Redefining 'Home'

Home. One of the most beautiful words in the english language, holding a unique meaning for each who utters it. Home. For me, I primarily think of my house in Glenview and my lovely family members that occupy it. However, I also think of my quaint little dorm room at Saint Louis University with its worn-in futon and echoes of sleepovers, movie nights, endless laughs, and dance parties from last semester’s past. I think of my Grandma’s house in Lake Geneva that I have been making memories in since I was a child. I think of my beaten up Toyota Camry and all of the people, smells, songs, and moments that have been visitors within its metal walls. I think of riding my bike down Lake Avenue and flying under the overpass, feeling like I am an unstoppable bird with a clear place in this world. I think of the Glenview Community Church basement, where I have had the opportunity to grow in my spirituality and learn to love myself and others. I think of driving around in my friends’ cars, screaming ‘Ignition’ into the abyss. I think of sitting at the Hands of Peace mural, reminiscing about the good times with people I miss. I think of deep talks with loved ones. I think of sweet texts that keep me going on the hard days. I think of handwritten letters. I think of hot mint tea. I think of comfort, familiarity, and happiness. And now, I think of Bologna, Italy.

It has been about two weeks since I’ve written a blog post, and since then I have had many  amazing experiences, built many great relationships, and travelled to many beautiful places. I am having such an incredible time here, and have truly come to call Bologna my home. I can now walk to the city center without getting lost, know which cafes have wifi and which don’t, understand the history of the buildings and places around town, feel comfortable hanging out with everyone in my program, and also feel very comfortable being alone. I am so happy here, and could not be more grateful for the wonderful times I have had and the even better times to come.

Now, for the details of my past few weeks!

Two Sundays ago I took a day trip to Verona with a bunch of my friends, and it was absolutely incredible. The city was stunning, with tons of cool architecture and buildings. It was my friend Ellie’s birthday too, so it was really fun to celebrate her along with the fact that we were in a new, exciting, magnificent city. We ate lunch at a really delicious restaurant in the main square area, and even got to sit outside since it was so warm. After lunch we walked around the city for a long time, exploring the touristy destinations (Juliet’s house, the main bridge, etc.), and taking the time to venture down some of the more quiet side streets; that is always where the most genuine and raw beauty is, in my opinion. To finish the day off, we walked to the top of a really pretty church on the mountain with a lovely panoramic view of the city. It was absolutely stunning, and could not have been a better end to a great day.

The day after I went to Verona, I left for an orientation trip to Switzerland with my whole program. It was a seven hour long bus ride to the town of Interlaken where we were staying, but the views from the windows of the bus as we were driving up the mountains made the long journey worth it. Once we got to the hostel and checked in, we had the rest of the night free to eat dinner and do whatever we wanted. A group of people and I decided it would be fun to go to the Irish pub down the street, which was delicious! I ordered a pesto grilled chicken sandwich on ciabatta bread, and I honestly think it was one of the best meals I have ever eaten. After the pub we went back to one of our hostel rooms and played a huge game of Hot Seat, which was a really fun way to get to know each other on a deeper level. The next day was arguably one of the best days of my life. While there were a bunch of people skiing and snowboarding, the less experienced people (including me of course, haha) took a train to the top of the mountain and hiked the Swiss Alps. We hiked for about three hours in total, and the views that we saw throughout those three hours were incomprehensible. The pictures I took will never do them justice, so I guess my advice for all of you is just to go and see the Alps for yourselves...you won’t regret it. After hiking, we got lunch and hung out in a cool restaurant at the top of the mountain. A few hours later, we took the train back down to our hostel, showered, and then helped one of our professors prepare the community meal for that evening. We made tortellini, some type of pasta with pesto, salad, meat & cheese platters, bread, and prepared the glasses of champagne for the toast. It was so much fun to help her make the meal, and we even got to drink wine while we were doing it! After eating dinner as a group and exchanging stories from the long day of mountain activities, a group of people and I went ice skating at an outdoor rink near the hostel. It was so much fun, and I was actually much better at ice skating than I had remembered. That night we went back and hung out in the lobby for a few hours, where we met a guy from Wisconsin named Jeff. He was super cool and had some really interesting life experiences. At the end of the night I asked him for some life advice, since he was 27 and inevitably a little wiser than us, and he said this: “don’t spend your whole life trying to find yourself...you must create yourself.” I subsequently found out that this is not an original piece of advice, but rather a quote by George Bernard Shaw. However, I am still grateful for the words of wisdom and the opportunity to have met Jeff. Overall Switzerland was an amazingly beautiful place, and although it was only a short trip, it was one of my favorite life moments thus far.

