Un Anno Fa

giovedì, 9 gennaio 2025

Yesterday marked exactly one year since I set foot back in the United States after my first trip to Italy. Although I had initially planned to be in Italia for only about a month, as Fate would have it, I was able to extend my stay for almost three months — with a short jaunt to London and Dublin to boot. For those of you considering whether to travel for an extended period, even in a country that isn't fully-fluent in English, I can tell you that this trip changed my life in ways that I could never have imagined beforehand. Even after three months in Italia, I wasn't ready to go back to the United States and found the transition back to the United States much more difficult than my transition into Italia. Fortunately, I had already booked my return flight back to Italia before I embarked upon my return flight, which somewhat buffered my return to the United States.

I flew into JFK and had an engaging conversation with a businessman from Italia, in Italian, which made the flight pass much faster than it would have otherwise. After passing through customs, I found JFK much more disorienting than I could ever have imagined. Everything seemed quite odd, too well-polished and more than a bit antiseptic. It was almost as if the designers of the airport, in the quest to be modern, had forgotten about making it aesthetically appealing to the human beings that frequented its flights.

All in all, I felt quite lost, a foreigner in my own country of origin. I made my way from JFK, across the Airtrain to Jamaica, and from Jamaica to downtown Manhattan. I grabbed a bite to eat down at the Starlight Diner and then made my way back North to Boston, before ending up in Worcester — where I took the above photo at about 6:30 a.m..

Although it might be somewhat difficult to tell, Worcester had just had their first snowstorm of the year a day or so beforehand so everything was a snowy, slushy mess. Fortunately, I was able to find a coffee shop in the city, one whose barista took pride in their coffee and was able to provide me with a true cup of espresso (un caffè). I struggled for many months to feel at home in a place that I had known all my life, as I still do whenever I am back in the States from Italia.

Never could I have imagined the intense feelings of loneliness that emanated forth from my heart when I returned back from Italia. Even now, over a year later, I feel as though this wound is still fresh and wont to heal. I also feel, however, that it is time for me to share my experiences with others, particularly those of you who wish to immerse yourself in another culture, within another language, in another land.

The old me, before my trip, would have said, "Yes, do it!"

The new me, after two three-month trips to Italia, would still say, "Yes, do it!", but with a warning. Only do such a thing if you are willing to risk having your old life completely shattered and understand that the life that rises up from ones ashes may end up looking very different in its new incarnation.

Yours in inspiration,
Michael Weaver