25 Things I’m Grateful For

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in America! Woo! Tomorrow is also 25 days until I return to America. In order to be festive, I decided to do a blog post about the 25 things I’m incredibly grateful for.

1. I’m grateful for my parents. I couldn’t ask for such hardworking, kind, and caring parents. They’ve made me who I am and have taught me everything I know. They’re also very supportive for everything I do. I know that not many parents are like that. I’m very grateful for that.
2. I’m grateful for my brothers. I’ve always looked up to them growing up and I’m so glad they’re making their marks in this world.
3. I’m grateful for having heat in my house. After living in Italy without heat, I now understand what it is like not to have heat in your house and how precious it really is.
4. I’m grateful for working Internet. I know this must be insane to a lot of people. But after living in a house with wifi that would stop working around 6-7pm I think of the good times when Siena Air stopped working for a couple of minutes. It’s helped me become very patient and less reliable on the Internet… and that’s coming from a blogger!
5. I’m incredibly excited and grateful to return to a working phone once I’m in the states. Relying on wifi to send a text has been a little stressful.
6. I’m grateful for my dogs. After not being able to see my dogs for four whole months, I can say this is something I’m tremendously grateful for. I can’t wait to see their wagging tails and drooling faces.
7. I’m grateful for music. Fun fact: Pandora and songza doesn’t work in Italy (Netflix just came to Italy in October). I’ve been dependent on my ITunes library for the past 4 months. All my songs are from 2009 by the way. I’m looking forward to listening to Pandora and Songza as soon as I get home.
8. I’m grateful for my boyfriend. He has stuck through me running off to a foreign country for four months and dealt with barely being able to Facetime once a week due to spotty wifi. He deserves a million thank yous and a round of applause.
9. I’m grateful for being able to buy food whenever I need to. Seeing beggars every day makes you realize how fortunate you are to be able to eat at night.
10. I’m grateful for Mickey and Courtney. They’ve dealt with me mispronouncing almost every Italian sentence. They’ve also dealt with me getting extremely excited and overemotional when I saw certain sights. I’m grateful for our long talks and  wonderful adventures.
11. I’m grateful to be safe. I never feel like I’m going to be mugged or stabbed in Siena, Italy. I never feel that way in Connecticut or in New York. I know many, many people in this world don’t feel safe where they are and I’m incredibly grateful that I do.
12. I’m grateful for home cooked food. One could only imagine how excited I am for my parent’s cooking. I’m also coming home to Christmas food… the holy grail of food in the Porter house.
13. I’m grateful for all the 20+ flavors of gelato I’ve had in the past three months. I’ve loved every single one.
14. I’m grateful for having clothes. After living out of a suitcase for 3 months, you can kind of say I’m a little tired wearing the same thing over and over again. I’m looking forward to wear all of my clothes, but I’m incredibly grateful for the clothes I have now.
15. I’m grateful for having dryers. Dryers do not exist in Italy so you have to wait three days for your clothes to dry inside. I miss getting warm clothes out of the dryer. The clothes at home are also soft because of the fabric softener.
16. I’m grateful for apertivo that costs 5 euros.
17. I’m grateful for figuring out public transportation. I’m actually really proud of myself. It took me a while (two weeks) to figure out how to actually get home, but I figured it out and I’m so proud! Maybe I’ll be able to figure out the Albany buses…
18. I’m grateful for each and every one of you for reading my blog! I never thought I’d have this many people reading and even following it. I’m up to 60+ countries reading my blog! How cool is that!
19. I’m grateful for speaking English. It is a language that many people  speak in other countries. If I came to Europe speaking another language it would be even harder to communicate with others.
20. I’m grateful for my professors. I love how my professors in New York and Italy get to know their students. I’m not a number at either college and I really like that.
21. I’m grateful that I go to Siena College. If I did not go to Siena I wouldn’t have met all these wonderful people. Siena students are some of the most genuine, thoughtful people I have ever met. I don’t know if it’s in the oxygen, saga food, or maybe even just the Franciscan catholic morals that make the students and professors the way they are. I can definitely say I’m looking forward to going back to Siena.
22. I’m grateful for the community I was raised in. I grew up in a small community where everyone knows everyone. I loved how quaint and beautiful it gets in every season. I love how I was 15, 20, or 30 minutes away from everything.
23. I’m grateful for being able to see all the different countries I’ve seen. I never would have thought I’d see this many by 20! I’m incredibly fortunate.
24. I’m grateful to for picking Siena, Italy as my study abroad location. It is such a wonderful city filled with so people who love the city. I’ve fallen in love with this amazing medieval city.
25. I’m grateful for this opportunity to be in Italy and to explore this section of the world. It’s crazy to think that I only have 25 days left. I can remember just yesterday what it felt like on the first day. I’ve come a long way and this trip has made me more grateful for every aspect of my life. I have a warm home, great food, and great company.

What are you thankful for? Let me know in the comments!

As always,