So again, apologies for not posting very often. I've been quite busy lately at the end of the trip. Now I'm home (bye Italy! ): ), and here I will recap some of my final adventures in the final week or two with my host family, the end-of-exchange two days in Roma with AFS, and the trip home. There were two big feste (parties), and in between and omnipresent was the beach.
Firstly, there was Francesca's birthday and subsequent surprise party. She turned 20 and when I woke up that morning, she was gone from the house to get a haircut and Romanina told me that we were all going over to Roberto's (her boyfriend) house along with friends to throw her a surprise party. I'd never been a part of one before, but it was quite exciting. We all went over early to prepare Roberto's yard with party streamers and set out the food and when francesca arrived, we all jumped out of the garage and shouted "Buon Compleanno", which is "Happy birthday" in Italian. She was so surprised and happy that she almost cried, it was so sweet. The night was really interesting, I talked to one of Fra's friends and her cousin about music and movies (or rather tried to, because my Italian leaves much to be desired) and I met a girl who had lived in England for a few years and spoke flawless english. Mixing in the crowds at parties in foreign countries took some getting used to though. When you can't communicate you just sort of end up on the fringe of a group and stand there awkwardly nodding your head, like "That's nice, I wish I could understand". I also perfected my I-can't-understand-the-joke-but-I'm-sure-it's-hilarious-so-I'm-trying-to-seem-genuine laugh. But despite the awkwardness, people were welcoming and truly interested to know about me and the place I live. It's always important to remember that whenever you feel awkward or uncertain, people are usually trying to help you out rather than make it worse for you. They generally mean well.
Almost every morning for the last two weeks of the homestay, Romanina and Francesca and I went to the beach in Latina or the one in another nearby city. I remember that at the beginning of the trip, Francesca and I were nearly the same skin colour, but through the days I watched her get steadily tanner, while I burned and burned and retained my ever-pale skin. The night I got off the plane at the San Diego airport, the second thing my mom said to me was "Wow, you didn't get tan". Always good to get a second opinion. Anyway, the beaches I visited were very similar to American beaches in many ways. The sand was more grey and brown, versus just a white-grey like it is in the USA, but otherwise they were very alike in appearance. But the Italians told me that the water at a lot of beaches there is pretty unsanitary and some people consider it unsafe for swimming. The sun was hot hot hot and it made me appreciate the healing powers of the sea itself. And air conditioning. And rain.
One afternoon on the last week of my stay, Romanina took me to visit one of her friends in a neighboring city. Her friend's son Daniele was my age and a total rocker, which was really cool because I hadn't met many Italians my age yet and none that liked my type of music. A few of his friends and his girlfriend Martina came over (Romanina knew them too because they all do musicals together) and they spoke some english and I watched them play guitar and we chatted, debated, and compared notes about music. It was so crazy, they all had gone to the same Metallica Death Magnetic Tour concert as me! Later they showed me some videos and photos from the concert and it reminded me of when I went. They were really cool kids and I wish I'd met them sooner, because I was to leave in a few days.
Lastly, the day before I left, my host family threw me a going-away party. It was really sweet (although awkward at times as usual). At 8 PM people started to arrive: Francesca's grandmother (who makes excellent, unsurpassed homemade pasta) and cousin, Andrea and Rafaela (two AFS volunteer friends of Romanina, who had gone with us places in Rome), Francesca's boyfriend Roberto and her best friend Veronica (who's birthday it was, by some crazy coincidence), some neighbors and other family friends that I'd met, and lastly the fun rocker kids I'd met a few days earlier. It was a fun night and some people surprised me and brought me a going-away present, which was really sweet and unexpected. In my usual clumsy way, I awkwardly spilled wine on my new Italian jeans, but the blunder was quickly righted with a change of clothes. Both joyful and teary (because I was leaving and I'd never see many of those people again), it was a fun night and I felt loved at the end.
Now I'll tell you about the final two days in Rome with AFS. On Thursday afternoon, Romanina, Francesca, Luca and I left for Termini train station in Rome for some last-minute gift shopping and then to meet AFS. I said a final tearful goodbye to my amazing host family and welcomed them to come stay with us anytime in America, and then I was whisked off to the hotel in Rome (where we would be staying for two days for sightseeing and the end-of-trip orientation) with a few AFS volunteers and a small group of us American exchange students. I reunited with my AFS buddies and we had so many stories to tell each other about our trips; each of our individual experiences was so unique. In Rome, it was... painfully hot (fa caldo). But despite the melting heat, I wouldn't have traded in that opportunity to see Vatican City and St. Peter's church, the Colosseum, the Trevi fountain, the Spanish Steps, and the Pantheon for anything. Each famous landmark and historical site was breathtaking and it was almost surreal to be seeing them. Over and over again I found myself thinking, "This is really it. I'm really seeing this". Rome is such an ancient city overflowing with culture and art. It was beautiful.
After our Rome stay, we embarked on the longest successive chain of return flights I have ever had the displeasure of experiencing. As a group we flew for 2 hours from Rome to Zurich, and then took a 9-hour flight (thankfully there were movies! And Swiss chocolate!) from Zurich to New York. At New York, we AFS'ers all split up to catch our domestic flights to our respective America cities. Tom and I were on the same flight and we had to hurriedly recheck our luggage, say a hurried goodbye to our American friends, and rush through security to catch our 6-hour flight to San Diego (which we barely made on time). Finally, after about 24 hours of travel, we arrived in San Diego at 10:30 PM and there I finally met up with my real family and went home.
In these two days since I've been home, it has seemed both like I've never left and like I've been away for awhile. It's taking a bit of re-adjusting to reorient myself with life here, and it seemed almost unnatural to hear everyone speaking prefect english and that they could understand me when I spoke fast. My AFS friend Emma says she still speaks slowly out of habit, like we all had to do in Italy when we spoke English. I knew I was back in America when I accidently said "Grazie" instead of "Thank you" to the flight attendant as I stepped off the plane at San Diego and he gave me an funny look.
I miss Italy a lot (especially the people and the food) but in some ways it's great to be back in America. I think I learned to step outside of my comfort zone (a boundary that has been quite hard for me to cross in the past) and have been the grateful recipient of the unbelievable kindness of strangers. I have been to Europe and back, spoken in a tongue I knew little about, got lost and then found in the middle of Rome, learned the meaning of jet lag, made friends with people halfway across the world, ate some of the most savory food on the earth, braved temperatures that rival the sun itself, and conquered my fear of the unfamiliar and unknown. This trip had left me with, more than anything, the desire to travel more, see more, be more. In college I plan to live for a semester or a year abroad, and fully learn the language and become a part of the culture of wherever I choose to go. Places to go and things to see. The world is wide open.
Ciao, amici!
Kelsey
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