Brother Eklund in Italy

Hello Brothers!

I hope the semester has been off to a great start and I can’t wait to see you all again in August! I have been in Italy for over a month now and it feels like I just got here yesterday. Being in a new, unfamiliar city is a crazy, yet exciting experience. My trip started out rocky when my flight got delayed four hours in Boston and then cancelled! I had to fly out the following night and I ended up missing my program’s entire welcome event/ orientation- to say I was stressed out would be an understatement. The rest of my trip has thankfully gone much smoother and each day I continue to find new things about Florence that I love. Although it is not always fun to walk in the cold, I signed up for a class called Florentine Art Walks and I am seeing so much more of the city than I ever would on my own. If you have the opportunity, take a fun elective abroad!
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One tip that I would share to you all is to take your time. There is so much to see when you come abroad and so many places to go, especially when you can reach so many other cities by bus or train. But it’s important to move at your own pace and create your own schedule in whichever city you end up in. It is easy to get caught up in all the beautiful countries you could visit but it’s still important to explore your own city and see all that it has to offer. When I first got here, all anyone could talk about was where they wanted to go which weekend or how stressed they were to plan their spring break trips. But you have four months abroad, and so much time to see the places you want to go. Some of my favorite weekends so far were spent enjoying Florence!
As grateful as I am for this experience to study abroad in Europe, I still have a piece of me left in Columbia and I can’t wait to see you all again.


Ciao!
Nicole