I cannot believe how fast my time in Siena went. As I pack up my room, I keep remembering what it felt like in my first few days as I put up my decorations and picture frames and made this place feel like home. Now, a piece of my heart will always be in Tuscany. 

As I prepare to leave, I thought I would share some lessons I have learned during my time abroad. Studying and living in Siena has been a transformative experience that has taught me so much about myself, others, and the world around me.

As my time is coming to an end in Siena, I wanted to write about some of my favorite places I saw in Italy and share some photos. While the city was incredible, I loved taking the Friday through Sunday weekends to see as much of the country as I could while I was living in Tuscany. While there is even more I wish I saw, hopefully some of my recommendations you will find helpful in your future travel plans! 

Today officially marks 10 days of Astha being home from Milan. Home is India for me, and I live in a small town so it was another big transition. When you are an international student, most of your journeys are alone but you meet people at the destination. That sounds a little dramatic. All I am saying is that I was bumped because a lot of my friends had the same flights flying back or while coming to Italy,  while I was flying across the opposite side of the globe. 

After a whirlwind of flights, culminating in 20 hours trying to get back to Michigan, I have officially been home for a week and couldn’t be happier. I will start off by saying that reverse culture shock back into American life is real and I’m definitely still trying to get my bearings back together. That being said, I am so happy to be home, but also sad that I had to leave my IES Abroad Berlin family. Back when I was first applying for study abroad programs, I thought being away from home for four months would be too long to the point where I considered not going.

I have always dreamed of living abroad since I was a kid. My parents had lived in Germany before I was born, and they would tell me stories and show me pictures of all the interesting experiences they had while living there. The thought of visiting another country was exciting but also scary because there are so many unknowns.