Howdy! This feels completely unreal, but I am writing this from Milan, Italy. To say this past week has been crazy is truly putting it lightly. The furthest I have ever traveled from home was to Mexico one time, and I was with my family. This time, I am not. I think that has been the biggest struggle for me personally. It’s not necessarily leaving Houston or College Station behind, but more so not being with my family. When I say I cannot believe that I am 5,000 miles away from home, I truly mean I cannot believe I am 5,000 miles away from my family. Thankfully, I have had the opportunity to travel here with two of my best friends.
Whether it has been the chaotic adventures in airports, trying local restaurants, exploring the city, and everything in between, coming here with friends has truly made all the difference. Coming abroad and meeting a bunch of exchange students, in a way, feels like the first couple of weeks of freshman year all over again. Everyone comes from different backgrounds (this time a little more extreme than just different small towns in Texas) and is so eager to meet everyone. While it has been exciting, I definitely have loved the ability to take on that challenge with some familiar faces. It also has been so helpful to have met the other A&M students. While I may have just met them once before being here, just the comfort of having people from A&M is so nice.
While the A&M people have been a comfort, the people I am meeting are so awesome. Just on the floor of my dorm, there are students from California, Wisconsin, Ukraine, Germany, Sweden, Venezuela, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, and China! Those are just some of the people on my floor; in the building, I have made friends from the UK, South Africa, Hungary, and the list just keeps going on. Each of them has such interesting stories, and I am so excited to get to learn more about their lives. My floor is currently planning a night where everyone cooks one of their comfort dishes!
While I may not have left the city just yet, I am already so excited about planning all of the future trips throughout the semester. A group of us from A&M just booked a quick weekend trip to Venice for Carnival. The bus ticket to get there was 7 euros. I genuinely thought it was a scam, but after some further research, I found this is normal! We also booked a trip to Ivrea for the following weekend just for a day trip to attend an orange-throwing festival. It sounds painful, but I am so excited.
Just within a week, so much has already happened, and I have met so many incredible people. While I am still getting over the nerves a bit, I already feel so much more comfortable. I cannot wait to see where this experience takes me. I know it will be incredible.
