Fall Break

Fall break was wonderful! It started with a Thursday night showing of Notre Dame de Paris and continued to Barcelona on Friday and then Paris on Monday before returning to Florence that Friday. A very full week, full of lots of fun stuff. Since I don't have much time to write, I will let the pictures speak for themselves!

Half-way marker coming soon...

I cannot believe that this Saturday will already mark the end of the seventh week of my program, and seeing as there are only 14 weeks total, that would be exactly half-way! I have very mixed feelings about that. I am still absolutely loving it here! And there is definitely a part of me that never wants to leave and go back to some things in the States (like the food) but at the same time, I am very excited to get back to Ripon and see all of you back home that I miss so very much! (Plus then, I will get to bore you to death with all of my hundreds or maybe by that point, thousands of pictures!) I didn't get that new fancy camera for nothing!

Since I last wrote to you I have now visited Sienna which is a nearly completely preserved Medieval town with all sorts of cool little alleys and a beautifully decorated cathedral. Except for Venice, this is my new favorite city! So much more picturesque than Florence (which I think is pretty darn picturesque!)

As for classes everything is going fine. It involves a lot of walking and just trying to keep up with the professors, both mentally and physically. But it is all very fun and very interesting. I can't wait for my parents to get here in December and then I can take them around and give them all these random facts and background stories on things that I have been learning in my classes!

Two really exciting things are happening this week. First, Emily and I are going to see "Notre Dame de Paris" on Thursday night. It is a French musical written in 1998 based on the novel and then two or three years ago, a contemporary Italian composer translated it all into Italian. This musical (in French, of course) was one that we used to sing every Friday in my high school French class and I absolutely loved it. Emily knows it because her sisters had the same French teacher and then they shared it with her. So, it will be extremely fun for us, but also very interesting to see what the differences are in the translation, and how much we can really keep up with it in Italian. The other great thing is that this Friday is the start of our fall break, so on Friday we fly to Barcelona where we will stay until Monday afternoon when we will then fly on to Paris. We will then spend four nights in Paris before flying home the following Friday night. We will then have the whole weekend to recoup and get all our homework done for Monday morning! I can't wait to tell you all about these amazing new adventures!

P.S. Thanks so much for the cards everyone, they are all so much appreciated! I miss you all!

And now it really begins...

Last Friday marked the final day of our month of intensive Italian class. I passed my final with flying colors (meaning I got 100%!). I am sad to be done with that part, but the rest of our classes stared today and they all sound really fun and exciting! It is crazy hard to run around to at least 2 or 3 locations throughout the city each day and take notes as we try to take everything in. We have to listen to our professors lecture while looking at all of our amazing surrounding and take our notes standing. Its hard, but fun none the less! Not a whole lot of other new news. I might be going to Pompeii this weekend. And if I do, you will definitely hear all about it! But now I am going to share some long awaited pictures with you! (I'm going to add some to past posts too, so take an extra little gander if you have the time!)

The Duomo Facade.My roomies and me at the Chianti wine tasting!A beautiful view of the Tuscan countryside.The River Arno with the moon rising over it.

San Miniato, a gorgeous church up on the hill.The Duomo at night from my professor's apartment terrace.An adorable man fiddling on a corner in downtown Florence!

Ciao!

So today is the start of the fourth week here in Florence. This is very important, because we have our final Italian exam on Wednesday and then we switch over to having all four classes, and a more college-like schedule starting next week. It is all very exciting, but at the same time, I am having a lot of fun with the Italian, and since that was my main motivation for coming on this program I am definitely sad that it will get cut down to only 2 classes each week for 2 hours each time. The five hours that we have daily right now can be a bit much at times, but it is still very fun and I am learning SO much!

This weekend was our first weekend without any planned school activities and so my roommates and I were able to have a very fun and relaxing weekend. We slept in on Saturday, which felt wonderful, and then we went into "il centro" and just walked around and did some window shopping. We got home early and were able to get some reading and homework in before dinner. Then on Sunday we took the bus up the hill to the next town called Fiesole. It is known for its beautiful views, and that is most definitely true. I saw the best view of Florence that I have seen yet, and probably will ever see. It was a very fun little trip and we hiked around a little bit (my knee is finally starting to feel better!) and then had a little picnic of bread, cheese, and wine. It was perfect although we are pretty sure that picnics like that are a bit of a faux-pas here. Oops!

Other than that, this last week has been fairly uneventful. Since returning to Florence from Venice, our days have been full of school, homework, resting my knee, and a tiny bit of exploration. That is starting to diminish though, because everyday we are becoming more and more familiar with our surroundings and so we feel the need to explore less and less. It is truly amazing how comfortable I have gotten with living here and using the public transportation and even asking for directions (in Italian, of course!) when I am not sure where I am or where I am going. SO FUN!

