Submitted by Arianna Schiller on the 2019 winter session study abroad program in Italy sponsored by the Department of English…
Our school program ended with one last night in Rome. However, this was not my last night in Europe. I am staying to travel with three girls from my program to hop around Europe until the very last minute we have to return to Delaware. Many students on the program decided to stay and travel a bit, while others headed home the Friday our program ended. Our flight to Vienna was not till 8pm that night, so we had time to wander around one last time and get some pasta as our last meal in Italy.
I walked to a take away pasta place we had discovered three weeks ago; which seemed like a lifetime had passed between the two visits. The place had amazing pasta, but was tiny and subsequently always packed. The woman who worked behind the counter asked if I didn’t mind waiting outside and she would bring the food out to me when it was done. She only spoke Italian. I mustered the remnants of my Italian 106 class from freshman year and replied in Italian, that I did not mind waiting. The language was coming back to me quickly and getting easier with every day I spent in Italy.
I sat on the curb outside and decided to take advantage of the Wi-Fi to call my friend, whom I am visiting in London next week. When I hung up the phone, two boys whom I had seen inside the pasta place approached me. They were studying abroad with American University and wanted recommendations about things to do in Rome and places to visit in Italy, as they had just arrived the day before. They had thought I was Italian, which was the best complement I’ve ever received, until they heard me on the phone.
I listed off all the places I had been to, the weekend trips I took and my favorite restaurants in the area. It was incredibly satisfying to be able to pass on advice to other students. Though only in Italy for a short time, I truly felt as though I began to fit in and understand Italian culture.
