Vita Dopo Firenze

It's still surreal being home for one whole week. I haven't had social interaction with anyone beyond my family, so a part of me feels the same way I always do over Christmas break each year. Temporarily living in a room decorated with my past and overcrowded with boxes filled with my new life, here only to see my family, catch up on trashy reality TV, and go to ten million doctors appointments until I return to Clemson. Whenever I'm home, I'm in a weird in-between place. I'm not back to my real life yet, so I guess being "back" hasn't quite hit me yet. A part of my brain actually believes that when I pack up my car and start driving next Sunday, I'm going to somehow end up in Florence. Don't get me wrong, I miss Clemson as much as a person could ever possibly miss a place, and I can't wait to get back, but I don't think the real "culture shock" will sink in until I settle back into my real life. My life that consists of an apartment and bills and two summer jobs and responsibilities. My life that requires me to hop in my car to buy a bottle of wine that costs a lot more than 2.50 euro.

The harshest reality is going to be interacting with people who didn't go through this experience. The world kept going on while we were in Florence. Just like it kept going on in Vernon once I moved away, and then I came back that first summer to find I had absolutely nothing in common with those people anymore. I'm not afraid of this happening in Clemson, though. It's my home and I'm sure I'll settle back in quickly. But it still scares me that I can't hop in a car and drive to Florence to find my apartment and my roommates and my Tigers all there with me. I apologize in advance to all of my friends who have to listen to my incessant "This one time in Florence..." stories.

There's so much I'm going to miss about it. Especially the simple things that I didn't notice until I left. Being able to walk everywhere. The smell of leather. Walking past the Duomo on a regular basis. The sound of Italian. The lady on my street with the fluffy dog. Tiger Thursdays. Windows without screens. WINE. The list goes on...

All in all, Florence was the greatest experience of my life. It taught me more than I ever expected to learn. Everyone says after you study abroad you come home with this new appreciation for the world and different cultures, which is completely true, but the past four months taught me a lot more than that. I learned how to relax and live my life outside of my iCal for once, how to stand on my own two feet when bad things happen, how to relate to people who are different than me, how to communicate with a language barrier, how to live in a city, how to drink wine, how to let my guard down, and how to appreciate the world in a way that is so much greater than my American bubble.

If you followed this blog, thank you :) I'm glad I could share my experience with people who really wanted to listen. And thank you, especially, to the people who made the entire four months possible. My Dad for actually letting me past U.S. borders, my Mom for mapping out every detail of my semester in an organized file folder, and then staying up until 4 a.m. putting my life back together when that organized file folder was stolen, my Aunts for inspiring me to choose Florence in the first place, my Grandma and relatives for donating to the "help Tara not go entirely broke in Italy" foundation, my best friend Meghan for being there for my ridiculous international phone calls, my Clemson friends for always being on Skype when I missed them, and my study abroad family for helping make the entire semester what it was: life-changing.

It scares me that I don't know when I'll be back to Europe. There is so much more I want to see, and so much more about Florence that I'm going to miss. Luckily, I rubbed the nose of Il Porcellino and dropped my coin down into the grate, and legend has it that means you'll return to Florence in your lifetime.

See you soon, Firenze.