Asian International student in Rome who gets locked in a bathroom for two days while his friends think he’s been kidnapped by a psychopath. It’s a Friday, and we’ve all behaved in class, as much as a bunch of 20-year-olds can living abroad can, and our professor agrees to take us to the café downstairs for a cappuccino and panino. She tells us stories about her daughter or her experiences traveling in the U.S. This woman is literally the most charismatic and loving woman you could ever meet.
So now what? It’s a beautiful day and I was an angel of a student and totally already finished all of my work for Monday. I decide to go to the market and get some food for dinner because I really needed milk anyway. But, being a college student, that food gets thrown in the refrigerator and my friends and I run to Pizza Casa to get a mid-afternoon “snack” for 2 bucks and run back home to lay on the tile floors and gorge ourselves. We watch some Netflix and plan out our evening. Do we go to the park and sit at the bar, or do we eat out, or do we hang out inside? We decide to eat at our second favorite restaurant next to the market. Give me some carpaccio and some bread and I’m a happy camper. If you add on the Italian wine and some regional parmesan, I’m in heaven. The leftover pizza will have to wait for breakfast.
After dinner, the city is cooler and we wander around the streets looking into bars and shops. Eventually, we arrive back home and indulge in some gelato from my favorite gelateria. With our superior ice cream in hand, we walk to Piazza Maggiore and sit on the raised plateau that makes up most of the square. It’s still warm and most Italian schools haven’t started yet, so there are children running up and down chasing the glowing dollar toys that the migrants shoot into the air and let fly back down. People watching is by far the best way to enjoy another culture. But it’s getting late, and we stroll back home to get ready for whatever adventure we plan for tomorrow. As a weekend, we decide to go to Rimini and soak up the sun along the beach before it’s too cold.
Now press repeat with a few extra adventures and you get a semester abroad. Charming European cities, mixed with wonderful food and whimsical dreams of travel coming true.
