No regrets.

Well, here we are: I have exactly 19 days left in the beautiful city of Rome. In some ways, 19 days seems like a blink of an eye. I still have papers to do, exams to take and bags to pack, not to mention some last minute souvenir shopping! I can’t handle thinking of saying good-bye to the friends I’ve made here, but it’s comforting to know that they are just a short train ride away in Chicago. It’s weird, but I feel like I have made some of my best friends here, but at the same time I can’t wait to see my MU and Geebs family.

So much has changed since I’ve been here. I am no longer intimidated by large hills or pushy Italian men. I can kick almost anyone’s ass at foosball. Airports are no longer thrilling and I’ve officially traveled by train! Yes, everyone here couldn’t believe I had never been on a train before… But I’ve also learned a lot about myself. I learned I never want to live in a big city because I miss nature so much and the noise is finally getting to me. I’ve also learned that it’s better to not be in cliques and just have some really good friends. Drinking to get drunk is not cool here and is considered really low-class. Most importantly, I learned that it’s okay to be myself.

I had so many expectations when I first got here. I had my little list of things I wanted to do and places I wanted to go and people I wanted to meet up with. People had told me “You HAVE to go here” and “Promise me you’ll go here, it’s the most amazing place I’ve ever been!” and I put so much pressure on myself to go everywhere just to please those people. Of course, I didn’t make it everywhere I wanted to go, and currently my biggest fear is that I’ll get home and the first thing people will say is, “did you go here?” or “did you see this?” and I’ll feel like I’ve failed them. Right now, I’m concentrating on not having any regrets. I did and saw and met everyone I could. I didn’t get everything checked off my list, but Europe’s not going anywhere.

So please, may I ask you all one thing? Please don’t ask if I made it to a certain place. I’m sure I’ll tell you all about the places I went to a point where you’ll get sick of hearing about it.

No regrets,

Erin