italiano. italiano. italiano.

Section one: Complete the sentences- Come ti chiami? Mi chiamo Shannon. Quanti anni hai? Ho ventuno anni. Section two: Name the object in singular and plural forms- La sedia, le sedie. Il libro, i libri. Section three: Read the story and answer the questions based on the story. etc.

This is all simple stuff, I flew through the first section in 10 minutes. Then I reached the next section and realized that this was the section that would determine whether I got into Advanced Italian or not. If I don't get in, I can't take Italian while I am in Italy because I have already taken Intermediate and it will not count for anything. How much would that stink, not being able to take the language you have been learning for three years while you are in the country that speaks it. The second section was all grammar, and while I do remember learning all of this, I just could not remember the conjugations, I kept getting confused. I haven't take an Italian grammar class in a year. The last two classes I took were literature in Italian and culture in Italian. There was no English in the classes, but we didn't review grammar.

My other problem is that I understand the language, I just struggle when it comes to speaking it. I have to stop and think about how you say a certain word and the order the sentence should go in. The other day, my friends and I couldn't figure out which way to go on the metro in order to get where we wanted to go. So, I walked up to one of the workers and asked in Italian, which direction is Cavour? They told me after that it sounded really natural and I got really excited about it, but I still don't know if I said it correctly, but it was enough that he could understand what I was asking.

Now, not to sound conceded or anything but in the Italian class yesterday, I felt that I was the most advanced person there. There is only 5 of us trying to test into either Intermediate or Advanced. The professor speaks very little English, so he talked to us completely in Italian, I understood just about everything that he was saying to us, and everyone else was looking at each other with blank stares, and everytime the professor left the room, everyone would ask was he said, and I seemed to be the only one who really understood. The exam said that we had to get at least 80% on the section of the class that we wanted to place into, but with all the grammar in that section I don't think I did that well. After the exam we were reviewing the passato prossimo versus the imperfetto. During the exam I couldn't remember exactly which was which and when we started going over it in class, it all clicked again. I really think that I can handle the advanced, I just need someone to remind of the reasons for using each tense and it will all click back into my head. I tried to re-teach myself from a book, but it is so much easier when somebody is telling you, especially when it is someone who really knows. I mean, you can't ask a book a question can you? I mean you can, but it won't answer.

On the positive side, I scored the highest in my class, which is very rare for me. I am not a bad student or anything but there are always smarter people than me in every class. On the negative side, it was not high enough the qualify for taking the advanced level. (Even though, it is the same class, so I really don't get it to be honest). Now this causes a dilemma back at school because I have already take Intermediate like I said, and the other course I got approved to take here, I cannot take because it conflicts with my Art and Culture class, which I love!

So, me being me, I freaked out about this whole dilemma. I talked to Rosanna, our director woman here and explained to her that I need the Advanced credits to transfer, and this is when I found out that I got the highest grade, but not high enough. It was frustrating to me because I saw my test, and got at least half credit on each grammar section, which means I know it, but I couldn't remember all of it, (back to the whole haven't take a grammar class in a year thing). And she said there was really nothing they could do, since I didn't place, but the score didn't include any of the oral conversations we did after the class or anything, so again, more frustration set in. She told me to contact my school and see what I could do, so, being my panicky self I emailed Dean Knowlton at was to her 6 in the morning. The email was probably about the length of a novel, explaining how I couldn't take Italian V in the fall because of conflicts with another class, and how these are the last two classes for my minor, etc, and sent it off. Now, again being my crazy self, I called my house, it was about 6:30am at this point, and both my parents were still sleeping. So of course when I get on the phone with my mom, freak out mode kicks in again.

I have sort of gotten over this whole thing, I am frustrated that I didn't make it into advanced, but I found out that Assumption may give it to me as an advanced class anyway. Basically it is like our level five, because we are just doing grammar review, and not speaking in English, the fact that the professor barely speaks English helps with that. And I have become much more comfortable going into a store and speaking in Italian, however they always seem to know that I am American, because they will answer me in English. Still trying to figure out what gives it away, but they do give me credit for speaking to them in Italian or at least asking if they speak Italian (parle inglese?) before I start speaking to them in English.

