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Italian Taste

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Letter to Myself

My journey to starting a new adventure is getting closer. I can only think about how grateful and blessed I am to be able to have this amazing opportunity of going abroad for the second time to another country where I have not had the opportunity to visit before. This decision of going abroad for the second time is one of the most important decisions that I have ever made in my life, this will be my first time being apart for so long from my twin sister, which will be very helpful not only for me, but for both of us. Moreover, this opens a new chapter in my life where I will grow in ways that I have never experienced before due to my codependence with her. I am very excited to live this new chapter and to see what it will bring to myself positively and also the challenges that I will be facing.

For this upcoming trip, I have many personal goals that I want to meet, mainly because I am aware that this is a key point in my life where I need to change page and start a new one. Growing up as a twin, I have never had the chance to experience life as a single person, I have always made decisions thinking about my twin’s needs and also taking into account what she wants rather than what I really want and need. This is something that I have been aware of for a long time now, but never had the opportunity to do something about it due to fear and because I am comfortable enough right where I am with her. So, to me, studying abroad this upcoming year is the best opportunity to put myself first and start discovering who I really am and what the world without my comfort really is. I think that this is my biggest and most important goal for this experience and what I am looking forward the most.

I have always thought that college is more about learning from the experience rather than from what you get taught in class, however, there are many things that one can learn from being abroad when being in college and when you still have the ability to adapt to any situation easier than older people. As I see this experience more like a personal growth opportunity, I also am aware that this is an amazing opportunity for my career development and to get experience for different skills that will eventually be helpful in the future when I get a proper job. So, I decided that my second most important goal is to be able to get as much experience as possible in regard to networking, learning from other cultures, and most importantly to expose myself as much as possible. Because if there is something that I have learnt during my time in college, is that you learn the most when you throw yourself into any new opportunity no matter if you get something out of it or not, you are exposing yourself into the unknown and that is the best thing to do.

I am looking forward on what this new chapter is going to bring into my life and how will it impact me in every sense of my life. Most importantly I am ready to live this new experience and bring back the knowledge and adventures that I will be creating during my time in Milan.

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Government Structure and Current Legislation/Political Debate

If it was not for this assignment I would have never even think about researching about Italy’s government structure and current legislation/political debatebefore going to Milan. I think out of all the assignments, this has been my least favorite but also interesting at the same time. I think this is because I have never been interested in politics and it has always been a hard topic to understand in my point of view.

However, while I was doing the research, I found many interesting things about Italy’s government. I learned that Italy used to be a monarchy and became a democratic republic many years ago. Now, Italy is governed by a parliamentary republicwith a multi-party system including executive, judicial, and legislative branches. The president is not elected by the people, instead a parliament is in charge of it. Understanding this wasn’t as hard as I thought given the fact that Guatemalais governed by a similar structure, meaning both countries are recognized as republics although Italy is a parliament and Guatemala is presidential and people elect the president, and both govern with multi-party systems.

Moreover, I read about their legislation and political debates, and I have to be honest, it was a little bit hard to understand. What I can say about their ideals in this topic is that they have been under a political instabilityfor a while due to certain disagreements with some legislations. Italy leans more toward the social democratic party meaning that they give more attention to socialism and try to get their people into the same place. To me this was a little bit hard to understand because in Guatemala we are not governed by any kind of socialism per se.

As I already mentioned there have been several issues due to a crisis in Italy and to understand it better I searched for a video that I think it explains clear what it is going.

I think that these types of issues are really unfortunate for any country, given that these issues are being caused by one person and have to be solved and suffered by millions. My point with this, is that politics in every single country is very controversial and it is a topic that gets me really angry because there is never going to be a country that has no corruption and people that try to get advantage of others.

I am not going to lie that although this is a topic that to me is very hard to talk about, it is also really deep inside of me, very interesting to learn about because I also get to know how other cultures are being controlled and how they think.

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Relationships/Friendships

While I was reading the book, I found it interesting how it states many things that to me are already automatic in my head, however, it helped me realize that when meeting someone from another background/culture it is important to be aware of these types of things not only for having loving relationships, but also for any relationship. The book talks about many important things to consider when meeting new people such as being aware of their political views, values, lifestyles, mindsets, etc. moreover, it provides certain questions to ask to yourself that can be helpful to understand better other people’s opinions and ideas.

