One of my favorites.

February 6

Today is Sunday and it’s been a lazy morning/afternoon. Becky and I watched The Notebook, my all time favorite movie. I saw it in theatres with my mom, Katherine, and Susan. After it ended we sat in the theatre for probably a good 20 minutes because I literally could not stop crying. Today I am having the same feelings, but of course I am attempting to hold back tears so Kelsey and Becky don’t think I am insane. I honestly could not describe my feelings as to why I always feel this way after watching The Notebook. I guess part of me is extremely sad at the way their lives ended, but the other part of me is happy because their love was so profound I cry for them, but I also cry for myself. Just thinking about how my life will end up and if I will ever have a love so great. Of course I know this is only a movie, but it is honestly the most real and honest love story I have ever seen, which makes me believe in the tiniest part of my heart that I will find a love like that. So now I can either lay in my bed all day and wallow out of sadness or happiness, one will never know, or I can live the life I actually have and wander around the amazing city of Florence. Who knows, maybe I will even find the man of my dreams. ;)

Perfection.

The adventures continue..

Locks of Love

February 4

So lets see where have I left off. Yesterday Becky and I went on a run through the Ponte Vecchio and along the water. I am clearly very out of shape, but the run wasn’t that bad. I really enjoyed it and I could have run for days. Besides the fact that I was finishing up my breakfast of bread and cheese during the beginning of the run, which didn’t prove to do so well towards the end seeing that I was basically hacking it up. I will definitely never run and eat again.

Then we came back and got ready for class. Went to class and shortly after left because it was probably the most boring hour I have ever had to sit through. Not at all what I expected, so I instead I met Kelsey and we walked along the way, walked though the arch, walked some more, and then did that all over again. Naturally, I ate a mozzarella and tomato sandwich during the walk and then grom. Then more class, Italian, which is another terrifying experience. This time we learned 1-100 and I probably could only give you 1-10 if that.

After class we went to the whole foods of Florence, which was quite fantastic. We each bought about 2 bottles of alcohol and proceeded to drink once we got back to the apartment so it’s safe to say I got pretty drunk early in the evening and this lead to some binge eating of fresh bread, cheese, and more cheese. Then came exhaustion and finally a recharge so I could start getting ready to drink again and go out.

First stop: The Lion’s Fountain, a fun pub with t-shirts from every college on the wall, but far too many people in such a small space. Don’t even get me started on the karaoke. Of course I would love to go back once it’s less crowded and I can enjoy a nice pint of brewski (sp?) to myself.

Second stop: 21, a legit underground club with a huge dance floor and huge black men providing us with drinks and sparklers. Sophia started chatting one up and it was VIP from there. Literally these black men were pimps. They provided the alcohol and girls follow. Definitely just harmless fun though! It was all quite hilarious to watch. I saw two girls scared to dance with the big black men, but they looked at each other as if they were almost forced because the bottle of Belvedere was arriving. No way do I want to get in that mess. Eventually I got in a bad mood and Becky, Kels, and I were ready to leave. We exit the club having know idea where we are, but little did we know the Duomo was a block away. I have a feeling we will be frequenting that club again.

This leads us to the end of the night and going to bed at 3:30am. And since I can’t sleep in for the life of me I woke up right at 9:30am. Whoopee. Today we basically ran errand after errand, which means going from copisteria to book store to get everything we need for school. It’s weird how they do things here. The teacher compiles a bunch of different chapters/articles and the copisteria forms it into this bound book. It’s actually really convenient and probably saves paper. I think America could learn a thing or two from Florence. I also think I might actually read this semester! This leads me to where I am sitting right now, in my bed because I am tired, my feet are throbbing, and my knee hurts. I am an old woman. Except not really because I am going out tonight. I mean come on; it’s a Friday night... Just kidding, i wrote this before I knew that I was going to get home watch She's the Man and pass out at midnight. Figures.

One week here!

February 3

Yesterday was another great productive day!

