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4 Goals for 4 Months in the Eternal City

Amanda Sztein
May 1, 2015

1. Explore on my own

I’ve never traveled further than down the East Coast without my family or a school group. It will be a challenge for me to explore on my own without being afraid of getting lost or stuck in a situation with a large language barrier. I look forward to leaving the apartment armed with only my sense of adventure. 

2. Improve my Italian language skills enough to have a conversation about the 3 Cs: il calcio (soccer), il cibo (food) and la cultura (culture).

There is only so much you can learn in a language classroom. The rest you learn on the street when you’re hopelessly lost, in a café asking about the concert or soccer games happening over the weekend and trying to convince a train ticket collector that you did pay for a ticket and you have no idea why it refuses to scan properly.

3. Learn to live as a local

I am extraordinarily excited to learn my favorite places -my favorite café, gelateria, piazza and specialty shops. I look forward to the days where I can navigate my way to IES, shops and piazzas without discreetly checking Google Maps on my phone. The first time that someone asks me for directions that I can successfully answer will be a true moment of triumph.

4. …and a tourist

I think it will be equally important for me to break out the camera and pose in front of the major monuments. I dislike being immediately pegged as a tourist, but I will have to push that aside and enjoy the main sights. What's a trip to Italy without a goofy photo holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa or prentending to be a gladiator in the Colosseum? 

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Amanda Sztein

<p>Amanda is a junior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, majoring in Economics and Contemporary European Studies with a Philosophy, Politics and Economics minor. After graduation, she wishes to travel frequently while working with international trade and diplomacy. Her idea of a perfect day is enjoying an Orioles victory at Camden Yards followed by fresh crab cakes in Baltimore&#39;s Inner Harbor. She is excited to achieve Italian fluency,visit every Roman museum, find the perfect scoop of gelato and argue about soccer with locals at the neighborhood café.</p>

Home University:
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Major:
Economics
Other
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