London Calling

Many people have a mantra they live by, a saying that goes perfectly with their life. Mine is : "Nothing could ever be easy" This past year, this saying has been proven true to me so many times and although it sounds so negative, I've learned to embrace it and accept the challenges that life throws at me, because hey what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

So over 12 hours ago, I began my journey traveling to Europe. I'm taking Virgin Atlantic to London, I have a layover for 5 hours then I take British Airways to Pisa, Italy where I'll take a bus to Florence. To say I still have a lot of traveling ahead of me is an understatement. Last minute I decided to take an extra luggage, and was going to check online to save money and time. Thankfully I did because I received an email from British Airways casually informing me my connecting flight to Italy has been cancelled! Like I said, Nothing could ever be easy. 

Fast forward 30 minutes from checking that email to me frantically leaving my house, my dog, and my town and heading to JFK hoping to fix this problem. Luckily for me Virgin Atlantic couldn't do anything! This problem was with British Airways and when I arrived in London I would have to deal with the airline directly. Obviously my first time traveling alone, overseas nonetheless, this would happen. It's okay though, because this won't be my last time traveling alone and worse things could have happened.

Leaving my parents and walking alone going through security alone and boarding the plane by myself was one of the moments Ill remember forever. I felt such a liberation in the pit of my stomach. At that moment I walked away, I knew my journey really started and I was on my own. Despite the setbacks, this is one of the greatest moments ever!

I arrived in London safely and after retrieving my own luggage (Shout out to my dad to workout out my arms this winter break so managing all this weight was easy!)  I worked out with British Airways a new flight. Now I'll be taking a different airline, Vueling Airlines, directly to Florence (which is great- No need to take an extra bus or train!) but instead of leaving at 11:20, my flight isn't until 3PM ( London time). So here I am, stuck in the London airport at Costa Coffee patiently waiting until 1PM so I can check in my luggage. It is currently 10:46 here and 5:46 back in NY so safe to say I'm exhausted. But that's the cost of traveling! Hopefully the rest of my trip goes as according to planned. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the British eye candy and hearing the amazing accents :)

Websites, Apps and Blogs...Oh My!

Oh my gosh I can not believe that I finally embark on my journey in 7 days!!! This morning I was in bed and I looked at my countdown and I could not believe how quickly this past month has flown by. I feel like the moment I received my acceptance to Lorenzo de' Medici was just last month, not October. With everything trickling down to just days, i'm starting to get everything prepared for departure. I thought it would be a good idea to write about some useful tools I have been using to get prepared for my trip!

Websites:

The internet is a beautiful thing, especially in this day and age. You can virtually find anything you need and is a blessing for those studying abroad. Check out these websites below and in my last post to help you maximize your experience abroad!

Life in Italy

If your studying abroad in Italy or plan on visiting, this website is a great tool to find out what is happening. This website covers everything from food to news and even includes a section on learning Italian! It is insanely helpful and should definitely be used by anyone who will be in the beautiful country of Italy. 

Student Rate

As an avid pinterest user, I obviously follow Studentrate! Not only do they post great pins, but there website is super helpful. Srtrends has information about basically everything, including links to about every great blog on studying abroad. Just type in study abroad in their search engine for their site, and you'll have an array of information at your fingertips, all organized in one great spot. (My favorite so far is the one on planning weekend trips!)

Apps: 

Like most students who study abroad, I am going to a country where they speak an entirely different language. Besides some slang words and common sentences, I do not know much Italian. I'm required to take an Italian class while in Florence, but I've been using these apps daily to teach myself before I get there! It is never too early to start preparing. 

Duolingo

Why I love it: Not only is this app FREE but it is fun (yes fun) and easy to use. Unlike most free apps where you repeat things and is more like an online dictionary, this is a game that targets different areas of learning a language. Not only are you translating sentences yourself, but you are even have to speak into the app yourself! I think its great that this app test you on how you are even pronouncing words, because most free apps don't include that much. 

Available for: iPhone & Androids. Also, you can download this app for either Spanish, English, Italian, French, Portuguese and even German! 

Molto Bene

Why I love it: Another FREE app to help you learn a new language, this app is very easy to use! It includes different types of courses and sub-courses which makes it easy to learn a vast amount of vocabulary for no cost. In the course 'Beginner' alone, it includes 20 free lessons ranging from Greetings to Talking about Languages. Some aspects of this app aren't free and involve an upgrade of a one time payment of $9.99 but I don't think it is necessary considering you can access a majority of the app for free. 

Available for:  iphone and Android devices, and you can download other versions of this app for Spanish, Portuguese, French and German 

Blogs:

One piece of advice I am constantly hearing is to research the country you are going studying in. Every country is different whether it is because of their language, culture, major religions or even geographical location. Instead of reading long articles, a fun way to research your country is by searching blogs of other people who have studied abroad! It is an interesting way to see the perspective of students our age and all of their experiences. Here are some of my favorite blogs I have been following!

Blair Blogs

An avid blogger, Blair always posts great tips! I found her on Pinterest and made sure I checked her blog to read her experience on studying abroad. Even though she did not go to Italy, she included great posts on her journey in Spain. This specific link will bring you to a guest blog post that was on her site and there you can find the link to her blog about studying abroad experiences. I found it very helpful!

