The summer before my senior year in the Schedler Honors College, I was awarded a Travel Abroad Grant (TAG) for studying abroad for a month in Florence, Italy. I knew from I^2 Day, where it was explained that Honors provides special grants for traveling abroad, that I wanted to act on that opportunity for myself. At that time, I didn’t know this would lead me to Florence, but I am incredibly glad that it did. I am a psychology major in addition to being an Honors interdisciplinary studies minor, so this trip was perfect in two ways since it offered credit for Honors and for Psychology. Still, this was not the only reason I wanted to go. I was also drawn in by the course’s focus—the Renaissance—and by the thought of finally seeing the Italian cities I had long been captivated by in movies, in person. I used to stare in wonderment at the screen, wondering what it was like to walk on the cobblestone streets and look up at the soft pastel buildings. I didn’t imagine that in a few years, I wouldn’t have to wonder because my feet and eyes would be able to answer the questions I had once asked.
During the trip, we explored popular chapels like Santa Croce, science museums like that of Otzi the Iceman, and art museums like the Uffizi. We also became regular users of the Florence tram system, as well as the Italian train system. I also got to ride a cable car and a funicular for the first time. I was surprised at how nice it was to ride on public transit. There was a sense of deep community and resourcefulness I felt on the tram—not only was I cutting down on carbon emissions but I was also doing it with a thousand different permutations of people who were in Florence at the same time I was. I felt this same joy at walking around the different cities we visited. Coming from a country where towns are not always walkable, it was nice to feel a kinship with the other people on the street, whether we were walking to a restaurant, standing in a city square, or sitting down eating sandwiches with our feet hanging off the sidewalks.
Overall, I visited eleven different Italian cities within the trip’s four-week time span. These included not only well-known names like Cinque Terre and Pisa but also not-as-well-known places like Bagnoregio, Civita, and Bolzano. Here, I learned more Italian and discovered each city for myself. My favorite destinations were Bolzano, Bagnoregio, and Corniglia, a village in Cinque Terre. In Bolzano, I observed the blending of German and Italian culture. There were würstel stands next to Italian pastry stands. There were also usually three languages listed on menus, street signs, and museum infographics: Italian, German, and English. I loved the city for how calm it felt in comparison to Florence during its busy season. Bolzano, in contrast, felt more open with its wide streets and mountains that we could see even from directly outside of our hostel’s automatic doors. Later, I went to Bagnoregio with Dr. Sobel and a group of five other students on one of our stretches of free days. There, we were able to stay in an Airbnb with bright yellow accents and an intimidating set of stairs off to the right that led to two other floors and an attic room. It was a brief, inclined walk from the small, quiet town of Bagnoregio to the smaller yet bustling city of Civita, which rested on a tall hill that made the city look like a picturesque scene from a video game. I loved these towns for their relaxed atmosphere and how they made us feel like we already belonged. Corniglia, located within Cinque Terre, was so beautiful that I felt I was inside the movies I had always admired. Each day, I walked down to the marina and felt grateful for the chance to swim in its clear blue-green water and sunbathe on its tall, gray rocks. I was also able to learn about the sea culture that exists there and to see what a local house looked like from the inside, with its historical patterned tiles and windows looking onto the street down below.
I also made friends, both inside and beyond the Honors community. One of my favorite memories with this group is when we walked to a Florence movie theater to watch The Little Mermaid, completely in Italian. We had to rely on our previous knowledge of the plot to understand what was happening, which made the experience even better. That night and the language barriers that sprung up on other days also reminded me of what it may be like to be an immigrant in the US, trying to decode the words and signals other people toss at them. I have a belief that so many connections lie outside of our reach due to cultural and linguistic barriers. I feel that, because of my time abroad, I am now better equipped to connect with other people by bridging the gaps that lie between us. I am coming back from this study abroad opportunity with a greater confidence in myself and a broader connection to life outside of my immediate surroundings.
Erin George
Psychology
Class of 2024
