Across from the Florence San Lorenzo apartments  lied a small leather shop. It looked no different than the  other hundred some leather shops throughout  Florence, but it was  different entirely. I walked in with Kippy and  Bri because we had spent the day going into every shop  just to waste time  before dinner. A man greeted us. He was probably  in his late forties and we told him we were from America. He was very excited to  meet us because he went to Temple  University. He asked us our names and why we were in Italy. He then proceeded  to find a jacket for all of us. He told us every jacket in the store he made. He also told us he would make us a jacket and ship it to our house, if we couldn’t find one we liked. He gave us each a few jackets to try on. He explained how each was made and how they were tailored to  fit us. I was amazed by his knowledge and  how well he connected with us. It was like talking with your  one uncle you  never see except for once every few years and hear about all the amazing things he has done. He was more than a salesman. He was more like a family  friend. I felt very comfortable  around him, as a result, I went back a few more times just to talk to  him after buying a jacket. This man won my heart. I hope I get to  see him again someday.                  

I   drew a picture  of a bridge going over the grand canal. From the bridge I could take amazing pictures  of the Grand canal in both directions. It was an amazing  place to view all the surrounding buildings, gondolas, vaporettos, and people  as they meandered the city. The bridge was  also in  an excellent location because it was right in front  of the  train station. If I had more time I would just stand on  that bridge and watch the world  go by.

In Italy, a server at a pastry  shop, a chef at a restaurant, a winemaker, and a leather salesman. What do they each have in common? Passion. They are all passionate  about what they do. They put everything  they have into  what they do. Their love, care, personality, intelligence, everything. Every person here shows they love their job with their  passion, no matter what they are doing. Let’s  look at America . Do the people working at Starbucks really  love what they do? Do cooks at restaurants  seem like they love working there? Do salesmen at stores really seem like they care what they sell to you? In some cases yes, but in most cases probably  not. What I learned is that America is missing passion. Most people  in America  hate the job they have. Many only work at their  job in order to make money, not for pleasure. America  needs to get that passion. Every worker  I’ve  met in Italy  showed they were passionate  about their job. Take Chef Marcello for example. He showed his passion  by cooking with us, teaching  us recipes, and showing us what ingredients  to use. I believe we should take what we learned  here in Italy  and put it toward our future. We should  each strive to fulfill our passion, no matter how big or small.

It was the last night in Rome and I still needed to  do my walking assignment. I wanted  something  different. I was dead set on the catacombs, but I was running out of  time before  it closed. My group talked about  doing the  gardens. In my head I  just thought  “oh great flowers”. Despite  my uninterested  spirit, I  chose not to  decline the  offer. Within  20 minutes my group and I were at the Piazza de Popolo. It was a beautiful  piazza full of people walking, biking, and chatting. The Piazza contained a fountain  and tall monument  with what  appeared to be hieroglyphics. In the background there was a large balcony  that we worked our way up to, this was  the beginning of the gardens. I was astonished. The view from the balcony was  amazing because I could see all of Rome  and Vatican  City. We stood up on the balcony for 15 minutes  then decided to meander around  the garden. The garden was very peaceful and  gorgeous. It wasn’t just flowers  as I had thought, it was full of trees, small eateries, bikes, benches, those picnicking, dogs, a fountain, and enough PDAs to make me laugh  then want to puke. I was very happy with my decision  to go the garden, besides  I got Gelato out of it. Overall, it was a much needed  break  from  a busy  day. It was nice  to enjoy the  surroundings  and talk  with the  others  in my group.