Submitted by Jacob Leinenbach on the 2020 spring semester study abroad program in Rome, Italy…
This week, I arrived in Italy. I had been looking forward to this since I was in high school. However, it was a long trip across the ocean and saying good-bye to my parents at the airport was hard. When I finally arrived in Rome, it didn’t seem real at first, because of all the orientation and check in procedures at the airport. But after I got to my apartment, took a long nap, and got settled in, it began to hit me that I was finally in Italy. Having taken Italian in school for the past few years has definitely helped since I can speak with some of the locals in their own language, but the language barrier here has not been a problem for me so far because most of the people I’ve interacted with speak both English and Italian.
Since I did not have classes this week, I saw many of the sites around Rome in between my orientation workshops. Rome is so beautiful that simply walking down the street is a breathtaking experience. I felt like I saw a lot this week, but I know I’ve only scratched the surface and there is so much more to see and do in Rome. I’m so excited to spend the rest of my semester here in Italy.
