If I Could Write A Letter...

I remember walking into this room, and being slightly disappointed, I didn’t expect the harsh tile floors and the sink with the wall crumbling around it. I knew the building was old. But I didn’t think it was THIS old. I didn’t know how to open the window or the shutters. I stood there for a second, breathing heavily after hauling my 50 pound suitcase up 4 flights of stairs, was this a good idea? My bed at home seemed so comfortable but so far away. I had a momentary crisis, a fleeting thought “I want to come home” raced through my head. I pushed it away as quickly as it was thought. I left the room grabbed my other suitcase. This was going to work. I will be damned if I don’t have a good time here.

I’m glad I was so determined to spend every moment like it was my last here. As I sit here looking at the sheets in a pile, the bed stripped bare, the bulletin boards empty, the stark wardrobes, all evidence that Kate and I ever lived here gone. It is ready for the next two (probably girls) to walk in and make the decision to take full advantage of the opportunities given to them while they are here.

If I could write them a letter it would go something like this:

Dear future residents of 309,

Welcome to J-Force! I know this room might seem a little sparse, a little old, a little worn down. But you will soon find that is it’s charm. You will spend many hours studying (probably not), sleeping (even less), and getting ready to go out (quite a bit) in this room. Enjoy every minute. Don’t let one minute pass where you regret your decision to come here. Live every moment and cherish it.

Here are a few helpful hints to get your started, The Abbey Theatre by Piazza Navona is a wonderful Irish Pub tell Oliver and Gareth Megan sent you. Campo dei Fiori is great, but try to expand your horizons when it comes to bars. There is more to Rome than The Drunken Ship. Get lost in the city. Let yourself wander, it’s the best way to see Rome. Before you know it, you won’t need a map you’ll know instinctually where you are and how to get where you are going: don’t pay attention to street signs. 

The biggest piece of advice I can give you, however, is to spend at least 2 weekends here in Rome. Traveling is a wonderful experience and you want to see every part of Europe. But don’t forget that you are LIVING in Rome. Enjoy Rome, go sightseeing, find the keyhole, go into so many churches you want to poke your eyes out. Walk around Villa Bourghese. Walk down Via del Corso from Piazza del Popolo to Piazza Venzia. Stand in from of San Pietro and wonder how all of this history, from the Colosseum to the Vatican all happened under your feet. Live and breath Rome until you become a part of it, and it becomes a part of you.

Enjoy your semester in Roma.

Ciao, Megan