A Little Reflection

Ciao!

I am so sorry I have not written for a few months.  I have been so busy going to "real" school and taking classes that are no longer pass/fail.  I cannot believe how quickly this semester has flown by and that I am only 2 finals away (ok so 1 is a take home exam but you get the point) from being a Senior in college.  I wanted to write a post because I have been feeling quite homesick for Perugia these past few days.  My best friend Sam just returned from Perugia last weekend and it was so wonderful to see her again this evening.  We talked about Perugia and hearing her say how sad she was to leave reminded me of myself just a few months ago.  I still think about Perugia everyday.  I think about gelato, the Italian lifestyle, and of course ciao ciao panino's (so yummy!!).  I have also thought a lot about Perugia because just 1 year ago I was getting ready to leave on the trip of a lifetime.

I was ending my Sophomore year of college and I was so ready to leave for Italy.  As next year's Fall students get ready to leave for Perugia I know it's going to be hard for me.  I'm going to look back at my blog and find it hard to believe that was 1 year ago.

At the beginning of this semester I was told that reflecting on your study abroad experience was a good way to channel your sadness about being back in the US.  One night in February I became very homesick for my Italian life that I did just that and I read that story again today.  It helped me realize how much I have learned in Italy and I would like to share my story with you now.  I am also hoping to make this into a digital story next semester with the help of the LVC study abroad director.  But for now here is my story....

Coming Home

            You know when you’re on a plane and you look out the window and see the white fluffy clouds?  The clouds seem within reach; you can almost reach out and touch them, you swear you could sit on them if you had the chance.  I saw those white fluffy clouds on September 2, 2010 while I was flying to Italy.  I had decided to study abroad in Perugia because it was something I had always wanted to do.  I was nervous and excited the day I left the Harrisburg airport.  And I’ll admit I even cried as I hugged my parents and grandparents one last time before I went through security. 

            As I landed in Italy I immediately wanted to go home, I had never been so homesick in my entire life.  But I pushed through the tears and sadness and let myself soak in the Italian lifestyle.  Within weeks I had found my second home in Perugia.  I was eating paninos, drinking cappuccinos, and walking the steep hills of Perugia with a smile on my face.  I learned to adapt to a place almost 5,000 miles away from my home in Pennsylvania and I was no longer sad about my choice to live in Italy.

            The months flew by and the final weeks of my stay came upon me so quickly.  I realized I would never walk the hill to my apartment on Via Dell’Aquila again or eat a gelato from Agosto Perugina.  On December 17, 2010 I said goodbye to my friends at the Rome airport much the same way I said goodbye to my parents only 4 months before.  I saw those touchable white clouds again on the plane but this time I was not nervous or excited, I was sad and crying to be leaving Perugia, the place where I learned who I was. 

            I landed in Washington D.C. and saw a flight boarding for Rome only a few gates away.  I started crying as I realized I was not able to get on that flight and experience what those passengers were feeling.  I was not filled with joy as I reached the Harrisburg airport but filled with homesickness for a place I had only been for 4 months.

            I cried on the car ride back to my house as I longed to be back in that place I called home.  I cried with my Perugia roommates on the phone and through many hand written letters.  It's taking me a long time but I now know that Perugia has changed me for good.  I am not the same person I was back on September 2^nd.  I am no longer that scared or nervous girl who wanted to leave Italy as soon as she landed.  I am excited in knowing that one day I will board a plane to a new destination.  I will experience that giddiness as I try to reach out and grasp those clouds that once guided me to an experience I will never forget.

This story has helped me channel everything I have felt since coming home from Perugia.  I still hope to go back there someday but for now this is enough.  I should probably get back to doing my take home exam for psychopharmacology.  I hope everyone has a wonderful summer and I hope to update much more during my time off of school!


Morgan :)

Smile Because It Happened

Ciao!

