Wofford College - Study Abroad

One Month Left...

I realized today that I have one month left of my program in Rome. I'm amazed at how quickly this whole experience is flying by and cannot believe how much I have learned, seen, and realized since I have been here. I spent the past week and a half traveling throughout France, Spain, and Greece and realized just how much I can really do on my own. I've always heard that studying abroad will teach you new things about yourself, but in the past two weeks I've realized just how true this really is.

I found myself two nights ago, boarding a ferry from Santorini, Greece to Athens at 1:00am, alone. I had planned to miss two days of classes after our Spring Break in order to meet up with two of my friends from Wofford in Santorini. I had a fabulous time with them, but all the while I knew that I would have to make the trek back to Rome by myself. I didn't realize until I was leaving the hotel, just how challenging this experience might be. As I got on the ferry, one of the workers realized that my ticket was incorrect. People were shoving, pushing, and stepping on me to try to board the ferry, and I was confused as to why this was happening. The ferry from Athens to Santorini had been quite leisurely and relaxing, but this was complete chaos. I was rushed over to another one of the ferry workers, who blatantly said "Oh no, we need to run." I started running with him off of the ferry into the Blue Star Ferries office at the port, where he told me that I might be missing the ferry. I looked at him and explained that there was absolutely no way that I could miss the ferry-- I would have been stuck on Santorini until Saturday when the next ferry left, missing both my flight and three more days of classes. He printed my ticket and I sprinted back to the ferry, where the gates literally closed right behind me. I felt better now that I knew I had my ticket and everything would be fine...so I thought.

After successfully boarding the ferry, I started wandering around the 9 story mega-ship and felt more alone than ever. There were hundreds of seats, but all of them were taken. There were tables and lawn chairs for the economy class, sleeper cabins for the business class, and then an array of seating for anyone else, I guess. As I wandered around, I realized what an outcast I was. Everyone had already taken their seats and I realized why everyone had been pushing to get on the ferry originally-- there were not enough seats for every passenger, not even close. Everyone was Greek and was staring at me, the blonde, young, American as if I was diseased. The Greek men stared especially long and fear immediately gripped me. I found a corner, literally, and curled myself into a ball to try to pretend like everything was ok. I wrapped my luggage around me and called my mom to let her know that I had made it. I couldn't help but express my extreme anxiety and fear about the situation in which I had just placed myself, and I could hear the fear in her voice as well, despite all efforts to stay calm.  I fell asleep and woke up 5 hours later to a voice telling us that we had reached the Athens port.

In looking back, I realized that I may have slightly panicked about the whole situation, but the fear was very real at that moment. I felt alone on many different levels. I was literally traveling alone, but I was alone in my knowledge about the situation on the ferry, alone as a woman, and alone as an American. I knew in my mind that nothing terrible could happen because there were so many people and the ferry had hundreds of workers, but I couldn't shake the feeling of being isolated. After arriving safely in Rome and discussing my experience with my roommates, I realized that despite all of my fear, I did it. I made it to Rome, on my own, figuring out traveling arrangements and navigating my way through a foreign country in which I don't even know how to say hello, all by myself without having a complete nervous breakdown! Despite how scary, and looking back, how unsafe, the siutation I had gotten myself into was, I also got myself through it. It was in this moment that I saw how much I could actually handle on my own, as well as just a glimpse of what studying abroad as taught me.

Earthquake in Italy

I woke up at 3:32am on Monday morning to the sound of water rushing through the pipes in the wall above me. It sounded unusually loud, but I wasn't alarmed at first, thinking that I was only imagining things after just being awakened. However, seconds after hearing the rushing water, everything in my apartment began to shake. My roommate had just woken up and we immediately looked at each other, knowing that something was terribly wrong.

We ran to the hall where we met two of my other roommates. The four of us stood in doorways, still not fully comprehending that we were in the middle of an earthquake. After a solid five minutes of shaking and trembling, everything stopped and we had a minute to discuss what had just happened. It was my Italian roommate's 27th birthday the day before and she explained to us that she had never experienced an earthquake in her lifetime, which wasn't exactly comforting. As we crawled back in bed, we felt an aftershock and everything began to shake again for a few seconds.

My roommate and I had a hard time sleeping, thinking about what might happen next. What would we do? We were on the third story of a seven story building and the buildings in Rome aren't exactly modern. We couldn't help but feel like we had had a little too much to drink with the way we had felt during the earthquake-- the whole event had felt so surreal and eerie. 

When we woke up the next morning, I immediately checked the news to see if this had even made the headlines. But there it was, on the front page of Fox News and CNN.com-- a 6.3 on the Richter scale and the death toll was mounting. My roommates and I all e-mailed our parents and friends to let them know that we were all ok. As we walked to school that morning, we were all in disbelief at what we had just been through. None of us had ever experienced an earthquake before and certainly nothing to this extent.

