GL 350

Our last 350 blog...which concludes the blogs for this trip. Where did the time fly? It feels like just yesterday that we met at Walsh and said farewell to friends and family members. Professor says that everything will seem different and even we will seem different to our parents; I wonder how that will go. I, personally am excited to return home, but I will miss the time we've spent here. We have all become more globally experienced and in a way more mature. 



Now that I've finished The Talented Mr. Ripley it's funny to think about all the places he had traveled that we had also seen. Especially when he talks about Venice and Piazza San Marco, I've been there. He mentions the Danieli Hotel as one of the more extravagant hotels and I remember being told that it is one of the oldest and most expensive hotels in Venice. It's amazing to see how Ripley's life and mine have crossed, even if he is a fictional character. The cities he travels to are written in such great detail that I can remember the places as well as I would in a picture. 



I think one aspect of Ripley that I admire (even though he does not have an admirable character) is his passion for traveling. I also love to travel and see new places because you become part of a different world that is unlike your own. You learn a different culture which helps you become more aware of the world and what happens around you. As I have experienced a new culture and custom here, I think it will always stay a part of me. No doubt I will always love my home in the States, but I think my style of living has been impacted. 



I will always travel in silence when using public transportation, my hand will continue to hold onto my purse, and I will scan every person who comes within a 5-foot radius of me. When people ask how was Italy, I can describe the things we saw and learned, but I can never describe the experience. How can I put into words the daily Momento breaks, or how to always have our antennas up, or even the relief that the Albano train wasn't on a hidden track? There are no words that could make someone fully understand what we mean. This was a trip full of first experiences, that can never be completely understood by someone who was not here.