Oh yeah, it's called study abroad :)

I suppose I'm technically here to "study.." forgot about that, just kidding! I am taking 5 classes here, most of which seem pretty interesting. Intro to Renaissance Art is cool because we get to visit all sorts of historic museums and sites in Florence. However, being a large group, our time is very limited. But, there is the Uffizi pass, a card with a set price, that allows for free admission to most of the places, so if I want to go back, I can at my leisure! This is much cheaper than paying each place separately. Some of the places are the Medici Chapels, the Uffizi Gallery, the Accademia, and so much more. I'm really excited for it.

My Italian professor is really laid back :) He plays music the whole time. I've learned a lot so far, but I think the structure is a little weird, but the more Italian I know, the better. While most people like restaurants, stores, etc, speak English, I want to improve my Italian, as right now, it still needs quite a bit of improvement.

Cross Cultural Psychology is the one class I'm afraid I won't be able to stay awake in. While the material is interesting, the professor is very slow and sometimes difficult to understand. But I'll keep an open mind, get some cappuccino or something before it, and I'm sure it will be okay!

I'm really excited about the Great Italian Opera Class! The professor is extremely knowledgeable, and she said that we are hoping to see Rigoletto and La Traviata (my favorite!)

History of the Mafia is also pretty cool so far. We started watching some documentaries as well as part of The Godfather, part 2.

The classes here are quite different. They meet 2.5 hours once a week, except for Italian, which is still 2.5 hours, but it's divided between 2 days. Nobody has class on Fridays, which is really nice! I also have no class on Mondays-yes for long weekends! Tuesdays are my busy day: I have art, Italian, and psychology. Wednesdays only the opera class, and Thursdays Italian and history of the mafia class. But so far, I think it should be good!

September 8, birth of Blessed Mother

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some of the lovely ladies i live with-erin becky sarah :)

apartment and other sites in Florence!

Florence pictures :)

first real weekend here

So this was the first real weekend in Italy! To say the least, it was awesome! Friday was really pretty chill, we made our "family" dinner, aka pasta, for all 8 of us who live in the apartment. It was fun!
Saturday, I had my first real dinner...meaning multiple courses. My friend, Sergio, took me out; it was kind of a date I guess ! I had a ravioli dish, which unfortunately was slathered in butter, so I had a bite, and it fell off my fork and splattered all over my blouse! How typical! Haha, but hopefully I'll get the stains out. :/ Then I had this chicken covered in some delicious white sauce. Of course, being Italy, we had wine with the meal,,very good. Then I got to try tiramissu, which was fabulous! He knew the manager, so they gave us a shot of some sweet lemon liquor..also good! So that was a lot of fun, aside from spilling on my shirt...
Then, me and the other roommates went to a club called Twice. They played pretty much only American music, which was cool,but also not really expanding our horizons,,, but it was a lot of fun! But so far, things are going well, and classes actually begin this week, so we'll see how that goes! ciao!

just hanging around..only in Florence!

Well it's only been a couple days, and I like it here so much! After the hotel, I had to walk to the office for the school. This was a pain in the butt! especially cuz I had all my luggage to carry too...I had to stop multiple times just to catch my breath. Luckily, a middle aged guy helped me find my way, but he didn't know where I was going either, so we asked another person! haha, anyway, we finally made it, and I checked in and everything was just fine.

The apartment is huge! We have 8 girls total, 5 bedrooms. Everyone seems really nice, and the first night, we went out to a pizza place. My first meal was penne all abbarrita..or something like that..it was spicy pasta dish, but it was delicious! Then of course, I had to try gelatto...absolutely amazing!

Yesterday we had orientation, which wasn't too exciting, but it was still fun. I am meeting a lot of people, but I want to meet more Italians, not just Americans. A facebook friend of mine, from Italy took me and 3 other of my roommates out for our first drink! This was nice, he was nice, and we just stayed for one round. I had a pina colada, and the drinks here are a lot stronger, but it was fun! We also walked around the Ponte Vecchio today, which is so amazing..seriously the whole city is just awesome. We saw one of the fake David statues, and it's about 5 minutes from our apartment!

I'm feeling kind of overwhelmed..there's so much to do..meeting people, exploring Italy, exploring Europe, but it's great, and I can't wait.

It's not where you go, it's how you get there

I finally made it to Florence!! Getting there wasn't so bad. After my parents dropped me off, I got on to Chicago...now that airport is huge!! I barely made the shuttle to the correct terminal, where I started the 9 hour flight to Zurich, Switzerland. This flight was awesome! There was terrific service, and I could watch movies and TV shows like I Love You Man and Scrubs! Plus, it was my first "legal" taste of wine, though I mostly drank water to stay hydrated. Then, since the flight came in early, I had 7 hours to chill in Zurich. Luckily, there were 3 other girls on the Zurich flight going to Florence too! So we became acquainted and hung out for a while, but they weren't on the same flight. Still, it was nice to be in the same boat. While I would have liked to explore Zurich, it wasn't really an opportune time, plus the time change started to kick in...so I took a nap at the airport. As sketchy as it sounds, there was practically a whole room to nap in, and that's what everyone else was doing too..so I took a couple naps, then got ready to go to Florence. When I went through security, they took my lotion!! :( I didn't know that would be such a violation haha..o well, I'll find some here or just wait til I come home.
I met 3 other students flying with me to Florence too! So that was good. Then we finally arrived, and lucky me, my baggage was not lost! The 2 guys we were with didn't have theirs..so I really lucked out! Then I took a taxi to the hotel...and the lady was very nice and helpful. When I got to Hotel River, the reception guy was also very helpful and friendly. While he encouraged me to go out, I was way too tired, and just ended up hanging out in the hotel. To my surprise, Lost was on! Woo! Yes, it was in Italian, but still :) Well that's enough for now, but I'll be on again soon! Ciao!