Calcio, football, soccer. Whatever you call it, it means the same thing, and it just so happens to be what life revolves around in Italy. When I came to Rome from the States I didn’t really care about soccer, but growing up here you get infected by their passion for it. Now I don’t play the game but I love watching it, so when Italy played Spain in the finals for the Euro Cup I had to go out and watch it somewhere. I guess that was the plan of every person in Rome because when I arrived at Circo Massimo Sunday night this is what I saw. Three glowing screens and thousands of people waving flags and blowing on noise makers. Despite the loss the atmosphere was incredible and I’m glad I got to experience the passion of Italy’s love for soccer one last time. 
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Calcio, football, soccer. Whatever you call it, it means the same thing, and it just so happens to be what life revolves around in Italy. When I came to Rome from the States I didn’t really care about soccer, but growing up here you get infected by their passion for it. Now I don’t play the game but I love watching it, so when Italy played Spain in the finals for the Euro Cup I had to go out and watch it somewhere. I guess that was the plan of every person in Rome because when I arrived at Circo Massimo Sunday night this is what I saw. Three glowing screens and thousands of people waving flags and blowing on noise makers. Despite the loss the atmosphere was incredible and I’m glad I got to experience the passion of Italy’s love for soccer one last time. 

Goodbyes

Unlike the other two this will be about my eighth move in the past 16 years and i am quite used to such frequent change and easily accept it but as you get older even if you understand moving and the reasons behind it happening it gets harder. When you’re older you have more friends different types of friends and different connections to them all. And no matter if youve accepted a parting of ways it’s still so hard to say goodbye.

I said goodbye to eight friends today that i am very likely to never see again. But I don’t realize that they’re gone yet, probably when I’m on the eight hour airplane flight back to America ill realize how very gone I am.

The Eternal City

Rome is nicknamed “The Eternal City.” I’ve heard that’s because no matter what happens or changes in the city the evidence of its greatness is everlasting. This is true, everywhere you go in this city you find something different, beautiful, and probably really old. 

Just today, wandering aimlessly while looking for gelato, I came across the Four Fountains or “Quattro Fontane” in Italian, at an intersection in Rome. Some may have found this sad, thinking that even after living here for five years, one cannot see everything this amazing city has to offer. I, on the other hand, found it comforting, knowing that when I return to my Italian home someday there will be some parts at least that will have remained the same. 

Goodbyes

There is something really human about them. 

If you have never had to said good bye in a big way, well then I guess it should be described as heartbreak. 

My heart was broken several times tonight. 

The hurt is in a strange way gratifying though. It lets you know that the relationships you had were real, a doubt that I sometimes hold in my heart. The more it hurts, the closer you are. 

I have this thing, where I take a mental picture of the last time I saw a person. It is strange, but I keep a really good memory of every goodbye. I can recollect the image of the last time I saw each one of my friends very vividly. I added a lot of those pictures today. This habit is something I have become rather good at. 

It is the little things that count.

I am ready to leave, because I am ready to be in a place where I can feel safe just to walk  around. I never go shopping alone, not because it is unsafe if I do so, but more as I don’t feel safe. I had to run out and get a few things for my camp next week, and my brother told me a should go alone, but I insisted that he come, and sure enough some creepy guy tried to talk to me outside a store. Luckily I insisted that he come. 

Last Day of School

Now it’s my turn to share my feelings about the last day of school. I have been living in Rome the longest out of all three of us, so I basically grew up here. I can’t imagine ever leaving this place and these people, yet here I am with five weeks left in this city. 

I walked out of my school today for the last time and oddly enough I didn’t cry. I didn’t even feel sad, but I think that’s mostly because I haven’t fully realized I won’t be returning in September.

I have experienced a fair amount of change in my life, the people here come and go. Every last day of school here is filled with goodbyes and wishes of seeing each other again, but my presence at the school has always been a constant factor. Leaving Rome is going to be difficult, but it’s nothing I can’t handle, because if I’ve learned anything during my time here it’s that everyone is intertwined in strange ways and each and every person leaves a mark that can be revisited from time to time. 

I can only hope that I’ve made a mark on the people I have met here, because they sure have changed me.