-
I'm trying to be as quiet
-
as possible right now because
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my parents are asleep
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right next door
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but I am sitting here,
-
in an empty suitcase
-
when I need to be
-
at the airport in like 9 hours.
-
I have like a million different
-
thoughts running through
-
my mind right now
-
and I am very overwhelmed!
-
Also very excited,
-
and nervous, and scared,
-
but also, very overwhelmed,
-
but i want to get some sleep, um,
-
before my 14 hour flight tomorrow
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so let's start packing y'all!
-
Finally done!
-
but at what cost...
-
Got a solid one and a half
-
hours of sleep last night, so
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feeling pretty great!
-
This isn't my first time traveling alone,
-
but this is my first time traveling
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internationally alone
-
so i'm kinda scared, um,
-
I've never been to Italy before,
-
I don't know any italian
-
I tried to learn a little bit through Duolingo
-
but my streak lasted for exactly one day
-
and i stopped using it.
-
But I'm going to try and just like
-
memorize a couple phrases
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when I go to the airport.
-
Speaking of which,
-
I need to call my Uber soon
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because I'm home alone right now.
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Mm this mango is so-
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mm this mango is so good what the heck.
-
Okay thank you so much.
-
Okay, thank you.
-
I feel like I was running off of
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pure adrenaline this morning because
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I didn't get any sleep,
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I didn't eat anything,
-
and now I'm finally
-
eating my first meal of the day
-
um, and it's like 1pm right now.
-
The lines were also crazy long today
-
I am very glad
-
that I came here early
-
so I have actually a little bit
-
of time before boarding.
-
I cannot wait to just like, pass out
-
when I go on the plane
-
because I'm so tired.
-
I think it's finally starting to
catch up to me.
-
Made it to Roma!
-
Currently trying to find
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one of the
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people that I'm studying abroad with
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and this is so hard!
-
Very nice weather though!
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Pasta!
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Ugh!
-
Finally back in the hostel
-
that we are staying for tonight.
-
Um, tomorrow we're gonna head to Bologna.
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Gonna take a train there,
-
and spend a couple days doing some tours
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um, before we head to our farmstays.
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I'm very excited
-
um, but also
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soo exhausted.
-
I was literally falling asleep,
-
um, at dinner.
-
Which was really really good by the way!
-
My first "real" Italian meal.
-
The pasta of course was amazing.
-
So was the tiramisu.
-
My card ran out of memory, um.
-
But yeah I am so, so grateful to be here.
-
I've been kind of getting to know
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my professors,
-
and the other students
-
from my program
-
a little bit more today
-
and so that has been really fun.
-
It is quite hard to film
-
um, in a space like this,
-
but I will take what I can get.
-
But yeah I'm going to get washed up
-
and try and do a little bit
-
of work before I sleep,
-
but I honestly don't think
-
that's gonna happen
-
because I am so tired.
-
I look like such a tourist
-
Refreshing
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It's good! It's good.
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Oh my god!
-
Second gelato of the day.
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Good? Yea
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Hello, this is editing Deborah
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realizing from the future
-
that she never explained
-
what study abroad program she's doing
-
why am I talking in third person,
-
I don't know
-
but that's what I'm gonna be
-
doing right now
-
you can skip ahead if you
-
don't really care
-
I think when most people think of
-
studying abroad, they think of
-
an exchange
-
where basically you go to a country,
-
a different country
-
and take classes at a university
-
with the local students
-
I am not doing an exchange.
-
I am doing a faculty led program,
-
where for 4 weeks I spend
-
all of my time with 24 other students
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and 3 professors from my university
-
the University of Washington
-
we're basically learning
-
as we travel together
-
and so first we started off in Bologna
-
now we're in Tuscany and
-
we're going to be finishing off the trip
-
in Rome for a couple of weeks
-
It's a pretty special program,
-
I am super lucky and privileged
-
to have had the opportunity
-
to participate in this
-
but basically we're here in Italy
-
to learn about the food systems
-
and compare them to the food systems
-
of the U.S.
-
so we've been doing
-
a lot of food-centered activities
-
we've been taking cooking classes
-
going on tours of vegetable farms
-
and cheese factories
-
and we've also been doing
-
a lot of reading and discussion
-
around food, food culture,
-
agricultural practices, things like that.
