In exactly 21 days, I will be embarking on the greatest adventure of my life thus far: a semester abroad in Italy and Greece, beginning with a pre-travel trip with my mom through Germany and Austria, concluding with a couple of days in Rome. While I feel entirely ready for the summer to finish and the semester to begin, my empty suitcase and impressively large to-do list remind me that maybe I should tone my excitement down a notch, at least until I’ve checked off a few more bullet points.
In preparation for this trip, I’ve taken a stab at learning Italian, but am currently about as fluent as a dog is fluent in speaking Spanish (excluding Baxter, of course). My vocabulary is limited to a few colors, some numbers, “non parlo italiano,” and the one phrase that I’m sure will be useful during countless Italian dinners, “vorrei dell’altro vino, per favore.” In English, “I would like some more wine, please.” I haven’t begun to even think about learning Greek! Although my time in Athens will comprise an entire half of my semester, it feels very distant, and I find myself thinking primarily about Italy. I can’t believe it’s only three weeks away!
About a week ago, we were emailed our housing arrangements (Nomentana, here I come!), including a list of our apartment-mates. There honestly wasn’t a single person on our trip I would have minded living with (we really have a fantastic group!), but I am so excited to live with the girls I’ve been matched up with! It will be such a fantastic time!!
In the meantime, though, I’ve come face to face with my biggest fear for the trip, the one I’ve been dreading since the day I was accepted to the Roman-Greco program: packing. Those who have traveled with me can back me up when I say I am a TERRIBLE over-packer. I can easily go on a weekend trip with a full duffel bag and come back having used less than half of the contents in my luggage. It’s not that I feel the need to bring my entire wardrobe along, I just like feeling prepared. Will it rain? Do I need a sweatshirt? How about some running shoes? Any chance of swimming? As you can imagine, that fills a suitcase up rather quickly. Although I haven’t physically begun packing, my list is in progress, and I keep adding things, scratching them off, then scribbling them back on as my practical “what will the weather be like?” side kicks in. As the proud—and nervous—owner of a new 25-inch Samsonite suitcase (which was picked out after some serious coaxing away from the larger model), packing will certainly be a challenge, to say the least! To put the thought of packing my material life into a single suitcase for four months abroad using one word: daunting.
Before I begin rambling in detail about what I may or may not bring along, I’ll wrap up this post by saying how unbelievably grateful and excited I am to get to experience such an incredible opportunity with my fellow Bennies and Johnnies! La dolce vita awaits…
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