Chase Harvey

One of my favorite moments was going to Tuscania for a week to relax and see how only an hour north of Rome changes the culture. It was filled with many exciting things to do, but my favorites were going to a wine farm and a cheese farm. We were taught the process of how their products were made and more importantly why they were important. These people spend their entire years almost at their farms working on their craft with their families and rarely go away for long periods of time. I just loved seeing their energy and love for their businesses. On that early morning at the cheese farm, I remember being struck by how the farmer's knowledge was nothing compared to how much love he had for his herd of animals. 

As a music major, I adored going to the opera. It was so beautiful to see how performances were portrayed and directed from an outside perspective. It was so cool to see what my Italian friends thought of the performance, but it was more cool to see them use roman ruins in the background as a part of their set even if it did fit the time and setting.

Before Rome, I never really branched out in my cooking, but this summer I decided to cook a lot more. One of my favorite moments was cooking for my apartment almost every night and sometimes trying new dishes out of Roman cookbooks. I ended up cooking at my professor's apartment a few times and it was just amazing to see how important food is in Italy. Our meals truly united our program together and it was the center of almost every day.

One of my most memorable moments was when most our of friends had left Rome to travel for a weekend and my friend and I planned a whole day together. Specifically, it was when we went to Castel Sant'Angelo that truly was memorable. It would be easy to spend almost an hour walking around the entire castle and seeing everything. However, we spent hours there just talking about our time so far in Rome. It was a gorgeous afternoon and we stood on top of the castle to look and point at the various points of Rome we had become familiar with over the many weeks.

Although I have watched not a lot of football (or in this case soccer), this was probably one of the best moments of the trip. It was just astonishing to see thousands of people flood into one stadium mostly just to talk with their family and friends. Of course, it was incredible to see people's passion for their team but it was just so cool to see how this aspect of Roman life bonded everyone together so effortlessly. By the end of the game, I felt like I had found a bypass in my struggle with the language and cultural barrier. It was a moment of relaxation and joy within the chaos of our study abroad for me.