Melissa’s Journals

December 10, 2025

Yet Another Place to Call Home

Another month has flown by, and with every new experience I collect, this place feels a little less foreign and a little more like home. I’m immersing myself more deeply in the culture and the language, and I’ve found new activities to look forward to each day. Whether it is dance classes, the school radio, or orchestra rehearsals, each moment brings a spark of excitement to my daily life. 

Music has also helped me feel more connected to the town. In Cremona, a solo violin concert is held every Sunday at the Museo del Violino auditorium, where a musician plays a different violin from the museum’s collection. This month was my first time attending, and I was not the slightest bit disappointed. The woman performing played a violin from Antonio Stradivari, the creator of the world’s most famous violins. I’m very happy to have gotten the opportunity to attend several live performances this month and even play music myself with the youth orchestra in town. In a way, it’s like a foreign language itself: a new way to express yourself that takes time to learn, but it’s incredibly rewarding.

During the month of November, a lot of tourists come to Cremona to see the Festa del Torrone , when the streets are finally lit up with Christmas lights, and the city center is packed with food vendors selling endless varieties of torrone. It’s a typical pastry from Cremona made from honey and toasted almonds. I attended the festival a few times, watching the performances and trying all the different sweets. 

November is also the month that celebrates Day of the Dead, a tradition which I thought was only Mexican. It turns out Italians have their own version, called Giorno dei Morti . Unlike the Mexican holiday, which is known for colorful altars and traditional costumes, the Italian one is quieter and more reflective. It also honors the lives of the loved ones who have passed away, but rather than a big celebration, it’s simply an opportunity to visit the cemetery and bring flowers. Nevertheless, many Italians seem to know about the Mexican Day of the Dead, and they were curious to know how I celebrate it. We even watched a few segments from the movie Coco in class. It felt like sharing a piece of my culture with them.

In my school, the students can choose a specific area they want to focus on for the upcoming year. Being a liceo artistico, the four options are: figurativo, scenografia , architettura , and grafico. To help the students make their choice, the school hosts a few “open days” where anyone interested can come and see some of the projects from each field. Even though I won’t be here next year, I wanted to explore the artworks and see what makes each category unique. Figurativo is the traditional hands-on approach with painting and sculpting, while grafico incorporates computers and digital modeling programs. Architettura is closely tied to math and structural design, while scenografia focuses more on visual interpretation. Looking at the classes my school offers, I realized it was exactly where I was meant to be.

Thanksgiving is not widely celebrated in Italy, but I still got to experience it with a lovely dinner organized by my Rotary Host District. All the inbound students gathered in Brescia, a beautiful city near the mountains. We spent the afternoon exploring the main streets and visited the Metro Urban Museum. Then, we headed to this beautiful villa and had dinner together. We exchanged gifts and shared what we’re grateful for. It was a chance to celebrate the holiday in a new way. Although I didn’t spend it with my family this year, I still felt at home. 

In my English class, my classmates were also curious to know what Thanksgiving is about, so I decided to make a short presentation explaining it to them. I told them about the meaning of the holiday and how we dedicate a whole week to spending time together with friends and family. At the end, we each wrote what we’re grateful for in a piece of paper and stuck it onto a poster board, creating a tree where each leaf represented a student. Now, every time I see that tree I’m reminded of how fortunate I am to have such meaningful experiences abroad.

If I could describe November in a few words, I would say it was a rewarding month: a feeling of nostalgia combined with a sense of belonging. It felt as though one day, everything was unfamiliar, and the next, everything had found its place.