Rewind one year. As a college student thinking I had found my passion, I enrolled in a study abroad program with my favorite professor to pursue my dreams: studying art history in a place where both of these things are available in abundance: Italia. Using every charm I posses to convince my father that this would be the perfect opportunity for me (dinner, copious wine, and careful constructed arguments as to how this would better me as a person), he finally agreed to fund my studies and we signed me up for a month in Italy. This would prove to be a dangerous investment because here I am, eight months after the start of the program, living in the eternal city.

The study abroad program exceeded my expectations in every possible way. Spending personal time with my favorite professor, experiencing first hand the art I had studied (an indescribable experience) in both museums and Churches in Firenze and Roma as well as the art and architecture that lines the streets of both cities, experiencing the abundance of culture in the country and completely indulging myself for one glorious month. The people of Italy (for the most part) were warm, friendly, and happy to indulge me. I met some incredible people who I would still describe as some of my best friends. I ate everything. I almost drank the country out of wine. Oh yeah, I did some studying too.

All joking aside, as my first experience in Europe, I would not have changed a thing. I studied a lot more in depth something that I'm passionate about. And as I previously mentioned, experiencing the rich culture that the country has to offer is something that was beyond my widest dreams. Having come from the west coast of Canada (a city where our oldest building is around 150 years old) I felt I had found my place. One of the most beautiful things as an expatriot living in Rome is that the city is FILLED with history. One minute you're completely lost, the next you're stumbling across a ruin that's almost 2000 years old in the middle of the city.  Italians of course are completely oblivious to the gloriousness of their everyday surroundings, and if they do happen to notice them they are usually too sophisticated to care.

Also on this study abroad program I met my incredible boyfriend who we shall call Gino for the sake of anonymity (inside joke). He works as the manager of the restaurant and bar at the campsite where my class stayed in Rome. After two weeks of blissful vacation time spent getting to know each other, neither of us thought it would escalate beyond that but here we are today. Having just moved in together (a first for both of us), we're experiencing the trials and tribulations of starting our life together. For the most part it's been an incredibly fulfilling experience, although we do have both language and cultural barriers working against us at times.

Having spent a month backpacking around some other places in western Europe, I still felt that Italy was my place and longed to go back and spend more time there. I was lucky enough to be able to fulfill that wish (throwing coins in the Trevi Fountain was apparently a solid investment for 2 Euros) and here I am today.

This blog will be a place for me to document my experiences in Rome. Please excuse the length of this post. Mostly for introductory purposes I will try in the future to be more specific to a single event or topic. Most people reading this will have already heard my story (by most people I mean my Mom, who will probably be the only person), but like I said new stories to follow. Enjoy!!

XX