Wednesday 27 January 2016

In the popular fashion of 'throwback to'...

Last night I met with an Australian that I hadn't seen for over a year. Our fleeting 2 week relationship, of singing English songs and painting our hair feels like a different life time. Living a whole world away from each other, casually thinking back as you flick through a picture, notice a Facebook status or find that ever loved red t-shirt and then bumping into each other in bustle of Liverpool Street Station. There is such a strong intensity of international friends, having not seen each other for so long but it becomes irrelevant. The gossips over a bottle of wine, in the candle-lit alcove of a very British pub, in the very brisk British, January weather, just flow with excitement, congratulations, memories and genuine happiness that you are both in the same time-zone.

Our recollections of children, tutors, host families and the beautiful heat got me reminiscing. My experiences in Italy since the very first time I stood in a piazza in Venice, at 10pm and at 30 degrees, have changed my world. The chinking of espresso cups and thick heat when I was just 12 sparked my love for my second home country. The obvious lessons of learning to live alone, to adapt, to travel efficiently, stay safe etc seem completely irrelevant when you suddenly have a little throwback memory. I'm quite pleased that the world of technology has moved on from tapes as I would've worn out Theme Park's 2015 album during this summer. I played it endless to remind me of home, my boyfriend, laying in his garden in the slightly weaker British sun. Now, even the first sound, I'm thrown back to one host family's garden. Feeling the burn of the sun, the children squabbling in Italian (in the shade, of course), lesson planning. The same album reminds me of my last camp, having the same song on repeat with the kids coursing round the classroom. A song from that album takes me to my 2nd camp this summer, with the most hilarious dancing from both the tutors and children, and laying under the trees at lunch. The smile I had on my face when Queen's Breakthru came on and I was on my way to Verona to meet my man. I was in an empty carriage, all the windows down and genuinely felt like Freddie, on top of the world. The things you should take from travelling are not trivial 'travellers' lessons, like 'how to read the Milanese metro map,' or 'feeling like a local' but really it's about treasuring that time. Those memories bring a smile to my face when I'm least expecting it. When you grow up, you realize that you might not see friends for years, but when you do, it's worth the wait. You realize that things do not go to plan, you miss a train, you get ill, but remembering what came from those wrong plans are the best bits.

I am amazingly fortunate to have been offered a funded PhD; I have moved in with Tim after the struggles of a long-distance relationship, which really wasn't that bad, and I have new thrills and life challenges. Unfortunately, this will be the first year I won't be spending my summer in Italy. I'm already having withdrawal symptoms from the beautiful country and will do everything in my power to return as often as I can. I am the person I am today because of my time in Italy, it was so precious and I thoroughly encourage anyone to saver their time there.

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