I'm sooo prepared for this trip.

Ciao tutti!

Tomorrow at 12:20 pm I will embark on my yearlong journey to Bologna, Italy. I’ve never been to Bologna, I don’t know anyone there and I don’t know where I’m living yet. Needless to say: I’m quite terrified. I will be attending the Universita’ di Bologna, which, from what I hear has approximately 92,000 students (including roughly 5,000 international students). Having this many students both Italian and international definitely settles my nerves. I’ve also heard that the environment is similar to my school: UW-Madison…so I’m eager to see what a foreign ‘college town’ is like. While undeniably anxious and scared, I also have a background in Italian that assures me (and my parents) I’m going to be OK.

In 2007 I lived with a wonderful host family in the southern Italian town of Giovinazzo (10 minutes north of Bari). Being only 16, having never been outside North America and knowing only how to say ‘hello’ in Italian, I had the learning experience of lifetime. I was completely immersed in the culture and forced to use language skills I learned while I was there. While I can’t say I’m fluent in Italian, my 6 month experience gave me the confidence to continue Italian and essentially send me overseas tomorrow.

A lot of people ask me why I chose Bologna instead of a place like Rome or Florence. Wisconsin is involved in a consortial studies program at Bologna, so I do not have to un enroll from Madison and most, if not all of my credits abroad will transfer. But what really drew me into the city was the history, art and of course the delectable cuisine. Bologna is often called La Dotta, La Rossa, La Grassa. La Dotta (the learned) for the prestige and importance of the university, La Rossa (the red), for both its predominant coloration (red brick roofing and paving) and the long-standing communist government, and La Grassa (the fat) because of the superior quality of its cuisine and the wealth of the population. I’m sure I’ll write more about the city, so I won’t bore you with details now.

With the intention to only go for a semester, I attended a “Study Abroad-Italy” meeting at the beginning of March. During the meeting the advisors really pushed going for a year. I was a little interested, but I did not want to miss out on the treasured football season and more importantly 2 whole semesters at the best Big 10 school… ever. At the end of the meeting I got a little bit more information on the academic-year abroad and found out that I was 2 months past the deadline, even if I were to be interested. Well, now I was instantly interested. I had to go for a year. Luckily, I have the 2 greatest parents in the world and they gave me the OK as long as I was accepted. I called the study abroad office and they told me that I could still apply. A week later I was given the confirmation and the rest is history. While I’m absolutely bummed I’m forgoing football season, one year in Italy gives me the opportunity to not only travel through Europe but stabilize my Italian and allow myself to become completely immersed in Italian culture, something that I would not be able to do with only a semester. My main goal is language proficiency, but also a further understanding of the area and how a “Bolognian” does it.

The past two days have consisted of my mother and I (well mainly my mom) purging everything that I haven’t used in the past year, garbage bags full. Now everything that I own fits in a small room in our basement. But, I am far from ready. As of right now, I will leave my house in Whitefish Bay in 13 hours. To paint a clearer picture: I have not one item in a suitcase, and we are currently at the Stalle’s for dinner. (I hope you can sense the sarcasm in the title of this post) So, it’s safe to say I have a long night ahead of me...yippy.

Anyways, I created this blog primarily for myself to recap all of my travels but also to keep my friends and family updated with my life over the next year! So follow my blog and accompany me during my adventure through the historical, learned and savory city that is Bologna!

Wish me luck tonight!

Mallory