This weekend I made a trip to Rome, Florence and Orvieto with my good friend Kelsey Heng (if you need photos done for anything and want the highest quality, she's your photographer). I spent my first few hours in Rome wandering by myself and while it was at first terrifying, in the end it was one of the most empowering experiences I've had in a long time. I now know that I am fully capable of making it on my own in a foreign city, culture and language. It was amazing being in a place that is so old and seeing things and places where emperors, priests, and movie stars walked and lived years ago.
By the end of my time in Rome my camera had stopped working and flashed a "please reset" code everytime I tried turning it on. While I was sad that my camera wasn't working it was kind of nice to spend all my energy on taking in what I was seeing instead of trying to capture it forever in one photo.
I was thinking about this today and realized that I am about to have a very similar warning code flash in my own life. "Please Reset" for America. I'm leaving in 4 days to go back to the states and stress is already starting to creep back into my daily life. I know that I have adjusted much more to Italian culture than I ever thought I could. I also know that American culture is so incredibly different that when I return I'm sure I will find difficulty in carrying on as I did before this trip.
Like with my broken camera, I think the best thing (and only thing) I can really do during my "cultural reset" is to spend all my energy on taking in the experience of such a large transition. Maybe, if I try to enjoy the last 4 days I have here ("Italian style") and maybe, if I let the wave of change (to another culture which used to be my own) just wash over me while I hold my breath...when I surface again it won't have been as bad as I thought. Maybe I'll be the better because of it all and maybe I'll be able to communicate how good it is to experience life in all it's mountains and valleys instead of rushing through it.
I've spent most of the last 4 days reflecting on everything I've witnessed and experienced here and there is so much more than you or I even can really fathom. There's something about changing cultures for an extended period of time that changes the way you see things, whether its just the everyday things or the entire world.
To those of you who supported me through this whole expereince from the planning phase to the follow through, I just want to say thank you so very much for playing a part in one of the biggest changes my life has ever had. Thank you for helping me take one more step on the path to growing up into a better person.
I doubt I will post again before my trip back to the states, but on my return I will be transcribing many different cultural observations into papers for a class and I will post them here as well, just in case you're interested and want to read them.
Buona giornata e ciao.
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