Ciao from Firenze! I just wanted to give a short update, my experience has been fantastic so far and it is hard to believe there is only one month left. My classes have been interesting. I feel like I am gaining some interesting soft skills while abroad. One of the funnier ones is non-verbal communication skills, while I am learning Italian there are still a decent amount of moments where there is a significant language barrier where non-verbal communication has to fill in. I also feel that I have gained more of a global perspective, I thought about it a little before but seeing how the US policy changes effect Europe in real time has been an interesting phenomenon. My curiosity and open mindedness have also been developed, I feel as though I have been more go with the flow and trying lots of new things while abroad. In terms of hard skills I have started to be able to speak some Italian, I do not think that will be useful in my day to day life in the US but it has certainly been very useful here. I have also learned to critically examine multiple different forms of art from my museology class, which made my recent visit the Louvre much more interesting. My ability to navigate urban environments has also increased, this was luckily the case since I had a trial by fire in Paris. My phone died when I was trying to get to my AirBnB to check in and luckily somehow I found my way to it. It has been great meeting new people whether they are locals or other Italians. This has mostly happened at the local bars, one of my favorite moments was singing karaoke with some Italians a couple of my roommates met at the local karaoke bar. It has been really eye opening talking to locals about the state of the world, a lot of Italians and Europeans in general like to ask about American politics especially after the most recent election. It has been fascinating to hear their thoughts about American politics and learning about the very turbulent Italian political landscape. The daily interactions with locals is truly what makes this experience special, it is incredibly hard to see outside of the perspective of the US while there. I am excited to see what I learn in these final few weeks and how I will transfer these new skills to my life after college.

Ciao regazzi!