Submitted by Giulia Richardson the 2024 Spring program in Rome, Italy…
The second week abroad is when living in Rome started to feel real. Waking up and getting ready for my first class on Monday was nerve-racking but comforting at the same time. I was starting classes at a new school with completely new faces for the first time since freshman year, but I was also able to start figuring out what my day-to-day routine was going to be like here. After all the chaos and excitement of the first week, this brought back some stability and structure to my life. Having more of a regular routine in Rome after classes began made me feel like I was really living here. Rome became less like a temporary vacation and more like a lifestyle, and it was amazing to start settling in and getting used to this. I learned how to take the local buses to my campus, figured out what my favorite café order was at the neighborhood “bar”(I decided on a café macchiato and plain cornetto), started sitting down for some long lunches with friends in between classes, and so much more. All of these things alone seem so simple, but when you factor each of them into a new daily lifestyle they make a huge difference, and I’ll only adopt new habits as I continue living here. These habits vary so much from a typical day at home, but they make life more enjoyable! (Submitted on February 6, 2024)