Blog Nine - What Rome Means to Me

It's hard to think about what Rome means to me, especially when also trying to consider what this trip as a whole means to me. The two are certainly not mutually exclusive to each other, but I think it's also worth considering as two separate, but complimentary, ideas.

This trip has meant so much to me- it's not the first time I've been overseas, but it is the first time I've been to Europe without my parents and it's the first time I've paid for much of what I've been buying myself. There's a lot of responsibility and independence to be learned by taking this trip, immersing oneself in a foreign culture in a place where you don't know the language. The independence becomes very important, wandering off to explore and eat by yourself sometimes, being willing to go and see things that you want to see.

But equally important, I think, is finding people to also enjoy the experience with you. As amazing as it can be figuring out Italy by myself, especially trying to navigate stores or directions or food (though I was never quite brave enough to try ordering from the deli, not going to lie), there's something equally as wonderful about sharing that experience with others. Finding friends who're willing to stumble around with you and go shopping, or go out to eat, or run to the store for last minute stuff with you are really amazing. To be able to experience this trip with the unique personalities within this group has been a great experience, for which I'm extremely grateful to be a part of. I love that so many of us have become friends and will absolutely be remembering this trip for a looong time.

Rome itself, to me, is extremely layered- the guest lecture especially hammered that point in for me, in some ways. Throughout this trip, we've been learning over and over about how many sites have been built in place of other things, or repurposed, or pieces taken and being used for other monuments. That, to me, plus being able to look around and realize how much of this city has been a mixture of ancient and modern is something magical all on its own.

My favorite instance of this is the cat sanctuary- in the middle of ruins. There are cats being taken care of and fed and healed all in this place where history itself is surrounding them.

There's something really enchanting about being able to see cats chilling out on these crumbling walls, or sprawling out for pettings right next to ancient buildings.