Appreciating Home a Little More

I have to be honest. During my last week abroad with CIMBA I was craving a butter burger from Culver’s.\

The last travel weekend before the end of the program, I went to Florence. My group and I sought out somewhere we could have traditional American food. We ended up eating there twice in less than 48 hours.

A few days into the final week, I actually spam-texted my mom with a list of foods I planned on getting the second I stepped foot into the U.S. However, the things I missed went even further than that.

I, of course, missed my family and my cat, Chai, but I also missed mundane American things. I missed the convenience of free water in restaurants, and, for that matter, not having to ask for ice in my drink. I missed my Alani Energy drinks and I also missed being able to drive to my destination, rather than walk 45 minutes to get somewhere.

Weirdly enough I even missed taking my bottle cap entirely off my soda bottle.

The longing and craving for my normal didn’t hit me until the third week at CIMBA. I think the awe of Italy and all the traveling kept me distracted but as I started studying for finals, I began picking out normal comforts I was used to in the U.S. but weren’t options in Italy hence the American café in Florence.

I also think the traveling was catching up with me as well. I was well and truly exhausted because I was trying to fit in so much exploring and learning in such a short period of time. There were several moments when I found myself overwhelmed with both planning for travel and taking two courses.

Don’t get me wrong, I won’t ever regret my time in Italy with CIMBA. I would’ve never felt confident or safe enough to travel abroad alone if CIMBA wasn’t an option.

I got to experience a lot of firsts, like riding a train, staying in a hostel and even staying in my first hotel room alone. I literally turned 21 years old in Verona, Italy. How many Iowa girls get to say that?

I also got to see things in Italy and the surrounding countries I’d dreamed of since I was younger. For example, Juliet’s Balcony in Verona and the countryside in Tuscany. I even got to walk up the steps of the Leaning Tower of Pisa which was extremely cool despite the amount of times I almost puked while walking up all the steps.

But among all those cool experiences, I was able to foster more appreciation for what I considered normal, and in a lot of cases I take for granted.

SO, with all that being said, would I do all of it over again?

Most definitely.

While I have gone on and on about things I missed while I was in Italy, I also got used to it.

I know I grew as a person both professionally, but also personally. I developed relationships with people I never would have met or interacted with otherwise. tried foods I never would have tried in the U.S. like pizza. I literally don’t like pizza and it’d been years since I last had a slice, but when in Italy ya’know?

I wish I had more time to explore even more. I never got around to going to Venice, nor did I go to Rome. However, that just gives me more of a reason to go back.

In fact, I’m actually craving some Italian sparkling water and San Benedetto Peach Iced Tea. I kinda got attached to it.