Today is the day. I said a lot of goodbyes.
To the kitchen (despite how quickly it could get gross)
To the living room (where I watched the Voice of Italy and a German cop shop on TV while eating amazing homemade dinner)
To my room (where I spent a lot of my time and shared so many memories with Brittany including 3am sleepy chats and stuffing our faces with pizza and sushi on our bed)
To the window (where I wake up each morning to watch the market in Piazza San Cosimato and see kids play at the playground on sunny days)
To my apartment keys (that I miraculously never lost once)
To the apartment garden (where I always greeted Carlo the "security guard", every morning)
To my apartment door (that will never be mine again)
To Via Roma Libera and Piazza di San Cosimato (where I have been so lucky to call home)
To Viale di Trastevere (which was basically our highway to the center of Rome/Piazza Venezia)
To Trastevere (where I was so lucky to have lived).
And to Rome. Rome, Rome. For 4 months, I have lived here. I have walked through the small alleyways and streets. I have visited all the major monuments. I have ate many Roman/Italian plates. I have visited a flea market, and gone to a comic convention, a ballet, and a football game. I have met so many wonderful and kind locals and people from abroad. I have
lived.
I am thankful for Taylor, the best friend I could ever
ask for, to share my experience here in Italy and all the other places we've traveled together. We dreamed of this since freshman year. We made it to Italy together and accomplished so much during these four months. I'm so proud of him for being ridiculously supportive and helped me through my highs and lows throughout this semester. I couldn't have done it without my best friend (and all my other support friends like Brittany and classmates).
I am thankful for Taylor for taking me to the airport. Despite the rain. And the
ridiculous luggages. And for saying a difficult goodbye on his birthday, of all days.
Of course, I will see him back in the states. We're both looking
forwards to our senior year in college where we'll be sharing an
apartment! It's been a long time coming.
I am also thankful for API for making this study abroad trip memorable. I am so glad I decided to go with this program because I got to go to places I never thought I would, I got to meet so many wonderful people. I got to find my great-grandfather's grave because of them. The API Rome RDs, Naike, Alessio - I will miss them both so much. I will miss seeing them a few times a month and seeing their warm smiles and hugs. I will miss catching up over cups of Naike's tea in their office.
Lastly, I am forever thankful for my family for making this study abroad possible. I couldn't have done it without them and their encouragement. I thank my parents for putting up with my mishaps throughout this trip (first dropping my phone in a toilet in Switzerland then fully losing it at a comic convention in Rome for one). I thank my parents for allowing me to travel to all that places I've been able to during my stay here. I thank my parents for everything. So thank you. I don't say that enough, so thank you. I love you both very much.
I'm sitting at the airport now waiting for my flight to London, then to Boston. I'm feeling extremely bittersweet.
I will never be completely at home again
because a part of my heart will always be here in Rome. I guess this is the price
you pay for the richness of loving and living too many places and too many people.
Few days ago I wasn't ready to come home. I wasn't ready to face reality that would undoubtedly hit when I come back. I wasn't ready for my senior year. I wasn't ready.
But I feel I am ready now, despite how much I'll miss it here. I'm ready to walk back into my family's arms. And into Boston's. I'm ready to survive what I know will be my most stressful year. I'm ready to graduate from college. I'm ready to accomplish my goals with much more vigorousity than ever before.
You know, I threw coins in the Trevi Fountain (twice actually) to ensure my return to Rome. We'll see if the legends are true 5-10 years in the future. So, with a heavy but happy heart, I am leaving and I can't think of a better way to say farewell to the eternal city than: Arrivederci Roma. Until we see each other again.
