Submitted by Elizabeth deBruin on the 2019 winter session study abroad program in Italy sponsored by the Department of Art…
I honestly cannot grasp the amount of time that I have been here. We landed in Rome, Italy exactly a week ago today. Our journey has since been filled with many friendly faces, incomparable food, amazing experiences, new challenges, and everything in between. It feels as though I have been here for an entire semester because of all of the things we have seemed to accomplish! On our daily walks to class, we are no longer passing Perkins, Club Morris, and Trabant – but rather huge architectural masterpieces like that of the Duomo and breathtaking views on the Ponte Vecchio. In my art classes, I have realized new things about myself and have been challenged outside of my usual comfort zones, considering I am being asked to draw people instead of assessing them for symptoms! (At home I am an EMT studying in the Medical Diagnostics Program at UD.) I think so far the most eye-opening experience was one night this week when I and my roommates traveled to the Piazza de Michelangelo to view the sunset. The view included the entire city of Florence and the beautiful Tuscan valley hills in the background. It was truly an amazing experience. Being immersed in the culture of another country has made me realize how beautiful studying abroad is and how blessed I am to have been able to see the things I am seeing. Watching the sun set over the skyline of the Duomo opened my eyes to the fact that even though I have seen plenty of sunsets in my life, none are the same and everyone should experience as many as they can, in as many different places as possible. I was brought to tears at how beautiful it all was because I just could not believe that this city, built so many years ago that used to be home to the likes of Michelangelo himself was going to be my home for the next few weeks. To be continued next week…
