One week from now I will be taking my first steps through the streets of Siena, Italy! My emotions are a rollercoaster—one minute I’m so excited that I can’t sit still, the next minute I’m so nervous I want to cry, the next minute I’m wondering how I am going to fit everything in this week—packing, shopping, and saying goodbyes. Everywhere I go I am bombarded with questions. How long? Where are you living? Are you done packing (to this question I give an incredulous look—I’m just starting!!)?? Are you nervous? Are you excited? Are you CRAZY? It is exhausting.
So as I try to fit my life into one suitcase and one carry-on, I have to make decisions…one big journal or a couple small ones? How many sweaters? Does this pair of shoes go with enough outfits? In the middle of these questions that are so trivial (yet sometimes seem so big) I try to contemplate the more important questions: What are my long-term goals for this semester? How do I hope to grow? What do I want to get out of this experience and what will I do to accomplish that?
My life feels like one big question. One big question because I can’t even fathom what my life will be like one week from now. I don’t know the people who will share the next 4 months with me. I don’t know the language that will surround me. It reminds me of a quote by Gilda Radner: “Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. delicious ambiguity…”
A postcard I received from IES Siena!
- Necessities: journals and clothes!
well-prepared
- A friendly reminder as I nervously pack…
- My friend got me this day-by-day calendar full of beautiful pictures of Italy!
- My grandparents gave me this book about Italy…published in 1907!
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Mary Kelso
<p><span style="color: rgb(29, 29, 29); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; background-color: rgb(237, 237, 237);">Ciao! I’m Mary and I’m blessed to spend the semester in Siena, Italy. I’m a junior double major in Psychology and English at Hope College in the charming West Michigan town of Holland. I grew up in the woods of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and love to go on adventures, have deep conversations, drink unnecessary amounts of chai tea, play the piano, become totally engrossed in books, and most of all—learn. I am very excited to be immersed in the Italian culture and beautiful language, learn to cook, and have the experience of a lifetime! I can’t wait to share my journey with you!</span></p>
