Thursday ended my first semester as a senior in undergraduate school. I powered through all of my finals and I think I did well. I wont know my grades for at least a week but I don't think I failed anything so that's a good thing. There was a farewell dinner that night for everyone. It was actually pretty nice. Granted I didn't get to know a lot of the people in the program but it was nice to say goodbye to my professors and some of the friends I had made there. It was sad though because I don't know when or if I'll ever get to go back there and I really would love to.
Friday was my last full day in Firenze. I went out and bought all the little things I needed to bring back for my family, took one last walk around the Duomo, one last walk across Ponte Vecchio and looked out over the Arno and walked back to my apartment for the last time. It was a surreal feeling. Actually, it didn't really hit me at all until I was at the airport Saturday in Rome (one of my transfers to get home) that I was leaving Italy and not knowing when I would be back again.
Saturday, I left Firenze at 7:10AM (Italy time) and landed in JFK at 3:30PM (New York time). It was a 14 hour travel day but the flights weren't bad at all. I slept most of the time anyway. I am excited to be home but I miss Firenze. I can say that I am definitely experiencing reverse culture shock. Everything feels so rushed and it feels a little more hostile here. I've been in such a relaxed country that I had forgotten what it's like here. I just need some time to catch up with myself and my environment. It'll probably take 10 days to 2 weeks for me to be comfortable enough and be settled in. I've missed my family, my boyfriend, and my friends so much and I am happy to be home but I can't just rush back into things. I need to ease myself back into a way of life that I once had. I just feel a little jumbled right now and it's hard to deal with.
So, that's the end of my study abroad living. I haven't quite decided if I will keep this blog or not. I've had blogs/journals on here before and they continue to bring me a lot of unnecessary drama in my life. I also was going to shut down my facebook for a little while too but I haven't decided on that either. I'm not really sure of a whole lot right now anyway. We'll see though.
I think you should keep it going. There is bound to be some sort of cultural shock involved with being home and re-adjusting. This could be a good outlet for that.
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