From Via delgi Scipioni

Upon arriving in Italy, the first thing we did was explore our apartment. Stella, Karley, and I shared a three-person room, each with our own twin bed, spaced just a few feet apart. Every morning, we’d sit on our beds, getting ready together and chatting about the day ahead. On that very first day, we opened the window to let in the sounds of the Italian streets—buzzing scooters, distant conversations in Italian, and the occasional bark of a dog—while sunlight streamed through the curtains.

Not long after settling in, we left the apartment for our first walk to the Rome Center. It was our first taste of navigating cobblestone streets, dodging cars and mopeds that didn’t quite follow the same traffic rules we were used to. We passed historic buildings, overflowing flower boxes on balconies, and street vendors calling out to tourists.

It was the beginning of two weeks filled with cultural immersion, laughter, unexpected lessons, and the kind of memories you can only make when you step into something completely new.