To me an important aspect to know about someone else are their values because I think that having a friendship/relationship with someone who has completely different values than you can be hard to deal with because there might be things that are going to bother you about the person and vice-versa which you cannot change given the fact that their values are already a part of them; however there are ways to respect them and not having to deal with them and that is why knowing someone else’s values to me is very important.

Moreover, in regard to dating, I think that the statements that the book provides can be very helpful and may vary on importance depending on your own self. For example, to me it is important that the other person knows what he wants when it comes to the relationship because I think that being in a relationship is not only to waste my time, otherwise I would not put my time in it because it is pointless. However, I have friends who think the opposite way and think that being in different relationships is fun and help you to get experience. I completely disagree with them, but I respect their point of view. Another important thing to me about dating is respect for one another and I know many cultures see relationships differently for what I am used to. I am aware that the idea of dating that I grew up with, is even different from people that are from the same country as myself, knowing this is very helpful but I also think that being flexible in these topics is key to life, it all depends of your own values/ideas/and what you really want in life.

I think that in Italy I will encounter many people who share the same ideas of dating that I have and also, I will find people who will help me also to change the idea that I already have. I say this because this is very common when you travel, and you get exposed to other cultures with an open mind, it helps you build up who you are, and changes are often a part of the process. I am very excited to see how people in Italy interact with each not only as friends but as a couple, this is a very intriguing topic to me.

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Mentor Report

Life to me has been a journey of pure blessings, I have been able to open doors that have taken me into creating amazing experiences where I have had the opportunity to learn the most about life. If I start counting my blessings I think I would never be able to stop, however, there is one that I am actually experiencing at this point in my life that I am very grateful for, going to college in the United States. As someone who grew up in a country like Guatemala, I can state that not everyone has the same opportunities as I have been able to have and that I am a very lucky person for having them. During my journey in college I have come to encounter many challenges and great opportunities. Not only I have come to become a better, more mature person, but I have created a mindset where now I enjoy and feel the need to get myself out of my comfort zone. I have decided to study abroad in Milan for a semester this upcoming Spring 2020. We were required to have a conversation with someone who has gone to the same country and has been exposed to the culture, so the first person who came to my mind was my aunt, given the fact that she might give me more helpful information given the fact that we are both from the same country and grew up with the same values and norms. She went to Italy when I was about 10 years old to pursue her degree and master’s in psychology and human resources. She has helped me during my preparation process by giving me many tips, advices, and answering many questions that I think they are important to know before I start my journey in Milan.

As we were discussing the topic with my aunt, I first asked her how she managed to deal with the cultural shock that everyone goes through when going abroad. She explained to me that in Italy people share many values with our culture in Guatemala, however, one of the things that was the most shocking for her was the lifestyle that people have in there. In Guatemala we are used to a more comfortable life, it is normal to have maids, and people that do other stuff for us, and in Italy she told me that she had to learn to do everything by herself because she had no one to do her stuff for her such as cooking, cleaning, making her own bed, doing her laundry, etc. Also, she explained that one thing that she found really interesting about lifestyle in Italy was how they manage to walk very long distances, this was shocking for her because she was used to having a car and getting to places fast, however, I think to me this is no longer an issue given the fact that I have come to create a habit of walking long distances here in the United States. She told me that this whole walking thing is not only common in Italy, but it is all over Europe and that I should try to travel all over Europe given the fact that it is very cheap and worth it. One of the things that helped her to create a better mindset was traveling and getting to know other cultures, so she encouraged me to travel all over Europe and also Italy.

As we were having a conversation with my aunt, I told her my perspective on how I think Italy is like and she told me that I am not really far to knowing how exactly they are in Italy, but there are many things that I will come to understand once I am actually there, but she decided not to tell me completely because she wants me to experience this by myself. She told me that at first, she found it hard to settle because she had to find a job while she was studying, and she was not used to working and studying at the same time. She tried at least 3 different jobs were she never was able to feel comfortable doing because she was not used to those types of jobs. This to me was very funny because that I how I first felt when I came here to College, I had to find a job and felt very weird because I was not used to it given that in Guatemala we do not see it completely necessary to study and work at the same time you go to college.

One thing that I was very concerned to know was how are Universities in Italy, she told me that to me this is going to be one of the hardest challenges given the fact that I have been used to studying in a system were professors care about you and show interest on you. However, she explained that in Italy professor are very professional and that they keep their distance with students. They teach the class and you are responsible to contact them if you have any doubt. Another thing that it is completely different to what I am already used to, is that in Italy professors might not show me the process of how I am doing in the class, instead they will just give me the final grade, so I will be encountering with a lot of uncertainty in this topic.

