Emily Bouffard
Lorenzo de’ Medici, Italy
The short list of what I have learned thus far: it smells like dog piss and cigarette smoke in the city after it rains; it is considered unnatural to eat fruit with a sandwich — you must respect the order of food; never fill your glass of wine more than partway; no matter what you’re wearing or doing, Italians will stare at you like you’re an alien; some of the dogs here have better clothes than me (I swear every dog has a full designer wardrobe); but most importantly, I know where one of the few public bathrooms near my bus stop is.
I have been in Florence for a little over a month now. Some days it feels as though I’m in a dream; others not so much.
Contributed Photo
I live about four and a half miles away from school in a neighborhood called Gavinana on the south side of the Arno River. While this may not sound far, it is when you live in a city as tight-knit as Florence.
I live with an Italian family and often families live out of the historic center of the city since it is too expensive there.
To get into the city center I have to ride the bus.
On the bus, people will try to talk to me in Italian and sometimes I can understand them, but other times they could be telling me I smell terrible and I just say, “si, si.”
Coming to Italy, I knew it would be difficult.
My best friend was going to India and I was leaving my family and friends back home for a new country, new faces, new language and new culture.
I was essentially coming alone — barely knowing anyone else from Keene who was also coming. While I have befriended the other girls here with me, I find myself to be much more of a loner.
I tend to go out alone to explore during the day. I am learning to find peace in my solitude. Many students go abroad hoping to learn from others. Instead, I hope to learn from myself these next few months.
I am currently interning at Palazzo Vecchio, one of the most important civic museums in Florence, and the past home of the Medici family.
My fellow interns from the U.S. hail from borderline Ivy Leagues, and the European interns are either completing or have completed their Masters Degrees.
Albeit this is intimidating, I am still doing the same internship as all of them.
Although the European interns are a few years older and more educated than myself, they still ask me for advice on how to say certain words and phrases in English.
In addition to my internship, I am also in school taking art and language classes. I am in a course about wood object restoration, and while this may initially sound dull to some I can assure you it is far from.
My professor is an older Italian man named Lorenzo who, back in the 1980s, restored the Appennine Colossus in Villa Demidoff, a site which is featured on many “Things To See Before You Die” lists.
Currently my class is working on the restoration of several wood doors at a church about 30 minutes outside of Florence.
Our next project is restoring two large, wooden chests in a 500-year-old Tuscan villa in Cimabue, the town where famous artist Giotto was born.
Studying abroad isn’t about traveling to the most cities you can in four months, or having the best wine of your life — it’s about discovering who you are and what you are capable of.
