My first time!

Do you remember your first time? Well, not that first time you guys. I am talking about that first time you got to visit the place or the country you had always dreamed about visiting.

That first time for me happened over a decade ago when I visited the, as I call it, 'country of my heart' Italy. Half of my academic background is in languages and Italian was one of the languages I was learning and immediately fell in love with. Visiting Italy had always been a dream and when I decided to do a month long language course I was so excited that my dream would become a reality.

When one day, it was finally time to embark on a new adventure. Everything that followed from the moment I stepped out of that plane on the runway in Rome every sound, every smell, every image became part of an unforgettable and extraordinary experience. While still at the top of the ladder outside the airplane door, I closed my eyes, took a deep inhale, taking in everything that the environment had to offer on a hot and sticky Italian summer afternoon in July.

First stop, the main train station in Rome, from where we would catch the train for a two hour journey to Perugia, our final destination. All the time, I would just look around, like a child full of curiosity and I would absorb everything like a sponge. On the train, I just rested my head on the cushion of my comfortable armchair and just gazed outside the window for a good proportion of the journey. Perugia was this beautiful, picturesque city in the middle of Italy built on dozens of hills. No matter where you were going or walking, 90% of the time you would either walk uphill or downhill to reach your destination.

That one month was full of experiences. Even going to classes in the morning was a joy. For our listening class we would be in this big room full of acoustic equipment. I would put my headset on, push these weird looking buttons on a console in front of me and on the other end you would hear a recorded voice narrating a script. On my side, I would make these silly expressions with my face while listening to my own voice and trying to imitate what I was listening. Or when I was so sleepy and sometimes hungover because of the frolics of the night before that during the interval I would rest my head on my hand while placing my head on the desk in front of me trying to recover.

Evenings were something to look forward to. Everybody would congregate in the main square on the big steps in front of the duomo where we would spend hours chatting and laughing and planning the night ahead. Those steps were so big you would have to lunge to get from the one you were on to the next.

Most of our weekends we would spend travelling up and down the country. First trip we did was Rome. I was excited beyond belief to be back in this amazing city. I remember the first aroma of the first freddo cappuccino I drunk, the taste of the first gelato I ate. We were walking for hours under the scorching sun, sweating, feet hurting but not caring one bit. All we cared about was to take everything this city had to offer. Seeing the Colosseum for the first time was a unique experience. Although from up close it is smaller than what you would expect when I got there and finally saw it I couldn't believe it. I just stood there looking at it, speechless. Of course, we had to visit the very famous Trevi fountain. The tradition is that you have to stand with your back against the fountain and toss a coin in it and make a wish. My wish was to come visit again so I could do this all over. Or who can forget when we went to the city of Pisa to see the famous leaning tower. And you know what happens when you go there, endless photos with the tower in the background trying to achieve the perfect angle for the perfect picture - we were having fun.

Every night, I would lie in bed looking at the ceiling, reflecting back on the day and feeling so lucky for the experience I was living. But all good things come to an end. The night before our last day at the end of July, the skies opened and it started raining cats and dogs. Even mother nature was sad that I was leaving! At the airport, reliving a similar scenario but with completely different sentiment, I reached the top of the ladder at the entrance of the plane, I looked back, waved, promised I would be back again and said arrivederci!