This blog post is dedicated to inform you about my experience in my new university, my rooming situation, and adapting to my life here in Italy!

My New University: Capa!

So, my 6 week program is under instruction of a school/company called Capa. In Florence, the Capa center is a gorgeous building dating back to the 15th century near the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (the Duomo!) The staff are so nice and so helpful with recommendations and advice. I’m taking International Economics for Managers and Cross Cultural Psychology. Both of my professors are very professional and have expansive knowledge of their field. My classes are both informative and fun and we frequently leave the classroom to deepen our knowledge of Florence culture and how it relates to our topics. It differs from Pitt in the sense that there really isn’t a sense of a campus, but I do end up seeing lots of Capa kids out on the streets of Florence! Here is a picture of me in the beautiful stairs leading up to Capa!

Housing!

So, I live right in the city center around the corner from the beautiful duomo. It’s a great spot! I’m very close to the Capa center and a quick walk to just about everything! However, the bad thing about being so close to the Duomo is that everything near me is very tourist oriented. I have to walk a ways away to get to the real authentic Italian culture. But that walk across the Arno River to get to it is pretty easy on the eyes! So, I really don’t mind. I live with seven other girls in my apartment and we have two kitchens, four bathrooms, four bedrooms, and (drumroll please!) a balcony! I love my balcony. I like to sit out there and people watch and soak in the sun before it goes behind the buildings again. I get along very well with my roommates, but it was hard to adjust. The only reason is because I didn’t know any of them before coming here. So, having to find the right dynamic of the group was testing but we found it quite quickly thankfully! I also found another group of friend that I love to hang out with as well! A lot of the people in the program are so nice and everyone is trying to meet people and make friends. So although it can be scary, everyone is in the same boat when they get here! Here is a picture of my friend and I on our balcony!

I’m on week 4 now of my study abroad and I really feel like I have found my rhythm! But it really took me a while to find my way here! There are a lot of new things to adjust to and it can be overwhelming. Something that has helped me a lot is opening up to the friends I’ve made about how I feel about the transition and it has calmed me to know that they feel the same way. I’m so happy that I have found my way here because I love every minute. It is okay to take a minute to adjust to not only the culture shock, but everything else like the new school, new friends, and the lack of some of your everyday habits. I was constantly feeling like I wasn’t doing something right or not enough when I got here, but once I realized that everyone was feeling just as overwhelmed as me, I felt less FOMO!