Home at Last... Goodbye Rome?!

Villa Borghese - Allan's favorite fountain

This will most likely be my last blog post while I'm here in Rome. I'll be on a flight back to Philadelphia as of 11:50am Rome time tomorrow. The semester has truly flown by, which everyone said it would. The past few weeks really have, since we were finishing up the work for all of our classes. Our last cartography walk was in the Villa Borghese, which is essentially the only place in Rome that is actually green. Its actually quite peaceful there, and its one of Allan's favorite places to ride his bike and read. I'm glad he took us there, and he even showed us his favorite fountain, which I found pretty cool. I'm actually going to miss him and Ann; I really enjoyed their class as a whole. We also had a wine tasting for Italian Studies since we've been back. The wine tasted a whole lot better than the olive oil, which was a plus. It was interesting though, and I've always been curious about some of the terminology when it comes to wine. Now I know at least a little more than I did. I also learned that usually at home (USA) I drink really bad overpriced wine...

Piazza Navona Christmas market

 There has been a Christmas market here in Rome, right at Piazza Navona. Though its pretty touristy, some of the stuff is actually pretty cool. I bought a few ornaments there to add some Italian pizazz to the Christmas tree this year. It was also a lot cheaper than the Christmas market in Paris. I love seeing Rome finally decorated for Christmas. All of the streets finally have lights, and some of the piazzas have nativity scenes. Its just such a nice time of year. I'm glad I was able to see some European cities during Christmas - I've always been curious what its like and how different it is from us. Each country has its own traditions, I've realized, but the basic concept of Christmas is still there and is still the same.

Well, this seems to be the end of my semester abroad. I don't regret any of it, despite some of my insecurities at the beginning of the semester. Living in another country has really put a lot in perspective for me. In America, we have so much available to us at so little. We can buy a camera for $80 when in Italy its 130 euros. Everything in our country is so fast-paced, and in Italy, they take it slow. There isn't really a right or wrong way to do things, but its really quite the learning experience when you realize that all cultures do things differently. Personally, there are things about Rome I didn't enjoy, but I will never regret living here. I just wouldn't live here again long term. It doesn't mean I won't come back to visit, though.
It was just so strange today, giving in our (crappy) cellphones, handing in our documentation discs, seeing studio, the Pantheon, all of these things one last time. It doesn't seem like it will be the last time, until all of a sudden I'm in the Fiumicino airport for the last time, and then I'll be back in America, where as much as I'll appreciate being home, it'll take a lot of adjusting. People speaking English - first weird thing that's really gonna weird me out for a while. Also will probably binge on some American food. Its still been fun though, and there will be plenty of things from here that I'll miss.

A presto, perhaps I'll blog again in America? We'll see. Its been fun, Rome. We'll meet again soon.