To say the least, from take off to my actual arrival in Italy, I
had a lot of anxiety. I was concerned about a mix of many different
things, such as the language barrier that everyone had warned me
about back in the states and also whether everyone on the trip
would get along or would there be a kind of awkward silence between
us.
Photo
Gallery
Thankfully, from the second we landed everyone seemed to take to
each other really well. As for the language barrier, it wasn’t that
difficult to pick up on what the basic Italian words are, such as
hello, goodbye, excuse me, etc. I have to say that the
orientations were lengthy but they were a must, especially since a
large portion of the orientations had to do with the “do’s and
don’ts” of Rome. What surprised me the most was that even
though everyone on the campus is new to the city, the faculty has
repeatedly encouraged us all to go out and explore the city on our
own.
So far the classes are very interesting and it’s exciting to know
that with the art classes I’m taking I will be able to travel to
different historic sites in Rome. In all honesty I feel like
this is the greatest opportunity that I have had in my life so far
and I most definitely look forward to this experience.