My First week in Ariccia was wonderful, but a blur. It took several days of the initial shock to settle in that I had moved thousands of miles away from my home and family, but in every corner of this town, I was welcomed with open arms. As our bus pulled up to the Palace, a few local vendors stood outside of their shop and waved to us, welcoming us to Ariccia. I knew immediately that I would enjoy my time here.
My knowledge of the Italian language was close to none, apart from a few words and phrases I learned from an app. There are not a lot of English speakers in Ariccia, which accompanied with my insufficient knowledge, made even ordering a coffee a daunting task. The café and restaurant owners surprised me with their abundant patience and kindness with us as we attempted to place our orders. When I would get stuck on a word or didn’t know the term for a pastry, they would help correct me and teach me the correct way to say the word which I have greatly appreciated.
It was also encouraging to find that many of the people I have met so far are just as interested in my life as I am to learn about theirs. In these short two weeks, I have already gained a lifetime of experience with the opportunity to get to know the people of this town better. My homesickness is eased with every conversation and encouraging word, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of this semester holds.
Caio!
Caroline Ward
“Anticos”
Our daily breakfast from one of the places that we feel the most at home.
People frequently wonder whether it was worthwhile to travel so far and spend so much time studying abroad. I began to wonder: Why should I study abroad? My justification at the time was to challenge myself, participate in another culture, make friends, get some extra school credits, and gain work experience all at once. Making the decision to study abroad wasn’t difficult for me because I’ve always known I wanted to.
I’ve known for many years that I wanted to study abroad. However, it needed months of serious consideration before deciding where to go. Once I found the Joseph S. Bruno program, it was too easy to say yes! I didn’t know what to anticipate for this international adventure when I initially arrived in Rome. The thought of traveling to Europe for the first time was stressful, but seeing the other girls at the airport made it a breeze! When I stepped off the plane, I was greeted warmly by Cinzia and our TA Sophie and had the assurance that all my concerns would be put to rest. The program also did a fantastic job matching me up with girls who I get along with really well.
Once settled in your study abroad routine, time flies by and each trip you take makes it go by even faster. Therefore, it is crucial to reflect frequently. Even though problems can come at you quickly and life can go quickly, it is important to wind down and think back on your trip at some point. Consider what you just went through and how few individuals actually have the opportunity to travel and experience other cultures. Be thankful for your current situation because it may be worse for some people. You won’t often have a moment in your life where you can travel and study at the same time.
Ciao!
Sydney Jaffe
This picture was taken our first week out at Night at the Museum.
Navigating around the magnificent city of Rome can be extremely intimidating in the beginning. When one of our first assignments this semester was a scavenger hunt around the city I was nervous. How would we be able to get to all the sights in time? How will we know what we’re looking at? Like any big city, the busy streets are filled with tourists and cars coming from every direction. I’m used to traveling in large cities like New York and Chicago back in the United States, but the language barrier in Italy makes Rome seem ten times more difficult.
With the help of my friend Kiki guiding us, we began to find the sights on our scavenger hunt project. Side alleyways became our secret passages to escape the crowds and avoid the rain. As the day went on I was still stressed out about all the sights we had to get to because we wanted time to go eat and maybe shop a little. Racing through Rome to get to each spot on our list was all I was thinking about.
When we finally thought we were done, it turned out some of the girls still needed one more picture. They told us to go ahead and go shopping and that they would meet up with us later, but we all said that we didn’t want to do that and we should stick together. The walk to the next sight – although long and rainy – was one of my favorite parts of the day. Walking through the Villa Borghese Gardens away from the loud and busy city was the perfect break. The garden contained tall trees, colorful flowers, beautiful sculptures, and an amazing terrace that overlooked the Piazza del Popolo. This stop on our scavenger hunt was ultimately what reminded me to take a step back and enjoy the time I have in such a special place. This weekend gave me the opportunity to see and learn about things that I would have never done on my own and I’m so grateful I got to experience them!
Try to find peace in the chaos and enjoy everything you can,
This is the third blog I’ve had the opportunity to write about this program. I was a student in Summer 2021, a Teaching Assistant (TA) in Summer 2022, and now, a TA in Spring 2023. Each semester taught me lessons about the world and myself. They were each challenging and beautiful in many ways, and they were so different from each other as a result. However, among the variances there were a few constants that grounded me and reminded me who I was. These constants taught me as many lessons as the different challenges have over my time with JSB.
