Week Eight GL 350

“Why was it that, sometimes, you needed to see the people closest to you as others saw them to remember how fantastic they were?” - Elizabeth Noble, Things I Want My Daughters to Know

Traveling is not simply a matter of seeing new things a visiting new places, it’s also about remembering what it was like to see the things that are now so familiar, for the first time. Whether it’s the people in your life, the sights that you see, the voices you hear, or the food you eat, it is crucial to never become complacent about what they mean to you. Being abroad for two months has given me plenty of opportunities to see new things and to sort of “practice" experiencing things for the first time. It has made me learn and adapt to new cultures and cuisines and languages sure, but it also has made me appreciate my own culture and life back home. This is what being a global citizen means. Appreciating the universality of our world does not come through learning history and culture alone. Certainly, that is a huge part of becoming more globally aware, but that’s not all that being a global citizen entails. Becoming a global citizen requires using that sense of newness to truly experience the world, regardless of how long you have been in a place or how many times you have experienced it.

I thought studying in Rome was about learning to be like the Italians. And to some extent, it was. I mean, it almost goes without saying that I have learned so many things about Italian culture that I would have never known, had I not traveled here. I’ve learned the big things, like how to eat dinner like Italians, the customary greetings, the history, and the pride that Italians have for their country. I’ve seen things that people all over the world dream about seeing: the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Pope, the Baths of Rome, the Roman Forum, the remains of St. Peter, the David, the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican, the Trevi Fountain, Pompeii, the Holy Steps. These places are monumental and after experiencing them all it’s hard to imagine ever growing used to them.

But I’ve also learned the little things; the quirky things. For example, I have learned where to sit on a partially-filled train in Italy: not to close to someone else as to disturb them but not so far away that you make an uncomfortable distance between each other. (If you need to know, the answer is always diagonally across from the other person… That means one, enough leg room for each of you, and two, a place to put your bag on the seat next to you so that you can act slight put off when someone asks to sit there once the train fills up, but not annoyed enough to not actually move it for them.) It’s hard to explain the little things because it’s not like they can just be taught to someone who doesn’t understand them. It’s the little things that we need to notice more often. And it’s not just about where to sit on the train, don’t misunderstand, that was just a slightly humorous example of the seemingly infinitesimal subtitles in different cultures. It’s about the fact that being here, and traveling in Europe, has trained me to look for those kinds of things.

So, I didn’t come here and magically become Italian. (Granted I’ve done almost too good of a job of adding Italian flair to my wardrobe… So much so in fact, that all the new clothes along with my tanner complexion, make me appear fit right in, or at least on the surface anyway.) But that’s as far as it goes, my “Italian-ness” is only skin-deep. I had slowly begun to realize that I didn't “become” Italian at all and that’s not what this whole experience was for. After all, I am American and it’s not as though my nationality can simply change because of my current location. But what can change (and what did change) is my ability adapt, appreciate, and find the sense of awe in things again. That’s what it really takes to become a global citizen - to experience every country, every nation, every city, and every street corner with the same excitement of seeing something new, whether you’ve never seen it before or you’ve seen it a million times before.

“I hope you never lose your sense of wonder,

you get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger. May you never take one single breath for granted.” – Lee Ann Womack