I had a dream I went to Italy and I lived there for a year. I left behind my city and everyone I knew, looking a change in a life that felt the same. I …
Bologna
Bella, Act 1
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 …
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 …