Submitted by Lauren Miller on the 2016 winter session program in Siena, Italy sponsored by the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures…
As soon as we entered Rome its beauty blew me away. The first thing we did was walk upstairs across the street from our hotel and we saw the most beautiful church at the top. All of the buildings were so old and beautiful. The first major shock I encountered was when we first entered the hotel and all of the students connected to the WiFi and contacted their families and I was unable to. For some reason, my phone would not connect to the hotel’s WiFi and I spent the entire first day completely cut off from everyone. From the other students on my trip to my family at home in America, it was very unnerving to know that I could not communicate with anyone. After the first day, I was able to find a spot in the hotel that my WiFi did connect in and was able to call home, but it was very eye-opening to see how dependent on technology I was overseas. After Rome, we traveled to Pompeii, Assisi, Naples and Dureta. Each of the cities were beautiful in their own way. I am so glad that I have this opportunity to be studying abroad in Italy and have had so much fun so far. My classmates have become some of my best friends and I can’t wait to explore more of Italy with them.