The First Day in Italia!

Ciao from Grado, Italia!

The first day in Italy was a whirlwind of emotions! As I stepped off the plane from Munich, Germany to Trieste, Italy I felt a wave of excitement wash over me.  Seven other DePauw students had been on my flight which was comforting after traveling alone for the previous day.  We made our way inside the airport to baggage claim and all the luggage cam out in minutes (I was genuinely surprised that no luggage got lost).  Next came the part that I was most nervous about; how to find my host family.  Luckily, Susan (my host mom) immediately recognized me from the picture I had sent and came over to greet me.  Lauren and I (who share our host family) packed up Susan's car with our luggage and were on our way to Grado!  The drive took about 20 minutes.  Lauren and I chatted with Susan during the drive.  We all struggled slightly to communicate, but ultimately were able to comprehend each other.

The language barrier is not something that I thought about much before leaving.  Yet, I was immediately confronted with this fact as Susan took Lauren and I around Grado for the first time. Not being able to easily communicate (an obvious barrier) has been harder and more frustrating than I thought!  Thankfully our first class was full of basic Italian greetings and questions which has made making my way around Grado a little easier!  The time change was also something that didn't dawn on me until actually arriving in Italy. Thankfully I wasn't met with any jet-lag!   Although the time difference from home is six hours so talking with family and friends is a little difficult.  For example this morning at 10:00 AM a thought about giving my mom a quick call, then realized it was 4:00 AM in Indiana (so probably not a good idea).

After arriving at Susan's home and a small tour of the neighborhood Lauren and I walked around the downtown area to get ourselves acclimated.  Grado is surrounded by beautiful blue water, filled quaint Italian homes (with flowers in the windowsill, which produce an amazing smell), and has gelato shops on every street! So despite any barriers and slight challenges the first day in Italia was benissimio (great!).  The language barrier will get easier with time and after more classes. And the time difference is just something I will have to get used to.  Hopefully the rest of this summer is filled with lots of gelato, new Italian words, and beautiful views!

Ciao for now!

Elise