STEP Study Abroad Reflection

For my STEP signature project, I studied abroad in Rome during the Spring 2019 semester. During my time abroad, I lived in an apartment with five other study abroad students in Garbatella, a small neighborhood in Rome, took four classes focusing mainly on Roman culture and history, explored the city with my new friends, and traveled all over Europe to learn about other European history and culture on the weekends.

Studying in Rome taught me a lot about a culture that is very different from my own. For example, Romans put a strong emphasis on buying locally grown and produced foods. While living in Rome, instead of going to the grocery store to buy food, I bought fruits and vegetables from the local markets in my neighborhood, and went to local bakeries to get my morning cappuccino. This not only led me to eat healthier, less-processed foods, but these practices also showed me how supporting the locals fosters community. The people who owned the vegetable market around the corner from me got to know me, and always greeted me as I walked past their store, even if I was not buying anything that day. I also made a friend at my neighborhood bakery. He taught me how to say different words in Italian, taught me about different foods that Italians eat during various holidays, and overall made me feel like a part of the Garbatella community.

These experiences that I had where I engaged with neighborhood shops really showed me how supporting the locals can create a strong community. In the United States, so many of our stores are chains, and we do not create relationships with the stores’ management teams and employees. I found it really special that in Rome, shopping locally was not only part of the culture, but helped people to create relationships with others around them. I would have never thought about this as a way to form a stronger community before going abroad, but I think that this is something important to creating a stronger community through shopping locally both in Rome and in the United States.

As stated before, I created relationships with people in the neighborhood that I lived in, as did the locals. One example of this was with my friend, Dennis, who worked in the local bakery. Dennis knew my order by heart: a cappuccino and a cannoli. Every time I went into the bakery, Dennis would make me order my food in Italian, and would teach me how to say a new word. He would also suggest new treats for me to try, and would give me the histories on the different foods that he sold. Eventually, I would go to Dennis to ask about the best restaurants in the area, where I should buy different products, and just about life in Rome in general. Dennis created relationships like this with a lot of his customers. I could see what a community there was between the employees and locals at his bakery.

Another place where I interacted with local storeowners was at the produce shop around the corner from my apartment. The man who worked in the store would hold my bag open for me as I picked out different fruits and vegetables. He would also tell me what products were the freshest, and would help me to pick out the best fruits and vegetables that he had. Eventually, he started to recognize me as I would walk by his shop, always greeting me with a big smile and a “ciao”. One evening, I was able to meet his three-year-old daughter, and she even tried checking me out at the end of my visit!

All of these experiences with the locals of Garbatella helped to transform my views of ways in which people can foster community. Before studying in Rome, when I thought about creating a community, I thought about events that our local park district held for my community, people taking their dogs to the local dog parks, and bringing cookies over to new neighbors’ houses. I had never before realized how shopping locally can create such a strong community, and can help people to create relationships with others.

This transformation of my views is going to be significant when it comes to my future career. I plan on becoming a therapist, and something important in keeping people happy is fostering social interactions. Shopping locally and engaging with local storeowners is a different way in which people can create a community for themselves. I will take these new views on creating a community with me throughout my future career and my life.