Holly Ojeda
World Traveling starts Now
I've never been to Italy - heck, I've never been to any part of Europe, or even overseas! All I have known my entire life is America...with a Mexico & Bahamas trip thrown in the mix, but that doesn't count. When I first stepped foot on Europe property, I immediately felt out of place.
Flying from Houston to Germany was, of course, the longest flight I could ever imagine! But when stuck in a German airport for a few hour layover, it starts to hit you when you can't speak the language. Now I know how foreigners feel in the U.S. when they can't communicate with us! I do speak Spanish, so helping Hispanics and Latinos are a piece of cake for me but anyone else, I shrug my shoulders with a puzzled look on my face and walk away before I get sucked into that time-consuming mess. That, I definitely won't be doing anymore. I now, will try my hardest to help relieve any frustration from a foreigner that seems to be struggling to communicate or understand English. It's all about hand motions! 🤗
Flying from Houston to Germany was, of course, the longest flight I could ever imagine! But when stuck in a German airport for a few hour layover, it starts to hit you when you can't speak the language. Now I know how foreigners feel in the U.S. when they can't communicate with us! I do speak Spanish, so helping Hispanics and Latinos are a piece of cake for me but anyone else, I shrug my shoulders with a puzzled look on my face and walk away before I get sucked into that time-consuming mess. That, I definitely won't be doing anymore. I now, will try my hardest to help relieve any frustration from a foreigner that seems to be struggling to communicate or understand English. It's all about hand motions! 🤗
first outlook on Italy
Walking out of the Bologna airport, I immediately thought, wow, the trees here are so much more green and vibrant! Yes, I love trees... Don't judge me! But I was also thinking how surreal everything was. It didn't feel real yet. Maybe it was just the jet lag since I pretty much missed an entire night's worth of sleep.
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The hour drive to Ferrara (our hometown), I was sooo tired but wide awake with excitement on what was yet to come during this new journey. Talk about excitement: cars were all over the place! Lanes seemed so much more narrow, drivers were less cautious -- actually, it seemed like they all knew how to drive! No one breaking for no reason, no one switching lanes and almost hitting another car, and our driver had no fear of rear-ending the cars in front of him, seeing that he would get about 2 inches away from their rear when he had to slow down. Everyone drove with confidence. I loved it!
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While others slept during this car ride, I took pictures of flat land. Wait, flat land? Are those farms? Crops? This place looks no different than Texas!
Arriving in Ferrara, my mind took a turn once I saw the buildings closing in, causing even more narrow roads for cars to drive through. Where are all of big trucks and Jeeps? Oh, how I miss my Jeep... The buildings were so old, yet colorful. Cathedrals were on every corner. A beautiful, huge castle sat inside a moat. The roads were made of tiny little rocks they called "cobblestone". I don't recall ever seeing grass on the ground but the trees, indeed, did look different. And the people: they all rode their bikes and walked everywhere. Very little times, you would see a car squeeze through the buildings, because people were not lazy in this town.
Before checking in at the residency, we stopped by our classroom. Coffee!! Can I please have some coffee before I fall asleep walking? A coffee bar was conveniently right next to the CIEE building (our study abroad program) and I was not about to skip out on an opportunity to drink coffee, especially Italian coffee! After reading my GoogleTranslate app to the lady to order, I noticed how ridiculously tiny the cup of coffee was. This ain't no venti latte! How is this going to keep me awake?
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As we walked to our residency and crossed the main square of Ferrara, we noticed colorful umbrellas floating above people's heads. We walked down the "umbrella street" and I thought, I wonder how long it took them to hang all of these umbrellas from building to building. Oh, I wonder if it will keep me dry in the rain...
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Once we stopped in front of our peach-colored residency, the program director, Claudia, said, "this is where you will be staying!" We walked inside, carried our 50-pound luggage up 5 flights of stairs, and found our way to our rooms. They were much like dorm rooms but without the A.C. The bathrooms were small and the showers had no room to even move around without opening the door. Mix in no A.C. and a hot shower and you feel like there's no point in showering because you walk out sweating even more than you already were before. But hey, this is all part of the experience! I was not about to be negative about these petty little things because I was in Italy! This just helped me realized how much luxury we have back at home in America. We are pretty darn spoiled.
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Discovering Ferrara
Farming & Pizza Making
Pasta Making
Walking through the streets of Ferrara as a local:
ClimBing towers in Bologna
And the Cheesecake... I mean, cheese factory & balsamic vinegar facility:
off on our own in rome
comaccHio
venice
the tuscany ❤️
Florence & Sienna