My First Time Abroad

This May, I had the amazing opportunity to go abroad for the very first time. If you didn’t know, Bradley offers two-week study abroad programs in May and January. One of my best friends and I mutually wanted to travel abroad while in college, but couldn’t afford (monetarily or academically) going for an entire semester. So, this was the perfect opportunity to get to travel together. 

My family loves to travel, but we’re a lot more “road-trip” oriented. Like most folks, I had never left the country before, and I certainly hadn’t crossed an ocean. That all changed during my two weeks in Rome, Italy. In short, it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Rome is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen, and I wanted to go back the second I left. 

That didn’t mean I wasn’t nervous at first. I’d never gone to a different country, let alone one where the dominant language isn’t English (most people do speak it, but never assume). I was terrified they’d deny my passport somehow, or lose my luggage, when I was first getting in the country. Rome is also very unlike American cities. It’s old! Narrow, winding cobblestone streets are the norm, and I was sure I was never going to learn my way around – or get hit by an aggressive driver first.

My nerves quickly faded. I could figure out landmarks and started figuring out how to get from place to place. I had one of my closest friends with me, but I also did a lot of exploring on my own. I went to the catacombs by myself, and it was awesome. Obviously, always be careful when you’re in an unfamiliar place, but I never once felt unsafe. Romans must not sleep, because even walking around late at night, there were tons of people strolling around. Things went wrong (nearly getting kicked off the train, getting fined on the bus, getting lost in the Vatican, I got plenty of stories) but more often than not, things went right. 

We saw the most famous sites. One of my favorite statues, “Apollo and Daphne”, is in the Borghese Gallery, and I looked at it for a long time. I cried in the Vatican seeing “The Creation of Adam” in the Sistine Chapel. We took a day trip to Pompeii. And of course, I went inside the monumental Colosseum. A lot of my favorite memories are of just wandering around, looking at the sculptures and fountains, and talking at a dinner table late into the night. 

Speaking of dinner, the food was amazing. I had Roscoli’s pizza for lunch nearly every day, and it was amazing every time. I had each of the famous Roman pastas, with my favorite being the cacio e pepe. My favorite thing I ate on the whole trip was Roscoli’s “Raviolo di coda e pecorino”, an oxtail ravioli in fig compote. It is now my life’s mission to recreate it. However, I was surprised by how much more diverse my diet is at home. I didn’t eat a green vegetable for a week, and when I got back, all I wanted was Chinese takeout. 

What struck me the most about Rome was how you could see history all around you. It’s not called the Eternal City for nothing. Everywhere you turn, there’s the ruins of a pagan temple, or ancient columns reaching towards the sky, or a grand basilica from the Middle Ages. The ruins where Julius Caesar was assassinated are in the middle of a bustling restaurant district. It makes you feel very small. Standing in ornate, beautiful cathedrals, or on top of ruins ten times older than my country, made me feel small. But not in a bad way. In a way that felt humbling, comforting. People have been coming to Rome for centuries, seeing the same sights I saw. They will continue to for centuries after I’ve left. We are one small part of the same story. I think that’s a beautiful thing. Ciao!

• college student travel
• italy
• rome
• study abroad
• travel