Study abroad is an amazingly beautiful time of growth that brings so many qualities of maturity and independence in such a short period of time. It is practically impossible to accurately describe all the different experiences and emotions that have come along with this last month, living in Ariccia, as well as visiting so many other places. Aside from comprehending all of the amazing beauty surrounding me, one thing that I have really been reflecting on is daily life and routine.
When I got here everything was new and exciting, but as days went on, things seemed to become a little duller. Certainly not because anything has become less exciting, but quite the opposite. I became less aware. As the new has become normal I have stopped noticing the amazingness of the world. This is something I have been struggling with and reflecting on in this past week.
These past four weekends I have had the amazing opportunity to travel to Rome,  Barcelona, Nice, and Amsterdam. These places have all been exciting, new, and wonderful. However, it has made coming home to the palace more and more normal. Which is not to say that normalcy isn’t a good thing, because quite frankly any kind of normalcy while being abroad is something to which all 20 of us girls cling to. It is when this normalcy gets in the way of your vision, and you start to overlook the remarkable aspects of this experience and the traveling world as a whole.
I do enjoy a daily routine, which I have gotten the hang of, at this point in week four, and I am very thankful for that. When we first got here everything seemed new and exciting, and the routine oriented OCD inside of me was begging for some consistency. I quickly found a daily routine that works for me. At that point I thought that was the end and I could close the box on that issue. Now three weeks later I find myself in a phase of realization that too much normalcy can eventually cloud my ability to see the incredibleness that surrounds me.
As weeks go by I am learning to appreciate everything around me in Ariccia, Albano, Rome, and every other amazing place I am fortunate enough to visit. The new has definitely become normal, but as I am slowly learning, that does not make it any less incredible.
-Rebekah Eller