The First Three Days

25 Janurary  2011

Bueno Sera from Italy!

            I arrived yesterday in Florence around 2pm after two hour and half flights. My program met me at the airport and by chance two of my roommates also had just landed. We were shuttled together to check in and then took a taxi back to my authentic Italian apartment. I technically live on the third floor but really it is a hike of six steep and dark stairs. This will be fine except for having to move in and out two 50 pounds suitcases and a duffle. Don’t fret though thanks to my mom (who was so sweet to come help me move in after our trip to London) we made it with only mild exhaustion.  Once you enter into my apartment though you completely forget about the journey it took to get there. The view from every window is of Santa Croce and beautiful cathedral, which is framed by the red roofs of my neighboring apartments. It is like a postcard. Every hour from 8am to 10pm the bells chime and I feel like I am in a movie. The rest of my apartment is equally quaint. My three roommates Laruen, Nikki, and Rachel and I share a living room/ eating area, a kitchen, two bedrooms, and a bath. It is clean and cozy!  What more could I ask?

             After unpacking we decided to grab some dinner at a local restaurant. The highlight of the meal was our waiter mocking us, in a friendly way of coarse, for not knowing Italian.  We did share a common level of Spanish, which is mostly what we communicated in. 

Overall my first evening in Italy was really nice but tiring. I cant wait to see the city in daylight!

26 January 2011

My roommates and I woke up bright and early at 7 30 am this morning to walk to our first day of orientation.  We had to walk right on the Arno River which is so beautiful. If I knew how to paint I would attempt to capture its beauty (yes that is how stunning it is)  Tomorrow we are hoping to explore a little bit. For the most part today was filled with meetings about safety, respect, Italian law, and academics. I got my schedule and for those who do not know I am only taking 4 classes. All of which are on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. So yes that means 4 day weekends ALL the time!! My courses are International Management, Interpersonal Communication, Italian, and Wine Tasting (an art in Italy). They start this coming Monday so hopefully I will enjoy them.  Between our meetings my roommates and I stopped in a small local restaurant and we indulges ourselves in pasta stuffed with a tender beef and covered in a ragu sauce! Everything was so fresh and delicious! After all of our meetings were over the program treated us to dinner in a mini palace. It was served like a cocktail hour with high tables but the room itself was what stood out the most. With 5 chandeliers fit for the queen the gold trim was literally glistening.  Today went off without a hitch except minor detail… our hot water is out and I literally just took an army style shower because the water was to cold to stand under.  Oh the joys of living in an old city.

27 Janurary 2011

This morning came quickly. While my roommates slept in I went for a walking tour with my orientation group. We walked the ENTIRE city! This city is truly the most beautiful place. I will post pictures soon. Although I am positive they do not do the city justice.  After I finished the tour some friends from my group and I walked to a local outdoor market only two blocks from my apartment. It is hidden in a side street and most tourists never even know it exists. The market consists of two parts; the outside where one can buy every type of produce you can imagine and an assortment of breads, spices, and fruits and the inside where you can find a meat market and a fish market. There are also some food shops that sell premade food. I got an entire cheeseless pizza with fresh tomatoes and olive oil toasted and delicious for only 2 Euros! My roommate who met us there got 7 different veggies for just 1.50 Euros! This was the deal of the century in my opinion.  We decided we are going to try to go to this market more often so we can spend our money on things like traveling! Speaking of which next weekend is my first trip. This one is with the school and we are going to Roma!  Tonight my roommates and I plan to walk across the river and grab dinner and just look around.

Oh and to update you all I was able to fix the hot water! It turns our there is a switch that looks just like the switch to the lights that was accidently turned off. When it is switched off the water heater is turned off…. Womp womp… however all is warm now the switch is on from now until we leave!