Looking back on my semester in Sorrento, and having just celebrated Thanksgiving here with all of my awesome new friends (American and Italian), I feel the need to say that I am incredibly thankful for having been able to come here and have this truly amazing experience. But, before coming, I can honestly say I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. Apart from the last name of my host family and the fact that they didn’t have any pets, I didn’t know much else about them. My family turned out to be the sweetest group of people I think I could have found here, and even their cat, Pimpi, (yes, turns out there was a pet) has grown accustomed to my presence.

With them I have been lucky enough to experience genuine Southern Italian culture this semester and have had some truly unique experiences. I have gone to a University in Naples with my host sister to sit-in on a Russian lecture with her class, I have played the traditional Neopolitan game of Tombola with Italians (and won 3 euros!), I was here to celebrate the 18th birthday of my host sister (the most important birthdays for Italians), and I was even invited to travel to Paris with my host-siblings for a weekend. I could go on forever talking about my experience with my host family because they have made my time here so much better and taught me so much about their way of life. I know that it’s going to be incredibly hard to leave them. Luckily we still have a couple of weeks left together before I have to go back to my American home. Even though I’ll be leaving them, I’ll be taking everything that they’ve taught me home with me. I plan to continue my daily consumption of coffee, I will never look at pasta and pizza the same way, I will talk with my hands way too much, and I will probably keep spending and excessive amount of time eating meals, as is the norm here. Looking back on the goals I set for myself in the first blog entry, I feel like I’ve made good on all three. Speaking Italian to Italians when you’re not a native is not an easy feat and it’s easy to get intimidated; especially on the rare occasion of attempting something in Italian and getting a blank stare in return. But, I’ve gotten over this for the most part, and really have tried to using my Italian as much as possible. As for the second goal of not being lazy and trying to learn as much as possible, I tried my best to go out of my way to try new things and I’m happy with my efforts. But, as always, it’s impossible to see everything and do everything, but all the more reason to return one day. And lastly, I have definitely reached, if not surpassed, my goal of eating all the food. It might be safe to say that all the pizza, pasta, cheese, sausage, gelato, pastries, bread, and other delicious Italian foods that I have had in the last three months will be enough to satiate my Italian cravings for a couple of years, but that’s probably not true because pizza always sounds like a good idea. Thus, I plan to up my cooking game and learn to make the delicious foods I’ve enjoyed while being here. Finally, I would like to say that I am also very thankful for my experience at Sant’Anna Institute. Everyone at the school was fantastic all semester and the friends I made here, American and Italian, have made this whole experience unforgettable. I really encourage everyone to seize the opportunity to study abroad while it’s still feasible. It’s not every day that you can just pick up and move to a foreign country for four months and have the experience of a lifetime.

Apart from the last name of my host family and the fact that they didn’t have any pets, I didn’t know much else about them. My family turned out to be the sweetest group of people I think I could have found here, and even their cat, Pimpi, (yes, turns out there was a pet) has grown accustomed to my presence. With them I have been lucky enough to experience genuine Southern Italian culture this semester and have had some truly unique experiences. I have gone to a University in Naples with my host sister to sit-in on a Russian lecture with her class, I have played the traditional Neopolitan game of Tombola with Italians (and won 3 euros!), I was here to celebrate the 18^th birthday of my host sister (the most important birthdays for Italians), and I was even invited to travel to Paris with my host-siblings for a weekend. I could go on forever talking about my experience with my host family because they have made my time here so much better and taught me so much about their way of life.

In Bologna with friends during Fall break

View of the Siena Cathedral, with friends on Fall Break

I know that it’s going to be incredibly hard to leave them. Luckily we still have a couple of weeks left together before I have to go back to my American home. Even though I’ll be leaving them, I’ll be taking everything that they’ve taught me home with me. I plan to continue my daily consumption of coffee, I will never look at pasta and pizza the same way, I will talk with my hands way too much, and I will probably keep spending and excessive amount of time eating meals, as is the norm here.

In front of the Colosseum on a weekend trip to Rome for my roommate’s birthday

Looking back on the goals I set for myself in the first blog entry, I feel like I’ve made good on all three. Speaking Italian to Italians when you’re not a native is not an easy feat and it’s easy to get intimidated; especially on the rare occasion of attempting something in Italian and getting a blank stare in return. But, I’ve gotten over this for the most part, and really have tried to using my Italian as much as possible. As for the second goal of not being lazy and trying to learn as much as possible, I tried my best to go out of my way to try new things and I’m happy with my efforts. But, as always, it’s impossible to see everything and do everything, but all the more reason to return one day. And lastly, I have definitely reached, if not surpassed, my goal of eating all the food. It might be safe to say that all the pizza, pasta, cheese, sausage, gelato, pastries, bread, and other delicious Italian foods that I have had in the last three months will be enough to satiate my Italian cravings for a couple of years, but that’s probably not true because pizza always sounds like a good idea. Thus, I plan to up my cooking game and learn to make the delicious foods I’ve enjoyed while being here.

Piazza Tasso in Sorrento all lit-up for Christmas!

Finally, I would like to say that I am also very thankful for my experience at Sant’Anna Institute. Everyone at the school was fantastic all semester and the friends I made here, American and Italian, have made this whole experience unforgettable. I really encourage everyone to seize the opportunity to study abroad while it’s still feasible. It’s not every day that you can just pick up and move to a foreign country for four months and have the experience of a lifetime.

The best pizza I’ve ever had-at Pizzeria Trianon in Naples

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Anna is a current student at the University of South Carolina studying at Sant’Anna Institute in Italy during the Fall 2014 term.