Even though I was there only 29 days, my time in Siena, Italy was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. Moving to a new city in a new country is life-changing on its own, but I also had to partially learn a new language and adjust to a new way of living. Life happens at a slower pace in Italy, and in a city as old as Siena this means you have time to discover the beauty around every corner. But my fantastic surroundings and even the classes I took aren’t what matter most when I reflect on my experience in Siena now. The people I was there with are what occupy my memory.
When you study abroad with an intensive program like this, the people in your program aren’t just your classmates like they might be back home and aren’t just your roommates either. They are people you form deep connections with along the day trips, dinner parties, and late-night study sessions. After spending all day, every day together, we bonded as something more than just friends—we became as family. But family can mean so many things, so a better explanation is needed.
In Siena, there exist 17 different neighborhoods called Contrada. Neighborhoods where people have been born, and lived, and died, for generations upon generations. Ties between families in these Contrada are like an even bigger familial network, but in a lot of ways it’s deeper than that. By the end of our time in Siena, everyone in my program agreed our group wasn’t just family, we were Contrada. Contrada, meaning a brotherhood, a society, a network of people who support each other in times of need, who love and live and lose side by side, no matter what.
Ultimately, in Siena I learned what it meant to find people who understand the meaning of friendship and family. We all learned, and lived, and persevered together throughout our month in Italy. Coming to know the people in my program well enough for everyone to agree we weren’t just friends but family, was one of the most fantastic experiences of my life and something I will remember and cherish forever.
Janneke Broekhoff
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