Final Week at CIMBA

As my journey was coming to an end, I experienced a whirlwind of emotions. I was both happy to be going home and to be done with school, but sad to leave Europe and all my amazing, new friends.

I was shocked by the variety of students that were at CIMBA. I met students from Oklahoma, South Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Texas, and many more states. I think we pretty much covered a state from every region of the United States. It was great to meet people from all over and hear about how their schools and restaurants differ from ours and to hear everyones different accents! My professors were also from all over, which was great as well. They were able to share their past experiences in Europe with us and give us advice about the places we were going. A lot of the professors were from America, but some were from various countries in Europe, too. I had an Italian professor who was one of my favorites, he was able to tell us about his different experiences growing up and living in Europe. Leaving all of my friends and professors was definitely one of the hardest goodbyes I have ever had. It was sad to watch everyone pull away in their taxis and buses and watch them wave one last goodbye. I will never forget the friendships I made while at CIMBA. We are all planning to meet up at the Iowa vs. Iowa State game in the fall, which should be a great time! Until then, my group of friends has a Viber chat group that we still use every day to talk to each other.

Some things that I will miss most about Paderno are Bruna and Diego, the owners of Tibacchi 2, the Sports Bar, and the pizzeria. Paderno is a small town, but the people that work in the area are so nice and helpful and are very welcoming to us American students. I will even remember the bank teller that would break my 50 Euro bills into 10 and 5 Euro bills because she was always so smiley and friendly. Paderno is definitely a place that I consider one of my homes. Whenever we were out of Paderno for a travel break or for the weekend, at the end of the travel time I would always be so excited to go home and lay in my bed, which was Paderno. Paderno will always hold a special place in my heart and I hope that someday, if I make my way back to Italy, I can visit Paderno, again.

Before leaving Italy, there were a few things that I wanted to make sure I did. One thing was to make sure I had one last glass of Prosecco. Prosecco is a bubbly wine that is found in most Italian restaurants. It is the best wine I have ever tasted and I will definitely miss it when I get back to America! Specifically I will miss the Prosecco from the Sports Bar, it was one of my favorite Prosecco’s that I had it Italy. I also HAD to get one last french fry pizza from the local pizzeria. It is a pretty Americanized pizza, but oddly enough I have never had a french fry pizza in America. It was pretty dang good! The last thing I had to get from Italy was a pack of Bueno bars. I really wanted to bring some home to my family because I have never seen them in America and I think they are some of the best chocolate bars I have ever had! So hopefully my family likes them as much as I do.

Waving goodbye to the CIMBA staff and the PIO building was a bittersweet moment. I couldn’t wait to see my siblings and my parents, but I didn’t want to have to say goodbye to everyone in Paderno. Look for my last blog about why you should study abroad! Ciao!