Because of the total lack of control and lack of preparation, this event will go down as one of the scariest things I've ever experienced. It may be partly because of the fact that I am in a foreign country, thousands of miles away from my family and friends, but even in America, this situation would have been terrifying. I'm thankful that Rome didn't suffer any serious damage and that everyone here was safe. But you cannot help but feel some guilt in the fact that we survived, when so many people didn't.

Italian culture is so wrapped up in the idea of unity and family, that even as a "visitor" who will only have been here for 4 months, I still feel like the people in L'Anquila are a part of my Italian and Roman family. I will remember this experience forever and am so thankful to have been safe and sound in Rome!

America versus Europe

In The Innocents Abroad, Mark Twain wrote, "I do envy these Europeans the comfort they take. When the work of the day is done, they forget it...Others of the populace sit in the open air in front of the refreshment hosues and eat ices and drink mild beverages that could not harm a child.They go to bed moderately early, and sleep well. They are always quiet, always orderly, always cheerful, comfortable, and appreciative of life and its manifold blessings... The change that has come over our little party (his group of that is traveling together) is surprising. Day by day, we lose some of our restlessness and absorb some of the spirit of quietude and ease that is in the tranquil atmosphere about us and in the demeanor of the people. We grow wise apace. We begin to comprehend what life is for."

After being in Rome for over a month now, I was struck when I read this passage by Twain for my Literature class because of the truth that it reveals. The more time that I spend here, I have noticed a change coming over the way I handle myself, my day, my thoughts, and my time. My entire life I have suffered from stress and anxiety surrounding school, work, and play and never having enough time to get everything finished that I felt needed to be finished. I frequently found myself "sweating the small stuff" and worrying so much about needing to get things accomplished that I accomplished nothing at all.

I have continually noticed the difference between the pace that Americans keep in comparison to the European way of life. Rome is a huge city, but the difference between this city and American cities, such as New York, is blatantly apparent. If you look at any clock around the city and compare it with another a few blocks away, there is probably a five to ten minute difference. Romans, and Europeans in general, do not abide by the steadfast American views of time and punctuality. This way of life can be very disconcerting to the American traveler, as the time frame that runs America does not exist in the same way in Europe. There have been very few times when I have waited for less than 15 minutes for my bus to arrive. Looking around, I never see other Romans getting upset about being late for work or school-- They are so accustomed to this polychronic way of life that they would see it as quite odd to stress about such an unimportant quality as time.

I believe that Americans could learn a lot from the laid-back, slower-paced life that most Europeans live. America seems to be obsessed with getting everything done and always trying to get ahead. We spend our time worrying about grades, money, working out, and the future that we sometimes forget how important the present is. Even when it comes to studying abroad and being in an Italian school, I have noticed that if you're late for class, it's not the end of the world. If you didn't have time to read the 50 page assignment, well...the professor will understand. Classes are more enjoyable because the elements of competition and stress are not a factor in the classroom. All in all, Europeans simply ENJOY LIFE!

Twain's beliefs on the European way of life made me stop and think about the changes that I have come to appreciate about my life in Rome and how different it is than my American life. Twain so clearly notices that "In America, we hurry-- which is well; but when the day's work is done, we go on thinking of losses and gains, we plan for the morrow, we even carry our business cares to bed with us, and toss and worry over them when we ought to be restoring our racked bodies and brains with sleep. We burn up our energies with these excitements, and either die early or drop into a lean and mean old age at a time of life which they call a man's prime in Europe...What a robust people, what a nation of thinkers we might be, if we would only lay ourselves on the shelf occassionally and renew our edges!"

Interlaken, Switzerland

I journeyed out of Rome for the first time last weekend and after a 12 hour journey, I arrived in Interlaken, Switzerland. It was 4:00 in the morning when my 17 friends and I arrived, but we quickly decided to live up our four days in Switzerland and stayed up to watch the sun rise. It was the most beautiful country that I have ever been to. The Swiss Alps are absolutely breathtaking and I quickly found myself loving the cold weather-- after having grown up in Charleston, South Carolina, the love that I found of the snow caught me quite off guard!

On Friday morning, I decided to go "canyon diving" with some of my friends. This adventure consisted of being strapped into a harness and throwing myself off of a 300 foot cliff into a canyon of the Alps. As we weighed ourselves and basically signed away our lives to the canyon diving company, I realized exactly what I was getting myself into and started to cry. Of course the six of my guy friends that were with me thought this was hilarious and captured my tears on film, but my fear was very real. I was looking over the edge of this mountain and was seriously asking myself, "Why am I doing this?" I decided to go second to last, thinking that my fear of the jump would subside after seeing all of my friends make is safely to the bottom. However, I was quite wrong and my anxiety only increased with each jump. So, it was my turn and I walked over to the platform to jump off. Six minutes later, I still had not jumped, but tears continued to fall. My friend, Matt, was secretly videotaping me, so I now have all of the tears, screams, and fear recorded on video. I finally convinced the "jump-master" to push me over the edge, so I made my way over the edge of the platform and felt a hand gently nudge me over the edge!

