Arrivederci, Roma. Ti amo!

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard

Well, I have been back in the great nation of the United States for over two weeks now, and it still has not even hit me that I just spent a semester in Rome. It feels like a dream; the semester really did shoot by. This is what I consider my "wrap-up" entry from the past four months.

Firstly, I would like to start off with some shout-outs to three groups of people who made my time studying abroad as meaningful as it was:

• Mom and Dad. Living and studying abroad would not have been possible without my Mom and Dad. I'm sorry for the major financial mooching I did, but as soon as I become a successful businesswoman and/or win the lottery I am sending them on their own Eurotrip. I am very grateful for them!
• Stephanie, Sydney, Korissa, and Cara. To the four girls that I will remain best friends with for the rest of my life! My semester would be very different without them, and I was so lucky to be randomly placed with them (thanks to Study Abroad Italy for that). I could not have asked for a better group of girls with whom to share this experience.
  
• The Romans. For building such an amazing city!

And to the rest: the other great friends I made, my other roommates, everyone at JCU, and anyone I may have encountered in the four months of my study abroad experience.

Now for my favorites of this semester... I have probably mentioned most of this in previous blog posts, but I'll reiterate. Hopefully this list will help any travelers/ future studying abroad-ers.

• Restaurant: Hostaria del Moro da Tony (also known as Tony's). We went there four times and all four times I got the penne vodka. By the far the most delicious penne vodka in this world.
• Gelato flavor(s): Cocco (coconut) and stracciatella (chocolate chip)
  
• Site in Rome: St. Peter's Basilica. Hands down the most amazing place ever.
  
• Snack: Anything with nutella, especially shortbread cookies. And Ringos, an Italian cookie.
  
• Nightlife spot: Campo de' Fiori-- a piazza with a ton of bars where Italians and Americans can mingle
• Place in Campo de' Fiori: Giganti. Such a fun bar!
  
• Place to hang out in between classes: The "Lemontree Courtyard" at the Guarini campus of JCU. It doesn't get much better than soaking in some sun while watching cute Italian boys play ping-pong
  
• Type of wine: Pinot grigio. I wish I could remember the brand that I would buy every time I bought a bottle --- that is, until the end of the semester when I switched to a $0.99 euro bottle because the $2.50 euro one was just too expensive!
• Place to shop: the Porta Portese market -- always has some great finds if you're willing to take the time to peruse all of the stands.
• European song: "Stereo Love" by Edward Maya. Actually, I wouldn't consider it my favorite European song. It's probably my favorite song, period.
• Cafe: the Willy Bar, right downstairs from our apartment. We went for a cappuccino almost every morning; they loved us there. I'd like to thank "Sojo" (we're still not positive as to what his real name is), Julia, and the rest of the crew for the delicious caps!
  
• Sandwich place: MangiaMò, right by school. Sydney and I went there pretty much every Tuesday/Thursday during our one hour break between classes. I always got the same thing: turkey, mozzarella, and lettuce on "pizza" bread with oil, balsamic, salt, and pepper.
  
• City (besides Rome, because Rome is my home): Although I really loved them all (with an exception or two), Paris was my favorite. I had such high expectations for it, and they were all exceeded. It was such a clean, beautiful city with so much to see. I really appreciated everything about it.
• Country: Germany. Although I had to stop myself from asking the Germans if they were still bitter about losing World War II (justtt kidding), I got a great general impression of Germany. I don't know what I enjoyed most about it: the history, the culture, or the cute guys :) . I wish we got to see more of the actual city of Munich, but I'll definitely be going back there at some point in my life!
• Pizza place: V.I.P. -- Very Italian Pizza. I always found the name ironic, because if it's very Italian, why is the sign in English?
• Language: After being exposed to so many different languages during this semester (including Italian, Spanish, Dutch, German, Greek, and French), I have decided, and my roommates and I all agree on this, that we think that the French language is the prettiest (German is definitely the ugliest). Although some people many say that French sounds like someone is hocking a loogie, there is something about it that flows so nicely. I wish I could properly pronounce French words-- it's such a hard language to speak because of all of the silent endings; whereas, Italian was easy to pronounce, because literally every single part of a word is pronounced (with the exception of 'h').
• Section of Rome: Trastevere, where I lived. The area around my apartment wasn't anything too special but I absolutely loved the part in which JCU is located. It is characterized by small and narrow cobblestone streets with tons of shops, restaurants, pizza places, and gelato stands (hmmm.. I'm starting to see where all the weight I gained came from...). It was rather challenging to walk on the cobblestone, however. I completely ruined one pair of boots with scratches all over and rips in the toes. Also, if you walk too long on the cobblestone in sandals, the bottom of your feet start to kill. One day, while walking to class during the last week of classes, my sandal got caught on the cobblestone and completely broke. It was an interesting sight to see me try to walk down the street to a cafe that I waited at while Sydney brought me another pair. Cara did the same exact thing a few weeks before me, and we all made fun of her... karma.
• Museum: Musee d'Orsay (see Paris entry)
• Favorite type of pizza: Margherita. I always want for the basic cheese and sauce. Italians make up some weird combinations, and I was never daring enough to try them.
• Church in Rome: (not including St. Peter's) Santa Maria in Trastevere. I would often pop in for a few minutes on my walk home from class.

My senior quote in my high school yearbook was...

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -- Mark Twain

After my four month "eurotrip", this quote has never been more relevant in my life. I have learned so much about culture, myself, life, you-name-it. I am so thankful for everything that this semester has encompassed, and I consider myself a much stronger person after this experience. I was extremely nervous and hesitant right before I went, because I was basically traveling and living half-way around the world without knowing a soul; however, it was definitely the best decision I could have made! It allowed me to expand my horizons and open my eyes to the unfamiliar (not to mention I made some friends for life). I'm currently working on inventing a time machine to go back to January and re-do the whole thing over again :-)

I think this is the last of my study abroad blogging, unless I have something else to share. So thanks for everyone that took the time to read!

CIAO