When it comes to the language, given the fact that we are Spanish speakers, my aunt told me that it is going to be very easy to learn and mostly because I also speak French and Italian has similar wording with French and Spanish languages. She told me that during her entire experience in Italy, learning Italian was one of the most valuable outcomes that she had, this helped her in many ways because she was able to communicate with people in a more direct way and she was able to create stronger relationships due to that. When we were discussing about the language I got very excited because I have always wanted to learn Italian and she has always encouraged me to do so ever since she went there to study.

As we were having the conversation with my aunt she also told me about her adventures and many funny things that she went through during her time in Italy. But she told me a story that caught my attention, she had many relationships with different Italians and she told me that they are very charming, but they can also be very players, meaning that they like to sweet talk to your ear and once they know you like them they just like to hop onto another relationship. She told me to be very careful with this because it is insane the ability that these people have to make you feel good at first and then leave you. To me this was very funny because I can see it being true given the fact that I have other friends that have gone to Italy and they told me same thing. She also added that people in general are very charming in Italy, however, compared to Guatemala this can also be a challenge to me because we come from a very collectivist culture and in Italy they are not as collectivist as we are. Although I think this will not be a challenge to me anymore because form being here in the United States I have learned to manage these types of differences in a culture.

Adding to it she told me that they are very family oriented and have similar values, and that she loved it because she ended up creating very beautiful friendships that at this point in her life she still holds. She also added that it is important to know that not everyone is going to be the same and that as there may be rude people I will also find the nicest people in there. I think that for creating relationships with people it is important to be very open minded and accept and respect their different ideas and values.

To conclude, I think that having this conversation with my aunt was very helpful, and mainly because she gave me a purer point of view, given the fact that she was able to tell me what was more important to myself because she knows me and knows which things might affect me the most or which things might interest me the most. I think that picking my aunt as my mentor for this activity was the best decision I could have taken, not only she gave me advice on how to deal with different aspects of the culture, but she gave me personal advice on how to deal with my feelings and thoughts. Having this conversation with my aunt gave me a lot of confidence and gave me more incentives to wanting to go and explore the Italian culture overall.

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Benvenuto Presidente

For the movie review, I watched a movie on netflix called “Benvenuto Presidente”, which is an Italian comedy fiction that shows the story of a man who lives in the countryside of Italy and for various reasons a group of politicians mistakenly end up naming him as the president of the Italian Republic. The main plot of the story is how this man governs the country for a small period of time showing his true side and scarce of political knowledge, however he ends up giving the politicians a great lesson and also to the people.

Even though the movie is presented as a comedy, there is a message behind the story which I was able to relate to as in Guatemala we also have the same issue. Politicians in Guatemala have the worst reputation as I can also assume that in Italy as well, given the representation of them in the movie. In the movie the politicians try to take advantage of others and do not fully comply with the duties they are required to do, in Guatemala, I can talk with a personal experience that politicians commonly do under the table jobs and steal a lot of money, also the government never fails to get involved and use people’s resources to get advantage and get benefit out of it.

Another thing that I was able to observe from the movie is how social hierarchy is very noticeable, and I was able to relate to it because in Guatemala we also have the same issue. However, there is one thing that I saw that we do not have in Guatemala, which is fashion. In Guatemala we do not have the same sense of fashion as people do in Italy. It is impressive the sense of stylethat the country itself has and also portrays as a culture. Moreover, another thing that I noticed were the values that the man who was chosen mistakenly for president showed during the movie. I think that Italy and Guatemala may have some similar valuesbut in sense of humor, sensitivity, and approach it may vary given the fact that in the movie there were many scenes where I felt kind of uncomfortable because I am not used to those type of attitudes, but I understand that they are normal for their culture.

I really enjoyed watching a movie from Italy in Italian language, although I was not able to fully comprehend what they were saying, this helped me understand many things that I will be encountering during my study abroad experience and it also gave me a boost on my excitement. I am very happy that I will soon be going to learn the language and will be able to learn more about the Italian culture and bring back the knowledge to share it with my friends and family. Foremost, I am looking forward on learning more and more about the culture in order to get there prepared and enjoy it as much as possible.