Every morning over the past 9 months I have lived in Ariccia, I would visit the same coffee shop. The friends I have made in that sweet café have turned into family. They welcome me and remind me of the home I have in Italy. When I think of them, I think of the haven they have created for hundreds of students, including myself. Their shop is a constant I have come to rely on not only for the necessary boost of caffeine, but also for the comfort and friendship and feeling of home.
I have also spent 9 months learning from our dear Cinzia and Roberta. They are everything I could ever want to be: strong and gentle, kind and giving, patient and loving. They have been there for me in every capacity: faculty, mentor, team, friend. They have been and always will be a constant in my life.
These constants, amongst others, have shaped me into the woman I am today. They were there for me as I grew up throughout college, and I know they will be there for me as I grow beyond. As I struggle to decide what I want to do in this next chapter of life, I am reminded that what is more important is who I become, not what I do. It is the constant leadership and love from these friends that I am reminded of this lesson.
Thank you to my friends, both old and new, that have walked alongside me during my time in Italy!
I have known that I wanted to study abroad from early on in my high school career. When I was a freshman in college, I started researching every program Auburn University had available. I had one specific criterion when it came to finding the right program. I wanted to study abroad for an entire semester. I wanted to be fully immersed in the culture and country I was studying in, and I felt this wasn’t possible to do in just a few weeks. So when I was introduced to the Joseph S. Bruno program, I found it had the most to offer with what I was looking for in my abroad experience. There was just one catch. This program consisted of predominantly female students.
With this program being in the College of Human Sciences, that did not come as a surprise to me. I was told that there was one other male who signed up for the spring 2023 semester program. If I signed up, the total number of students would be two males and sixteen females. Now, most men would be jumping at the thought of spending a whole semester abroad by being one of those two males; don’t get me wrong I was, but back at Auburn I am involved in a fraternity where the majority of my surroundings are male-dominated. So I knew that this drastic change in my living situation could come with its own set of challenges. So naturally, I was a little wary about spending a whole semester here. I thought, maybe I could find a program that is more similar to my lifestyle back in Auburn or find a program with an even mix of men to women. Ultimately I decided that this program would be one of the best ways to step out of my comfort zone, learn new things about my fellow students, learn new things about myself, and see the world while doing it.
Once I fully committed to the program I had a million thoughts going through my head. Of course, I had some preconceived views about what it’d be like living here with the majority of women. The typical girl talk, listening to pop music, the constant social media posts, and the countless cappuccinos ordered at the local bars are all things I knew might be included in my everyday life abroad. But since living here, I’ve discovered things that I could’ve never predicted. For example, on Valentine’s Day, I walked into the classroom like it was any other normal day with the program and was met with a sea of red and pink outfits in celebration of the holiday. I did not get the memo. I was quickly told that we would be taking a picture and I must change what I was wearing immediately, to follow the color scheme. So naturally, I did. Or the fact that the amount of salads I have seen made here is absurd. Don’t get me wrong I love a good salad, but I will never understand how someone can survive the day just off of a few hundred calories of fruits and vegetables. Another example is our similarities in humor. Whether it’s talking about our favorite comedians or egging a joke on way longer than it should be, these girls love to laugh and have a great time, and that is something that anyone couldn’t pass up on.
Throughout my time living in the minority, I’ve found that these women are some of the sweetest, most thoughtful, and most genuine people I’ve met. From someone doing the dishes after a long day of school work even though they aren’t assigned to the task, decorating the classroom to make it a more vibrant and lively place to be, or writing a personal Valentine’s Day card to everyone in the program, these women each semester are the ones keeping this special place and program alive. If anyone is hesitant about doing a program like this or simply stepping out of their comfort zone from everyday life, my advice for you is to do it. You might just find that the people you’d least expect to have anything in common with are the ones with the most similarities, and if you’re lucky, you may make a few life-long relationships along the way.
I’m a planner. It’s what I do. I plan in advance, and I plan in detail. In Auburn, I’m known for having at least three planners or calendars that I’m keeping up with per semester. Coming to Ariccia has given me the chance to do lots of planning. I plan out my assignments, my grocery shopping and cooking, and, most importantly, I plan weekend trips.
Our weeks usually consist of classes Monday-Thursday with the opportunity to travel on your own on the weekend. This gives you the opportunity to take quite a few trips externally of those planned by the program while you’re here. When I finish the JSB program, I will have been to 9 countries in 12 weeks. This was only supposed to be 8.
