Alyssa Zito, Moving the Cities: Germany Fall 2023
For my weeklong trip to Munster, Germany, I lived within a hostel with 5 other girls. The whole program with students from universities across the globe all stayed within the hostel. For Pitt specifically, we had 7 girls attend the trip, and 6 of us ended up within the same room. The last student was in a sperate room, specifically with other students who had the same food restrictions as her. That being said, she spent plenty of her time with us in our room while we hung out!
For our hostel, we shared a quite large bathroom with another six girls who lived across the hallway. We had 2 showers in separate shower rooms, 2 toilet rooms, and a common wash area with 3 sinks. Even with 12 girls and only a few bathrooms, at no point during my stay did I have an issue with waiting on or bumping into another person. We all seamed to work fluently and there was plenty of space to walk around and get ready with each other.
Same went for the room where we slept, which had 3 sets of bunk beds, hooks for our jackets, wooden blocks where we choose to set our luggage and 2 soft cushion blocks that we used to sit and chat before bed. The hostel room was cozy and comfortable, and we had everything we needed for a comfortable stay. We were lucky to have each other’s company, and it made the experience even more special.
Very quickly into the trip, the six of us had an unspoken declaration that we would be sticking together throughout the trip when given the chance, and that’s exactly what we did. No girl was ever left behind! It worked out great, during the day at school we each would spend time with our individual groups for the program, where we made friends with the other international students. Then in the evenings we were able to introduce each other to our new friends, and go out as a larger group, where we all bonded.
Since returning home I can say that I am slowly losing close connection with the international students, though I hope to keep in touch via social media and LinkedIn. However, I genuinely feel as though I’ve made long term friendships with the girls from Pitt! Two weeks since returning and we all have already met and hung out as a group multiple times, and we still have more group hang outs planned for the future!
Overall, this quick weeklong study abroad program not only gave us the opportunity to explore a new country and culture but also made long-lasting friendships that we will cherish forever.
Leave a Reply