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Italian News (Venice Flooding)

As I have been reading the Italian news these past few days, as much as I want to talk about more interesting things, I think there is one disastrous issue going on in the country which is important to mention. Italy has been suffering the past few days from floods and natural disasters due to severe storms. Many cities in the south of Italy have been evacuated and taken care of because the floods have become more and more intense.

To be more specific, there is one city who has been the most affected, Venice. Last Wednesday November 13th, there were reported massive floods all over the city, although people were warned about the possible outcomes they still did nothing about it. Given this fact, many mosaics and other important stuff at the St. Marks Basilica were drowned and damaged, authorities report at least millions of euros worth of damage in that place. On Thursday November 14th, the city was reported to have high water (‘aqua alta’), this means that the level of the water of the canals increased and it is said that this has been the second most disastrous flooding in Venice ever since it has been recorded. “This is all a result of climate change” have stated many authorities and there is not much to do against it, they cannot control it, and for Venice, which is a city famous for its views and the peculiarity of its canals, it is a complete catastrophe. On Friday November 15th, the flooding instead of getting better was reported to be getting worst and worst every day. Authorities declared a state of emergency for the city and many places were forced to get closed for safety procedures and to at least protect some of the valuable stuff that were able to get out of the flooding. However, the government gave 20 million euros in funds to repair the damages given the fact that it was a natural disaster. Plus, people who have lost their homes and businesses are being helped with money and aid provided by the government. On Saturday November 16th, severe winds were reported to hit the city of Venice plus the flooding getting worst. As the floods got worst and the winds were hitting constantly, many hotels were forced to cancel their reservations and close due to safety measures. Residents have expressed their frustration towards the situation, many have stated that it is ‘heartbroken’ what is happening to one of the most important cities in Italy.

While reading the news about Venice’s flooding, I got heartbroken because I know that this is a very important city not only for Italy, but for the entire world. The history in it is so important and interesting and I have always wanted to go to Venice. The fact that this is happening to Venice just saddens my heart and I hope that the government does everything possible to help the city to get better and fix as much damages as possible.

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Context Cultural Dimension

It is said that culture has many dimensions at which people learn different ways to basically live and interact with each other. These dimensions are shown within cultures and may change over time and also may vary depending on the culture. Some of the dimensions are known as individualism, collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity-femininity, and others. These dimensions are helpful in order to get a better understanding of how a specific culture works and to better understand their way to communicate.

As I was reading about the context cultural dimensions, and also from previous knowledge about this topic and from experience, I was able to connect the dots and understand better the differences between the culture that I come from and the culture here in the United States. Moreover, I can say that from the experience that I have been able to acquire while studying in the United States, that these different dimensions are completely related to how different cultures communicate and their values/ideas/mindsets. I come from a collectivist culture where people are nicer and more welcoming with each other in my point of view, and when I first got to college I wasn’t really aware of how people form the United States approached to each other and to me that was the first cultural shock that I had because I was expecting the same treat as I was used to back home. With the years I have come to understand that it is not wrong, but it is just a different way and that is simply the beauty of how culture is and how the elements that are related to it, work perfectly for each culture, such as communication and values. There are many other things that I have been learning about cultures, given the fact that I surround myself with a lot of international students, and there are many different ways of communications that I have seen that other cultures use that to me seems very weird.

As I have already had some type of experience with these different exposures to different cultures here in college and during other experiences in the past, I am very excited to see how the people communicate and the way that people live in Italy. Because I know for a fact that it will be similar to what I grew up with but also with different mindsets given the fact that people in Guatemala are more closed minded than people in Europe and other places. Moreover, I am also excited to learn more ways that people use to communicate with each other. I think that tolerance and empathy is key in these situations because it helps you to better understand others and to understand that your way to do things is not the only way that things can be done. I think that it also helps you to have a better view of how important diversity is because people from different cultures can put together great things.

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Italian Dictator and creator of the Fascist Party

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What is Culture?

We are all raised in a bubble that unfortunately, many people are not able to see through or get out of because they do not like getting out of their comfort zones and cannot see different realities, instead, they think that their lifestyles are the only options and do not see future in any other thing. Traveling is in fact the biggest eye opener that I have ever experienced. Not only I have come to appreciate many things that I was not able to see when I was in Guatemala, but I have come to understand how important it is to have empathy with others, to not have expectations toward many things and more flexibility in life overall.

