Denise: America, it is not over yet!

So, how’s America? Since I came back home, this is the question I have been asked almost everyday for a solid month. Until now, I couldn’t even begin to answer this question, because I myself had yet to understand how America was for me. This experience has meant so much to me I can’t even explain it to myself or to other people. After 5 months back home, I may have finally found the words to describe it. America is great.

This is what comes to my mind as soon as I think about the places I have visited and the cities I have seen. Everything is bigger there, and I’m not just talking about cars, streets and houses (which are by the way bigger than here). I’m talking about flags showing the patriotism of this country, I’m talking about the fireworks on 4th July and I’m talking about the enthusiasm of people. You’ve got that right, the enthusiasm, because in America you don’t have to feel ashamed of being excited about stuff other people won’t even understand or about asking a girl out while she’s at work (Yes American guys do that. A lot.).

Going to America for the first time in my life after dreaming of it for so long, was a wish come true, but working and sharing every single moment of my life with total strangers wasn’t that easy. But now, I am 100% sure that it was worth it. God knows it was. I still remember the tears when saying good-bye to my best friend before leaving, and the tears I shed after leaving my apartment in 12th Street for the last time. I remember the pain in my neck after coming back from New York, because the Big Apple it’s just like that. It gets you to look up in the sky all the time, as if you were a kid in the biggest candy store ever invented. (And this is all I’m going to say about New York, because I wouldn’t be able to stop. I even cried when seeing it from afar on the highway. OK, that’s enough.) I remember the excitement before entering a “Barnes and Noble” store for the very first time in my life and the delicious red velvet cheesecake from “Cheesecake Factory” in Boston. I remember feeling proud about my pronunciation and frustrated when I couldn’t understand what my boss was saying.

What else? The most important part of it, the people. While working at the Dough Roller I got to meet amazing people from all over the world, I also got to clear my mind from prejudices about people from other countries. I got to make new friends and to feel appreciated for who I am and my hard work. I got to be told that it was a pleasure working with me and to never change the amazing person I am by my very own boss. I have been called “baby” and “sweetheart” every day, because that’s what girls are called in Maryland.

I definitely have to thank my roommates, without whom I would have never made it and who are now a part of my heart. I also have to thank my colleagues for accepting me and being an amazing support, I have to thank my managers for showing me that discipline is sometimes still appreciated and I have to thank Mondo Insieme for granting students like me the possibility to live such a life-changing experience. I also have to thank my parents of course, for allowing me to go, for helping me live this experience and for showing me so much love. I have to thank my friends for always being there for me and proving themselves as an amazing chosen family and I also have to thank myself for deciding to leave, for taking my life back, for finding new motivation and strength, and also a little bit of confidence.

America, it is not over yet!

Denise, Work and Travel USA in Ocean City 2017

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