Last week I also had my first day at my internship, and it was really amazing. I am interning at the Happy Center, which is an organization that offers various activities and workshops for people experiencing homelessness to attend. It has a strong focus on social integration and community, and prioritizes long-term skill building over basic social services. When I walked in on my first day, the staff was incredibly welcoming and loving. They were excited to get to know me, showed me around, and expressed that I should feel comfortable being myself and making this internship experience what I wanted it to be. It was very different from internships I have done in America, where there is often a list of assigned tasks and office duties to attend to. Instead they wanted me to primarily serve as a companion to the people experiencing homelessness, while also helping to teach english and organize the workshops. In the Happy Center there is a fully functioning kitchen, and each day the staff assigns a different homeless individual to cook a meal for whoever is in the center at that time. That way they are able to gain nourishment as a result of their own hard work, rather than simply receiving food. The meal they cooked on my first day was spinach and rice with potatoes on the side, and it was absolutely delicious! I usually hate spinach, but decided to try it any way out of fear of being disrespectful, and ended up really really liking it. It was fun to talk with everyone during lunch, as they were all incredibly kind, outgoing, and actually very excited for me to be there. Following lunch, I just hung out with everyone in the common area for about an hour, talking with them about their life experiences, drawing pictures, and helping them with their english. The language barrier was honestly really difficult at first, as it made me feel uncomfortable, out of place, and a little bit useless.  However, I eventually became more confident speaking Italian as the day went on. Almost all of the people experiencing homelessness are actually learning english too, so my ability to help them with this skill was a valuable resource. I next helped Chiara (my supervisor) lead an English-Italian exchange workshop, which was super interesting. Instead of her and I being the teachers, we served more as facilitators. If individuals had a question, they were supposed to ask the group, and if the group didn’t know, then they could ask us as a last resort. It was very conversational, and focused on learning english while also building community. Everyone was so kind hearted and hilarious, especially in the ways that they interacted with each other. It was a very fun workshop, filled with lots of learning, but also lots of sarcasm, laughter, and joking around with one another. At the end of the class, one of the women suggested that they serenade me in Italian to initiate me into the Happy Center family. They did just that, and it was honestly one of the most beautiful and moving moments I have ever experienced. I cannot wait to go back this week.

This past weekend I went to Brussels with Ellie, Sophia, and Ally, and it was so much fun. We had to take a taxi, plane, bus, and train within the span of 5 hours, just to get from Bologna to our hostel in Brussels, but everything worked out smoothly and it was all worth it in the end. On the first day we were there, we walked around the city center, saw the Grand Place, and ate some DELICIOUS waffles and french fries. It was a very fun day, and later that night we went to the bar in our hostel to get some drinks and hang out. There we met a really cool man named Hamish, who lived in England and worked for Adidas. He was hilarious and very kind, and we talked with him for the rest of the night. The next morning we went to a flea market in the city, did some thrift shopping, went to a super cool art museum called the MIMA, walked around the Grand Place area a little more, then went back to the hostel for a short nap. That night we met up with a few of my friends from SLU who just so happened to also be in Brussels (CRAZY!!!), and it was so much fun. We went to a really cool bar called Delirium that had the largest selection of beers that I have ever seen, danced a little bit, and met some cool people (including a dad named Chris and a man from Boston named Erick who worked for the Belgian government). We finished the night off with final orders of fries and waffles, and then made the long 45 minute walk home after realizing that the metro stopped running after midnight. We left the next morning, after filling up on the minimal free breakfast that the hostel provided, and arrived back home in Bologna after another train, bus, plane, and taxi ride. Overall it was an amazing weekend filled with lots of funny memories, good talks, delicious food, and beautiful architecture.

Sorry this was such a long post! I really don’t know how much people want to know, so I figured I might as well give a good amount of details and then you all can choose to read it or not from there haha. If you’ve made it this far down the page, you’re truly a trooper! Hope you’re all doing well out there :)