I have been home for over a month now and I have been at school for a week and a half so I thought it was only necessary that I reflect on my time in Perugia in a blog post.  Since I have been back at school it has been pretty difficult.  I thought once I returned to LVC that I would just fall right back into my normal self and enjoy school and love being around my friends again.  Don't get me wrong I absolutely love being back with my friends and I am enjoying most of my classes this semester.  But it just isn't the same.  I think about Perugia and my friends a lot and every once in awhile my mind travels back to Perugia and it makes me miss everything about the Italian life so much more.  But I know that just as I got acclimated to living in Perugia all the way back in September I will get back to life again in America.

Re-entry is one of the hardest things I have been through and I honestly didn't think it would hit me this hard.  My friends at school don't really understand what I did last semester.  They don't get the little jokes that I find hilarious or the little tidbits I throw out about Italy or my Perugia roommates.  But then I realized that there are people at LVC who do understand, my friends who went to Perugia with me!  And when we run into each other on campus it's amazing!  It's like I'm in Perugia all over again.  We talk about Italy and about the time we went on that trip and it's little things like that that are really helping me overcome my homesickness for Italy.

Another thing that is helping me get through the tough times is realizing all that I accomplished while living in Italy.  I have changed a lot as a person because of this experience and when I think about all of the challenges I overcame while in Perugia I can't believe it.  For instance, I used to be sad about going back to school and leaving my family.  I now know that I can leave my family for an extended period of time and be an independent individual.  I learned that I can go into new places not knowing anything and learn to adapt myself.  And because of my time spent abroad, I have now thought about a new career path to take.  I am looking at becoming a study abroad adviser for a college or university because honestly I don't think I will be happy in a job where I cannot travel.  I want to help students who are going through re-entry or who want to study abroad.  I want to be the one who convinces them to go to Italy or Australia or New Zealand because of how much studying abroad has changed me.

I have also been thinking about what Italy has given me.  Italy gave me some amazing new friends who have forever changed me as a person.  Friends from all over the United States who I will never forget.  These new friends are so special to me and we have so many memories together that are going to last me a lifetime.  And I thank Italy so much for giving me these great people who have really become a second family to me.  I miss them all so much but I know I am going to see them all again.  And some of them are even coming to visit me at school in one month for my birthday!  I think they are giving me the best birthday presents in the world by doing this!

Re-entry is hard but reliving my memories and sharing my stories is a way to get through it all.  I want to thank the LVC study abroad staff for convincing me to study abroad because it really has been the best decision of my life.  And if I could give any college student the best piece of advice it would be to study abroad because I learned so much more than I could ever learn from sitting in a classroom two or three times a week.  So college students, have the experience because it's going to change your life..for good.

Before I go I would like to share some pictures I have edited these past few days.  I am really into taking old pictures and editing them and my Perugia pictures are a great way to do this.  So enjoy some of the pictures I have edited....

 

And here it is..a new "heaven must feel like this" collage!

I hope everyone has an amazing week and enjoy the snowstorm that is currently hitting us here on the East Coast.  This will not be my last post so check back every once in awhile for more =)

And I leave you now with a quote that I re-discovered the other day that really describes the way I feel about my Italian experience.

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened" - Dr. Seuss

Morgan =) 

I Have Been Changed For Good

Ciao!

Well, I am home safe and sound in Pa!  I got home Friday night right on time without any problems!  I made it through customs without any issues and all of my flights went well.  But I have to admit, it's hard for me to be home sometimes.  When I landed in Harrisburg I was so excited to see my family and I thought I wasn't going to be sad about leaving Italy and more specifically Perugia.  But when I got to my house it really hit me that I wasn't going back to Perugia any time soon and I wasn't going to see my new friends for a while.  It was really hard but after talking and texting my Perugia roommates I realized they are going through the same feelings.  We cried together and told each other that we would see each other soon enough and we are all only a skype call away from one another!  I know I will never forget any of the people I met over these last 4 months and we will continue to be good friends for years to come!  I also found a song that helped me get through these first few days of being home.  There is a song from the musical "Wicked" that explains how much this experience and all of the people I met mean to me.  Here are some lines from the song "For Good"....

