One of our #HogsAbroad student bloggers had this update from her summer at our U of A Rome Center:
Hello, friends!
Today marks day 13 that I have spent abroad! I’m caught between
feeling like I’ve been away from home for months and feeling like it was
just yesterday that I boarded the plane to Rome. Our little apartment
is quickly starting to feel like home, and it seems like I’ve known all
my new friends and roommates for years! You get to know people really
well when you’re all trying to live in a foreign country together–a
phenomenon comparable to what you see in, like, Survivor. Except none of
us are getting kicked off an island.
Our group spent this past weekend in Florence, which was, hands-down,
one of the busiest weekends of my entire life! Our train left the
station around 8:30 Friday morning, and it was about an hour and a half
trip to Florence. [Side note: Shoutout to Emily (one of my very best
friends since 2nd grade and forever life-partner) for saving me from the
wrath of the train station gypsies. They stopped me and asked me
questions for a few minutes, but she came to my rescue right before they
could steal from my backpack. She’s the real MVP.] As soon as we
arrived in Florence, we dropped our stuff off at the hotel and walked to
Santa Maria dei Fiore, the main church of Florence......
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| In case you can’t tell by the millions of different angles I took pictures of it from, this is a massive cathedral! |
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| Inside the cathedral, looking up into Brunelleschi’s Dome |
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| Hey, congrats, y’all |
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| The wind almost blew my phone out of my hands and into the streets of
Florence whilst taking this sweet panorama. You’re welcome for my
sacrifice, everyone. |
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| Waiting outside to see Dave |
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| DAVE. |
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| By far, my favorite thing we saw in Florence! It’s so surreal to see it in real life. |
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| Smolder. |
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| The Birth of Venus by Botticelli. There were FAR too many
people to get a decent picture. Our group even got yelled at in French
by an angry French tour guide for being in the way or something {I don’t
know, I can’t French}. |
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| GALILEO’S DEAD BODY IS IN THERE. |
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| NOT Leonardo da Vinci’s tomb, but just a plaque commemorating him. He’s buried in France. Calm down, everyone. |
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| Machiavelli’s tomb! I literally couldn’t even. |
....Needless to say, we were absolutely exhausted after those few days of
literally nonstop tourism. I think our tour guide, Consuelo, and our
professors were under the impression that college students have the same
amount of get-up-and-go as 5 year olds (false). But it was definitely
one of the most impactful and truly eye-opening weekends of my entire
life, and I know I will remember it forever.
Every day, I’m even more thankful than the last for this whole
experience living in Rome! Of course, the days get a little more routine
the longer I’m here (which I actually love, routines are my jam), but
every day I find something new to spark my interest, learn about, or be
thankful for.
Oh, also, there’s still selfie stick sellers in Florence. Beware, obvious Americans.
Ciao, amici!
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Read more from Bailey at
https://razorbacksandromans.wordpress.com/
To find out more about the U of A Rome Center summer program, visit
http://studyabroad.uark.edu/romecampus
