Romesick.

Dear Rome,


Just thinking about you, thought I would drop you a line. How are you doing over there? America is, ya know, pretty cool I guess - I am enjoying the free water and the public restrooms that are severely lacking in your neck of the woods. I also really love the fact that I now have a dryer again, so that I don't have to put up with line drying all of my clothes. As much as I enjoyed crunchy underwear and tshirts...

Literally,  a Roman Dryer.

I also don't miss tripping over your uneven streets (since I can't seem to grasp the concept of picking my feet up when I walk), the sickly sound that your sirens make (are you sure that the people inside the ambulance are sick or is the siren just wailing about its own pain?) and my daily near-death encounters with various motor vehicles. But, among these things, there are so many things I miss about you.

For the first week, I was undeniably homesick. The realization hit me that I was stuck with you for 2.5 months, and if I didn't like you, I was screwed. I was filled to the brim with fear that the people in my program wouldn't like me, or that worse, they would be weird, and I was also afraid about being so far away from home for so long, in a country filled with people who didn't speak my language. (A trait I began to embrace as it was quite easy to speak about your population without censorship.) However, I remember when I fell in love with you. The first weekend I was with you, I walked all over the city in search of Giolitti (the best gelato on planet earth, and maybe a few other planets as well) and ended up at the McDonalds in front of the Pantheon (which, as you well know, I left part of my heart in.) I was eating curly fries in front of the most intact ancient structure you have to offer, listening to a street performer sing "Wild World" by Cat Stevens and chatting with someone who was a mere acquaintance but who became one of my best friends. I would grow to love these moments.

Doing as the ancient Romans did. (Riiiight...)

My memories with you are countless and precious, and I would not be able to chronicle them all in this letter if I had an entire fortnight to complete it. From the first time I saw the Roman Forum...

I give to you, the Forum.

...and the first time I sampled your pizza...

I would have starved if not for this.

...I became irrevocably enamored with you. You offered me the opportunity to wake up to this every morning:

A view of St.Peter's from the Ponte Sisto.

And for that alone I am eternally grateful. You gave me a great gift in strangers who turned into treasured friends...

Weekending in Florence.

...the opportunity to travel to exotic locales...

Hanging on a mountain in Africa.

...and the chance to experience some of the most beautiful architecture and artwork that mankind has to offer.

I will always be in awe.

You're many years of rich history and tradition imparted on me great knowledge, and you will be proud to know that I still remember most of what I learned from you. And I love to talk about you with anyone who will listen to me. 

It's hard for me to believe it's been almost 2 years since I began my journey through your alleyways. I will always miss the Saldi and the bakery by my apartment and the ancient aqueducts that supplied me with daily water (which I cannot stress enough it's necessity). You helped me forget about things that were bringing me down and you helped me to become who I am today. You gave me so many things that I wish I could give you in return, although I'm sure that as a centuries old city my wisdom ain't got nothing on you.

Part of my lovely Roman entourage.

I passed by the Trevi several times during my days with you, and I threw coins in on a few occasions. The first time, I threw in one, over my left shoulder, with my back to the water, in hopes that this coin would help me someday return to you. On another occasion, I tossed in 2 coins, in the same fashion, for the hopes that I would soon fall in love - I just didn't realize that the object of my love would be you.

I still think about you daily, miss you all the time and wish that I could return to that time in my life when I got to see you each day. You will never know the ways in which you changed me, shaped me. I will someday return to you full of the fondness I feel for you at this moment, and we will relive some of our good times with different sets of amazing people. Nothing can sum up my love for you (and for your glorious Pantheon) better than this:

Love.

I didn't want to let you go. And to be honest, I still don't. I cling to your memory and delight in the fact that I will forever have a part of you with me, just as you will have a part of me with you. 

With love always,

♥mb.