First Week: Settimana una

Hey guys! I have officially survived my first week in the Eternal City and boy it’s been a week. I am one hundred percent the luckiest girl in the world that my dad was able to make this trip over with me because without him, well to keep it short I would’ve been seriously hurting. Being able to drive all over the place with him has made this week infinitely easier on my soul and his levelheadedness has definitely kept my boat from sinking a few times this week.

My biggest challenge has been adjusting to this mindset of this country and its people— nothing is worth rushing over, not food or drink, not paperwork or administrative duties, and certainly not meeting a time restriction because those don’t seem to exist! Things in the United States are so rushed, and so organized and structured, which is NOTHING like what exists over here and rolling with those punches, so to speak, has proven difficult. I’ve basically been surviving by repeating the phrase my dad keeps telling me this week, “you won’t change this country, you need to adapt.”

Most of my first week here has revolved around paperwork, mounds of paperwork, looking for offices I can’t seem to find, and being directed from one place to the next so I can complete enrollment, establishing that I’m not an illegal immigrant, and carve out my place in this massive university.

For the many things I appreciated about my undergrad, going to a school of 1,200 people definitely did not prepare me for a university of 110,000 students in a city of 9 million people and WOW has my brain been overwhelmed and over-stimulated. I can tell that I love this city, there’s something special about existing in a city that has been settled and civilized for thousands of years, but I also know this adjustment is going to be huge.

Here’s to surviving and thriving!

+ Alina