Ciao friends!
Sad to say, but this is the final post for my journey in Roma. I sincerely hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have enjoyed writing it for all of you!
By the way, I am safely back home in the US! It's good to be back. You will see why at the end of this post... :)
By the way, I am safely back home in the US! It's good to be back. You will see why at the end of this post... :)
Let's travel back in time a little bit before parting ways...
Where to even begin!? I have been thinking of what to say for this final post, and I thought I would share a few things that I have learned in my time here. Some of them will be more deep, but most will be ones to create a laugh! Here we go! Let's see how much I have learned in 4 months! Enjoy!
- "You never know, if you never try"- Countless number times, there would be once in a lifetime opportunities that would present themselves and every time, I would keep this phrase in my mind and didn't pass up any of them that came my way. I experienced things I never thought I could and would. All I had to do was say yes and try it out, and amazing experiences came out of them without fail!
- Italians dress for the season, not the weather- this is mostly true for winter time- they bundle up in really nice full winter coats even though it is still nice warm weather. To be like a true Italian, I have fallen into there dressing habits and needless to say, I have been hot as heck in my wool coat, with the sun beating down on my head...but hey, I am in Rome and I do as the Romans do.
- You DO NOT drink out of of coke can straight (bottles are more accepted because they have a cap). You ALWAYS put it into a cup before drinking it- you don't know where it has been, and to put your mouth on it... yuckie. If you do this, your cover has been blown and they know you are American.
- Pope Francis is worth waking up early and waiting 5 hours for. If you need to practice your patience, go to something where he will be there. But I promise you leave with a smile on your face and joy in your heart. Enough said.
- This one is a hard thing to read (harder to hear in person from an Italian): Spagetti and Meatballs and Chicken Parmesan is not an Italian invented meal. It is Americanized, sad to say. Didn't find it once while in Italy. And I looked hard. Sad, I know. Broke my little heart on the very first day.
- Having ice cubes in your drink does not exist! What! Crazy! I actually didn't notice it for a while. One day I was like, "Oh, I haven't had ice in 3 weeks! Woah. I miss it!" There would be very few times that they would give ice (probably because they knew we were American), but I never counted on it! It was a nice little treat if I did get an ice cube or two.
- The concept of forming lines barely exist in Italy. Its a free- for-all. So you can just go to the front and shove your way through and they won't really get too mad...even if they do, you probably won't understand it... so oh well... :)
* I am currently sitting on my flight back to the US as I write this! I'm about 2,000 miles away from Philly, my connection spot. So excited! I'll be home soon! By the time you read this, I will be home safe and sound*
We went out to dinner out last "free" night to our favorite restaurant that we probably went to about 50 times in the span of 115 days- we told them it was out last night being there, in hopes that we would get really good service. Needless to say, the service got really good!! They asked if everything was good (Tutti bene!?) about 5 times during a span of 15 minutes. Then at the end, they asked us if we wanted Tirmasu, and he sold us on it, so we split one. It was amazing to say at the least. Two minutes later, they bring us 2 Lemonchellos. These things are dangerously good! They originate from Italy but have become popular in the US. I liked it but my friend didnt so much, so I had hers, and then they came back and asked if we wanted another! They said, "It's free!"....we passed. We had already split a bottle of wine... We checked the bill and sure enough the Tiramisu and the lemonchello's were free. After this, they said in Italian (which I understood completely), "You are the two most beautiful girls from the Universtiy that come to Spaccio". This melted our heart, and then we realized once again that it was our last time there. A great way to end, and a great memory made!
I am skipping ahead because there is too much I did in the last day and I don't want you to be reading forever (and I can't type that much, quite honestly!) Just know that I was busy and getting my last minute sights in before time was up! I got to most of them (at least the ones that meant the most to me). We went to the Christmas tree lighting and unveiling of the Nativity scene in St. Peter's Square which was very pretty.
The Seminarians from the NAC invited us up for breakfast on Saturday morning, which consisted of pancakes and Frigidaruim gelato on top. DELICIOUS! It was a nice way to start off the last day, and a chance to spend some last few moments with these amazing spiritual fathers who have been with us all semester.
