Submitted by Sarah Safer on the 2017 spring semester program in Rome, Italy…
Our program director warned us for months. She swore up and down not to cry over spilled milk, so to speak, and that culture shock is real. Well, my milk spilled and the cultural differences hit me like an 18-wheeler truck. For the first time in my life, which includes dozens of flights, flights alone, and flights longer than the flight I was on to FCO in Rome, I fainted on the plane. Finding myself without my family, panic set in. A couple hours later, the shock hit my already weak body when I walked into my accommodations and found the beds, showers and heating to be far from my regular standards. A couple hours after that, I was getting lost in the labyrinth of the city center both on the tram and on foot. Dinner that night exposed a larger language barrier than I was prepared for.
Fast forward a week: I have learned the lay of the campus. I can navigate the tram system like a local. I have adapted to my bed, the showers and my six new roommates. I have picked up the necessary words. Culture shock and mishaps happening along the way are all a part of the experience. Once I got passed all of that, I could see the beauty and history in the magnificent city that I get to call home for the next four months. I didn’t even cry when my milk from the local grocery store spilled in our fridge yesterday.
Ciao!