-
I didn't film much in Bologna,
-
just because I was still kind of
-
getting to know everyone
-
and I didn't want everyones first
-
impression of me to be
-
that person carrying their camera
-
and filming everything
-
Also, although the tours we've been doing
-
have been very interesting
-
um, I don't know exactly how interesting
-
you guys would find the in depth
-
video on the process of how parmesan
-
reggiano and prosciutto is made.
-
Although if you do want that video,
-
let me know.
-
Let me know if you quys have any questions
-
about my program
-
or anything else in the comments,
-
and I will try my best to answer them.
-
Okay back to the video.
-
Ah! Noo!!
-
Oo it is kinda cold!
-
I took a shower after going to the beach
-
for the first time since coming here,
-
and guys this place is so beautiful
-
the only thing is
-
the bugs here are actually insane
-
I think I might be allergic or something
-
because I have like, welts on my legs
-
from the bug bites
-
They look like rashes
-
and they're so itchy
-
Bug spray does not deter these
-
Italian bugs at all.
-
They're just built different I guess.
-
I'm on a farmstay right now
-
um, this is called Tenuta San Carlo
-
I believe
-
honestly it has been so long
-
since I've vlogged
-
that I kinda forgot how to vlog
-
in the first place
-
but I've been really just trying
-
to enjoy my time
-
and just soak everything up
-
because this has been such an amazing
-
experience so far
-
overall I'm just so grateful to be here
-
Even just looking out my
-
window is insane, like
-
I'm in Tuscany right now,
-
I'm in Italy!
-
Studying abroad!
-
Like, what a crazy concept
-
-
Mm that's so good!
-
I have a bug bite, right here.
-
I've been getting some comments that
-
it seems like I'm just on vacation
-
and I promise that we're actually, like,
-
doing work and learning things
-
uh, while we are studying abroad
-
here in Italy
-
I just haven't been filming a lot of it,
-
since it usually like
-
big group discussions,
-
and going on tours
-
and things like that
-
today we're actually going to be
-
doing some stuff besides
-
um, biking and swimming in the ocean
-
and so I'll try and film
-
as much as I can for you guys
-
It's okay you can just be yourself.
-
I don't know who I am anymore!
-
Jen's teaching Chris how to take selfies
-
Rice!
-
Risotto!
-
Cheers!
-
I feel like I really have not talked much
-
in this vlog
-
so i thought I would do a little bit
-
of a reflection because
-
tomorrow's our last full day
-
of being at the farm before
-
we move to another farmstay
-
and it's been officially a week,
-
since I've been here,
-
about a week and a day actually
-
and it's just crazy because I feel like
-
I've been here for so long
-
studying abroad so far
-
has been really great
-
honestly, like, exceeding my expectations
-
um, there were definitely a couple
-
of unfortunate situations
-
but for the most part
-
there has been so many good things
-
that I just didn't expect
-
One thing is that I feel like
-
I'm getting so close with my professors
-
I've kind of always had an
-
inferiority complex
-
when it comes to
-
um, people that I feel like
-
are superior to me
-
I got to a really big university
-
I never really talk to my professors
-
even though I should
-
and now that I'm here, like,
-
spending every day with them
-
It's been really great
-
and it's something I didn't really
-
expect from this trip.
-
As someone that is very introverted,
-
I will say that I have had
-
a little bit of trouble adjusting
-
to how much social interaction
-
I'm doing every day.
-
Like I rarely get alone time,
-
which is something that I'm kind of still
-
getting used to because
-
I'm someone that really values my alone time
-
but it's a lot harder to get here
-
while I'm studying abroad
-
but yeah I've just been kind of
-
learning to listen to my body
-
and not feel like I have to join in
-
on every single activity
-
I do need my time to just
-
decompress, and be alone
-
I think I was definitely really overwhelmed
-
for the first couple of days
-
just meeting everyone,
-
being in a new country,
-
but I feel like I'm finally kind of
-
getting used to the pace of
-
studying abroad,
-
and being with the people here.
-
Thank you for your patience always
-
I truly do not think that I would be here
-
studying abroad if it weren't for
-
your guys' support
-
and I can't wait for y'all to see
-
the content that I am going to produce
-
while I"m here, studying abroad.
-
With that, I will see you guys next time!
-
Bye