Journal Prompt: Imagine that you are getting back on a plane at the end of the Rome Experience. How do you imagine that you have changed?

            I believe that I will be a completely changed person when I am on my flight back to the United States. In the short time that I have been here I have been able to see truly amazing things. This includes the Colosseum, the Roman Form, and Saint Peters Square. After seeing all of these great things in a such a short period of time I have come to find that anything can happen on any given day. 

            I did not realize how fortunate I am to be studying in Rome until I made the long (and steep) hike to the top of Janiculum Hill. One of our assignments for the trip is to give a tour to the rest of the class of specific parts of the city. We each got separated into groups for this project. My partner was Weldon. Two of our main stops are the Santa Maria Church in Trastevere and the Janiculum Hill. Weldon and I took a day to practice our tour. We ended up getting lost trying to find a way through the city to connect the two stops. It was when we were lost that we were able to wonder into some of the coolest parts of the city, parts that many tourists do not see. It was in these parts of the city that I was able to see what life in Rome is really like.  Once we did find the Janiculum Hill, the view took our breath away. It is one of the highest points of the city. From the hill, I was able to see a large portion of the city, but not all of it. That was the moment I realized just how vast of a city Rome really is. I spent a few minutes pondering at just how magnificent of a view it was. It was the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. I now realize how fortunate I am to have been given such a great opportunity to come to this city and meet the wonderful people I have.

            One thing that I think I will be thinking on the plane is how much I do not want to go back home. A passage from “The Italians” that best describes the way I feel is when Barzini says, “Many foreigners come back the next year. Some come back more and more often. Some stay a little longer, every time, and decide to live in Italy for a spell. A few eventually discover to their dismay they can no longer leave.” This will be a change for me as I have always been a person who loves home and couldn’t imagine leaving it. I think after this trip I will want to live abroad permanently or pursue a career that will let me travel the globe on a regular basis.

There is another passage from “The Italians” that depicts how I think I will be feeling and how I will change. In the book it states, “More specifically, they behave as if they had shed the roles assigned to them and the personalities bestowed on them by Nature because such roles of the game of life had been changed or suspended. Some seem strangely deprived of all, or part of, their customary discernment, of their powers of control and discrimination, and of the skepticism, diffidence, prudence, suspicion, and fear necessary for survival in most countries.” After living in this great country I believe that I will be more open-minded. I also think that I will be more understanding. This will allow me to live life in a more positive way than ever before.