Over spring break, I had planned a highly ambitious trip with my friends Sara and Sophie which included visits to several cities in Greece, Spain, and Austria. I worked on this schedule for weeks. Part of this journey included a late flight from Athens, Greece to Malta where we would have a layover and then fly to Barcelona, Spain. Then, we would arrive around midnight at the houseboat we were staying on (I affectionately referred to this as our Airbnboat). No amount of planning could have prepared me for the struggle it would be to make it from Athens to Barcelona. Our first flight from Greece to Malta was delayed, and we landed about 10 minutes before our next flight was supposed to take off. We ran through the airport barely holding on to all our things. We could still see the plane sitting on the tarmac; the sign above the counter flashing “Last Call”. When we made it to the desk, the flight attendants tried to radio out to the pilots who told them they had already closed the doors and we would not be allowed on the plane. Sophie, Sara, and I sat down in the airport and watched our plane take off without us.
At this point we were very upset, and some tears were shed as we realized we would be stuck in Malta for the night and had nowhere to go. We ended up staying in a sketchy hotel and having to book two more flights for the next day because there were no direct flights to Barcelona. On one of these flights, we boarded and sat on the tarmac for two hours before we took off. Luckily, this was our last flight, so we had no more connections to make. All in all, it took us over 24 hours to make it from Athens to Barcelona, which is only about a 3-hour direct flight.
Missing one of our nights in Barcelona meant we had to condense all the things we had planned into one day. This wreaked havoc on my little planner brain, and I was very upset because I felt like our trip would be ruined. However, Barcelona ended up being one of my favorite cities I’ve ever been to. We all agreed that we’ve had some of the best experiences there of the entire semester, including being able to watch a flamenco show.
This experience taught me lots of things. One, that there’s no possible way to plan for everything, which I would probably have argued with you about previously. Two, sometimes when you have no idea what you’re doing, you can make some of the best memories. And three, sometimes plans go out the window, and that’s okay.
Especially if you’re with your best friends. Which I was.
— Elena Gagliano
From left to right: Sophie, Sara, and I on spring break (shortly before the Malta airport fiasco).
Moving to a new country is terrifying. Terrifying to plant yourself in a place you’ve never known, with people you’ve never known. When I first came to Ariccia, I expected it to be a really fun experience and a more different semester than I’ve ever had. Even knowing this, I never could have prepared myself for just how much I’ve learned and loved here. The city of Ariccia and the entirety of the JSB program have shown me how to fall in love in a completely new way. Love comes in all forms, and to me it comes in the people I meet. Without the people, this place is just a small town outside of Rome. Add in the people, Cinzia, Lydia, Roberta, Cat, Ettore, Ryan, Maurizio, Francesco, and everyone else met along the way, and you create this beautiful Italian town with an abundance of love that I’ve never felt before coming here.
With almost ten weeks behind us, and two to go, appreciation and love have taken new form. I think love is always about appreciation and my favorite kind of love is through friendship. Gabriella, Sophie, and Elena, better known as Gib, Soph, and father, have meant more to me in the past 10 weeks than I could ever express to them. Home to me isn’t a place. Home is where you feel your most comfortable and is your safe place to land. It’s weird that people can feel like that to me, but they do. They’ve been my comfort, my laughter, my memories, and my love story for the past ten weeks. I’ve never met people who can make me feel the most like myself, and I will always know and see them for the way they show love and friendship.
Finding friends that feel like a Sunday morning, a sunset dinner after a long beach day, or a good book, has always been one of the most important things to me. I know that doesn’t make any sense, but it does in my brain. Their hearts are the best part about them and knowing them has made my heart brighter and more abundant. I don’t really think I would have had as much fun running through Roma Termini (multiple times), spending a very weird night in Malta after running through an airport barely holding any of my belongings, spontaneously taking a trip to the Hard Rock Café on a random Wednesday night, or having food poisoning the first week here, if I didn’t have them to do it with me. All three of them are so special to me in different ways and have become my best thing about this experience. Knowing them now, our lives align so much it’s almost insane we didn’t cross paths before this semester, but I think the pieces of our friendship fell into place right when they were supposed to. I feel so lucky to have met my for-lifer friends, and I’m so glad I get to take them home with me. I could never thank them enough for being my love and appreciation for this program, and I’ve never been prouder to know people!
Bacio forever,
Sara Hanna
(Left to Right) Sophie, me, Gabriella, and Elena, aka the loves of my life. This is our first, and actually only, photo of the four of us! This is my reminder to take more pictures with them 🙂
There is a saying in Italian culture called “Bella Figura” and it relates to the idea of how people present themselves to society in the way they dress, act, and speak. While we have similarities of this in the US, nothing quite fully encapsulates “Bella Figura”.
