In terms of housing and classmates, I was pretty nervous. I didn’t know if everyone would know each other already, or if we would all get along, etc. I was also a little nervous of how the housing would be in each location. In Rome we stayed in a boarding house, with 6 students in apartments- two bedrooms with three people in each. I had requested to live with one of my friends that I knew would be on the trip, but because the room sizes were so large I was worried about conflicting personalities. Luckily that wasn’t a problem at all! Everyone on the dialogue is there to have fun and learn all they can about the new culture and country, and everyone is always willing to make friends. I have found that everyone gets along, and we often get dinner together in large groups and we all go out to explore the cities on the weekends. Of course people have split into smaller groups of friends, but there are no antagonisms between anyone or any groups. It really is great; and I’m very happy that classes didn’t become clique-y like I had feared. In Venice, we are staying in an old monastery, the Don Orione center which is open to “religious guests.” The Don is rather large, and currently there are other groups of people staying here as well, including a large group of elderly Germans. The rooms here are simple, but again exceeded my expectations of lodgings in a foreign country. Most rooms are doubles, and people can switch with each other to live with friends if everyone is in agreement. There are a couple triples, one of which I am in, which is nice too- not too crowded. At the Don, cleaning women even come and make our beds daily and clean and replace the towels in the bathroom. Overall, it is a great place to stay in Venice- home away from home!