Hopefully by the end of this month I will be able to be conversational in Italian, I am not saying fluent because that is definitely pushing it in my opinion, but conversational. So when I get home, I am going to have to find some Italians so that I can keep practicing my Italian when I leave.

Ciao for now!

ciao. grazie. prego. arrivederci. come se dice ... in italiano?

Ciao Roma. Io parlo un po italiano. Mio appartamento e bellisima! Domani andato alla citta di vaticano per moltitudino con la Papa. Non grande accordo. Va bene si? Ho un esame in italiano lunedi. Non mi piace perche io conosci molto italiano ma non parlare bene.

Who understands what I just said? I mean whenever I type in google.com, it automatically goes to Google Italia and asks me to "cerca" or "mi sento fortunato" instead of search and I'm feeling lucky. Strange right? But the websites it gives me are still in English, I'm baffled.

To get to my apartment today I had to drive through la piazza di San Pietro, and then we were here. Seriously? My apartment is less than a block away from La citta di vaticano? Crazy right. Though I'm not sure if it has hit me yet that I am in Roma. Our hotel last night was next to the Colesseo, and now La Vaticano, and we were in London not even two days ago. I can't figure out what I really need to prove to me that I am here. I see the signs in italiano and the people talking in italiano but they know we are American right away and speak to us in English, and then when I try to talk in Italian to them, I feel funny. I don't know if this feeling will go away in only a month, but I hope that it will, I want to feel comfortable talking to a real Italian (as I put it) and talk in Italian. Maybe going to mass tomorrow and having them speak in Italian will put things in perspective.

For now, I start classes on Monday and have my placement exam for Italian. Then the week holds wine tastings, welcome cocktail, Capri, Monte Vesuvio, Napoli, Pompeii, and exploring Roma, so I guess I just have to see where that all takes me.

Challenge #1: Get 6 weeks into one suitcase.

I have my "what to bring" list all done, now I have to fit it into one suitcase and one carry on. That is a challenge. I have a tendency to always overpack even when I am trying to be conscienous about what I bring with me. The first thing I packed was my washkit, and it took me a half hour to fir everything just right. Then, when I was able to zip it up, I thought, this may be too heavy. That leads to another dilemma, the suitcase has to be less than 50 pounds. I have been charged for overweight luggage before, so this is a great dilemma.

How am I supposed to fit enough clothes, toiletries, etc. for 6 weeks into one 50 pound bag? I will be able to do laundry, but I don't want to waste a day doing laundry, I want to get as much in as I can for the short period that I am there.

I have finished packing and everything fits into my suitcase! And it weighs exactly 50 pounds. That was really lucky. I have my Italian dictionary, puzzle books, reading books, camera, ipod and everything ready to go for my 7 hour plane ride tomorrow. I have a playlist ready to go. I'm not sure if it has really hit me yet that I leave TOMORROW!

Today I signed up for the GRE's, senior year starts in two months and I leave for Italy tomorrow, something that I have been talking about since I started college. At times like this you just realize that life moves way to fast, sometimes it is hard to keep up. In the past week, I have also been missing my friends from school so much, and the worst part is that when I get back, few of them will even be there. It is a scary thought and can't believe that my last year of college is here already.

I need to live in the moment for the next six weeks, take in as much as I can, try to speak in Italian as much as I can and enjoy myself.

I just need to breathe and enjoy the ride...

"How will study abroad impact your academic and personal growth?"

Someone once asked me: are you going to save the world? I responded: I hope so. Study abroad has been my dream since high school. I have always been fascinated with the way people live in countries other than my own. In high school, I learned mostly about American culture and history, but I wasn’t given the opportunity to learn about a particular country or area. I only learned the big picture, which made me think about countries around the world and wonder. Did people have similar laws, did they wear the same clothes, did they go to the movies? These questions still stick with me whenever I go someplace new. In high school I traveled to Ireland, England and Scotland with my classmates. That was my first engagement with a different culture, and I learned how similar people are to Americans in the way they dressed and went to school, yet they had a different culture from mine. Culture is about traditions and language; these are unique to each group of people. I love learning their culture and absorbing myself in it. When I was younger, I would have been afraid to go to a new country and experience a new culture. Now I think that it is a blessing that I even have that opportunity. Being given the chance to study in a foreign country would open my eyes to the world around me and would enable me to fully immerse myself in the culture of Italy.

