For as long as I can remember, traveling has been the main goal that I have worked toward, Italy being my dream destination. I have had a makeshift piggy bank made out of a pasta sauce jar on my dresser my whole life, with the word “ITALY” written across the glass to remind myself that every penny thrown in there was a plane ticket in the making. When I was introduced to the idea of studying abroad in Florence, Italy, I immediately jumped on the opportunity, not knowing what to expect at all.
As my semester abroad is drawing to a close, I’ve realized that not only have I crossed off practically everything on my bucket list, I’ve also grown as a person. I have learned things about myself and the world that I couldn’t have learned in Ohio and I’m continually changing into a person I never thought I could become. Here are just a few things I learned while living in Italy that changed my outlook on life and on the United States.
1. Being independent is difficult
Before I hopped on the plane in Cleveland, the longest I had been away from home was 10 days. I still live with my parents, so the thought of leaving them and my family for five months was terrifying. I was leaving my steady income, my friends, the comfort of my home, Chipotle, the town I grew up in, and I didn’t know how to handle it. After two weeks of being incredibly ill, jet-lagged and homesick, I was finally able to adjust to grocery shopping by myself, cooking my own meals, and surviving in a country I knew nothing about with a language I could barely understand. Although I still sometimes send the annoying text to my parents asking for money, I do it with the intent of paying them back every penny and making them proud of the independent adult they’re helping me become.
2. Adventures are the best way to make memories
At home I was never able to go on adventures. The only trips I had ever gone on were with my family, unless you include a two and a half hour drive to Columbus for a concert with my friends an adventure. Living in Europe has changed that about me. Every day is a new adventure.
It's very cliche, but my motto for the past four months has been “YOLO.” Practically everything I achieved, saw, ate, and experienced in Europe happened because I only have one life to live, so I might as well do everything I possibly can. I worked up the courage to walk up to a famous rapper in Rome to ask for a picture, I went to the Vatican to receive a blessing from the Pope, I downloaded Tinder in order to talk to locals, I attended a Fiorentina soccer match and attempted to learn the Italian cheers and songs. I learned how to country line dance at an American saloon in Milan. The list goes on and on.
I recently rented a car with three of my friends and drove around eastern Europe for a long weekend. We planned a route, made some detours from that route, and created memories that will last a lifetime. I was able to do random and impulsive things, like decide to leave the Airbnb in Croatia and drive 10 minutes over the border to Bosnia for dinner. I had the opportunity to eat breakfast in Hungary, lunch in Slovakia, and dinner in Austria all in one day, something that I never thought could be possible. I handled four different currencies and tried to learn and understand five distinct languages in one weekend. Adventures like this are not possible while living in the United States, but I’ll still try and find the same thrill when driving across state borders when I get home.
3. Trying new things is incredibly important and an open mind is vital
I traveled to Italy with the intent on indulging myself in the culture wherever I went and hiding the fact that I'm American. Although I wasn't able to become fluent in Italian, I managed to adapt to the culture very well by letting go of old habits and creating new ones. I went shopping frequently to buy Italian clothes so I didn't stand out as much. I made an effort to eat at locally owned restaurants in order to experience true Italian culture. I became a regular at my favorite cafe, drinking the coffee the way the locals do. I made it my goal to not sit around in my apartment, and by doing this I was able to discover a new part of Italy every day.
When I traveled outside of Italy, I ate the traditional food for that area, like Zagorski Štrukli in Croatia, which is basically layers of cheese baked all together, or Bryndzové halušky in Slovakia, a potato dumpling dish topped with sheep cheese and bacon. I felt as though I could truly experience Europe because I was so willing to reach outside of my comfort zone and try new things.
4. The American way is not the only way
The United States and Europe are so incredibly different. I could write a whole book on this topic, but I'll try and keep it short. Europe, for the most part, is as technologically and socially advanced as America, but the way of life here is totally unique. I'll give some examples. Everyone here smokes, and it's impossible to walk down the street without the stench of cigarette smoke hitting your nose. Dogs are welcomed everywhere. It's not uncommon to go grocery shopping and have to navigate around some pets. There are no Walmarts in Italy, no store where anyone can go and buy anything he or she could possibly need at any hour of the day. Multiple trips to multiple stores is necessary to do a full grocery shopping. Hours of operation of stores depend on the owners, so sometimes no one can eat at a specific restaurant between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., and most stores are closed on Sundays as well. Late night snacks simply don't exist here, unless you're willing to walk a mile across town in the dark for a Turkish kebab.
Although I have come across things in Italy like these that bother me and made adjusting difficult, I have grown to see how some qualities of the Italian lifestyle are better than that of the USA. First, the food here is incredibly fresh. Produce is grown locally and the meat and cheese come from animals only a few miles away. Because of the high quality of the fruits, vegetables, cheeses, and meats, the pizza tastes better, the pasta is more authentic and even the gelato has a fresher taste. The lettuce on a panino tastes like it was picked from the garden a few hours before it was served, and that's because it probably was. The wine comes from grapes grown a few towns over and even the cheapest bottle in the grocery store tastes better than wine at home.
Italians also value recycling and preserving the environment more than Americans do. There are laws on how much power an apartment is allowed to generate and when heat has to be turned off and on. There are four different recycling bins for different types of materials. At first, these might seem like ridiculous regulations, but in the end, they all make sense.
5. History is everywhere
The United States is a fairly young country. Even though there were people living in North America for thousands of years before Europeans “discovered” it, the culture we have today is only a few hundred years old. Italy, and most of Europe, on the other hand, is filled with history and is practically the origin of civilization as we know it. Italy is the birthplace of modern science and the bulk of artistic revolution. Galileo lived and studied in a house that is a 25-minute walk from my apartment in Florence. Michelangelo is buried in a church 10 minutes away from that. The David, one of the most famous sculptures in the world, is housed in a building down the street from where I live. Every day on my way to school, I pass the Medici Palace, a building that once housed the most important and powerful family in Europe. The symbolic icon of Florence, Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, or the Duomo, as it's usually called, is more than 300 years older than the United States. She doesn't look a day over 30, though. I'm literally walking the same streets and seeing the same buildings as the world's most influential authors, artists, and scientists, including Dante, Botticelli, and Leonardo Da Vinci. It's inspiring, to say the least. I have grown to appreciate the architecture and art here because there's nothing on the planet quite like it. There's a new piece of history around every corner and the United States can't even compare.