Yesterday when we got back from Fiesole, we walked around a little bit by the Duomo and we found a huge bookstore that sold books in Italian (of course) and English! It was really fun and so after looking around at everything and recognizing lots and lots of favorites, I ended up making a purchase. I bought "Gli Snicci e altre storie" by Dr. Seuss! (The Sneetches and other stories for those of you who need the translation.) It was one of my favorites as a kid, so I am quite familiar with the story. It is super fun to read it in Italian and it has actually been helpful in obtaining some new vocabulary. I am definitely planning on buying a few more books in Italian before I leave, and the one that I am the most excited to try and find is "Oh the Places You Will Go" but I don't know what It is called in Italian and they definitely did not have it at the store we were at yesterday. I even asked one of the clerks. I just love being able to actually say what I need to in Italian. It makes everyday so much better!

Venezia!

I just got home from Venice last night, and I miss it already! Venice is the most beautiful city I have ever seen in my life! Everything there is just pretty and cute and the most absolutely picturesque place you have ever seen! We spent a lot of time there at the Piazza de San Marco which was really cool, and very fun at night because there were all sorts of little bands that played at all the cafes and you could just sit and listen all night. It was very fun.

The Grand Canal.Yes, that is me, and yes, I am on a gondola on the grand canal!The rest of our group arrives. (With some pretty good looking gondoliers, I might add.)And this, is Piazza San Marco, the hub of all the activity in Venice.

I also spent time going to a couple of museums. One was the Peggy Guggenheim private collection, and the other was in the Duke's palace and in that, there was an amazing exhibit on the relationship between Venice and Islam (i.e. the Middle East). It was very interesting even without being able to read any of the labels. Ibasically just loved everything about the city. There was never a dull moment, because even when we just sat down on a bridge to read, the scenery was so amazing that it was impossible to concentrate on my homework.

This is the canal that I was looking at! Our hotel was off on the right.
The weekend was quite the adventure however, because on Friday morning my knee went out again while I was getting off the bus. I could barely walk and so one of my professors ended up taking me over to the hospital where it went out one more time on the x-ray table. The hospital was very interesting because they would not allow my prof to come back with me, but they didn't really speak any English. My limited Italian was enough to get the point across, but only with a little bit of charades thrown in there for kicks. I ended up crying a lot and felt like a complete idiot in front of all the doctors and nurses. It was quite the traumatic experience, but now all is well. I now have a soft brace for my knee, some pain meds, and of course, crutches. The crutches are quite hilarious because they are not the normal under the armpit ones. They are the ones with the little band around the forearm and they are very difficult to use, but that seems to be all they have here! So, since there is bascially no way to get around Venice except to walk, I used those crutches quite a bit these last three days!

No matter how much I loved Venice, I was still extremely excited to get back to my house in Florence. Anna, had an amazing dinner ready for us when we walked through the door and we had a blast telling her about everything that we did. She is just such a wonderful woman! She has definately made her house a home away from home for me and my housemates!

One Week Down!

Wow...I can't believe that I have already been here for an entire week! It is completely amazing how quickly we are learning Italian! At this point, we are able to actually have conversations. None of them are too complex, but fun none the less! And this morning after I got off the bus, a woman asked me which bus I had just gotten off and I was able to answer her correctly without even skipping a beat! It was SO cool!

We moved in with our families last Wednesday, and everything is going great! I live with two other girls (Emily Ho being one of them!) and our host family consists of only one woman in her mid-50s. She is absolutely adorable and just a blast to be around. She speaks French which has been very adventageous for when we get stuck in our communication, seeing as she speaks almost no English! She is a great cook and just a wonderful host! I have a single room to myself and it is absolutely huge! One great thing about the apartment is that it is absolutely FILLED with books! She has tons and tons of shelves all over, and then just books sitting on tables and stuck random places. She is definately a woman after my own heart! She is also a grade school teacher and so is great at being patient with us as we are learning the language (and as I am confusing my French and Italian). And here is the house:

The bathroom: notice the shower head is not attached to wall (result: water everywhere!)

The kitchen where Anna fixes our amazing dinners and where we eat breakfast.The living room/dining room where we eat dinner and Anna does her school work.Amy and Emily in their bedroom.And this is my bedroom! SO CUTE!!!
This weekend we went to Pisa. It was about a 45 minute train ride and then a 20 minute walk to the other side of town to see the tower! It was so cool, but it was different than I expected. there were buildings all around it...and I had always pictured it standing along in the middle of a huge grassy area. Not true. It was very fun except that as I was trying to climb onto a little post in order to be at a better angle for the classic cliche picture of holding up the tower I dislocated my knee...again. This kind of put a damper on the rest of the day, but luckily it just went back in on its own and so now I'm trying to lay off it a little so that it can heal, which is very difficult with all of the walking that we do here in Florence!

