My Semester Abroad Experience in Florence, Italy During Coronavirus

My semester abroad in Florence, Italy was abruptly canceled because of Coronavirus — here’s how it played out.

Upon my arrival to Italy at the end of January for my semester abroad, Coronavirus had not crossed my mind. Of course, I had seen news of the outbreak of a “novel virus” in Wuhan, but I never thought that it would affect my study abroad program in Florence.

I really loved living and studying abroad in Italy — where better to study art history and drawing than the home of “The David” and the Uffizi Gallery? I lived in an apartment with six other girls and quickly made plans to travel all over Europe with them during the semester. Over Valentine’s Day weekend, three of us went on a girls trip to Paris, indulging in French pastries and wine. It was a fantastic weekend trip; however, when we arrived back in Florence on the following Monday night, February 17, we encountered the virus for the first time.

As we got off the plane, individuals dressed in hazmat suits instructed us to form a line for temperature checks. This was the first moment I felt genuinely anxious about the virus. I hadn’t even heard of cases in Europe, yet I tried to calm myself with the thought that their proactive measures were designed to protect the city. We passed through the temperature checkpoint and made our way home, concerned but relatively calm despite our mothers’ frantic phone calls.

Almost a week passed without much concern about the virus. On Saturday, February 22, my roommate and I had a class trip to Prato, a neighboring town, just for the day. We were considering going to Milan the next day, but while on the trip my boyfriend texted me, “Don’t go to Milan tomorrow.” He explained that there were around 10 cases of Coronavirus in a town near Milan. Since we hadn’t purchased our train tickets yet, we decided against the trip and opted for a weekend in “home” Florence.

By Monday, the number of cases had increased sharply. Even though the cases were only in northern Italy, it made me extremely uneasy. Our study abroad program advised us to practice normal hygiene precautions, like handwashing, and suggested avoiding travel outside of Tuscany when possible. My roommates and I had plans to travel to Budapest the upcoming weekend, but by Tuesday, I began reconsidering whether we should still go.

On Wednesday, the atmosphere shifted dramatically. The energy in the city felt tense as the US issued a level 2 travel advisory for Italy, and several universities began bringing their students home. A divide emerged within our program — some students frantically canceled their weekend plans, while others continued to plan their international travels across Europe. Consequently, I constantly felt on edge. My anxiety heightened every time I left my apartment to attend classes. Our program in Italy emailed us with the option to either return home and complete classes remotely or remain in Florence. We were given just four days to decide.

On Friday, February 28, I made the difficult decision to leave Florence and end my semester abroad. My parents and I booked a flight for the next day. My roommate also chose to leave, so we spent our last day in Florence packing and saying goodbye to the city with Aperol Spritzes and prosciutto. I felt genuinely frightened to be traveling; however, I would have been even more afraid to stay in a country with an uncertain future. I am grateful to have left when I did because shortly thereafter, our program instructed all students to leave Italy by March 8 at the latest. It’s easy to joke about mandated quarantines and isolation until you face the reality of potentially being stranded in a foreign country, far from home and family.

I am saddened that our study abroad experience was cut short. We lost hundreds of dollars on non-refundable flight tickets for trips that we won’t be able to take, and we will not receive any reimbursement from the program for the months of housing we won’t be using or the field trips we can no longer attend. Although it feels like we were shortchanged on the promised experience, I am thankful to be home, feeling safe for now. Much of my anxiety lifted upon returning to the United States; however, with a similar situation developing here, I can only hope for good health and safety in the foreseeable future. For the remainder of the term, I will be taking online classes and self-quarantining with my parents and my dog until two weeks have passed.