After this, we only had about 4 hours until we had to get ready to go to Mass and dinner. Not a lot of time for what I was hoping to do. I really only had time for 2 of the 3 things I had in mind. So I said, "St. Peters or Villa Borguese Gardens?" St. Peter's means so much to me, so I went there and waited in line for almost an hour, and spent great time in prayer one last time before leaving. A dopo, San Pietro!
Final dinner time!! It was delicious! One of the Seminarians actually sat next to me which was nice! A nice 4 course meal we had. I will miss it! Then our director stood up and said, "Congratulations, you are done. It has been a great semester! We wish the very best for you". A cry fest broke out among almost everyone. Our group got really close and it was hard to leave each other. To this moment, it hasn't really hit me that I am in the middle of the North Atlantic ocean and not coming back to Italy.... It's been quite the blessed experience!
Best for last- I didn't finish packing until 2 am.... only slept for about an hour and woke up at 6am. Turned out our flight not only got delayed from 11:35 to 12, but worse- 11:35am to 1pm. We were already at the airport a 8am when we we informed of this lovely piece of information. So we sat there for 5 hours. Brutal. Good news is that one of the seminarians was actually at the airport too, so we met up and spent some of that time together before he had to board his flight. That was a really nice thing for him to do. It meant a lot to my friend and I. Even better, when I got to Philly, I only had 30 minutes to get through Customs, get my luggage, recheck it, go back thru security, and get on my flight. The phrase, "Keep calm and carry on" kept running through my mind, as I wondered how this was going to work out. I hear, "Final boarding for San Diego" (I just got to the rechecking bag line at this point..uh oh. This isn't good). I get through security, and I am looking for my gate, which was A6. I see A1, A2, A3, A4, A5,... A7, A8.... WAIT! WHERE THE HECK IS GATE A6!! Just when I realize that A6 is missing, and I need rush to find it, I hear, "This is the last call for flight to San Diego, doors close in 2 minutes" OH, NOW THIS REALLY ISNT GOOD! WHERE IS A6!!!!!!!! I finally see it ahead of me about 300 yards, thankfully, and I start running like Forest Gump with 2 bags on my shoulders! Out of breath at this point, I get up to the counter and they say, "Great, you made it! You are the last one, they are waiting for you". I stepped on the plane and all eyes looked up at me.... SORRY GUYS... BLAME THE AIRLINE... NOT ME! I sit down and try and catch my breath and calm down. I need a stiff drink at this point. The attendant comes over and says, "would you like a cocktail"? In which I respond, "Yes, Vodka and Sprite please and thank you". Down the hatch it quickly went and before I knew it, I was out for the count for most of the flight. Geeesh. GET ME HOME! I touched down in San Diego with joyful tears in my eyes and a very grateful heart. Seeing my parents was the best sight I'd seen the the last 24 hours. I've never been so happy to be home in my life.
Well, this is where I say goodbye. Thank you for taking the time to read this and journey with me. Wherever you are in the world, I too, wish you the very best and hope that you grab the bull by its horns and adventure about as much as you can in this big world. It truly is an amazing place, that has so much to offer.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Peace and Blessings to all,
Anne
We went out to dinner out last "free" night to our favorite restaurant that we probably went to about 50 times in the span of 115 days- we told them it was out last night being there, in hopes that we would get really good service. Needless to say, the service got really good!! They asked if everything was good (Tutti bene!?) about 5 times during a span of 15 minutes. Then at the end, they asked us if we wanted Tirmasu, and he sold us on it, so we split one. It was amazing to say at the least. Two minutes later, they bring us 2 Lemonchellos. These things are dangerously good! They originate from Italy but have become popular in the US. I liked it but my friend didnt so much, so I had hers, and then they came back and asked if we wanted another! They said, "It's free!"....we passed. We had already split a bottle of wine... We checked the bill and sure enough the Tiramisu and the lemonchello's were free. After this, they said in Italian (which I understood completely), "You are the two most beautiful girls from the Universtiy that come to Spaccio". This melted our heart, and then we realized once again that it was our last time there. A great way to end, and a great memory made!