It consisted of:

· Grocery shopping of course

· Lunch with Katherine

· Shopping by lonesome

· Catching up on Pretty Little Liars and eating bread and cheese

· The most amazing/terrifying class of my life

· Seeing Katherine’s house and meeting her “family”

· Exploring with Becky and Katherine

· Hanging with the roomies back at home

Pretty normal day I would say. Minus that I did it all in Italy! Gah, it never ceases to amaze me.

February 2

So this morning Becky says we are two peas in a pod, but I don’t like much being a pea. Rather I feel we should be two grapes on a bunch. Becky enjoys the idea and then suggests that we should be two squished grapes made into wine so we age well and taste better… and that’s when I know we are in Italy.

Last night I attempted to go out and boy what a fail that was. There was a whole group of us pregaming at our house. We went over to Astor, which is literally a one minute walk from our place and of course it was filled with Americans. I danced for a little in the middle with everyone but the second Soldier Boy came on and this guy “supermaned” into me I had it and Becky and I were out of there. We wandered the streets and found this pub called The Stone Oven, which was amazing! Basically all Italians and it was a real pub, Irish flags and all. Only they were playing reggae, but of course with my Rasta roots that made the experience all the more amazing. We hung out there for a bit and will definitely be back. We even saw DG (in Greek letters) in the bathroom. I wonder if a certain someone named Ariana had something to do with that. :)

Classe

February 1

Well to start off, Rabbit Rabbit. I hope you said that this morning. It’s going to be an amazing month!

Today was my first day of classes and it had the most wonderful day filled with amazing new experiences. Classes started early, but I enjoy being in them. They are small room with few people, even less than Chapman, which is a shocker. First I had The Built Environment of Florence, which is an architecture/art/history class. Incredible. Then I had a break and we all ventured to the Ponte Vecchio, which is the famous bridge in Florence. Absolutely stunning to see the different colored buildings gleaming down on the water, not the cleanest but it will do. After that it was off to get a cappuccino before Italian. Worst experience of my life. Don’t get me wrong I am excited to learn Italian, but no me gusta that it’s all strictly in Italian. Hopefully I will get the hang of it soon if I don’t pee my pants first. After class Kelsey, Soph, and I grabbed a tom/mozz sandwich, then we ate grom (THIRD day in a row), and then ate some delicious candy. I mean really am I not eating enough? Finally our last class of the day! I had Globalization and it Consequences, which I loved! I talked so much in class and I sounded smart with all of my comments about how globalizations effects us blah blah, I don’t want to bore you with the details. I love when I really am able to understand and grasp something. It makes me feel smart. J So clearly I am super excited for that class! To sum it all up, I think I am going to love taking classes here, such a different atmosphere than in America. Things are more laid back, including school.

It’s all a dream come true.

I feel comfortable here.

I feel safe here.

I like it here.

No, I love it here.

January 31&February 1

Last night I fell asleep watching What Happens in Vegas. It figures since the movie wasn’t that good the first time I watched it. This morning I woke up at 9:30, I cant seem to sleep in at all which makes me tired super early. This is good for the weekdays, but when the weekends roll around I need to be ready. Today we made the trek to the top of the Duomo! Probably the hardest thing I have done in a long time seeing as I am really out of shape. And it was so scary! The tiny steep dark windy staircases made me dizzy and not able to focus. Aka I thought I was going to die but nonetheless we made it to the top and it was the prettiest sight I have ever laid my eyes on. We say all of Florence looking down on it as well as countryside and all the way to the mountains with snow on them. It was like a 360-degree view of Florence, which made me realize how little of Florence we have actually seen. It is so surreal, literally does not even look real. The scenery looks like a painting or a backdrop in a movie. How could anything be that pretty? The way down was even scarier but we made it!
Then we ate Grom, again because it’s so close to us and so good! I told you we would literally be there everyday. Following this deliciousness we roamed the streets, which is surprisingly really fun. Then more groceries, I swear all we do is eat here. I hope the amount of walking I do cancels out all the food otherwise… well I don’t even want to think about that. I finally didn’t nap for the first time since I’ve been here. I made some pasta for dinner, of course and we played more cards. This time I taught everyone hearts! Went over better than when I taught them casino.
Then Becky and I went to quite a different part of town to visit her best friend Nicole. It was cool to see how other kids are living. Hanging out with Nicole made us realize that we need to get on it in regards to trips and such. We should already have things booked! Hopefully we will go to Venice this weekend, which should be amazing. When we got back to the house I made an excel spreadsheet of all our weekends here aka travel time. I am super stoked with all the places we potentially want to go. Prague for one, which we cant miss because Sophia needs to see her heritage. Then Spain and France and for Spring Break hopefully London, Ireland, Amsterdam, and Germany! Think we can do it?
So this leads us to this morning, my first class. Its called The Built Environment of Florence and its basically an art/history/architecture class. I am super excited about it! We go on tours every week and it sounds amazing. I finally get to learn about architecture and how and why things were built! What could be better? Now we are about to venture off to the Ponte Vecchio for the first time! I shall tell you how it is once I get back. Ciao!

