Honors student Jordan Stellar describes one memorable night in her study abroad location of Assisi, Italy:

One Friday night as we explored the small town of Assisi, all seemed fine until dark clouds quickly rolled in overhead, and the rain started to hit us from all directions. With limited directional skills, wet clothes, and empty stomachs we made it to the only bus stop in town.

At the station, we got the number of a local taxi driver named Stefano. Hesitantly, I called the number and he answered with an abrupt “Pronto!” After a quick explanation of our situation, he agreed to pick us up in ten minutes. Stefano arrived right on time in taxi #18. He took one look at us and knew we were with the group of American girls he took to a small farm house earlier in the evening. I think Stefano could tell we had had a rough night because about five minutes into the ride he turned off the meter. My first thought was to be a little suspicious so we pulled up a GPS route on our phone to make sure he was going in the right direction; thankfully he was.

We pulled up to the Airbnb we had rented for the night, and he walked us all the way to the door to make sure we made it safely. We opened the door, and he greeted the rest of our group which he had met earlier in the night. It was such a nice welcome to Assisi, and such a great reminder of how friendly people make an experience so much greater.