Amidst the chaos of cramming for my midterms, I realized that aside from the tests I would have, this week marked the halfway period of my abroad experience! Before I came abroad, I got advice from anyone and everyone- I just wanted to be prepared. The one thing that I kept hearing was “Abroad will fly by in the blink of an eye!”. 

If you had asked me my thoughts on this the first week here, I would have said that it couldn’t feel further from the truth. I missed my routine at home. I missed my favorite Trader Joe’s items. I missed watching Brooklyn 99 with my mom at night. I missed being able to drive over to my friends house in just 3 minutes. The days felt like they were going painfully slow- although I loved all of the time to go indulge in aperol spritzes and gelato, I felt like there were gaps in my day that were impossible to fill. 

Now, just 8 weeks later, I cannot believe that I only have 7 weeks left in Florence. I have built a whole life for myself here. I have optimized my “plan of attack” for getting in and out of Conad (our local grocery store), gotten into a routine of walking along the river every morning and listening to a podcast. I have made new friends who I couldn’t imagine life here without. Although I could be sad and pout about the fact that I only have so much time left, I want to try to squeeze every last moment I can out of Florence!

Here are some of the things I would want to tell my week 1 self:

Just say hi! Going up to people from DU that I recognized during orientation events, even if it was something that I felt a little nervous doing ended up being one of the best decisions! It is how I met new friends that I now get to travel with almost every weekend!

Go out of your comfort zone! For a naturally introverted person like me, it can feel super scary to push myself out of my comfort zone. But doing small things like speaking up a lot in class build up confidence over time and make things like class presentations feel more manageable. Going on a solo trip felt extremely daunting, but I booked one to Scotland and it ended up being my favorite part of fall break! It was something that a year ago I could never imagine myself doing, but I was so proud of myself for!

Incorporate pieces of home! Things that I regularly do at home- like going on long walks, baking, and water coloring are all things that I have added into my daily life here in Florence that give me not only something fun to do, but make me feel more at home. 

Focus on your life! With many of the people that I follow on social media also being people from DU traveling abroad, I really struggled with comparing my life to what I was seeing on Instagram. People would be traveling to far-flung corners of Europe, while I was staying in Florence for a weekend to get adjusted to my new surroundings. I couldn’t help but feel a sense of FOMO, which all of my friends know, is something I struggle with- even at DU. I decided to delete Instagram and TikTok off of my phone, so I wouldn’t find myself scrolling every free moment I had and instead could only look at them on my iPad during time I dedicated to being on a screen. 

Don’t be afraid to ask for help! This in perticular is something I have always struggled with. However, in a country where things can be completely different, asking for help can make all the difference. For example, I needed to find batteries at the grocery store last week for a food scale. I wandered to where I thought they would be and after not seeing them, I decided to ask a cashier for help on where to locate them. It did take me a moment to find them (included me mistakenly walking into the store bathroom) but with more help and a few laughs, I made it back to my apartment, AA batteries secured.

Embrace down time! This last takeaway may be the most impactful for me. Back at DU, I would schedule my days down to the minute, planning what I was going to eat, what clothes I would wear and most importantly, having something to do so that I would not feel that I was being “lazy” by having free time. However, an Italian motto that I was told on the first day of being abroad was “piano piano”. It means to take things slowly. The Italian way of life is one that embraces taking breaks- from afternoon relaxation time where shops close to the people meandering through the streets (opposed to my speed walking around). I have loved having time where everyone is relaxing, so I don’t feel as though I am not doing as much as my peers at any given moment. 

As I am writing this, I am just returning from my week-long fall break that took me to Switzerland, Scotland, and the Netherlands, so look out for a recap of that trip soon!

Arrivederci,

Caroline