January 29&30

Yesterday we woke up late because of course we went to bed super late due to the naps that I keep taking during the middle of the day. Definitely need to get on a regular sched before school starts on Tuesday. We decided to go to the Mercato Centrale, which is this huge open market. A LOT different than I had expected. I assumed there would be tons of vendors far to close together, selling, the same product, very dirty, and yelling in your face like in Athens of course. I experienced nothing of the sort. Instead it was very clean and orderly. Everyone had a big space with refrigerators and shelves. I got fresh mozzarella, bread, salami, and more cheese obviously. Then we went back to the real grocery store, which sucked in comparison. I feel like since we walk everywhere I get so tired early in the day hence why we went back to the house and I napped from 4-8. Then I woke up and made a yummy meal of pasta with pesto in the baby kitchen that Kelsey and I share. Then we watched Julie and Julia, which is probably the longest movie of my life. Even though we didn’t do much, everyday is a new experience. I see a new building I hadn’t noticed before or I find a new store with unique things. We haven’t really ventured out of the central area of Florence. This is probably because its too freaking cold and my little legs cant take me too far before I’m pooped, but I’m not worried because we still have four months to go!

This morning we woke up at 12, so I finally had a decent nights rest! First we ate delicious pizza. The crust was super thin; the sauce melted off the pizza, and the mozzarella was so fresh. And of course the man making the pizza was obsessed with us and literally would not stop say we were his girls from California. Creepy much? Then we found GROM. Another to die for. Probably the best gelato I have ever had. It was so rich yet light and unbelievably creamy. I had egg cream, sounds strange but I slurped it up so fast. Only 2 euro for two scoops and the best part is, it is literally a three-minute walk from our place so I think its safe to say I will be there every day. Eating is my favorite activity hands down. But naturally shopping is after that, which is exactly what we did next. We just roamed the streets of vendors and made an appearance in Zara, which is so much better than in the US but more expensive.

We also finally did some touristy things and went into some museums, statues, and churches all of which I will learn the names of soon. We went inside the Duomo, which was massive and gorgeous, but I actually enjoyed the smaller less populated churches because it is easier to appreciate and admire the incredible detail and craftsmanship that goes into making the lavish altars and meticulous paintings that cover the expanse of the building. I cant’ wait until its sunny so I can see the sun shining in the stained glass windows.

Sophia and I decided to buy some cigarettes only sold in Italy. We got Club Slim Light, which I have to say were quite good, but this will only happen in Italy. Then we wandered into some small shops. A lot of them are stationary of sorts that sell the famous patterned paper. I hope you know what I mean because I can’t describe it to you for the life of me. Fleur de Lys’ are everywhere, which is Florence’s national symbol. By now we were right by home and decided to head in because it was so cold and we were all tired, which leads to where I am sitting now. The four of us just had some wine and played cards! I’ve taught Soph, Kels, and Becky a couple games, which was fun. Oh I love living such a simple life here. <3