1st Weekend Trip to Cinque Terre! :)

By:

Melany Chavez Ugalde

Published:

Countries

Demographics

,

Majors

,

Regions

Melany Chavez Ugalde

<i>Pronouns:</i> She/her <i>Home Institution:</i> University of California, Santa Cruz <i>Expected Graduation:</i> 2025 <i>Major / Minor:</i> Psychology & Environmental Studies <i>Study Abroad Location:</i> Florence, Italy <i>"Hello" in your host country's language:</i> Ciao <i>Program Provider:</i> UCEAP <i>Identity:</i> Hispanic/Latinx, First-Generation American, First-Generation College Student <i>Future Career Goals:</i> In the future I hope to help people and the environment. I plan to pursue higher education after undergraduate studies and pursue a career in environmental psychology or in habitat conservation. <i>Top 3 Goals for your time abroad:</i> My first goal for my time abroad is to make life long connections. My second goal is to expand my knowledge about the world. My third goal is to grow more independent as a person and student because of my experience abroad.

Hi everyone!

I hope you’re having a wonderful summer :). My 2nd blog is centered around my first trip outside of my study abroad home base in Florence, Italy. I took a weekend trip to La Spezia and Cinque Terre. It was incredibly beautiful and worth all the train transfers and the 2-hour ride :). I recommend anyone close to Cinque Terre in Italy to visit!

Traveling weekends isn’t necessary to have a great study abroad experience, but I did set aside some time since the beginning to take a trip to Cinque Terre ever since I applied to my program. It was quite nerve-wracking to figure out the train stations with all the transfers but it was well worth the trip! Although I did feel a little bit anxious being out of the city of Florence, which I had just begun to feel comfortable with, I ended up having a great trip. I tend to be a more anxious person when it comes to traveling with all my belongings and just being in new spaces in general but I did my research and prepared myself to help aid some of those anxious feelings. A lot of the time during the trip I felt like I needed to have some alone time from others and have time to recollect and process all these new things which is totally okay but I’m so glad I did the trip because it was beautiful!

I spent all of Saturday at the beach in Monterosso in the Mediterranean Sea swimming from morning until evening and spent all of Sunday exploring Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, and Vernazza. I ate a delicious pesto pasta meal and bathed in the sun all weekend long. It was as beautiful as the pictures I had seen online.

After my trip and arriving at Firenze Santa Maria Novella train station, I had the weirdest feeling. I felt way more comfortable and started to recognize my surroundings and felt 10 times more comfortable. At this moment I realized that I was living in this new city and started to be more comfortable with it! It reminded me that my experience is way different than if I was just living here. I’m so grateful to be able to experience these new things and have these realizations abroad that I never would have thought I’d have if I didn’t come. I look forward to updating with other self-realizations and continue having a great time with others and alone!

Warmly,

Melany C.