I am skipping ahead because there is too much I did in the last day and I don't want you to be reading forever (and I can't type that much, quite honestly!) Just know that I was busy and getting my last minute sights in before time was up! I got to most of them (at least the ones that meant the most to me). We went to the Christmas tree lighting and unveiling of the Nativity scene in St. Peter's Square which was very pretty.
The Seminarians from the NAC invited us up for breakfast on Saturday morning, which consisted of pancakes and Frigidaruim gelato on top. DELICIOUS! It was a nice way to start off the last day, and a chance to spend some last few moments with these amazing spiritual fathers who have been with us all semester.After this, we only had about 4 hours until we had to get ready to go to Mass and dinner. Not a lot of time for what I was hoping to do. I really only had time for 2 of the 3 things I had in mind. So I said, "St. Peters or Villa Borguese Gardens?" St. Peter's means so much to me, so I went there and waited in line for almost an hour, and spent great time in prayer one last time before leaving. A dopo, San Pietro!
Final dinner time!! It was delicious! One of the Seminarians actually sat next to me which was nice! A nice 4 course meal we had. I will miss it! Then our director stood up and said, "Congratulations, you are done. It has been a great semester! We wish the very best for you". A cry fest broke out among almost everyone. Our group got really close and it was hard to leave each other. To this moment, it hasn't really hit me that I am in the middle of the North Atlantic ocean and not coming back to Italy.... It's been quite the blessed experience!
Best for last- I didn't finish packing until 2 am.... only slept for about an hour and woke up at 6am. Turned out our flight not only got delayed from 11:35 to 12, but worse- 11:35am to 1pm. We were already at the airport a 8am when we we informed of this lovely piece of information. So we sat there for 5 hours. Brutal. Good news is that one of the seminarians was actually at the airport too, so we met up and spent some of that time together before he had to board his flight. That was a really nice thing for him to do. It meant a lot to my friend and I. Even better, when I got to Philly, I only had 30 minutes to get through Customs, get my luggage, recheck it, go back thru security, and get on my flight. The phrase, "Keep calm and carry on" kept running through my mind, as I wondered how this was going to work out. I hear, "Final boarding for San Diego" (I just got to the rechecking bag line at this point..uh oh. This isn't good). I get through security, and I am looking for my gate, which was A6. I see A1, A2, A3, A4, A5,... A7, A8.... WAIT! WHERE THE HECK IS GATE A6!! Just when I realize that A6 is missing, and I need rush to find it, I hear, "This is the last call for flight to San Diego, doors close in 2 minutes" OH, NOW THIS REALLY ISNT GOOD! WHERE IS A6!!!!!!!! I finally see it ahead of me about 300 yards, thankfully, and I start running like Forest Gump with 2 bags on my shoulders! Out of breath at this point, I get up to the counter and they say, "Great, you made it! You are the last one, they are waiting for you". I stepped on the plane and all eyes looked up at me.... SORRY GUYS... BLAME THE AIRLINE... NOT ME! I sit down and try and catch my breath and calm down. I need a stiff drink at this point. The attendant comes over and says, "would you like a cocktail"? In which I respond, "Yes, Vodka and Sprite please and thank you". Down the hatch it quickly went and before I knew it, I was out for the count for most of the flight. Geeesh. GET ME HOME! I touched down in San Diego with joyful tears in my eyes and a very grateful heart. Seeing my parents was the best sight I'd seen the the last 24 hours. I've never been so happy to be home in my life.
La vita e bella! Ti amo Roma, a dopo!
(Life is beautiful! I love you Roma, see you later)
Well, this is where I say goodbye. Thank you for taking the time to read this and journey with me. Wherever you are in the world, I too, wish you the very best and hope that you grab the bull by its horns and adventure about as much as you can in this big world. It truly is an amazing place, that has so much to offer.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Peace and Blessings to all,
Anne
No comments:
Post a Comment