3 more weeks of Italy.

With only three weeks left I cant believe I have made it. Honestly. There were more then a handful of times I thought about giving up on this journey and going back home, but now that I am on the end stretch I can not believe I have conquered living abroad for a year! I came to Italy with excitement and desire and the world at my finger tips. I came not knowing exactly what to expect or how I was going to survive this experience. However I was humbled to the fullest. I had a very big case of homesickness and isolation as it was my first time having a language barrier. Now I speak some Italian and it is very helpful, but at first I felt extremely embarrassed. I also had a really hard time adjusting to this new lifestyle. Americans are hard workers. Or at least most of us are. Here in Italy they spend little time sleeping however, they spend a lot of time doing nothing. A lot of time is spent on smoking cigarettes and sitting around. Customer service is NOT their priority. In fact on many occasions I have felt as though any question I have or reason to ask for help has been a very big annoyance to the current employee. It's a very strange feeling. In America we have places we can call to complain for bad customer service or a lack of kind treatment. Here it is to be expected.

Italians are a kind breed once you have proven yourself to them. My two male bosses, one 24-years-old and the other 28-years-old took me in. They began to teach me the ways of this country. I was lucky in this case. After three months of living here I was illegal, and my one boss is a son to a high end mafia man. This I did not know before I began this work but soon after I met him I could see plain as day just how high powered he was. With this I also realized how protected I was. More then once police were in to check documents and I was always over looked and smiled at kindly. A Brazilian girl from a bar down the street was sent back and banned from Italy for 10 years for being the same illegal as I was. That could have been me!! Now these two men are two of my best friends here and I would even consider them my family. They also took in my sister. She never worked for them once but she never paid for a drink and they never even asked a thing of her from me. Kisses and hugs were always given almost as if she was their sister as well. Something I hope I never forget.

Living abroad is 100% different then being a traveling tourist. There is no way to explain it to someone who has never done it. There is no comparison. It is something that now I can grow from. The first year anywhere is the hardest and when it is now time to go back it feels like I am just beginning. I am ready to go home that is for sure. But now I have a life here. Now I can speak the language. Now I understand the ways of this country. And I will miss it dearly.