The postcard view of the Leaning Tower.A wonderful view of the church and the bell tower.

Life in Florence is truly amazing! I can't even put into words how great it is to wake up here every morning to the smell of coffee brewing, knowing all of the gorgeous, interesting, historical, and just plain fantasico things that I will get to see! I do miss some things from home, but overall I would not return to the states right now if you paid me a million dollars! This is my home for now, and I absolutely love it!

I'm Here!

Hey guys! I'm finally in Florence! The trip over was long, but overall it went quite smoothly. We had a short delay in Amsterdam, and then Emily's luggage accidentally got sent on to Florence when we landed in Rome, so she is at the airport this very minute getting her belongings back. We finally got to Florence at 10:30 on Saturday night and made it to the hotel after walking a large circle before realizing that the hotel was actually right where we first turned. We checked in then showered (we were very hot and sweaty from the trek) and after some journaling and relaxing we hit the hay.

Yesterday was a day full of sleep. We slept until noon and then took a two hour nap in the afternoon as well. We met all of our fellow classmates at dinner, which was an amazing vegetable and rice stew. Then in the evening a group of about a dozen of us went out for gelato! I had yougurt nutella and woodland berries. They were both amazing although I much prefered the nutella one! My first taste of gelato was enjoyed while sitting on a bridge and watching the moon rise over the river. SO BEAUTIFUL!

Today is the first day of the program and so far I have had 4 hours of Italian class. My professor's name is Giacomo and he is wonderful! Because of the fact that I took a non-credit italian class last spring they made me take the placement test, but I knew none of it, so they quickly placed me in the class with all those who had never had any Italian before, and the level was perfect for me. I was a little bit ahead of those people, but not by much. We then enjoyed a lunch of pizza and sandwiches out in the small garden behind the school. We start orientation in a few hours but before that Emily and I are planning to go out to do a bit of basic shopping for things such as toiletries and notebooks. Since browsing is frowned upon in this culture it is important for us to know where to go to buy these things, which we now know from asking some of the professors, who are very kind and helpful as well as knowledgable.

I can't wait to tell you more as the adventure of this semester unfolds!
Ciao!

One Week Left...

Ok, so my days remaining in this country are dwindling. As each day passes I am definately getting a lot more nervous, but at the same time even more and more excited!!! I get to LIVE in FLORENCE, ITALY for FOUR MONTHS!!!! I mean, how amazing is that?! Ok, so enough with the exclamation points, I apologize. I tend to get over excited at times. Almost exactly one week from right now my plane will be lifting off from Minneapolis and I will officially be on my way to Italy. Traveling with Emily, my good friend from home (yes, we are on the same program!) our flight is direct from Minneapolis to Amsterdam, where we will have to transfer onto our connecting flight to Rome. Once in Rome, we will find our way to the train station and catch a ride to Florence and hopefully find our way to the hotel without any snags, at least not any big ones!

I've been very busy planning for everything that is going to fit into my one suitcase, one carry-on, and computer bag. It is a lot of figuring out to do, but really fun for someone who likes organization as much as I do. (Erin, you know what I mean.) In the end it will come down to how much will really fit and then what do I see as the most important items, because I truly believe that the less I bring, the happier I will be in the end since I will have to lug it all around with me as the end of the program while I travel for about ten days with my parents. Plus, I am sure that by that time I will have acquired a few more belongings.

This is all SO exciting and at this point, I really just want to get there so that I can start telling you about all of the amazing things that I am doing and seeing, instead of just filling you in on the plans. There is so much to do over there and I'm sure it will take me quite a while to soak it all in, but that will be great because I will constantly have new and exciting things to post about!

Getting Ready

Wow, I cannot believe that I am leaving for Italy in 16 days! I am nowhere near ready! After a busy summer of living and working near Minneapolis, I have been home (Wisconsin Rapids, WI) for a grand total of two days. I have been spending my time, trying to unpack all of my stuff from this summer, and even from last school year, while simultaneously setting aside all of the stuff that I am considering bringing with me this fall. It is a tiring and even confusing process, but SO exciting at the same time! Right now I am completely lost trying to decide which things are necessary for me to bring, what I can just plan on buying over there, and what can I simply leave behind.

I finally found out on Saturday which classes I am going to be in, and they were my top three choices so I was very excited! I will be taking Bella Figura!, which is all about Italian culture. (I will let you know more specifics when I find them out). I will also be in "Florentine Architecture from Romanesque to Baroque" and "Virgin, Bride, Mother: Mary and Other Women in Italian Medieval and Renaissance Imagery". On top of all that excitement, I will of course be taking Italian class! That is probably the class that I am most excited about because I love languages, and absolutely cannot wait to be able to speak another one!

I can't really think of anything else to tell you right now, so I will keep you updated as the day draws nearer!

Ciao!