“We
may value foreign elements not only because they are new but because they seem
to accord more faithfully with our identity and commitments than anything our
homeland can provide.” – Alain de Botton, The
Art of Travel
The
foreign elements from Venice that I valued the most were the sense of community
among Venetians, openness from bartenders and waiters to seek out a good time
with their tourist customers, gelato of every variety, frequently encountered
high quality Venetian and Italian dishes, and relaxed lifestyle with less obedience
to the rules of law when strict conformity is inconsiderate. An example of this
last value occurred on my final morning in Venice as I was taking the Alilaguna
to the airport. Immediately after getting my ticket punched and hopping on the
water bus, I saw one of my friends running alone trying to make it onto the
Alilaguna at the more convenient San Zaccaria stop. My initial thought was that
she wouldn’t know how to make it up to the northern side of the island to catch
the water bus on its way to the airport. With time to spare, I was set on
getting off the water bus to see if she needed help. Unfortunately, we had
already started moving by the time I saw her, so I couldn’t get off until the
next stop. I explained the situation to the driver, and he not only said it
would be okay to get back on his Alilaguna with a punched ticket, but he also
told me that if I missed his boat, I should tell the other driver to call
Alilaguna #2 so he could explain the situation. I feel like if a similar
situation would have happened in the U.S., the city worker would have followed
orders and wouldn’t have allowed me back on with a punched ticket. The fact
that this Venetian was considerate enough to offer to talk to another driver tremendously
made me appreciate the side of Italian culture that sometimes ignores the
rules.
Botton
states that, “A danger of travel is that we may see things at the wrong time,
before we have had an opportunity to build up the necessary receptivity, so
that new information is as useless and fugitive as necklace beads without a
connecting chain.” There were certainly tours some days where the interest
level was lower than I would have liked. I think Botton hits the nail on the
head when he implies that it’s difficult to appreciate certain sites or
activities abroad if no interest has ever been developed before. The main
hurdle for me was my lack of interest in the Italian language. Although I am
familiar with Spanish, I think if I had more training in Italian before heading
to Italy I would not have felt so overwhelmed with trying to understand and
speak the language. If I could do it over again, I would have tried to master
the commonly used phrases before leaving so that I’d have a basis for small
talk with Italian venders in their language.
Overall,
I think my prediction of Venice in my earlier post was a lot closer than I
would have guessed. Alleyways at night were as safe as could be, and although I
ran into two different people with red rain coats during my stay, they seemed
pretty harmless. I never did find a Venetian playing his harmonica passionately
on a city bench. The lack of benches certainly didn’t help.
Most
importantly, my week in Italy taught me the power of study abroad. Plucking individuals
from their daily, habitual lives and dropping them into a new world filled with
new surroundings, authority figures, and peers for a week makes for quite the
adventure. For one thing, there’s the social experience. Meeting everyone during
the first few days of the trip is exciting. But what’s even more fun is when
subgroups begin to form and you have the chance to know more about some people
than their name and major. As groups branch off, group dynamics and gossip (all
in good fun) become topics of conversation over wine, allowing for deeper
connections to form between “members” of the subgroup. Nicknames become
established as personalities are characterized. Friendships develop rather
quickly during a spring break abroad because so much time is being spent with
the group (in my experience 15 hours a day), people are open to making friends
(a natural tendency when everyone is out of their comfort zone), and worries of
studies back on campus are put on hold during the break. Although I came back
with an appreciation for Venice and Italian culture, the friends I made were
surely the greatest souvenir I could ask to take back.
