Mia's Life

Rome was everything and more that I could have asked for. If someone told me I was going to be staying in that dormitory for the full 10 months, I would have gladly obeyed. Don’t get me wrong I’ve loved every minute of my stay here in Padova. However it was really sad to say goodbye to all the people I quickly grew so close with.

Straight out of the airport I became friends with a British girl named Alana. Initially I think it might have been because we are both native English speakers. Then, it was like God was sending me a little gift when I found out her dorm would be straight across the hall from me. To the left of Lana’s dorm was a girl named Lynn from Switzerland. We stumbled across her room the first night to ask if we had to wear pants to the Vatican the following day. Somehow we ended up laying on her bathroom floor laughing our asses off only a couple minutes later. The three of us stuck together whenever we could from then on.

The first full day in Rome, all 90 of the exchange students got split up into two groups. The other group went to the Colosseum while my group visited the Vatican and the Trevi Fountain. Which by the way I thought would be a lot smaller than it was. I was picturing a little fountain not a whole 50 meter wall. At the Vatican, we were given 2 hours to explore anywhere we wanted. Sadly Lynn wasn’t in my group, so Lana and I made friends with Agustin from Chile, Wilmer from Sweden, and Yves from Switzerland. Every conversation was so interesting because we were all from different places dispersed around the world. Upon my request we walked to the Italian McDonald’s. Now I am not somebody who likes McDonald’s or willingly wants to eat there, but I’ve seen a bunch of videos talking about how different the McDonalds is in Italy. I ended up trying a raspberry macaroon with Lana. I was in utter disbelief that a McDonald’s would sell a macaroon. Augustin got some type of cheesecake with strawberry’s in jello, and he let me try it. Both items were mid, but still 1,000 times better than any McDonald’s I’ve had. I also got to try gelato at the Trevi Fountain. I got a lemon cream flavor and a mango one as well. It was motto delizioso! Next time I want to try stratettella which is milk cream based with chocolate flakes.

Later that night, both groups met up to have dinner at some pizza restaurant. The pizza was mediocre. it was a very tourist-y place which is probably why. Non the less it was a blast with everyone there. On the way back to the bus stop, we came across a circle of people surrounding a guy singing with his guitar at the Trastevere. I asked Lola from Belgium if she wanted to dance with me. Out of nowhere hundreds of people joined in dancing beside us. We were singing our hearts out to Sara Perche Ti Amo. This was such a core memory for me. After a couple songs, I was able to put my life into perspective. I had an “oh wow, look where I am moment” feeling so grateful.

The next morning, my group headed to the Colosseum. It is breathtakingly beautiful, and I’m so glad they let us explore all of it. We walked around to a couple other famous monuments. We even saw a skate board event competing against different countries. We stopped at this ravishing park for lunch. We were high enough to see the whole city at a glance. WEP, the program/organization, gave us packed lunches, but they weren’t the most appealing things on Earth. Instead, everyone found a Bar/Cafe to grab lunch at. After a hot day walking over 26,000 steps, you can imagine the drool slipping off my tongue when I see the most vibrant cup of assorted fruit known to man kind. We walked over towards the Pantheon where we had the whole afternoon to explore. After months maybe even years of dreaming about Al’ Antico Vinaio, I finally got my hands on it. Lynn and I both got the top selling sandwich. It was served on house-made focaccia bread, with pistachio cream, stracciatella cheese, crushed pistachios, and mortadella. The serving was huge, so we were able to share amongst the others.

I also got to try Suppli and Arranchini! I got the original Suppli which is a breaded rice ball with tomato sauce and a mozzarella filling. Eugenio from Mexico got a cacio e Pepe arancini ball and we split half and half. I preferred the Suppli and he preferred the Arancini. Over these past couple days I have ate a lot, but I don’t feel bad at all, and I haven’t even been bloated yet. I honestly feel a little better than I did in the states which is so odd.

Every night I have stayed out past curfew in other people’s rooms and been fine, so on the last night together we came to a mutual agreement we would all stay together the whole night. None of us knew when the next time we would see each other would be. It’s almost cruel to put a bunch of students together just to separate them in 3 days. We are all going to various places in Italy. To illustrate, it would take Lynn around 17 hours to get to where I am, and she would have to take a plane. It wasn’t just a couple exchange students with this plan, it felt like everyone. We moved from room to room together. Some rooms would be so packed you couldn’t hear your own voice. Others consisted of hiding in bathrooms or on balcony’s whispering for hours. I ended up going to bed at 5:00 a.m just to wake up again for my train ride to Padova at 6:30 a.m.

I have been so fortunate each day to gain so many new experiences! I’ve been able to already cross off half of my bucket list I had prepared ahead of time! I am hopeful for my time here in Padova. Im hopeful it will be filled with countless memories. And I’m so hopeful I’ll get to revisit all of the loving friendships made in Rome.

“I wish I had done everything on Earth with you.”- Scott Fitzgerald