Caio Cagli

By Sam Starbuck

I find myself having very mixed feeling about finishing the Gonzaga in Cagli Project. On the one hand, class is over, grades are coming and I'm headed home in a few weeks. On the other, the adventure of living and studying in a new place in the world is over, the food is over, the hanging out on the piazza is over, and my new friends and I are parting ways, seeing each other for perhaps the last time. On the third hand, the cultural mismatches will be over. The slight embarrassment each time I am confused by a word spoken in Italian, comparing my behavior to those around me hoping not to stand out too much will be over, and being way outside my comfort zone.

I have learned so much, its a little hard to process at the moment. I took an intercultural communication class at a community and I thought I had learned so much, yet it pales in comparison to the sheer volume of new experiences I have had since coming to Cagli two weeks ago. I am planning on taking trips around the world in the future and applying as much of my new knowledge as I possible can along the way and adding new ideas and experiences to the communication models I have studied and practiced while I have been in Cagli.

There are things I wish I had done more, for instance, taking more pictures of the people of Cagli and of people in the program. Spending more time in conversation using only Italian words and phrases. And engaging in more of the hidden pleasures of gelato.