Story Dust and Wanderlust.

Halloween is just around the corner, so, reader, let's talk about blood and gore.                                                                It was a Friday night and I was standing on haunted ground. The bodies of the infants that had died shortly after birth were buried on this ground instead of a cemetery because they weren't cleansed of their original sin through the sacrament of baptism. But of course I'm referring to something that was done back in the Middle Ages. Now, however, a gorgeous little square that is home to a small 11th century church called Santi Apostoli stands over it. The little gorgeous square's name is Piazza del Limbo, named after the dead chi...

No matter how much I loved being in Italy, every day was not filled with gelato, and skipping down cobblestone streets. No, I wasn't alone, or homesick, or miserable. But more than once, I found myself reciting a quiet litany of "just breathe's." Having grown up in a catholic environment, I have a stubborn habit of seeking comfort in a church or a cemetery. (Did you read my post about finding inspiration in a graveyard? You didn't? You should.)  And lucky for me, Florence has an abundance of them! Living a block away from the Duomo had its perks. I passed it every single day, on my way to class and on my way back; even if I went grocery shopping, or decided to just walk around, it was there. People are not kidding when they say that the Duomo is literally in the heart of the city. Every road, every street somehow led to it. For the first couple of months, I used it as navigation to figure out where I was going and how I was going to get there. The ...

Reader, let me tell you, there is perhaps only one other thing better than studying abroad in Italy. It is studying abroad in Italy during a gelato festival. It took every bit of my self-control to keep calm as one of my flat mates, who'd been living in Italy for a year by that point, informed the rest of us during breakfast that there was an annual gelato festival happening that weekend. It was only our first weekend in Florence and I was smitten. The Gelato festival is an 'on-the-road' event; it starts off in Florence at the beginning of the summer, and then tours different parts of Italy picking and choosing the best 'gelatician' and his unique gelato flavor, made specifically for the festival. The tour culminates back in Florence, where, during a three day event held at Piazzale Michelangelo, locals and tourists along with the judges get to sample gelato from each vendor and vote for their favorite. The winner is then honored with the title of 'Be...

"But wait...which one is her actual name?"  I gawked at the email I had gotten from the school I was to study abroad at with the names of my flatmates, and the girl I was to share a room with. She had four names. FOUR. And I didn't have the slightest idea which one was her first. So, doing what a 'normal' person would do, I frantically tried typing in all of them- each one getting it's turn as the first- into the Facebook search box to make sure my to-be roommate was not from hell. Study abroad is an experiences that you carry with you all your life. It is something that is designed to bring you a step closer to what you want to be. It's safe to say then that having a roommate that you get along with is crucial because the individual living five feet away from you can either make or break your study abroad experience. My past roommate experiences were horrendous to say the least. I came out the other side of those semesters, bruised, battere...

Today, last year, I landed in Florence, Italy for my Fall semester abroad. I left home, left my parents who, mind you, I have never been more than 10 miles away from my ENTIRE life, for what I only hoped would be a life changing experience. I wasn't prepared for what I got though. Because what I got was more. My God, it was so. much. more. Sometimes I think that I didn't feel homesick or alone/depressed because I was blessed enough to have someone I trusted wholeheartedly and whose company I enjoyed and welcomed, with me on this journey. But then again, I have always been into risky, sometimes lonely endeavors. Into traveling and experiencing things that I'd only imagined before. The thrill of searching and finding, of exploring, of independence existed inside of me long before I knew enough to acknowledge it. (My parents can stand testimony to that!) But despite it all, despite the excitement and the lack of homesickness, I was scared out of my mind. I was walking into...