Week 16 (The Final Week)

This week was finals week and goodbyes. On Monday I had my exam for Drawing On Location. I had 3 hours to do two pieces. One piece was a landscape of somewhere in Sorrento, and the other was a collage representing the culture of Sorrento. We were given the ability to plan out our final and sketch it ahead of time, but all other details including painting had to be done in class. After my exam Kathryn and I got lunch and then went to get boba and finish some last minute shopping. Then we had History of the Mafia, but we didn't have to do much since we did out final presentation last week. We had to discuss organized crime in out area, so we presented on a university in Virginia that is involved in organized crime. That evening we hung out and then went out for our last night swim in Sorrento. All the locals just watched us goof off in the water. Since it is "winter" there, the water was about 57°F, but we still had so much fun. We then did the walk of shame back to our dorms, covered in black sand and soaking wet. The security guard always laughs at us after coming back for night swimming, especially in the colder months. That night Caroline slept in the dorms so she didn't have to walk back to her apartment. She stayed in my room and we talked and are ice cream, then eventually went to bed.

The next morning, Caroline and I had breakfast with Kathryn and Emily, since we didn't have a busy morning. After a quick breakfast I had a meeting with my Archaeology group. For Archaeology we had a group paper and presentation, along with our tradition final. So we went over our presentation after submitted our paper. After the meeting, all 4 of us went to get boba and do some more shopping. I had all my Christmas presents but I always enjoy going with my friends to shop around Sorrento. Later I had my Marine Biology final and presentation. I felt good about both, but by the time everything was done it was pretty late. That evening, I had a farewell dinner with SAI, my study-abroad company (not school). We went to O'Parrucchiano, which is a nice Italian restaurant. It was a pre-set menu which allowed us to try all kinds of foods. It was good, and I had fun spending time with he other SAI students as well as our on-site staff member Filippo. After dinner, we went to the Christmas tree in the main square and then went our separate ways. I went back to the dorms and hung out with my friends for a while before going to bed.

On Wednesday, I had my Archeology final at 9AM. I didn't study long for it but I felt confident after it, and think (and hope) I got all the questions right. I then took a short nap because I was so tired. Around 12, we then ate lunch and just walked around Sorrento for a bit. We went into a lot of the Christmas stores as grocery shopping for a few snacks to bring home. The rest of the day I just hung out with my friends since I didn't need to go to my last class (I completed all my finals). Since it was Wednesday, you already know where we were...the wine market!!! It was officially our last wine Wesnesday. We made the owners a card, in Italian, and gave it to them. We spent the next few hours at the markets talking about our favorite things about Sorrento and crying. We were all so sad to leave. The owner of the market, Giovanni, gave us all hugs. I was so sad to say by, and I cried in his shoulder. He was super sweet even though I got tears all over his jacket. It's always hard saying goodbye, especially to people you may never see again. Giovanni and the market was like a home for us, a safe space, something we could call ours. It was our litter place where we would always gather weekly, and saying goodbye so heart wrenching. We cried on the way to Caroline's apartment, but the tears stopped immediately when she git bit by a dog she was petting. We took her to the store to get supplies and then back to her apartments. Then the rest of us walked back to the apartment and went to bed.

The next morning was my last final, my archeology presentation. We killed it, to say the least, and I was done with Fall 2023! I was so happy to be done with all my work, but it also meant the end of an era. But I'll save the emotions for later! That evening we had our Sant'Anna farewell dinner. After dinner we went to Horseshoe for our lasts outing. We didn't end up staying late because we were all so tired so we went back to the dorm. We hung out for a long time, until the next morning, and then eventually went to bed.

Friday was my last day in Italy. It felt so surreal and I didn't really believe it. We started of the day with getting boba and Orbit and saying by to the owners. We then went to get Emily a haircut, which took a while, but she came our looking so beautiful! After that, then whole gang met up at Pizza so Franco for some pizza! As always it was delicious. After lunch we spent the whole day together. It still didn't feel like we were leaving so I just ignored that fact. I finished my packing as well, and realized my suitcases were overweight, so I knew I was going to have to pay a fee. Once it was night, we all headed to Qui Sorrento for a nice dinner. It was our last meal and it was definitely one for the books. It was a fancy meal. They brought out a crispy cabbage appetizer, then we had our main meals. The owner also brought us out a few free limoncello shots. For my meal I have cauliflower gnocchi, which was amazing! After dinner we walked back to the dorm, and brought Caroline and all her bags to the dorm with us.

Some of my friends were leaving at 3AM, and me and a few others were leaving at 7:30AM. So we all agreed to stay up until 3AM. We stayed up sobbing and telling stories about how we have changed and grown since being here. It was so bittersweet and our eyes were puffy from all the crying. Right before our friends left, however, Caroline and my flight git canceled. So we had to rebook. It was a whole fiasco, so we never got to properly say goodbye to our friends, which was terrible. We ended up staying up and never going to bed that night. Caroline got rebooked for a flight leaving a day later, so we spent the whole night trying to get her on my new flight, which was apparently full. Eventually we left for the airport, which was also a disaster. However, hours later, we were both on the same flight headed home. It was a rough flight home. No sleep. Crowded plane. No room. Tired. It was awful. The worst part was never saying goodbye properly because of all the airline cancellations. But even though it was all a disaster, I was happy knowing my family would be waiting for me at the airport. And I was so excited to see them. Caroline and I laded and quickly ran through customs and baggage. As soon as I saw my mom and dad standing there, I dropped my luggage and ran to them. Although I left a piece of me in Sorrento, another part of me was back together now that I was home. I hugged them until they almost popped. When I finally opened my eyes they had flowers, balloons, and chick-fil-a!!! Our families all said goodbye and eventually went on our way home. I was home! Or at least I was at one of my homes, because I now have many.