Getting a second chance to live in the Chigi Palace in Italy for three months is an opportunity not everyone has. With this in mind, I have tried, sometimes through trial and error, to find a way to have the fullest JSB experience a second time around and make the most of what time I have been graciously given.
When I got on the plane for my second semester abroad it was very different from my first JSB experience. Firstly, I already knew and had experienced a lot of the things that were mysterious and exciting or intimidating the first time around. I was also alone. It was my first time flying on an international flight alone, which did not have an emotional effect on me until I saw the mother crying and embracing her child at the gate as she sent him off to be an unattended minor passenger and realized that he and I were not that different. I too, felt like I lacked the life experience necessary to be an entirely independent individual making my own choices and taking on the world alone, yet here I was, taking that plunge.
I was not alone for long though. After being packed onto a full flight for 7 or so hours, I was greeted on the ground in Italy by none other than Patrizia, a woman many JSB students get to know when they come on the program, because she is our go to taxi driver. While I fought off sleep in the passenger seat of her car, Patrizia helped keep me awake with conversation about our shared hot summers. When we crested the hill in Albano and I finally saw the Chigi Palace again after almost a year away, I felt like I was in a dream. Here was that familiar place I had seen so many times in my mind’s eye, but it had not been tangible until now. Once we got to the palace, I wheeled my luggage in and was greeted immediately by Maurizio, Cinzia, and Roberta. In my jetlagged state I felt extremely vulnerable, like a baby bird, but seeing these people made me feel safe.
In the next couple of days Lydia and the students arrived and the semester really kicked into gear. Like any other semester as an Auburn student, I could feel the potential for success and growth the semester could provide, and I saw on the students’ faces an eagerness to soak it in. They were definitely quick learners; I watched them rapidly apply classroom guidance on navigating Italian transportation and our class field trip to Rome to their own personal travel plans. I was pleasantly surprised and proud of their progress.
I too was eager to apply my knowledge to be able to see places I hadn’t been to before, like the city of Bologna, where I spent my first free weekend roughing it alone in a hostel for the first time. I loved being able to move around the city at my own pace. When the crowds got too overwhelming, I could duck into an empty museum and browse the exhibits for literal hours and not worry about not matching someone else’s timetable. The problem came at meal-time. Though I had researched the best foods of the region and the best places to eat alone, sitting at a table for one was a strange new experience I wasn’t adjusting to very well. Where does one cast their eyes when there’s no one across from you to look at and engage in conversation? (Especially when my elementary Italian was not quite at the place where I could eavesdrop on my fellow diner’s conversations) Italy is a place well known for its food but one of the most important ingredients of Italian cuisine is not edible—it’s good company. I wasn’t fully participating in the tradition of Italian dining because I was missing that key element of sharing a meal with others.
When I got back to the palace that weekend, I could tell that my introverted self was itching for more interaction with people. I babbled to my roommates about my terrifying experience climbing the Asinelli tower and explained that staying in a hostel wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. As the rest of the students filtered in from their travels, we gathered in the living room and in the kitchen, making separate meals but sharing the same table.
Throughout the semester, I and the rest of the students gathered in that kitchen to share a meal or share time together. Sometimes when we were traveling, we shared one big table and a meal together at a restaurant. Even as an introvert, I can definitely say that meals spent as one big group were some of my most cherished memories of this semester. From the amazing and massive dinner in Sicily to the bizarre pizza dinner in Tuscany to the Thanksgiving dinner we had in a cave in Matera, I found each experience to be funny and memorable.
Something a lot of JSB students find challenging during their time in the program is finding that much needed “alone time.” Sharing the palace with 10 to 20 other students means that there is not much space available that isn’t taken up by someone else. It can be a lot of fun to spend time with brand new friends going through the same international challenges as you, but sometimes we need a break. However, during my second time around I realized that a careful balance between striking it out on one’s own and sharing time with others is really the best way to make the most of your JSB experience.
Maggie Tennant- TA Fall 2023
