Living in Italy for the past three months has been the experience of a lifetime, and I could not be more thankful of the opportunity I was given here. I have learned so much here, about art, about Italian culture, How to speak Italian, about myself and just about the world in general and these are memories that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

Coming here was my first time living on my own, and my first time in a new country (Besides Michigan). It was a lot of new things all at once but what im surprised about is how quickly I made Volterra my home. When coming here I was expecting to feel a little homesick after a while, miss not only my family and friends but Windsor – which has been my home for the past 19 years. Instead of feeling that homesickness and longing for Windsor; Volterra simply became my home. After trips around Italy I would be excited about coming home to Volterra. I dont feel like a tourist, or a stranger or like im in a foreign country anymore surrounded by foreign things i don’t understand – Italy is a second home now too me and while I do miss some Canadian things, I am happy in Italy.

In terms of things I enjoyed while here – The list could simply me endless but i will try and narrow it down to my one favourite thing (or maybe a few…). One of the things i enjoyed the most is all of the people from all over the world i have met in these short 3 months. Not only Italians but in travelling around to the bog tourist areas i have met a bird enthusiast from the USA, a very funny gay australian, a partier from england, a Man from Nevada taking his mother and son on a trip to Venice – This list goes on. All interesting people that i have had the pleasure of meeting and talking to and getting to know on my own journey. Its these kind of little things that really give my trip a human side to it i guess you could say. Its not just me exploring Italy and looking at all of the art and history – The memories of the people i have encountered will stay with me too, and I hope i stay in theirs somewhat as well. With that going hand in hand with meeting people from everywhere is traveling those places myself. Travelling and learning is something very important to me – Everywhere you go there is something new or different, maybe the people or the culture or the history but all of these things are learning experiences and by the end of my life i hope to have travelled and learned as much as i possibly can from around the world – bcause without those kind of experiences how can we grow as a person? Growing is learning and learning is much more radical when thrust into an environment you are not familiar with. I guess this can go with what i have learned while here too. Yes i have learned about art, and history and Italian culture but I have learned about myself, and how i learn and how important these things are to me. Ive learned that sometimes you need to take a little time for yourself and that it can actually be very beneficial – and you dont learn more about yourself until you learn more about other people. I always though hearing these kind of things were such a cliche, but after this experience i cant help but saying the same kind of things because they are true, but this is only the beginning of my learning experience.

left janelle – right me
Venice