As a result of my experiences in high school, I decided to study about the global world in college, which led me to pursue a Global Studies major with Economics. I am currently enrolled in a seminar at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts, where we examine the natural and built environments around us. Whenever I go anywhere now I look closely at the landscape around me and wonder what it was like fifty years ago, and what it will look like fifty years from now. In my final research project, I am studying the history of the Quabbin Reservoir in Central Massachusetts. Four towns were destroyed and wiped off the map to create the reservoir, and I wonder sometimes what I would do if the place I knew was going to be flooded? This seminar has helped me learn to take a second look at my surroundings, and I want to explore a new place with this new skill I have acquired. By going to Europe, I will be able to think about the landscapes even more, because people have lived there for much longer and there is much more history there. I can try and imagine what the landscape was like 500 years ago and the changes that occurred, and I would be able to find out; that is something that I’m not able to do here.

I have also been studying the Italian language for the past two years, and I hope to improve my foreign language skills in Italian as well as other languages. Living in Italy, I will have to rely on my Italian to help me travel throughout the city and the country, therefore exposing me to Italian as a native language through conversations with locals. I want to fully absorb the Italian life by speaking little English. I really enjoy learning new languages and being able to understand someone when I hear them speak. In the classes I will take, I want to learn more about the history of Italy and will be able to immerse myself more because I will be living among the history.

Study abroad will also help me become an enhanced member of a global society. In college, I am involved in an array of activities, including service trips, mentoring a young girl in the community, running a fundraising program for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, running Campus Ministry retreats, and giving tours to prospective students. By studying abroad I will be able to broaden my knowledge even more and hopefully find something new that I enjoy. Many of the things that I do now I never imagined myself doing when I first came to Assumption and never even crossed my mind in high school. I hope to become a better learner by learning about culture inside and outside the classroom. Professors abroad will be able to offer more culturally diverse perspectives than the professors that I have encountered at Assumption.

I also want to explore another culture through the lens of service. Within the United States I have traveled to New Orleans to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina and to Baltimore, Maryland, where I worked with Habitat for Humanity, and I witnessed the poverty within these cities. I was also given the opportunity to go to Memphis, Tennessee and participate in a leadership conference with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and saw more of the south. Every city is unique and suffers from its own problems and I enjoy learning about the struggles each city faces, and help where I can. Whenever I travel to new places like this, I like to take in the community and the environment around me. When will I get a chance to experience a place like this again? This is what motivates me to go abroad. I want to take in their culture, learn their customs, and learn why they do what they do.

After graduation, I hope to do service for a year or two and then go on to study International Relations in Graduate school. I hope to travel around the world and learn how things have changed, why they changed, and who was affected in the process, because someone is always suffering due to the changes in our environment. I want to do service projects and help those around me, whether it be helping them build a safer home or giving them a better education. Service is such a big part of my life, and I have only been given the opportunity to conduct that service within my own country. I want to expand my knowledge and share my passion with the rest of the world. Being able to learn more about even just one country would help me see how I want to help the world around me. As I stated earlier: Someone once asked me: are you going to save the world? I responded: I hope so. I believe with all my heart that I will be able to achieve this.

This was the essay I wrote back in December for my application for my summer in Italy. I haven't decided yet if I believe all that I wrote today, even though its only been six months.

ciao roma.

Come sta? Io sto cosi cosi. I'm not sure how I feel about you right now. I leave in less than two weeks and everyone keeps asking me if I'm excited. Honestly, I have no idea. It doesn't feel real. I filled out the application back in November and have been saving to pay for it for years. It doesn't feel like it is happening already. I don't know if I am ready. Leaving to be there means this is my last summer before I enter the "real world." It means senior years starts soon and I have a lot of decisions to make. It means I am closer to having to basically start over in my last year of college. It means too many things are approaching way too fast.

I want to enjoy my time with you, I want to really learn your language and culture. I want to meet good people so that I don't feel alone in a foreign country. I want to come back more cultured and even more appreciative of the world around me. I want to be able to sleep on the plane. I want to eat gelato and real Italian pizza. I want to find my place of tranquility within your city limits. I want to take you all in and be open to new things and new possibilities. Maybe you will even help me find clarity, since the cloud I am in does not seem to want to go away. Maybe I should try harder to find that clarity within myself, but I want you to help me find it. For the first time I will not have my friends and family at my fingertips. I cannot go on my blackberry and be a text away from talking to someone, or look at facebook to see what is going on with everyone. I have to solve my problems by myself and figure things out completely on my own. It is my life, right? I should be able to do that much at 21 years old.

