Ciao? Salve? Hi?

I've been in the small town of Urbino, Italy for the past few days. This is the first time I've been out of the country--like, really out of the country (not in Mexico at an Americanized resort with waiters who speak English every time they serve you a pina colada).
Urbino is a city you'd see in a fairytale book about renaissance knights and dukes overlooking their kingdom: a vast mountain scape swallowing up a walled city with winding alleys to nowhere and marble sculptures in their name lining the Piazza. Needless to say, it is far out of my comfort zone in my small town on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
And I love it.
I love it because I am seeing a completely different culture live in front of my eyes. Every day I see the old men sitting on the wall at the Piazza, conversing about life and observing the younger Italians bustling in front of them. I get to see the shop owners close up for "pausa", where they go home for lunch to eat with their families.
I'll admit, when I first arrived I was in a bit of a panic. There was barely any internet connection and it would be month when I could watch another episode of "Friday Night Lights". Oh, and don't forget the lack of AC in my dorm room, which somewhat resembles a jail cell.
But once I got past the luxuries I'm used to back home that seem to be missing in this town, my outlook of this experience changed completely. I realized I am lucky enough to meet university students in Urbino and find out what life is like for them every day. These students (who are also our translators for this trip) know English fluently and some of them dream about moving to the States. I have become somewhat ashamed that Americans (me included) aren't fluent in a foreign language and are stuck in the American way of fast food, fast pace lives, and fast commitments. This only makes me appreciate the Urbino students and citizens even more. I know only a few words in Italian, so asking for things in stores and at restaurants becomes a game of pointing and gestures. But I want that to change for me. 
For now during my short stay in this hidden treasure of a town, I will make sure to enjoy every moment in the simple way the people of Urbino do: with an open mind, a will to learn, and a patient heart.

Ciao with love,
A Girl Still Trying to Figure it Out