Time Away

I was in Europe for 5 months.

Looking back it doesn’t feel that long, but I guess nothing ever does. I’ve been asked around eight million times (rough estimate) ‘How was abroad, where were you? Spain right?’.  

No I wasn’t in Spain, But Rome was awesome though.  

I feel like I’ve talked with enough people about how abroad was. It’s a tough question to answer when your mind is so preoccupied by readjusting to home. It almost felt like I wasn’t gone at all, so reverting my mind back to the long time I was all the way across the world was more difficult than you would expect. Rome just became a new home to me, a new means of living in a different place, with different relationships, a different routine, and different experiences. 

Once you get past that hump of study abroad where it feels like a vacation, you start to develop new perspectives on where you are. Things that didn’t previously seem to matter start to matter a lot, and you start to adjust to the community around you. There were many aspects of living abroad that I never considered in the first few weeks, like finding foods I was used to buying at the grocery store, interacting with workers at restaurants and cafes, or talking to people I didn’t know. These things aren’t important when you’re surrounded by the novelty of a new place, but as time went on they start to wear on you.

Now that I’m back, the same thing has happened to my home in the states. I missed being back in Columbia, and I missed the United States in general. Yet, like after the first few weeks of being in Rome, I started missing things from abroad while living in Columbia. First off, you can’t find good yogurt anywhere. That seems like such a trivial thing, but the yogurt in Italy was creamy and delicious and real. The gelatinous Yoplait stuff we serve here just doesn’t compare. Seriously, I don’t understand why no one sells decent yogurt. (Side note, if anyone knows where to find blood orange juice, let me know because I’ve been craving it every day since I’ve been back and I can’t find it)

In a less food related note, I miss walking the beautiful streets of Rome. As much as I love Columbia, it’s hard to argue it matches up with Italy in terms of history, culture, or beauty. I miss finding good wine, cheese, and other produce for cheap. I miss sitting on the porch of my apartment on Via Annone and watching the sunset over the aging yellow terraces across the street.

The longer I’ve been back, the more I realize it’s the little things that make a place a home. The oak trees hanging over Greene street. The soft light of the horseshoe at night. A Cookout tray after a night out. A craft beer from a brewery down the road. The more I think about my experiences abroad, the more I realize I appreciate the places I call home for the minute aspects of life that make them that way. It sheds a light on where I hope to live, and where I see myself in the future. Getting up and changing homes for a semester like one does for study abroad challenges you to look at where you’ve been and where you’re going in a different light. In a way in lets you recharge your batteries, and reset your life back home. As I mentioned, it felt like I was almost never gone, and after being home for a couple of months now, I am beginning to appreciate that more and more. I’m blessed not only for my home on Greene, but for that little apartment nestled by Piazza Istria too and I will forever appreciate my time abroad.