For my analog project, I decided to call someone on the phone. It was still my cell phone, but there is a certain joy in hearing someone’s actual voice. I did this in two parts. I called my mother yesterday for only a brief 10 minutes, and today, I called my Nonna. The past few days were the type of days where everything seems to go wrong, and in combination with the crappy, cloudy weather, mother nature managed to make my days as gloomy as they could get. After calling my mom, I felt significantly better. We talked about as much as we could: how my classes were going, how that geology test went, how the show was coming along, and if I needed my parents to bring anything on Saturday when they visit. Although I only had this small amount of time between classes, I was grateful that I was able to speak with her because of the fact alone that she is my mom. Even when I’m supposed to be a grown up, independent college student, I can’t help but get homesick sometimes.

The second part of the project was calling my grandmother. When I’m at home, my Nonna lives about 40 minutes away from me, so it’s not the easiest trip. Unfortunately, I don’t get to see her very often, and it is especially hard when I am up here at school. My only way of communicating with her is through facetime if my mom or cousins are at her house, or through the telephone. So, this morning I decided to give her a call. She answered with a confused “hallo?” because my number comes up with a weird Caller ID that isn’t actually my own name (I don’t know why, this has happened since I got my first cell phone). I said it was me, Emily, and I could practically see her face light up in my mind when she said her signature, heavy Italian accented “OHHHHHHHHHHH, Emily!” and I could really feel how happy she was that I decided to call her out of the blue. She asked me where I was, what I was doing, and we talked about my upcoming plans of studying in Ireland for a few weeks this summer. I’m going to send her a postcard. The conversation lasted about 5 minutes only because I had to get ready for class, but it felt so good to hear her voice after such a long time.

I have never liked calling people on the phone with the exception of my parents. It’s just been one of my anxieties since I was very young, and I am still working on it. I decided to call people because not only would it test my ability to do so, but it also contributes to the practice of calling people. The practice will help ease my anxieties about the act of calling on the phone, and hopefully one day I will completely get over this irrational fear. But, today wasn’t that day.