Did you know orange juice fuels sparks?

I figured that out at dinner two nights ago. We had oranges for dessert and Barbara showed us that if you squeeze and orange peel over a candle it will send sparks flying everywhere. So awesome.

Yesterday was a good day. Went to the post office, Italian class, Lit Travels, and Comedy. Good stuff. I hung out with Kira before the game and then headed over with her, Mike, and Lauren.

We had a really intense against Vanderbilt. The first half was scoreless and we played really well. Second half got much more crazy. The game ended in a 2-2 tie with all of us bruised, scraped and battered.

Home for dinner. Out with Aviva for the evening and ended up hanging out with Tania as well.

Got home rather late.

Site visit for Mediterranean City Architecture this morning and then the LAC portion of Italian. We went to Esselunga today and bought a whole bunch of good stuff. We just ate throughout the entire class. I'm really glad I have Italian with Rachel and Liza - it's always so much fun. I don't think I'd make it through class every day if they weren't always goofing of and making me laugh with them. Yeah, I know I shouldn't be doing that in class but it's kind of necessary.

I have the Freshie Forum at 440 and then a game against Cal State at 6. It's going to be a really tough one.

Vi voglio bene.

VICTORY!!

I sat in the student life office for a solid 4 hours today.

Theater was fantastic this evening.

As far as soccer goes - I didn't play in the first game because I had theater. I showed up halfway through the second half and they were tied 2-2 and ended up losing 4-2 to Lorenzo de Medici. We won our second game against Florida State 3-0 ! Woooo shut out!! :)

Dinner was AMAZING tonight. It was just so much fun. Tori and I were goofing off the entire time. She is so funny. Everyone was just in a good mood.

Bed time! Long day tomorrow and another game!! Vanderbilt is going down.

Abbiamo vinto!

Champagne and Sandwiches - heck yes.

Dinner was fun Saturday night. We ate at Edi across the street and then went and got an after dinner drink in Savonarola.

I videochatted with Rachel and Amanda, called my Grandma for her 86th birthday and Katie just to say hey. Highlights of the day - seriously.

Got up early for the Corri di Vita and met Jacque, Rachel, Tori, and Lauren in the Piazza della Signorina. The walk was fun and gorgeous.

Jacque and I went and bought a bottle of champagne, some panini and then went and had lunch in the Piazza.

After that we headed back to school to catch up on our favorite T.V. shows, decided we were still hungry and bought cookies and gelato from the supermarket, Esselunga, and then proceeded to goof off and watch YouTube videos til dinner time. Ahhhh, good times. We got take out from Edi and then went home.

It was a really early night for me because I was exhausted.

Had two classes this morning and am currently chilling in the Student Life Office with Beth. I have my theater workshop at 5 and then soccer games at 6 and 640. Woop woop - go Orange!

There's basically just soccer this week that's out of the ordinary. I am going to Sicily this weekend for a trip with one of my classes. Should be good.

Ciao.

I'm king of the world!

So Friday was quite the day.

Like I said, I was heading off to the Duomo and other touristy things for the day. I met up with Jacque, Tori, and Catherine and we went into the Duomo and climbed the Cupola. The painting inside the Duomo is intense. We got to see it right up close. I put pictures on Facebook. The view was breath taking from up there. There is no other way to explain it. We spent a good half hour just standing up there staring out and proclaiming that we were "The King of the World!" to mock Jack from Titanic.

We then decided to get some lunch and head to the Uffizi to see the David, specifically. So we get halfway through the Uffizi, run into Rach who then proceeds to inform us that the David is in fact in the Academia and not the Uffizi. It was a really, really, intense moment. I wanted to fall to the ground laughing but I probably would have been kicked out.

Anyhow, Jacque and I still decided to make a try for it at the Academia and failed because it was closed already. Oh well, I live here - I can go whenever.

Went home, had another great dinner then Skyped with mom and Mickey.

Went to Ravenna today. It was okay. I wasn't honestly that impressed. Just a lot of old mosaics. Is it bad that I'm so desensitized to old stuff now?

Well, I'm waiting for the first years to get back from Siena then I'm doing dinner with them.

Corri di Vita Breast Cancer Walk tomorrow and then a wine tasting festival!

Spero che tutti a posto!

"Come se dice Swine Flu?"