University Foodie

Since I was a young girl, food has been a part of my culture. Not just on my Italian side, but my Spanish as well. I love trying new foods and experimenting in the kitchen! So you can only imagine my excitement when I found this blog about the BEST places to eat in Florence. I was so excited, I called my dad in to go over each place. This list is filled with amazing places that will make your mouth drool with excitement. I can't wait to try each one!


Picture links:
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Ciao! With basically three weeks left to go until Florence, it is crunch time to get everything done!
Although I am a student at SUNY Oneonta, I am not studying abroad through my school specifically. One of the great things about the SUNY system is that I can travel abroad using any SUNY school program-regardless if I go to that school or not. Granted, if I were to just go through my school I bet the process might have been a little easier but by using other SUNY schools I had access to hundreds of different possibilities!

If you are a SUNY student interested in studying abroad, see the numerous options on this website!
Since Oneonta does not have a program in Italy, I will be using Broome Community College's program to study at Lorenzo de' Medici. This means that I needed to 'withdraw' from Oneonta and become a temporary student at BCC. So technically, for this semester I am a student at BCC and my courses from Italy will become credits to BCC which will then transfer to Oneonta. Confusing right?!
That's not even the half of it. BCC does't really have direct connection with Lorenzo de' Medici. They are using the College of Staten Island's program for this study abroad program! So, through this whole process of filling out applications for Lorenzo de' Medici itself, my visa, and various other travel documents; I had to send different papers to each of these two schools! Although it got hectic at times, I'm so happy I went with this program. If you are a NY resident and would like to study abroad, I would highly recommend these two schools. They were constantly professional, always helpful and made this process as easy as it possibly could be. My visa was actually taken care of by CSI! They took the liberty to make an appointment with the Italian consulate and get my visa for me, while I was finishing my fall semester. Most study abroad programs make you take care of the visa yourself.

I digress... today CSI held an orientation for all students who are going through them to study abroad in Florence, 3 cities (another option offered by LDM, it is a semester in three different cities- Tuscany, Venice and Rome), Greece, Australia, and Rome. It was awesome to talk to other students to see what plans they had or similar emotions about this whole process. All in all, it was a very informing orientation. I finally got to meet all the people I've been in contact with in CSI study abroad office and they took the time to explain great tips for being abroad. We covered cultural shock, safety tips and even had a great discussion with two students who just came back from Florence. I'm grateful I took advantage of this opportunity because it was so informing. The breakout session with the students was probably the best part because they offered the best advice considering they just got back from Italy! Here are the best tips I got from them:

• Do not over pack! Only bring 1 luggage filled with the absolute necessities. (This is going to be the toughest one to learn)
• Have fun, but remember you are in Florence to learn. LdM is not an easy school, there is homework daily throughout the semester with attendance taken regularly. Get out and explore, but school comes first.
• For cheap train travel use: Italotreno This website was highly recommended, you can get a round trip ticket to Milan for about 22 Euros!
• For cheap airfare use: Ryanair Only catch is you can not bring a luggage, only a carry on- but when your traveling for a weekend, how much stuff do you actually need?
• Need a place to stay? Try Airbnb Now, this site sounds iffy at first because when you use this site you aren't booking a room at a hotel but a room in someone's apartment. You can rent out their house when no one is home or when there are people at home. My personal tip- read the reviews of specific houses and travel with people just in case!
• Register with S.T.E.P (Smart Traveler Enrollment Program) this is a site through the U.S department of state which allows travelers to submit information about their trip to ensure safety while abroad. Also, if there is an emergency the US can better assist you and will notify you about any important information.

I hope you find this information useful, and if anyone has any questions about anything please do not hesitate to ask! I will definitely be taking advantage of these sites and I hope they come of use to you as well. Xo 

Ciao! For those of you who don't know me, I am an incredibly indecisive person. I never know what I want, and I need to think of 13 million possibilities before I make a decision. However, Studying Abroad is the only thing I can think of that I have always been set on doing. Ever since I was in high school, I knew I wanted to spend at least one semester studying in another country. I never understood how anyone could not want to do this and going into Freshman year at SUNY Oneonta I could not wait to make that dream happen.

And now I can say that in 24 days, my dream is finally coming true! I'll be heading to Florence the 28th and I could not be more excited about it! For months I have been excited, stressed, overjoyed, scared, nervous, ecstatic- basically an INSANE emotional roller coaster! But honestly, I wouldn't trade any of the tears, annoyance, or hard work for anything. I haven't set foot in Florence yet and I already know how amazing it is going to be. I mean, i'm going to be spending months in one of my home countries and have the ability to eat great food and travel the continent- what can possibly be better than that?!

I have a lot of hopes for this trip, and I can't wait to get started on this journey. I am half Italian and Chilean, and being able to study in place where my father, uncles, grandparents and cousin grew up is an amazing opportunity. One of my main goals of this trip is to head down South to Calabria where my family originated from.

I think being able to see where my family came from would be amazing. My dad makes fun of me for it, but apparently we own a Chestnut farm and I don't care how ridiculous it sounds I want to see it!

I still have a long 24 days to go, but hopefully writing will make the time go faster. I can't wait to be a student at Lorenzo De' Medici and I'm looking forward to all of the wonderful things in store for me. I've only been to Italy once, about 8 years ago, so if anyone has any suggestions or tips feel free to get in contact with me! Grazie xo