Ciao from flight number LX55! Today was finally the day for my trip to Italy. September 15th feels like a late start date compared to what I am used to at my home university, but it makes me more eager to explore, as I am craving the academic, and social connection I am used to during the early fall months. I am excited for the three months ahead and all that I will learn.
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It is now a few days into the program and a lot of changes have happened since my arrival! This first week was difficult for me, as the jetlag was hitting its high point while I was adjusting to new classes, new people, and new food. Jetlag took a toll on my feelings of loneliness as well. However, I have found refuge in a couple of opportunities this past week: The Da Vinci Challenge and weekend travel in particular.
On Friday we had the aforementioned challenge which included ropes courses, team bonding exercises, and trust falls! For the ropes course, we decided on the order in which we climbed up a large wall, with each person reaching the top and helping to lift the subsequent climber to safety. The team exercises included a “spider web”, walking the plank, and untangling ourselves from a human knot. The web, for example, exercised our ability to communicate with each other and decipher a way through the web with several people’s input. Trust falling activated our sense of trust in each other, as we had to eliminate the fear that nobody would catch us. Combining these activities exemplified our diverse perspectives and taught us how we can all step up as leaders in stressful situations, even those who rarely voice their ideas.
For the first weekend, I took a trip to Venice. From this trip alone, I can tell that getting around by train is a much better mode of transport than it is in the States. After taking a quick bus from campus to Bassano, it took about an hour and fifteen minutes to reach my destination. I was welcomed by an array of boats on the water that I had never seen before. Going to St. Mark’s Square was an experience I never thought I would have; about a twenty-minute walk from the Venezia S. Lucia train station, my gaze met a church that is comparable to the size of a castle. Along with being a marvel to the eye, it seemed to be photogenic itself, with tourists alike pausing to snap pictures.
I spent the better half of the day walking around in the city, never getting bored of what I saw. Strangely, something that I did not expect occurred when I went to a McDonald’s for lunch (weird, I know). Along with the menu being different, it seemed slightly more sophisticated. I was craving familiar food and something that felt like home already, and it delivered on that note. P.S. They have a Snickers McFlurry that is divine!
A surprise that caught me off guard from the trip was my sudden ability to speak beginner Italian phrases without the aid of the internet. I ordered food and drink and asked for a table, and even a specific gelato flavor with little need to mentally recite what I had already learned. I owe it to Duolingo for teaching me basic necessities, so I would recommend anybody wanting to travel in Italy even just a few minutes in the app daily. I was also told by my Italy Live professor that I had strong pronunciation already, even though this first trip was my first full immersion in the language and culture – I am confident that my skills will improve exponentially by December!
Arrivederci for now!