My Arrival to Florence, Italy
First, I would like to acknowledge my gratitude to my home university, the University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh. Specifically, I would like to thank the Office of International Education as they have been helpful, informative, and punctual in communicating and setting up my trip to Italy. Along with UW-Oshkosh, I would also like to shed light on my host school, the Italian Institute of Lorenzo di Medici. Their staff have also been supportive in planning our arrival to the country.
After having a class together last fall, my friend and I decided to study abroad. After a quick Snapchat from her saying, 'Hey, do you wanna go to Italy this summer?', our journey to Italy began. Although we had never formally hung out together outside of our class, we are a surprisingly good match. We travel well together and there is nobody else I would want to be taking this trip with. So, to Claire - thank you for suggesting this magical trip. You are a dream to travel with.
Our flight was long and uncomfortable. We were restless and already starting to experience the physical and mental setbacks of the 7 hour time change. I felt tired but not exhausted enough to sleep yet. I also was struggling with feeling nauseous from the turbulence. But, all of my discomfort disapated once we landed in Italy. We had chatted with some other students who were also studying abroad to Florence. We all got our luggage from the baggage claim and continued on to our first challenge: getting to the LdM (Lorenzo di Medici) campus and getting our house keys. I have gotten taxis in Chicago and Boston, but getting a taxi in Florence was a different beast. We decided to take the easier route and get an Uber - a $66 Uber, to be specific. But we had 4 people, so $22 each seemed like an even trade to avoid the language and cultural barriers that getting a taxi would have introduced.
Our Uber driver was one of the first faces of Florence that we saw and connected with. He asked us where we were from, why we were coming to Florence, and what we planned to see and do while in Italy. He shared that he has lived in Florence his whole life and has watched the city become safer over the years. He shared the clubs and pubs that were the most popular among our age group. He also shared common scams and situations to avoid for our own safety while living in the city. He eventually arrived at our destination where we were to get our keys to our apartment.
This was the beginning of our next challenge - navigating an unfamiliar city in 99 degree weather with 50lb suitcases. With the keys to our apartment in hand, we followed Siri to our new home. We also met one of our 4 roommates. She introduced herself as Julia and she is from the east coast. This was not her first time being in Italy, but her first time in Florence. Claire and I both liked Julia from the start.
Once we found our apartment, we began to unpack and take in our new home for the next month. As we unpacked, out other roommates began to arrive. Bella flew from New York to Pisa and then took the train to Florence. Laura had a few connecting flights and then a walk to the apartment like Claire, Julia and I, and we still had yet to meet our final roommate, Lorena. We wondered if maybe she had changed her mind and was no longer coming. We considered that maybe her flight was cancelled and she would be late coming to Florence. Either way, we were excited to have a full house of girls who came to Italy for the same reason as we did - to challenge our every day American lives.
