This summer I had the experience of a life time: I went to Italy for one month. My whole life I have grown up with Italian culture surrounding everything I do, since all of my grandparents immigrated to Canada from there. I have grown up eating the food, hearing the language, and learning all the values of having a close-knit family. I had high expectations for the trip because my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and parents had all told stories of their visits there.
My grandparents dropped us off at the airport. I remember my grandma was happy, but I could tell under that façade that she was nervous. We kissed them goodbye, then went through security.
The plane ride was around 9 hours for the first leg, and another 3 hours for the second leg. I busied myself by listening to music, reading a book, and trying to sleep. When we finally landed, I was tired from the lack of sleep. This feeling of exhaustion was whisked away from me as soon as we got to our flat, and we tasted our first delicacies in Italy from the bakery on the adjacent building. We stayed in Rome first, and it was my favourite place out of all the places we went.
Our first day might have also been our busiest day. We went to go see the Colosseum. The building was absolutely surreal. I was really into the Percy Jackson series of books while I was in middle school, so seeing the setting of my favourite characters in real life was amazing. I saw so many tourists there, but I imagined in my head what it would have been like to be in the Colosseum during a vicious gladiator fight. I tried to take snapshots in my brain of the inside, because I wanted to remember the sight of the creamy white marble, and the golden light that gleamed through the massive arches.
While we were in Italy, we visited family all throughout the country. We went to the towns that my grandparents grew up in. I met many cousins, aunts, and uncles that I didn’t even know existed. I was touched by the generosity and kindness of everyone. There was always an abundance of food and laughter at every house. I tasted so much flavourful food that nothing I had ever tasted in my life could compare. We probably had pasta everyday, which I did not mind at all. When we would visit people’s houses, the aroma of something delicious cooking made our eyes perk up and our stomachs rumble.
I constantly heard foreign languages, especially in the touristy places. Of course, I heard Italian. My parents speak Italian very well, so they were able to communicate with everyone. However, my siblings and I do not speak Italian, so we just smiled and nodded a lot. I wish I understood and spoke the language. I was grateful that some of my cousins knew a bit of English because otherwise communication would have been impossibly hard. We still keep in touch through social media.
Going to Italy changed my life because it helped me understand the life my grandparents had before they came to Canada. I got to see all the sights that I’ve only read about in books and seen in pictures. I got to taste foods that that I know and love. I also got to spend a lot of time with family who I have become very close to now