Note: what follows is a work of fiction. While the characters in the story -including I, Pier, the narrator- are inspired by real life, their existence remains limited to the confines of the story. When …
Bologna
Not a Tourist
I returned to Bologna with Future’s new album rattling through my earbuds, feeling like a boss. The plane made its last decent and I coasted along the city’s red roofs and medieval towers framed by …
Finals
I woke up this morning in a running frenzy. There had been no alarm. I searched frantically for the time and found my phone buried under pages of notes on my desk, unplugged and dead. …
Miss America
I miss my mom and my sisters and my brothers, I miss eating dinner with them after driving back to Oregon from Madison, going to class all day and walking around campus seeing my friends …
Money
I do not like to waste time worrying about money. It comes and goes like the tide, I just want to ride the waves. But when I consider the tsunami of debt that will come …
The Routine / The Escape
I am writing this to further procrastinate my studies. The second week of classes at the University of Bologna is finished and by now I have gotten used to the routine of waking up, making …
Time for a Change
I come from Oregon, Wisconsin, a quiet little town that’s just a twenty-minute drive through rolling farmland to Madison. Growing up so close to the UW campus, I spent a lot of time hanging out …
And So You Swim On
Exams are done. Finished cramming everything into suitcases to be sure it would all fit. Just a few more days before departure. I just need to finish cleaning my apartment. I’ve thought about taking a …
Handling Mental Illness While Abroad
It’s nearing the end of my stay in Bologna. It hasn’t really sunk in yet, but my attentions have been elsewhere. I have finals this coming week and then some time to pack up before …
Blog di Bologna “On Packing Right”
I’ve been wanting to do one of these reflection blogs to assist future students abroad as well as for posterity. Unsolicited advice. Dear Future Sara, This is for you, too. I don’t know if I’d …