Lindsey Besecker
Staff Correspondent
FLORENCE—Our group only arrived in Florence four weeks ago, but I think I can speak for all of us in saying that Italy already feels like home.
I know that even after the first traveling weekend, returning to the Villa really felt like coming home from vacation. During the day we stay inside the comfort of the Villa, surrounded by Americans and the English language.
The transitioning period has taken a toll on all of us, but as far as I can tell everyone is adjusting pretty well.
It is still weird to pay to use a bathroom and then pay for toilet paper on top of that. I am sure that any students who have been to Europe before know exactly what I am talking about. I have been fortunate — I have yet to encounter a hole in the ground.
I think my favorite thing about Florence is seeing the locals riding around on their Vespas in their work clothes. Seeing an old man in a suit riding a Vespa—come on, you just have to chuckle.
At the same time, this year feels like freshman year all over again. We are all in a city we aren’t familiar with and have to try out shops and restaurants on our own to figure out what is good and what is not. We have to live with 50 other people that we may not be close with or know at all — similar to my freshman dorm. We have to learn to put our faith in our peers and the people that work here.
“You are forced to trust,” Brett Phillips said. “Everything is new, which makes you want to trust anyone with any information.”
The language barrier has provided the biggest challenge. Try taking a political science class taught by two Italian lawyers who have strong accents and no concept of time. Ordering at a restaurant is a whole other story. Last weekend I went with three other girls to Rimini and Ashley Obendorf ordered a “pepperoni” pizza. When our dinner came out, Ashley got a pizza with fresh bell peppers on top of it. That’s one for the memory books.
Hostels can be a problem as well. Three weekends ago I went with three other people to Sorrento and Capri. We arrived at the hostel not knowing if we were getting a tent or a dorm with 30 other people in it. We ended up with a six-person bungalow that we shared with an Australian woman.
However, a group of four girls went to the same hostel and paid the same amount as we paid, but they had to sleep in a trailer. The weather was still warm during the day, but the nights were a little chilly. They had to use anything possible to keep themselves warm, from towels to extra clothes in their backpacks. I guess it’s just the luck of the draw.
There are already so many memories in the Villa, I cannot imagine what it is going to be like in April when we all go back home. I know that the hardest thing for me to do then will be to look up at my room and know that if I ever come back to my third home, it will not be for a long time.
October 03, 2002