Saying Goodbye to Ciao Italia

Buongiorno tutti! As my time in Italy comes to a close, I find myself vaguely nostalgic. I’ve seen so many interesting things and met so many awesome people, it almost seems a shame that I have to leave.

Today we had our final exam for my Italian course, I finished up both my 10-page internship research paper AND my 10-page art history paper, and I gave a quick presentation on what my internship experience in Italy has been like. Otherwise, I’ve only been packing my bags and getting ready to hop on a train tomorrow to Rome.

I’ve successfully bought gifts for all my family members and taken more pictures than I probably needed to, but as many of the students here are fond of saying, you never know if you’ll come back. (I, of course, will be coming back. No doubts.)

We ended the night with a party at the Eden, where I saw that movie earlier in the summer with my host family. Actually, host families were able to come to the going away party, so everyone was there.

                                                        The infamous Eden.

                                                 Yes, that's a bar over a pool.

                                            Kirsten with my host mom, Tiziana.

                                               Everyone is having a good time!

We had a buffet style dinner and lots of drinks and it was absolutely beautiful. 

                                                                 Be jealous.

After 'partying hard' at the Eden, some of us left to go hang out at MyWay Bar and then Caffé dei Costanti, which is known as ‘that place with the lights.’

                                              Cale with his host brother, Ricardo.

                                 Luca and I with McClane creepin' in the background.

                                               See, look at the pretty lights!

                                                          Last night out!

So yeah, there were lots of tears and mournful goodbyes. It was emotionally devastating for some, especially those who had to leave at midnight (Like Cinderella!). But it was an awesome experience and we all had an amazing time in Italy. For anyone who's thinking of going to Italy, this is challenge to do so. I promise you won't regret it.

                                                      Ciao Italia, 2012

Interesting Stories of the Day:

• Our final started at 9:00 am, but only four of us were there on time. Slowly, the other people in, except for Kirsten. After about 15 minutes I was pretty worried that she'd overslept. So I had McClane text Christina, to check and see if she was still sleeping. She was.
• The Olympics started tonight, but since we were having our goodbye dinner, no on e got to see the opening ceremony. But when we went to Costanti, they were playing it on their TV. So instead of drinking, I watched the Olympics. Yeah. I'm cool.

A dopo!