Traveling over 5,000 miles away from a place I have called home for all my life, to a new country that speaks a totally different language than I do, was definitely an experience I was nervous about but also excited. There have been a few different occurrences where I have had to make new places home (like going to college), but never somewhere quite as far as Ariccia, Italy. As we embark on our last few weeks in this wonderful, quaint town, I can confidently say that this place feels like home. There are many reasons why Ariccia is so easy to call home.

I think in order to make a new place or country feel more comfortable and like I am home, it is important to reintroduce familiar routines and habits to help create a homey setting. For example, decorating my bedroom area with some personal artwork, as well as some pictures of friends and family help create the feeling of home. To feel more comfortable, especially at the start of moving to Ariccia, it was important to me to have foods from home that I knew I enjoyed and gave me a sense of comfort. However, to fit in with Ariccia and make this town a new home, trying their foods that are a delicacy to the town was very fun. Specifically porchetta di Ariccia, which has become one of my new favorite things. Trying the foods and creating a home-like setting are just a few of the things I have done to help make Ariccia feel like my new home. However, there are many other things that have contributed to this sense of belonging to the town.

A key part in making a new place home is engaging and getting involved with the community. Although I do not speak Italian fluently, it has been a joy and a pleasure to be able to engage with the wonderful community of Ariccia. Through our semester-long project, Elevate Ariccia, I have gotten to engage with the community during English nights, a sip and sketch night, as well as going to the senior center and getting to know some of the elders in the community. Getting to know the members of the community in this way has made Ariccia a joyous place to live. Although these events are great to get to know the people in the town, one of my favorite activities is to go and sit at Antico’s Cafè every morning and be welcomed by the friendly faces who work there. Abu, Paulo, and his family, are one of the leading factors to Ariccia being a place I can happily call home. From the beginning they have welcomed me with open arms and always have a smile on their face. Everytime I step through the doors to the cafè, it is as if I am walking into a friend’s house.

I have been so fortunate as to get to live in this town, meet all the wonderful members of the community, and call this place home. All of these factors and more are how I have made Ariccia my home away from home. I am so sad to leave, but I know that whenever I come back, it will be like coming back home.

Ashby Lambert

View of the amazing sunsets from the main square in Ariccia!