On the 11th day of Italy...

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Ciao bella gente!

Wow…I feel like we have been here for weeks. My love for Florence grows every day as I learn more about its beautiful history and find all of the places to eat that we deem as “the BEST”!!! In my first 11 days here I feel like I have learned quite a bit about myself.

The first thing that I have learned about myself is that I can walk…A LOT…on a sprained ankle. I got my weekly summary from my watch this morning and we had walked OVER 50 MILES! That is crazy!!! I have also learned that I honestly enjoying the walking. In Richmond, I would drive around for 30 minutes trying to find the closest parking space to the building that my class was in; but now I believe that a 5 or 10-minute walk probably won’t kill me…I don't know. I am very hard headed about my ability to continue walking multiple miles a day on my ankle (even though my nana is convinced that I will have arthritis in my ankle forever now, whoops! Yes, I am icing it Nana!). I think that this just shows my resiliency as a person.

Another thing that I have learned is how much I can love a place while also feeling a little homesick. I am very close to my family so it’s been different being so far away from them, but I have made sure to check in with them as often as possible which really helps. I also miss my roommate Jillian, being six hours ahead makes it hard to keep up as much as we are used to! I love my time at the end of the day to call my grandparents and parents though, it’s something I look forward to.

I had a hard time adjusting to the time change, as well! I figured out very quickly what jet lag actually was. But I have found that I have the ability to function on much less sleep than I ever thought I could. There are times when I would do anything for a small nap, but we push through. Along with my inability to sleep at normal times, I have found that I DEEPLY miss my bed! I seriously dream about being in my very soft queen-sized bed while I’m tossing in my twin sized one here. I also have a deep love (that I have obviously taken for granted) for having a million pillows on my bed...if you’re reading this please overnight fluffy pillows!

Touring museums with Antonio (seriously the best way to tour any museum), has shown me that I can appreciate art for more than being “pretty”. I find myself looking at art on my own and finding different things that make me feel something. I have always heard of people saying that a piece of art made them “feel” a certain way and I could never understand it, but here I am…crying at paintings in churches.

While I love our time with Giusy learning Italian, I have found that I am not going to be fluent in Italiano…ever. I have taken years of Spanish and can barely string a sentence together if that tells you anything. But it is fun to learn phrases that we can use at restaurants and while shopping. I have noticed that most people really appreciate that we are at least trying to speak their language, even though it’s probably not 100%!c(MISSING)orrect.

The largest thing that I have discovered about myself is how much I love, appreciate, and take advantage of good old southern hospitality!!! I was raised to say bless you to strangers when they sneeze. If I sneeze here, I have to bless myself! (That’s a joke…but really) Walking on the street and having someone shoulder check you and not saying sorry or even looking at you apologetically is something that I will never ever get used to. I also find myself laughing when we are walking through a crowd because we all say things like “oh sorry, excuse me, ope I’m just going to squeeze past ya (you know you say that exact phrase!), I’m so sorry...” etc and the Italians will blankly stare at you. I forget that they literally do not care and they don't expect any explanation as to why I am close to them or bump into them on accident.

All in all, I must say…I LOVE ITALY! The “travel bug” is real…and I have it. The past 11 days have shown me that I am more than a small town girl from Corbin, Kentucky. I can take care of myself and find my way back even when I am <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: <br>normal;">so lost in a strange place while also fending off street hagglers who try to put bracelets on me then demand money. I’d call that a win! More to come soon, arrivederci for now!

Xoxo, Jaci



Step Count:

1/14 – 7,481 // 3.74 miles (Hey a girl has to take a Sunday nap, right mom??)

1/15 – 14,022 // 7 miles

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