And here it is, the final post. It's been a great ride, and hopefully at least one person has read my posts. I more or less gave my top insights in my last post (posted earlier today) and so this will be short and sweet. I want to thank everyone involved in my semester abroad. IES cheers for a top-notch program. Mom and Dad, thanks for helping me make this possible. And to all of my new friends, thanks for tearing up London with me, you're all the best and I don't know how the program would've been without you all.

One of the largest differences I have noticed between young Americans and young Italians is the different attitude towards school. This became especially clear and profound during a field study to La Sapienza, the largest Italian university.

On a three day trip to Greece, just about everything that could go wrong did - our trip to classical antiquity was marked with modern problems. Here are the three biggest problems and how we made the best of them:

1. Traveling to Athens on Easter weekend

A few weeks after booking our flights, we realized that Athens would be celebrating Easter during our entire stay. Furthermore, we read that many monuments, museums and shops would be closed and the city would be relatively empty as residents returned home to celebrate the holiday.

Playing host is challenging, stressful and wonderful. It also resulted in one of the best weekends in Rome and of my life.

Two of my closest friends from UNC came to Rome for three days over Easter from Dublin and Paris. What better place to celebrate Easter than the Vatican? I requested tickets to mass in St. Peter’s and we excitedly prepared for the experience.

As I sat in the hotel room looking at attractions in Venice, I decided to flip to the section about Rome. After all, I was basically a Roman local at this point – I’d lived in the city for almost two months! I could practically write the guidebook myself. Then I realized that I haven’t even seen a fraction of what Rome has to offer.

My first reaction was to panic about how I’ve wasted two months in Rome and how I really needed to buckle down and create a vigorous sightseeing schedule.

I’ve been lucky enough to have several friends and family members visit me during my time abroad. Here are my five favorite things about hosting guests in Rome!

1. Having friends visit allows me to continue my semester-long balancing act between being a local and being a tourist. I’ve been able to visit many of the tourist attractions (Trevi Fountain, Colosseum, etc.) with friends and had a great time snapping pictures among the crowd of admirers.

Before heading off to Napoli, we had received many warnings: don’t wander aimlessly, don’t lose track of your belongings, don’t go down any empty streets, don’t leave the leave the touristy areas and don’t go to the touristy restaurants on the waterfront. By the end of the day we had done most of these things – and had a day to remember.

 It is hard not to fall into a deep, heads over heels love for Rome. In honor of Valentine’s Day, here are a few of my favorite things about my new home:

On only our second weekend in Rome, two of my roommates and I decided to use Italy’s well-connected train system to see Tuscany. We decided to spend a day and a night in Pisa, and then take a quick train to Lucca, a small, picturesque town.

We had an incredible time in Pisa, partially due to the cloudless blue skies above the Piazza dei Miracoli, which houses the famous leaning tower. We climbed up the tower-battling vertigo and unsteadiness-and were rewarded with sweeping views of the town.

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.