Why go to 1 country when you could go to 7?

I was sitting in the library talking to a friend about Italy, he was planning on going on a European study abroad where he would visit 7 countries, and just decided to apply for a different study abroad through the university--an International business trip where he would visit 7 countries! I was talking to my mom about it later that day, and she asked me, "So why did you decide to only go to one country, rather than seven?" If I hadn't been debating this question continuously in my mind for some time, my answer probably would have been something along the lines of, "I don't know...I just wanted to go to Italy--I guess I didn't think much about it." However, that was most definitely NOT my response. I chose to go to ONE country because I want to learn another language and another culture more fully--I feel like I may not be able to say that I've stepped foot in 8 countries, but I'm positive that I will have a lot more to say, and a lot more knowledge, about the one country I will spend 3 months in. I'm not saying that either study abroad experience is better than the other, but the outcome of the programs will be significantly different.

The Italian language is intricate enough,
I was surprised to learn how much
unspoken language there really is--which,
I suppose, is true of any place.

Sometimes--mainly when I'm sitting in my accelerated Italian language course, and realizing that I'm about to go to a country alone, live with a family I don't know, in a culture I'm not familiar with, and speak a language that I am still far from mastering--I wonder what in the world I'm doing, and how I'm ever going to accomplish the things that I want to accomplish. I sometimes dream about waking up and being completely fluent in Italian, then wake up, go through my notecards, and realize that the only way to make that dream a reality is through hard work. Is it worth it? ABSOLUTELY! I just bought a Book of Mormon in Italian to read aloud, before bed--hoping that it will help improve my pronunciation. As I was purchasing this book, I ran into a friend and we started talking about learning a language. He started going off about how it will just open so many doors, and that your perspective on everything widens so much, he said:

"The Italian people have something important to say, something

 you would can know without learning the language."

It was such a simple--even obvious--thing to say, but at the same time, it was so profound. I feel like sometimes I get stuck in my American mindset where I am so used to other people being able to adapt to me and speak my language, I hope that my effort to adapt to the Italian way of life will help open the doors of understanding for me. Honestly, I feel like I could collect the most amazing quantitative data in the field, but I think the most important things to learn during my field study can't be converted to numbers and crunched. I want to know what important things the Italian people have to say. Who knows--maybe to narrow my research topic, I might have to expand it a little bit, get a better feel for what's most important to the Italian people/family, and focus my studies on that. So many possibilities, so much to think about!

I realize that this is a little tongue-in-cheek, but it's true to an extent. Everyone has something to say, and it's important that we make an effort to listen and understand them. This may be the psychology major in me, but the things people have to say are usually important, what they mean is not always obvious, but the underlying meaning and implications are worth listening in for.

Italian Hand Gestures Explained