Being in the Joseph S. Bruno program has already been an experience I will never forget! I already feel like these 22 girls are my family and I can’t wait to see what these next few months have in store. This week we finally got to travel to Rome to start our Grand Tour of Italy and it was the most beautiful city I think most of us have ever seen! We saw things like the Colosseum, Pantheon, and Trevi Fountain, which were definitely my favorites. After 11 miles and over 20,000 steps, our Grand Tour was done for the day and we were allowed the freedom to either stay in the city or return to Ariccia. A group of seven of us thought we weren’t too tired and decided to have an aperitivo and then catch the 6:21 train, which ended up being our biggest learning experience of the whole week! We managed to miss our first train and somehow make our next one by mere seconds! If only we had the security tapes because watching seven American girls running and screaming to the complete opposite train platform would definitely be something to see. Moments like that, when you look around at the new friends you have made and realize just how little we know and how much we have to learn, are the absolute best and brought us closer together. I know these next eleven weeks are going to be the best of my life, but hopefully they all go a little bit smoother!
Rebecca Todd

Living in Italy for the next three months is a dream come true. We have only been here one short week, but have learned and seen more than I ever imagined. So far, I have adjusted to the atmosphere and culture better than I thought I would, thanks to the new friendships I have made. We saw several famous sights in Rome that I always see in movies or hear people telling me about, but seeing them with my own eyes changes my perspective on everything. My favorite sight we went to in Rome was the Trevi Fountain. It was such a beautiful scene. While we were there, a couple got engaged! The days are long, but the lecturers make the classes so entertaining that it seems to go by fast. We had our first field trip of the Castelli Romani (the Roman Castles). It was interesting to see the places we learned about in the prep class. The locals in Ariccia have been great. They are very helpful and try their best to make this town feel like home. It’s so incredible to see how different life is in Italy versus life in the United States. Although we have only been here a week I have already managed to miss the train from Rome back to Ariccia.

I am really looking forward to the weekend trips and traveling to places all over Europe as well as other places in Italy. I can already tell I am going to get along great with everyone on this trip and can’t wait to make so many memories. In this short amount of time it is easy to see that it will be a life changing experience.
Taylor Anne Jones