I want you to help me, but I also want you to be an experience I will never forget and the things I learn from you will be with me forever.

Lo vedero presto Roma! Spero che sia pronto.

my life as a nomad.

9 days.

1,187 miles traveled.
13 cities visited.
1 sunburn.
1 plane crash.
1 day of smoke from Canada.
12 rotaries.
6 trips on the Mass Pike.
1 bonfire on the beach.
4 trips to dunks.
4 trips to BoDo's.
1 trip to the moon.
12 mosquito bites.
1 night sleeping on a boat.
1 night feeling like I am still on said boat.
3 nights on a couch.
4 nights on the air matress.
3 nights at Assumption.
1 bridal shower.
1 Great Urban Race.

Day 1: Headed to East Sandwich! But I only want the eastern part of the sandwich, not the whole thing!
What I learned:
- People in Connecticut are deathly afraid of getting pulled over by a cop while the cop is writing a ticket for someone else.
- Rhode Island doesn't like to put gas stations near their highways. And I always run out of gas in Rhode Island.
- Massachusetts you have great rest stops, with gas stations and everything!
- The Cape Cod Canal is beautiful!


Taking a road trip for four and a half hours by yourself can get pretty lonely. But it is also nice to just be alone for a little bit and think about life and sing your heart out in the car. That is my favorite part about driving alone, pumping up the music and belting it out. I was so excited to see everyone before I left that I barely slept the night before. I felt like a little kid the night before the first day of school.

I was really excited when I finally saw the sign that read, "Welcome to Cape Cod." I haven't been there since I was little and I have never gone by myself. I was so fearful and hitting a ton of traffic going to the cape for Memorial Day weekend, but I didn't hit any when I reached Massachusetts. The Cape Cod Canal is beautiful, as I drove over the Bourne Bridge I tried to admire it, but I had to remember to keep my eyes on the road. The bad part was that when I reached the other side there was a rotary, now we don't have a lot of rotaries where I am from and they really scare me, but I survived luckily. I finally reached Jenn's house and we hung out for a little bit before we left for the party on the North Shore.

Then it was time for another road trip, but not alone this time! Me, Jenn, Sarah and Kara headed for the North Shore. The party was at a marina. It was right on the Merrimack River and it was beautiful. We hung out all night on the docks and in the boat. That night we slept on the boat so that we didn't have to make the two hour drive back down to the cape. The four of us slept in a tiny boat, and let me tell you it was quite interesting. The best line of the night was when Jenn turned to me in the middle of the night and said, "why do boats do this?" And by "this" she meant move in the water. I loved being reunited with some of my friends for the night, and actually being more prodcutive than sleeping until 2pm everyday.

Day 2: Back to the Cape.
What I learned today:
- One should always wear sunscreen even if you want to get a nice tan.
- Sleeping on a boat makes you feel like you are rocking back and forth even after you have left that boat.

Today was a great day, with the exception of my lobster status. We left the North Shore for the cape in the morning and when we returned we headed to the beach. The beach was right down the road from her house. I loved that! I definitely want to live near the beach one day, it was great to just walk to the beach and sit in the sand and get a nice tan (or a burn in my case). I got to see all of my friends at her party and I had a great time. That night we had a bonfire on the beach. The sky was so clear, and you could see all the stars in the sky. Ahead of the beach was just the water and you could see the lights of the shore from afar. It was such a beautiful sight and I loved that we could have a bonfire on the beach. I have never experienced that before and now I can check it off my list!

Day 3:
What I Learned Today: - "Welcome to summer on Cape Cod, where waiting in traffic is complemetary with your stay" - Even a forest fire in Canada can cause the Cape to get really smokey.
- A sunburn doesn't go away in one night.

