Happy Italiaversary!
Wow, so aside from the shock of remembering my e-mail and password for this tumblr account, what I find even more shocking is the fact that today (roughly accounting for time-line differences and slight calendar shifts) is the two-year anniversary of my and Katie Freeland’s first day in Italy. Or maybe it was nighttime. I honestly don’t know. We dubbed that trip, and the 42+ hours it consumed as the “Forever Eternal day of Eternal Foreverness”. And that it was.
I remember a whole slew of emotions rushing through me during that trip. Most of them a strange mix between panic and excitement, and now that it’s over, and looking back is all I have, I can honest-to-goodness say that that year abroad, spent in Villa Aurora, Firenze, Italia, was the best year of my life to date.
Not, of course, to imply that I’m not happy here; I am. I find new reasons to love my life every day. But that was my year to grow up. It was my year to discover the world, and in discovering a bit of the world, also discover a bit of myself. I learned a lot that year—about culture and people, and how things differ so drastically at times—but I also learned about my heart and the things that were dearest to it.
On top of all that, I’ve made some fantastic friends! Some I’m lucky enough to see daily, some weekly, and some we just have to scream at the geographical distance and find ways to spite it. But in summary, I wouldn’t trade my year in Italy for anything in the world. I wouldn’t do it over again. I wouldn’t change a thing about it. Because, in essence, that would be changing who I’ve become, and I love who it has made me.
So, grazie Italia, per il tuo supporto nella mia vita, e per mi aiutate di diventare la persona e la anima che io sono oggi. Tu mi manchi moltissimi, e spero di ritornare nella futura.
Tutti i miei affetti,
Megan