However, during my traveling adventures (I have not traveled the entire world yet, but I know many places) I have created an understanding of different ideas and how culture works. The reading talks about differentiating cultural from personal and universal rules/ideas/norms, and during my travels and through my experience studying in the United States, I have been able to familiarize with these ideas and understand them better. For example, I now understand that for people from the United States it is a cultural norm to start working before finishing high school, which was very hard for me to understand because we do not have these norms in my culture. For personal norms, people in the United States are more individualistic, which leads them to having more personal space, to me, this was probably the hardest thing to understand given the fact that I come from a collectivist culture and we basically do not understand what it is to have personal space. I think that understanding and being exposed to these experiences is an advantage for myself that I can use when I go to Italy next term and will help me in many aspects of the entire study abroad experience.

Another thing that caught my attention from the reading that I think is key when you are in a different country surrounded by different cultures and mindsets, is to learn that stereotypes are just ideas that damage someone’s image beforehand, and instead it is better to generalize and hypothesize. I think this is one of the most important things to have clear in mind, as I have been a victim of stereotypes, I can say it is not just annoying, but it is also very hurtful. And now, because I know how it feel to be stereotyped, every time I meet people from other countries I try to be as realistic and as neutral as possible.

When I think about what challenges I might have when I go to Italy, the biggest challenge that I can think of is myself. Myself, because I am throwing myself into a new world alone and without my biggest comfort which is my twin. In the other hand, I think that as I have been exposed to what it is to study abroad, I understand how it works, however, I am trying to understand that lifestyles in America are completely different to what it is in Europe and their way of thinking is also very different.

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Laura Pausini

Italy has a remarkable number of well-known singers, however there is one specifically that I grew up listening to, which through the research I did to find Italian singers I realized that she is Italian. Laura Pausini is in fact one of the most important singers from Italy. She is from Faenza, Italy, and is 45 years old. Laura sings in Italian and also in Spanish, she is well recognized all over Latin America and Spain.

Laura Pausini recently released a song with a famous Latino group called Gente de Zona. This song is called “Nadie ha Dicho” and the genre is pop Latino, which is a little bit different form the other songs that Laura has released before.

Moreover, here is one of her most famous songs in Italian. This song is called “La Solitudine”, which was one of her first songs. This song is in Italian and was released many years ago.

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Italian Economy

As I did research on the Italian economy, I found really interesting how their economy is mainly lifted up by certain industries such as wine, automobiles, fashion design, machinery, textiles, and many more. Furthermore, to me it was very interesting to do the research narrowing it down to these industries because I am familiarized to them and enjoy learning about it.

As it is stated in the Britannica article related to the Italian economy, before having many industries upholding the economy, it was organized like a pyramid which had the most important industry at the top and it was considered to be more or less like a private sector. However, this has changed and now it is considered to be a mix of public and private sectors which have led the economy to be more stable for the country.

For the wine industry I found an article that talks about the overview of how wine has impacted the economy of Italy. What mostly caught my attention about this article is how wine consumption has decreased because of tastes, lifestyles, and many other factors. However, their production may also vary depending on the weather and may also impact the trade with other countries depending on quality and the type of wine. The different types of wines are separated in sectors and depending on the place that the grapes are from.

For the fashion design industry, it is said that recently in 2012 an agreement was signed in order to help different industries in the Italian economy. This was basically sponsored with an initial capital of 300 million euros, which helped the development of these industries to grow faster. It is very clear to see how the Italian fashion is so unique and has impacted many other countries when it comes to having a fashion design industry. Moreover, there are many fashion designers from Italy that have created well-known brands all over the world and helped to create a fashion design world in many important countries.

As the fashion industry in Italy has become a thing, the textile industryhas also rose because of it and has created many jobs for the Italian economy. The Italian culture is well known because of the diversity of designs and popularity of the fashion. Moreover, they are also well known because they distribute many of the textiles that they produce to other countries, which is a positive aspect for their economy and the fashion industry of the country. However, as they produce these products they also receive help from many other countries when it comes to the production of these textiles and the distribution as well.

Lastly but no least, the automotive industry is one of the strongest industries for the Italian economy. It is said that Italy is one of the top 5 European countries with the largest automotive markets. This also includes motorbikes, cars, and any other type of transportation stuff that require motors. The development of the market has been increasing each year and has also gone international which is very important for the Italian economy because it creates more opportunities for their markets and people.

