2019 Italy #COBGlobal: day one, a day of firsts

An ECUCOB, Study Abroad Travel Log By Madison Faughnan

Madison Faughnan

Today was the beginning of our travels from RDU to Turin, Italy!

As we boarded the plane in Raleigh, the airport’s emergency alarms sounded. They did not tell us why, but still, they let us board our plane and take off. This was a little worrisome considering all the horrible events that have happened lately. I have never been out of the country other than the Bahamas. However, I was just excited to take my first steps out of the plane into Spain and Italy!

Then, it started to hit me. I knew this trip was happening when the flight attendant came up to me speaking Spanish. She was trying to tell me to put my phone on airplane mode. I just blankly stared at her and thought, “what on earth is she saying?” She then realized I did not understand her, and we both just laughed it off. I got the hint of what she was saying. That moment felt like my first glimpse of the cultural encounters I was about to experience. I also heard others in the airport saying “Ciao,” which I had only ever heard in movies. It felt surreal to realize all the other cultures I had yet to experience in real life.

Things started to get a little crazy when we arrived at our Madrid layover. Our layover was extremely tight on time so, Dr. (Elaine) Seeman and I ran ahead to try to hold the next plane. When we got to the gate, they said the rest of the group had eight minutes to board before the plane left. As everyone else came running on to the plane, we realized our traveling pirate, Grace, left her carry-on bag at security.  Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do at that time. We had to leave it there and hope it would find its way back.

We may think we know a lot but…

After calming down from the rush, I sat on the last flight from Madrid to Italy looking out the window. I thought about all the untouched and unstudied land on our earth that has not been consumed by human-made cities. It was comforting to see that our world is not always as bad off as it can be portrayed with all the new development, buildings and factories being built everywhere. There is still so much land completely untouched by man and so many areas yet to be explored, studied and civilized. Due to all the recent technological developments, we may think we know a lot but, so much about our earth is still undiscovered. As I end this write up, I reflect on my travels and realize that today was just the beginning of my first cultural perspective change.

I can’t wait to experience the Italian culture with all my fellow pirates!

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• Winter 2019