Week 1: I thought I knew everything about traveling abroad

And wow was I wrong. Before coming here to Perugia I thought I had taken care of everything I needed to because I’ve done this before,but as soon as I got off the plane I realized I was wrong. So I came with 2 suitcases, 1 carry-on, and my backpack. When packing I just put my things in my bag without any rhyme or reason, I just folded up my things and put them in.

LESSON NUMBER 1: When packing for study abroad, split up your things equally among all of your bags. For example if you’re bringing 9 shirts and have the same amount of luggage that I had, place 3 shirts in each suitcase and 3 in your carry-on. In your carry-on and personal item bring your most important things (electronics, medicine, and personal hygiene products as well as hair products if needed). Also make sure in your carry-on you have at least 3 changes of clothes and something to sleep in.

Why you may be wondering? Well a very common thing that happens when you’re flying to another country is they misplace your luggage. Because I have traveled abroad and studied abroad before and I never had my luggage misplaced I didn’t think I had anything to worry about but again I was sooooo wrong.

I flew from the DCA to FCO with a layover at JFK, and when I arrived to Rome I found out that they left one of my suitcases in New York. And in that suitcase was the majority of my clothes and all of my hair products. The suitcase that made it to Rome with me for the most part only had jeans, jackets, about 3 shirts, one sweatshirt, and my personal hygiene products. Between my carry-on and backpack I had 2 outfits, a pair of pajamas, two pairs of boots, my electronics, and my medicine.

Thankfully because they didn’t misplace both of my suitcases I was able to survive a bit. But I realized if I had equally split up my clothes between my bags I would have had a better week. This is because they didn’t deliver my suitcase until yesterday, January 16th, and I arrived last Friday the 10th. I ended up running out of clothes because I didn’t bring enough for almost a week among my one suitcase and carry-on. I ended up having to buy undergarments, my school gave me a pair of sweatpants and shirt, and the day before I got my luggage I washed my clothes.

The process of getting my bag was horrible. Everyday the costumer service people told me that my suitcase would arrive the next day. So on Friday they said it would arrive on Saturday, on Saturday they said Sunday, on Sunday they said Monday…etc. So you could only imagine how I felt. Which brings me to my second lesson.

LESSON NUMBER 2: Something is going to go wrong. But don’t let that affect your day overall.

Of course not having my things and doing extra to get by didn’t make me feel the best, I didn’t let it get me down. Well at least I didn’t during the day while I was with other people lol, because it’s not good to bottle up your emotions. During the day when I was with my new friends I forced myself to have fun, to stop and smell the roses. At the end of the day I’m abroad in a new city, so what if everything isn’t going right, when do things ever go exactly the way you want it to? I still participated in everything I could despite being a bit disappointed that I didn’t have my things.

I really thought I had all of the answers for studying abroad since this is my second time, but I’m realizing that I still have a lot to learn. Now that I have all of my things I’m ready for what this next week has to teach me.

Italian phrase of the week: In bocca al lupo

Which is similar to break a leg, something you say for good luck to someone, but it directly translates as in the mouth of the wolf. Even though this isn’t a new phrase for me I learned something interesting while in class. I was previously taught that the response to this phrase was “crepi il lupo”, which roughly means “may the wolf die”. Now apparently in and around Rome they say “viva il lupo” which basically means “long live the wolf”. This is because for one they hold wolves in high regard (see the story of Rome) but also mother wolves are known for picking up their pups in their mouth when they sense fear and don’t put them down until they no longer sense danger. Therefore there’s safety in the mouth of a wolf. VIVA IL LUPO! 

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