This morning we woke up to a cloud of smoke all over the cape. It was from the forest fires in Canada, and I couldn't believe it was able to reach that far and that Massachusetts was so affected by it. The traffic was crazy getting off cape, so we all hung around for a bit for it to calm down. We think that everyone left early because we were told to not stay outside with the smoke, which means no beach. Luckily for us, after everyone left the smoke started to go away and we were able to make it down to the beach for one last time. I had to wear clothes on top of me so that I didn't get reburned and my burn already really hurt so better safe than sorry! My next stop was West Roxbury for the night,(please drop your r's here for Jenn).

Day 4: Natick = Shopping!

Today I was heading to Framingham to meet up with my roommate for dinner. But I had some time to kill until she got out of work. Luckily Natick is a great place for shopping and is the town right next door! So I began a day of shopping. Pick up a few things for Italy, some more clothes because I realized that I did not pack enough clothes for the duration of my trip. I guess that's part of being a nomad.

I met my roommate for dinner and we chatted and caught up. See she left me back in December because she graduated early and we had a lot to catch up on. She is getting married in July and moving to Atlanta, so this would be the last time I would really get to see her, because I cannot attend the wedding unfortunately. It took me two hours to leave her house because neither of us wanted to say goodbye. I have not experienced a goodbye like that before, one where you really don't know when you will get to see the other person again. The best part of the goodbye was that I was really going to see her again in a few days for her suprise bridal shower but she had no idea! It would be the last time that we really got to hang out and talk though so it was really bittersweet.

After we said our goodbyes, I headed towards Assumption. Another 45 minutes east on Route 9. I got there and crashed on my air mattress. It was so loud when I was inflating it though, my friend thought I was vaccumming!

Day 5: Quabbin Reservoir
Things I learned today:
- Tranquility and peace.

Today, I woke up and began my adventure for the day. I was going to the Swift River Valley Historical Society in New Salem. That may not sound like a great adventure, but I immersed myself into the lives of these people and what happened to them for almost a year with my research for my seminar. I studied the history of the Quabbin Reservoir and how it came to be. This building I visited housed the artifacts of the people that once lived there. It was the first day it opened and I was the first visitor and the youngest by about 60 years! The woman gave me a tour and I was able to see original documents, furniture, clothing and paintings from the time period. It was great to see the other side of how building the reservoir affected the people, because I had to focus on the environmental side in my research for class.

After I finished at the society, I headed south on route 202, to go to the reservoir where the dams and park were located. It was a beautiful day, I drove with my window down and the sun shining in through the window. I decided to just sit outside and enjoy the beauty of the reservoir. I sat at a picnic table on top of one of the mountains that overlooks the reservoir. I just took in the beauty of it all, while remembering what once laid beneath. I wanted to sit, if just for a moment, in tranqility and admire the beauty of the world.


Day 6: Lazy days.
Things I Learned Today:
- You can't decide your life in one day.

Today was a day of rest. I had done so much driving the past few days, I just needed to relax so I slept in. Then I headed towards the library, obviously, what else would I do on a gorgeous summer day? I wanted to do some more research for the future. I didn't get very far, because I just got overwelmed with all of the information. I have ideas and I have things I would like to do, but there is no reason to stress about all of them, I just need to learn to take it one step at a time and everything will fall into place the way it should be.

Day 7: Adventure.
Things I Learned Today:
- I am living next to the water one day.
- There are a lot of hidden beauties in the world.

Today, I went on an adventure. I packed up my stuff and got in my car. I had suggestions of where to go for the day, but I wasn't sure what exactly I wanted to do for the day. I opened my windows, blasted the music and let the sun shine in the window and the wind blow through my hair as I drove. I headed towards the North Shore, but decided if I found someplace interesting on the way, I would stop. There are so many places in Massachusetts where you can find tranquilty and peace. There is so much open land where you can see for miles. I ended up in Gloucester. It was so beautiful there, and it was such a beautiful day that it made it that much more peaceful. I went on another adventure to Salem and drove around, it was also located right on the water and it was a beautiful waterfront. It was more crowded there though so it was harder to feel the sense of peace and tranquility. It was a great adventure though because I got to see the town. All of the towns in Massachusetts still have the old buildings and the feeling of an old colonial town. I love seeing that when I drive around this state.

