By Joseph Reigle
As one can imagine, my last days in Rome were a whirlwind.
I didn’t register the spread of the coronavirus as much of a threat until university programs in Florence started to send their students home, a few days before our program closed. Late at night, Thursday, February 27, we received an email from Cornell. Our program was closing too. Amidst the grief, shock, and uncertainty, there was also a pressure, a mad rush, to see everything we could in Rome before we left.
Suddenly the streets I walked down every day and had begun to take for granted, gleamed with a new light. The Pantheon, the colosseum, Tiber island all these locations took on emotional weight. Sudden onset nostalgia had set in.
On Saturday, Professor Blanchard generously offered to give us a crash course tour of churches around Rome before we left.
After the tour, my apartment mates and I went to visit some local Roman friends. We met up for lunch at a cafe where one of them cooks. Then we strolled to the scenic park, Villa Doria Pamphili. On our way home, we stumbled upon the iconic Fontana dell’Acqua Paola.
Saying goodbye to friends at Villa Doria Pamphili. Savanna Lim
Among students, there was quite a bit of uncertainty about how we would get back. Cornell booked a flight for all of us on Thursday, but many students were choosing to go back earlier.
Throughout the day, we debated back and forth. Should we stay? Should we go?
We should go: Things are changing so fast who knows if we will be able to return by Thursday.
We should stay: Activities in Rome appear entirely normal. What’s the risk? Let’s make the most of the last days we have.
Maybe Cornell would make our decision for us and book us earlier flights.
At 10 p.m., we received another email. We still had a flight on Thursday. But we could choose to leave earlier and get refunded. The decision was up to us. We texted our friends, called our parents and decided to go the next morning. Flights purchased, packing our suitcases, the reality began to sink in. Unwittingly, those hours full of beautiful sights and dear friends had been our last day in Rome.