The Last Days in Sansepolcro

The last week in Sansepolcro has been filled with all kinds of exciting last-minute fun, with a lot of coffee breaks, last pizzas, last buses to Arezzo, and last all night paper writing. I’m going to miss this town. Right now, I can look out of my window and see Sansepolcro’s Christmas decorations. I can see cobblestone streets, Gerasmo’s café, and Porta Fiorentina. I can go and look through the window and see Piero della Francesca’s The Resurrection anytime of day or night. In a less than a week, I will be in Stanly County, where the view from my window will still be beautiful, but different. I am looking forward to going home so much to see my friends and family, but I am incredibly thankful for everything that has been a part of my life here in Sansepolcro.

Last week, we had Thanksgiving for the community. We had 80 guests come for dinner. We tried to have a traditional American Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Italy, so we prepared a speech in Italian to explain why it is celebrated. We each had to read a part of it. Our Thanksgiving wasn’t exactly traditional, but it was a good mix of Italian and American, some old things, and some new. For instance, we sang a hymn on Thanksgiving for the Italians, which Americans don’t really do. We also had a Thanksgiving tree, which is a tree with hand turkeys on it that said what we were thankful for. The chef for the Palazzo found this on the internet last year and thought that Americans had Thanksgiving trees, so the Thanksgiving tree is part of the celebration as well. We ate bruschetta, which is an Italian appetizer, soup, fried pumpkin, turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing, corn, and pumpkin pie. This was the first meal I have had in Italy that didn’t have pasta!

I also had my last lesson and observation at the high school this week. They surprised me by throwing us a party. The teachers made us homemade Italian Christmas cakes, which are tall conical cakes that have a texture closer to bread but are sweet. They were very good. I got to say goodbye to all the students and my teacher gave me a microphone to say whatever I would like to them. I thanked them for letting me come to their school these past few months. It was very sad to leave the high school for the last time.

I am leaving for Rome for a few days before I fly home to see the last city on my list of places to see this semester. I have had a wonderful experience here and I am already trying to devise a way to come back for a visit. I have so many new friends and I think coming to Sansepolcro will always feel a little bit as if I am coming back to a home. I’m leaving in less than twelve hours and I’m trying to soak in every detail until the end.

Arrivederci,

Meredith