The idea of “Bella Figura” makes sense and if you have or are going to spend time in Italy you will quickly notice how the majority of people here are dressed to the 10’s. While I am a fashion major and enjoy seeing something different and stylish compared to the Lululemon head to toe outfits in Auburn (no offense), I honestly miss parts of the American way of dressing.
I like to be able to dress up, which I have gotten to do plenty of in Italy, but I also want the choice to dress down, and Italians don’t have this option unless they want to be considered “Bruta Figura” (the bad version of Bella Figura). I understand it is their lifestyle and part of the culture, but I like to be able to step outside in my sweatpants, possibly unbrushed hair, and no makeup and be accepted that way.
Even though Americans don’t have the best reputation in other countries, and probably for some good reasons, I do appreciate the fact that we can be accepted for the way we are and not harshly critiqued because we decided to step out of our house in sweatpants. I believe in the saying “come as you are” (which happens to be a Nirvana song) because there is something comforting about being accepted exactly as you are in any moment and I don’t feel as though “Bella Figura” is accepting of that.
There are so many things I love about Italy, but this is one thing that I struggle with.
After signing up for this program a few weeks into Fall of my freshman year, I considered myself ambitious and one that likes to take advantage of every opportunity presented. I am also big into planning and knowing exactly what to expect. After two and a half years of researching Europe and more specifically Italy, I felt like I had a pretty good idea of what was to come for the 12 weeks I would be living there. I can honestly say the research did not match what I have experienced.
The first thing I’m pretty sure everyone thinks of when they think of Italy is the food. I couldn’t wait to try the amazing food that would put Olive Garden and Domino’s to shame. Unfortunately, I have yet to have that perfect bite. I’m not saying the food has been bad by any means, but it has overall been middle tier, and given me a newfound appreciation for America taking a cuisine and making it objectively better (I’m looking at you Auntie Anne’s and the cinnamon sugar pretzel). Also, the melting pot of food variety in America has far surpassed the pizza and pasta options that can very quickly get old…and don’t get me started on the lack of iced coffee!
As a Fashion Merchandising major, I feel obligated to mention the difference in fashion trends. Prior to coming here, I was informed to bring neutral clothing and athletic/grunge was not worn. This was stressful for me because I love both color and leggings. While athleisure has slowly worked its way into younger fashion and is more common, 95% of people wear black on black. I have accepted that I may stand out and choose to wear color on the daily, but the lack of self-expression in terms of color was shocking.
While there have certainly been some culture shocks, there have been so many amazing moments that I wouldn’t trade for anything since arriving in Ariccia. This opportunity has given me the confidence in knowing I could live abroad permanently and would be more than happy and thriving. It has also taught me to continue to value and rely on the friendships and family bonds that I have already created because they are vital to my success. So even though I don’t have a cheeseburger on demand and can’t wear a bright red coat without a few stares, I’m happy to be here and am embracing more of the unexpected, because it has led me to greater experiences from lower expectations and better than anything I could’ve planned.
My short lived Fendi coat I thrifted and had to leave in London.
You have to go to grow. A statement my dad has told me throughout my life that he grew up hearing from his uncle, said to me in times of uncertainty and doubt. This statement has led me to make many of the best decisions of my life. One of which was the decision to spend my spring semester abroad in Italy with the JSB program.
Being in Italy surrounded by rich culture and history was the easy part of the decision. Truthfully, I doubted my own ability to adapt to living with fifteen other girls and two guys, sharing my living space and constantly being around each other. Back in Auburn, I live alone and as a more introverted person. I value my alone time and personal space which can be difficult when living in the palace. I will not lie and say that this didn’t make the first couple of weeks difficult for me. Thankfully, I am surrounded by so many amazing people that have made that transition easier than anticipated.
I have my fellow girls in Roma room to thank for a great beginning of the semester. I will forever cherish memories of laughing until my stomach hurts huddled around one of our nests late at night. Or never forget sushi Wednesdays at Sushi Hero when we just need to “scratch an itch” with some very average fried rice and edamame. Abby T., Abby I., Emma, Madison, Kyle, Ivy, Katie, Cat, and Sophie you all have grown to mean so much more to me than I can write in one single blog post. My confidants, travel buddies, partners in crime, and biggest cheerleaders I love you all so much.
This semester has pushed me out of my comfort zone and pushed my personal development in ways that I couldn’t have planned for. So yes I am starting to think that my dad might have it right.
