Taking a step back.

I'd like to say that being in Italy for the last month has been the greatest time of my life. The smallest things from getting lost every time I stepped out of my apartment the first week here, hearing people converse in Italian right outside my window, meeting locals and other American's, to going to church on Sunday's at the Duomo. The amount of time I spend during the day to step back and think about what I am doing here, will never be enough.

I woke up early today, did some stuff at home and decided to walk to mercato di San Lorenzo. On my way, I ran into a girl in one of my classes. We walked a little of the ways together, talking about our time here and where we have been traveling. Splitting up, she went to her apartment and I continued towards the market.
I stopped for a few seconds after that and just looked around. I am familiar with the area, so I wasn't lost. 'I am living in Florence, Italy,' I thought to myself. I never thought I was actually going to follow through with studying abroad... After being in Italy for 2 weeks in high school, I wanted nothing more than to go back, and it actually happened. I just had a conversation with my friend about how she is going to Interlaken this weekend, how I was just in Madrid, and how we cannot believe we just casually walk passed the Duomo every day on the way to classes. I am living the life.

I continued to the market, bought a few apples and red peppers, and left to walk home. Alone, carrying my bag of fruit and veggies, once I got to Piazza del Duomo, I decided to stop inside the Duomo. I remember it from 4 years ago, but every time you walk in it's breath taking. There was a lot of tour groups inside, and I just walked around the main floor by myself. I decided I was going to do something like this at least twice a week; stop inside one of the hundreds of churches, buildings, museums, view points, etc., in Florence. I need to take advantage of every thing here that's at the palm of my hands.

I don't think I fully recognize how fortunate I am. Waking up in my bed in the center of Florence, Italy. Going to class with the view of the Duomo outside the window. Having all of Europe at my fingertips with a click of a button, purchasing a cheap train/plane ticket. Nope. I don't think it's ever going to hit me.

I came across a blog today, called Milk the Pigeon. I highly, highly suggest you take the time to read his blog. Excuse the slang and swear words he uses, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the posts. He talks about living the life you love and makes you think about a lot of stuff. It's great, check it out.


Long story short, I had an eye-opening episode today.
I'm dropping the habit I have of complaining about the smallest stuff. I can't let life pass me by without me realizing it. I'm done focusing on my social media, and I'm going to continue doing stuff I love, while still working hard at school and my priorities.
I want to see the world, be familiar with multiple cultures and traditions, and gain so much more knowledge than I ever would in all my years of school. And of course when the time comes, I will come home for love. But for right now, less thinking and more doing is what makes someone happy. So I'm gonna make myself happy.