Learning about the Italian economy was very interesting due to the diversity of stuff that they base their economy on. Although I narrowed my research to just four industries that impact the Italian economy, I can say that they are doing great when it comes to businesses and how they handle their markets. I am very excited to see how all of these industries impact the lifestyles of the people in Italy also I am excited to learn more about it when I go there.

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Cultural Flexibility & Me

It is really interesting now that I am taking the study abroad class, as I am an International student, how many of the things that we are required to read I have already been through and experienced in many ways. It is exciting that I get to learn this now in a more specific way because now I am aware of a lot of things that I was not before coming here to the United States that will eventually be helpful for my experience in Milan.

In the readings required we had a ‘Learning Style Survey’, which scores you to give you an idea of how you learn in different phases/stages/forms/ways. I think that this is very helpful in order to help us understand which our strengths are when it comes to learning to be aware whenever we go abroad and probably put more effort in those weaknesses that we are aware we have. Moreover, this is really important given the fact that in Milan and other cities in Europe have a completely different perspective of teaching and how universities work, which can be a disadvantage if we are not aware of our strengths and weaknesses when it comes to learning.

           The other thing we had to read about was about the ‘Cultural Strategies Inventory’, which points out important aspects about learning about the cross-cultural communication and how to approach others in different cultures. I think that this section of the reading is probably one of the most important given the fact that as we are traveling to other cultures we should at least know something about theirs. Speaking from experience, I think that it is important to at least be aware of how their communication works because when I came here to the US, I had no idea of the culture and how people communicated. It turned out being very weird for myself because I came from a very collectivist country and was not expecting it here to be as individualistic as it actually is. And that is why for my first year of college, I had a really hard time when it came to get along with people from here and understanding the culture as a whole.

           One of the things that people going abroad usually see as a barrier is the language. For myself, I have already experienced it and I can say that it was both exciting and frustrating at the same time. However, it is an experience that I will never regret having, this has given me the skills to be more outgoing and to throw myself out there. I think that for my experience in Italy, learning the Italian language will be a challenge, but mostly I like to see it as a new skill that I will develop that is going to be helpful for the rest of my life. Moreover, I have always had an interest in learning Italian and have always been passionate about their culture, which I think that this will work in my favor because I do not feel any pressure in doing it, instead I am choosing to go there and learn the language with their people.

           For this entire experience of going abroad, there are many stress factors, such as not being able to communicate well with the people, not being able to understand their manners, their mindsets, not being able to adapt to the culture, and many more. However, I think that as I have already experienced this, I can say that for this new experience I have already developed the skills to manage these type of stress.

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Who am I?

If I were told to describe myself, I would say that I am a very passionate, funny, outgoing, transparent, honest, and interesting person. I am from Guatemala and have been studying in the United States since 2017. For me, the experience of coming to the US was something that I had never experienced before. At first, I did not have any expectations of what it was going to be, which I think it was very helpful because the cultural shock was not as tough as many others say. It was an entire process for myself to get used to the people, their lifestyle, and mainly the culture here in the United States because I was used to a completely different way back home. As time has passed by, I have come to understand how the culture in the US is more of an individualistic culture and in Guatemala we are a collectivist culture. However, this journey has taught me many things that I think they will be extremely helpful to me when I go to Milan next spring 2020.

I am very excited to be going to another studying abroad experience completely different to what I have been experiencing here in the United States. As I am going to Milan, Italy, I can say that I certainly have little knowledge of their culture, but I am willing to understand it and create infinite new memories. Moreover, I have also been lucky enough to travel to Europe before and meeting people from Italy, which I think that is helpful in order to understand at least something about their culture.

However, there are many factors in my life that will be changing with this experience. I have a twin sister that I have never had the strength to separate from for more than a week. And now that I will be going to Milan, she will stay at North Central and we will not see each other for almost 7 months. I think that this will be one of the hardest challenges for myself during the study abroad experience given the fact that with my sister we are a team and we do everything together. I am going to learn about independence and mainly I am going to learn about myself. So, as this might be one of the hardest challenges that I now see, I am sure too that it is one of the things that I am most excited about.

As I mentioned that I have already experienced how it is to leave your loved ones and basically start all over again in another country. I can say that I have never felt more prepared to going to Milan and learn about their culture and meeting new people. I am beyond excited for what is coming academically and personally in this new journey that I am about to start, and I cannot wait to be able to travel all over Europe and create the best memories that I can.