Elsa, Lyubomyra, and Elisabeth (pictured from left to right) are three high school best friends from Rome, Italy. We met them while attempting to cook pasta and red sauce in our hostel kitchen (an embarrassing experience in front of three Italian women). Now in college, all three girls attend different universities throughout Europe, but make it a point every summer to meet up and travel together.

Elsa (far left) is 22 years old and studying Education at university in Austria. She speaks four languages and plans to teach foreign language in the future. She is an only child and considered a “miracle baby” after her parents tried for years to conceive. She is well educated in the politics of Italy and informed me on the modern-day mobs that still run cites throughout the country!

Lyubomyra (meaning “Love and Peace” in Ukrainian) was born in Ukraine and moved to Rome when she was five years old. At 21 years old, she is the youngest of four children and still calls her mother her hero. Shortly after Lyubomyra was born, her mother lost her job in Ukraine due to the dissolution of the USSR and moved all four of her children to Italy to find a better life for her family. Lyubomyra is studying medicine in Rome and speaks five languages!

Elisabeth is also the youngest of four children. She plays the flute and is currently studying physics at university in France. She lives with her boyfriend of four years and speaks three languages. Elisabeth told me of the European education system and how affordable it is for students. She, along with her friends, were shocked at the cost of American university tuition. I assured her, she wasn’t alone in her thoughts.

Cheers,

SA