I have been signed up for this trip since I was a freshman at Auburn, and I am now going into senior year. This program has just always been something that we were told to do, and so I just decided to sign up that day not knowing a single thing. As the Summer of 2018 kept getting closer and closer, I still had no idea what I was getting myself into. I just knew that I was about to travel the world with my best Interior Design friends and other people that were not in my major.
Leaving my family was the worst part. My best-friend, Sabrina Angelo, and I joked about taking a flight back to America before we even got out of the airport in Rome. We felt like we were the only ones who felt that way, but little did we know everyone was nervous about the summer. Sabrina is actually the person who found the statement that said, “I have said it before, and I will say it again…help”, and that has become the theme of this trip.
You might be asking the question, “Why would they say that?”.
Here is an example: We were told to be careful ordering appetizers, because in Italy many times they continue bringing them until you force them to stop. So, having this in the back of our heads, the first night in Albano 7 of us decided to go to the famous restaurant “Da Charlies”. We set foot to find “Da Charlies” with empty stomachs, and after about 30 minutes of passing the same places, we realized “Da Charlies” was nowhere to be found. We stopped at the stairs of a church and sat there trying to figure out a game plan. We then decided we would set out again to find it. After asking locals, we found the famous restaurant. Kerry Davis went in to tell them we had 7 people, and they begin to scream at her in Italian. She came out all perplexed saying they told her to get out it was not dinner time. We were wondering why they wouldn’t serve us and forgot that it was only 7:00 and they don’t eat until 8:30. We had come this far and were going to eat here. We waited until 8:30 and dropped back by with smiling faces. As you can imagine, we came back right at 8:30 and were the first ones in there. So, naturally, we did exactly what they said beware of. We let him swindle us into 8 different appetizers! “NO” was not an option at this point. This is when Sabrina said with a mouth full of amazing appetizers, “I have said it before, and I will say it again…help”.
Now, as I am on week 9 the phrase is being used differently.
Here is an example: I won’t be spending every waking second with my 20 best friends in 3 weeks. I won’t be frantically trying to pack with my 7 roommates hours before we have to leave for our flight. I won’t be exploring a different country every weekend. I won’t be able to say, “I can’t wait to be home (in Ariccia) in my nest” when I am tired after an amazing weekend trip. I won’t be able to just walk to ‘Mustache Man’ for a panini. I am not going to sit on a train and cry laughing with my best friends because we realize at the end of the train ride the guy next to us actually speaks English. This is when I say with tear-filled eyes, “I have said it before, and I will say it again…help”.

 
Ciao Bella! – Bye Beautiful!
Kit King