Nothing could prepare me for the experiences I have had while studying abroad in Italy and there is absolutely nothing in the world that could give me as many feelings in one moment as when I first stepped off that airplane and begun to get to know my new home and family for the next three months.
Ariccia becomes home almost instantly. After long days and sometimes weeks of travel we are excited to just be back home. There are hardly any other places while studying abroad that give me the true sense of home as the Chigi Palace gives me. It remains astonishing to me how fast the palace really takes on the role of being our home. Maybe this exists because of how clean it is kept, or maybe the fact that we are supplied with our own space, but I strongly believe the reason for the Palace becoming our “home” happens so quickly because of something much deeper and much more personal.
In Ariccia I have learned to live in one place with twenty unique and inspiring personalities. Through traveling together and having assignments that force us to talk in front of one another, I have begun to view my palace companions as my new family. As a family we can travel to new places and share stories from our past and present that bring each and every one of us closer together. We laugh, we cry, we bicker, and we support one another through it all.
This family does not stop at our current companions though. In fact, as we travel during our months in Italy, we meet even more inspiring people and gain a sense of family in Ariccia through these experiences. Whether it is the owners of our favorite local restaurant or the children of the local schools, we cannot help but keep them in a very special compartment of our hearts. This family even extends to those who have studied at the Chigi Palace previously and those who will study after us, as we all become one of the “Chigi Babies”.
This sense of family and home will follow us throughout our lives and provide us with opportunities we may have never had if it were not for this amazing support system. We have even started to really feel like part of the famous Chigi family, referring to Pope Alexander VII as our Pope.
Ciao Chigi Babies,
Suzanne Merlino

“Where thou art, that is home” Emily Dickinson