I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you....

It well may be
That we will never meet again in this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a hand print on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend....

Because I knew you
I have been changed for good


I have been changed by all of the people I have met this semester and I will never forget any of you.  You have touched me in a very special way and trust me we will see each other again!  I promised myself that I will see you all again someday.  Whether we have a big reunion in Colorado or you all come to Pa, we'll see each other again, no worries!

Now I should probably get back to doing laundry, wrapping Christmas presents, and catching up on episodes of "The Office".  I have also started making a slide show of my entire Italy experience so hopefully I can get that done before Christmas Eve!  I can't believe Christmas is only 5 days away!  I will update again once more challenges with re-entry arise. 

Oh, and before I go I would just like to ask everyone to pray for one of my fellow Perugia roommates and 3 other Umbra students who are still stuck in London because of the snow storm.  They will hopefully get a flight out on Christmas Eve but hopefully they can find one home before then.

Italian word of the post:
    fiocco di neve - snowflake

Morgan :)

Perugia, Io Non Ti Dimentichero Mai (I Will Never Forget You)

Ciao!

So this is it, my final blog post from Perugia!  I cannot believe how fast these last 4 months have gone by!  I have had the best semester and it still doesn't feel like I am leaving.  I feel like I'm just going on another weekend trip and I will be back in Perugia by Sunday night, but of course this is not the case.  By this time tomorrow I will be flying over the pond to the US of A!  I'm sure it won't hit me that I'm actually going home until I land in Washington DC. 

Last night was our last "real" night in our apartment because we are leaving tonight at 1 am from Perugia.  So to spend our last night in Italy what did we do?...we ate a lot of Italian food!!  We went to a tiny restaurant here in Perugia where all of the food is prepared by one woman and it takes about 3 hours to eat there.  It was so delicious!  I had my last bowl of gnocchi, baked potatoes in olive oil, and plenty of bread!  We definitely went out with a bang and we all had a major "food coma" after that last meal.  After dinner we went over to my friend Breanne's apartment to play card games and just talk and eat some more.  We all got teary eyed as we realized this was our last night in Perugia.  Luckily Breanne is going on the bus tonight so I will be able to say goodbye at the airport very early in the morning.

I am sorry to cut this post short but I must finish packing, eating, and saying goodbye!  Tonight we have a farewell dinner from Umbra then it's off to the bus at midnight!  We will arrive at the Rome airport around 3:30 am and then I have to wait with my travel buddies until our flight to DC leaves at 10:45 am.  I will be home in Harrisburg around 6 pm Eastern time on Friday night!  I can't wait to see you all and share all of my wonderful experiences with you :)  Next time I post I will be home!!

Italian word of the post:
    arrivederci - goodbye (formal)

Morgan :)

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Ciao!

I have just finished my second final and I have two more tomorrow and then I am finished!  It feels so weird to be finishing these classes and packing all of my stuff at the same time.  As I am packing my roommates and I were all talking about our favorite things we have done during the semester.  So I thought it's only fair that I make a list of my favorite things from this amazing semester in Italia!  Some of these things we also discussed at an Umbra meeting we had about two weeks ago..enjoy!!

My favorite meal in Italy: Pizza lasagna (pizza with ricotta cheese, ham, basil, and mozzarella cheese)

My favorite place I visited in Italy: Capri

My favorite place I visited outside of Italy: tie between London, England and Salzburg, Austria

My least favorite city I visited: Rome, Italy

 My favorite weekend here: Going to London for Harry Potter weekend and the Amalfi Coast trip


Food I will miss the most: Gelato!!

First meal I want to eat in the USA: Turkey boat sub from P + J's and a root beer float

Place I want to come back and visit: Perugia of course!

I could probably go on and on with this list but the truth is I will miss a lot about Perugia and Italy itself!  Now I should probably get back to studying for my last two finals tomorrow.  I will update once more before I leave for the US on Friday morning!

Italian word of the post:
    inverno - winter

Morgan :)