"You get two scoops." said the gelato guy at the stand on the corner store in Trastevere.
There are just too many appealing options, and I'm standing there, tentatively sizing up every possible option. There's stracciatella, chocolate, fragiola, vanilla,buffalo, Santo Domingo, lemon and so many more that it is nearly impossible to name them all.
Gazing over the flavors I see New York cheesecake and I thought about how I haven't had this dessert since my last local diner date with close friends on the corner of 22nd street and 3rd Ave in Manhattan, four months ago. I got the opportunity to live and study in Rome in early January and in five weeks I will be able to indulge in this simple delight again. Like so many non-natives, when I moved to New York City I thought that this concrete platform would be the only thing that could satisfy my restless self, but three years in, I have discovered that the busy avenues began to irk me and the long commutes were becoming a hassle and long hours at the bar was just not enough.
Although I was hungry for a new place to reside, when I was accepted into the program I was excited at first but also terrified to start over again. New Yorkers don't like change, they don't like when the A train switches from local to express scantily or when the street to their favorite bar is closed because of maintenance. The city is timeless in nature and you can always find what you need when you need it, but I wasn't gaining anything in straining myself with long hours of work and being a full-time student. So naturally, I took my skills from the city that never sleeps, packed my bags and came to the eternal city. Rome is every foreign movie you've seen collectively in your life; the food is fresh, the markets are full of various produce and trinkets, Bernini and Michelangelo sculptures are littered across every walkable piazza and Romans are as proud to be Roman as you thought they were.
By taking the chance and crossing the Atlantic, leaving my nook in Brooklyn temporarily in the care of others and coming to study in Rome, I saw beyond Manhattan. I met eight marvelous women and a sporadic male with the same intent and we made the best of our abroad experience as best as we could. I saw that it's not just New Yorkers that don't like change, it's people and that one should be allowed more than two scoops in life.
Why life isn't as easy as a sample of every flavor at the gelateria I haven't quite figured out, of course, who could afford every flavor and maybe too much of every single gelato could make you sick but I had to choose.
I went with Santo Domingo and New York cheesecake. What can I say, I'm a sucker for the familiar.