My next adventure for the day was a road trip back to Worcester for BoDos and seeing Bri! I loved my adventures for the day and having some alone time for me and my thoughts, but I also loved seeing some friends from school and catching up over a Boston Donuts run. Such a great reminder of school and being back, like nothing has changed. Bit ots hard to imagine that when I do get back thing will have changed, I mean everything will be different. It's great to have that feeling that I won't lose touch with these people, the ones that I have grown so close to because good friends are hard to find and I have found the best people in the world to be friends with!

Day 8: The Great Urban Race.

Things I learned today:
- People take scavenger hunts very seriously.
- Massachusetts does get tornado warnings.

Today I volunteered for the Great Urban Race in Boston. It is a city wide scavenger hunt sponsored by St. Jude. Check in for the event was at Game On, which is attached to Fenway. Now, my entire drive there I was in panic, because I have New York license plates and I had to park next to Fenway, I was fearful of what would happen to my car. Luckily I had a parking pass from St. Jude and it wasn't a game day. They put me at one of the clue locations, The Society of Arts and Crafts on Newbury Street. This helped me get to know a little bit more of the city since I had only been there twice before today. The task for my location was to take a picture with a chair made of street signs, I probably directed 1,100 people to the chair that day and took the picture for 90% of them. People took this so seriously, and they were so prepared. They had their street maps, gps's, ipads, iphones, blackberrys, anything you could think of to navigate your way through a city and find the answers to clues that you didn't know. It is definitely something I am going to do in the future, whether it is in Boston or someplace else.

Day 9: The final leg.
Things I learned today:
- Saying goodbye is harder than you think.
- After driving over 1,100 miles your leg really starts to hurt.
- When driving during torrential downpours, you cannot see out your window.

Today was the last day of my adventure. My first stop was Marlborough for my roommate's bridal shower. Not only did I get to see her one last time before I left, I got to see some of my other friends before I left for my trip. It was fun, but also strange to be in a position where a friend of mine is getting married and that I actually have a bridal shower to go to, and not for a family member. I am so happy for her and could not be more upset that I can't actually go to the wedding.

I had one final leg of my journey, just lunch with my buddy from Baltimore. I am so glad that I got a chance to see the people that I did on my adventure and sad that I missed some people along the way. Part of me didn't want to come home. I was tired and my leg was hurting from driving so much, but coming home meant that I leave for Italy soon, and that means I have to get my act together. Usually I am really good at that but I think fear is holding me back right now and I am not sure why I am scared to go. I have been looking forward to this for so long and have worked so hard to save money for it and practice my Italian. It may just mean that I am one step closer to being a senior and having to make some huge life decisions. I just need to put my fears behind me and have a great time on my trip, hopefully bring everything that I need and not leave anything important behind. I need to go into with open eyes and an open heart and see where it takes me.

Appreciate the flowers, the sunlight, the trees. Take it all in. If you appreciate life's beauty you discover that you're surrounded by it.

As I sit on top of the Big Quabbin Mountain looking over the Quabbin Reservoir I feel tranquility and peace. I can't help but think of Enfield, the town that sits beneath these waters. Thousands of people used to live here and they were forced out of their homes and the places they grew up never to return again. Could you imagine? It is very hard to imagine but it could happen to any of us. We may just live in a perfect landscape for something like this to occur, and we may not be as important as the project that needs to be done. They don't care that you live there or that it is the place you know the best and the place that feels like home, they only care about themselves. It is crazy to think about something like this, but in reality it could happen. This place is so peaceful and beautiful though, that makes it hard. It is a place of tranquility for me, a place where I can get away from everyday life.

There are hundreds of bees that are flying through the tiny flowers on the grass beneath me. You can hear birds chirping and the wind blowing through the trees. Silence. How often do you hear complete silence like this? Not very often. Every so often a car will drive by, but no one has stopped. It is like they know I am looking for peace right now and they don't want to disrupt me. I can hear a plane flying through the sky. There are very few clouds to be seen today, it is such a clear and beautiful day.

I am so confused about life right now, that is what I am thinking about in this silence. I am not sure if being alone with my thoughts is a good or bad thing. I can't see things clearly. I can listen to peoples advice about what to do but they are not me and cannot make the decision for me. It's easy to enjoy the tranquility but sometimes you cannot just stop thinking about the stresses of life to look around and enjoy what is right there in front of you. I just need to put everything on the back burner right now and just enjoy the beauty of the world if just for a second.