The next three seconds of my life are a complete blur. I have very little memory of my free-fall, only remembering that I had absolutely no breath in my body! When I finally began swinging through the canyon at the bottom, I was screaming bloody murder, laughing, and crying all at the same time. It was by far the best thing I have ever done in my entire life and do not regret it for a second. I was terrified, absolutely terrified, but I overcame my all-encompassing fear and just jumped. As cliche as it may sound, I conquered my fear!

The question remains-- Would I do it again? I'm not sure I can really answer that, as I'll probably never have that opportunity again. But I was proud of myself for actually accomplishing this daunting and terrifying task. I feel as if this experience could be a metaphor for my study abroad experience in general-- It's quite scary at times and you could just as easily turn around, unharness, and walk safely down the mountain, but after taking the plunge, it was totally worth it.

Caffe Americano?

I just woke up at 8:00 on the one day of the week that I don't have classes and the first thing on my mind was Starbucks. I'm not exactly a Starbucks-aholic, but I do enjoy a venti vanilla latte, or even just coffee, a few times a week! More than anything else from the United States, I miss my coffee. I had visions of enjoying myself in caffes on the streets of Italy, slowing watching the day go by while I enjoyed my very large coffee. Little did I know, THEY DO NOT HAVE "NORMAL" COFFEE IN ITALY. On arriving here in, I quickly found out that Italians laugh at the concept of caffe americano and that catering to the desires of Americans would be an embarrassment to the establishment.

I completely understand that Italian coffee is better in every way that coffee can be better-- It's richer, fuller, bolder, etc., etc. But, on the other hand, when you've been religiously drinking American coffee basically every day since you were 15, it's quite an adjustment to not have it. There are, of course, many coffee drinks in Italy, but these most frequently come in tiny little shot glasses and are versions of our espresso shots. Although Italians are known for their polychronic, or laid-back nature, with relavance to time and their love of all good food, the thing they spend the least amount of time enjoying is coffee. Coffee is meant to be a quick pick-me-up as you walk to work, so Italians literally walk into a caffeteria and take a shot of espresso. I have very rarely witnessed Italians enjoying a large cup of caffe latte, macchiato, or any type of coffee drink.

To be honest, I'm actually kind of embarrassed that I'm this upset about my caffe americano when I'm living in one of the greatest cities on Earth, but it is honestly the one thing I miss and have had to adjust to the most. I'm heading to Interlochen, Switzerland this weekend and am keeping my fingers tightly crossed that, possibly, this European city will cater to the desires of all the "stupido" Americans that want their "normal" coffee!

First Week in Roma!

It's hard to believe that my first week in Rome has already come and gone! It's been a whirlwind so far with lots of mishaps, but also lots of fun. After arriving in Rome on the 2nd, I quickly learned how beneficial it would have been for me to learn Italian before I came over here, as very few of the locals speak English. The biggest challenge that my friends and I have faced is trying to order things or ask for directions when we know so little of the language. My uneducated expectation was that everyone in this large city would speak English, but I was very mistaken! My "Intensive Italian" classes began yesterday and I'm hoping that I'll be picking up the language quickly.

Rome is absolutely gorgeous and it's funny to me, as an Art History major, to watch the people of the city quickly walk by all of the famous historical monuments. I was literally in complete shock the first time I passed by Bernini's church, Sant'Andrea alle Quirinale, and had to stop just to realize that I was actually standing in front of this church that I have studied so many times. In moments like these, I realize what a tourist I look like, as I'm forcing all of the pedestrians to move around me as I stare. I've also come to realize that no matter how much I try, every Italian knows I am American-- I will never be looked over as an Italian!

Although it has only been a little over a week since I arrived, I have laughed when I realized the various stages of culture shock that have been occurring with my friends and me. After taking the interim course, Crossing Cultures Survival Kit, I am much more fully aware of why I am feeling certain ways and how the culture shock can really affect your experience. I feel that I've been through the Honeymoon phase, where everything is wonderful and new, have experienced the Irritability and Hostility stage several times, and spend most of my time in the Humorous phase, where I can simply laugh at all of the things that seem so foreign to me.

It's a difficult transition that you can only understand once you've done it. I had no idea I would get frustrated at the smallest things, such as the morning when the bus to my school simply passed by my roommates and I waving it down on the street. Or when my computer won't connect to the internet as quickly becuase there are so many people using it, I had no idea that I would have such a lack of patience. Luckily, I realize that all of these emotions are normal and that soon, I will understand that I cannot schedule my day down to the minute, because Italians do not run on exact schedules. It's an aspect of the culture that I have to simply accept.

Overall, I'm having such an amazing time. I'm adjusting to the culture of the Italians, as well as the culture of Americans from the north (over half the program are people from the North who make fun of me on an hourly basis for my Southern accent). I know that I'll be feeling completely comfortable in a few weeks time, but I'm still enjoying the adjustment period!