I said it should be "l'influenze della porca" but my Italian professor thought otherwise.

At any rate, I went and bought the bike. It is glorious. Forum was the Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll talk. Amy asked me to speak about AIDS, so I did. Heavy stuff. Soccer practice was intense. I really can't believe we have four games next week - yikes. I went to bed right after dinner Wednesday night because I was so exhausted.

Classes yesterday went very well. Just a good time overall. Went to the chiropractor with Maggie to get adjusted. Man, was I hurting. Got home for dinner and then went out to Savonarola for the night with Jenna, Maggie, Tori, Rachel, Liza, Jacque and Catherine. Good times. Hung out at the Duomo for a bit and then came home.

Been doing housekeeping stuff this morning like laundry and returning e-mails. I'm going to see the Duomo and the Statue of David today with Jacque and Tori.

Ravenna tomorrow.

A domani.

Ein Prosit!!

Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit!

That was the most common sound ringing in my ears at Oktoberfest this weekend and I'll explain why later. I'm going to go ahead and start from the beginning - I'm a smart one.

So, departure was at 11:30 pm Thursday night from Santa Maria Novella train station. Aviva got lost on her way there and Rosa's attempts to find her were quite entertaining. On the bus I sat next to a girl named Casey from NYU. She was cool and we talked a lot of the way. Sleeping was beyond uncomfortable and henceforth didn't really happen.

Arrival in Munich was around 9 am and we went promptly to Marienplatz which is essentially the center of Munich. We met up with this guy Andy who was going to give us a bike tour. The tour was awesome and Andy was really enthusiastic about everything. He took us to the palaces, major churches and monuments, through the public park which is a third bigger than Central Park in NYC, and also to the largest street in the city. One thing to note about the park - there was river that was literally white water. So naturally, people decided to surf on it. From underneath the mouth of the bridge, rapids were forming across the span of a twenty foot wide river. It was the craziest thing to see. The city is absolutely gorgeous and I fell in love for sure.

After the bike tour, a bunch of us went to Dachau. Dachau is the first concentration camp used by the Nazis during World War II. It was the heaviest experience I have ever had. I really can't describe it here. I had a creepy feeling all over the entire time I was there. Being there in person is something that is an unfathomable experience and is unique for each person.

Later on Friday night we went to the Hauf Brau Haus which is essentially a year round beer hall. It was such an awesome experience. I got my first liter. The beer was so smooth and delicious. The atmosphere there was off the hook. People dancing, singing, going crazy - ALL IN LEIDERHOSEN! It was fantabulous. The food was great and it was an overall good time.

Saturday was awesome. It started out by me dressing as a clearly American tourist that wanted to be German. I bought suspenders, semi-high socks, a German hat, and a neck scarf. I wore my khaki shorts and my Mayfest/Euclid shirt in honor of everyone back home! I looked obscene but it was totally worth it.

Throughout the day, we just rode all the carnival rides and ate a crazy amount of German bratwurst, wienerschnitzel, pretzels, ice cream and popcorn. Glory of glory. It was amazing. I don't know how to really describe the people there other than that they were primarily in Leiderhosen and drunk - very, very drunk. It was comical because I was sober and just kind of taking everything in.

I did the really high and fast swings to get the best view of Munich possible. Other people did the big drop ride, the intense loop rollercoaster and all that but I just can't stomach those.

We walked around til about 7:30 and then Aviva, Rosa, and I went to a pizzeria outside of Oktoberfest to eat because there was NO WAY we were getting into the beer halls because they were just so packed and we didn't have a reservation for a table.

We ended up sitting with this guy named Lars who was eventually joined by his buddy Marcel. A little bit later on in the evening we made friends with the English guys sitting at the table next to us. James, Jason, and David bought us a round of beers and the seven of us were goofing off dancing and singing - just having a good old time. A little bit later on we were joined by these other two guys, Steven and Tomas. Great people - good times.

We got back to the hostel around 2 or something like that.

Sunday morning we headed back to Oktoberfest and did the same thing essentially. We were only there for five hours on Sunday so we decided to head to the Hippodrom Biergarten (Beer Garden) around 12:30 ish. We just hung out there til 2:30 when we had to get back on the bus.

Great weekend overall.

Monday was super busy and I was exhausted.

Yesterday was super busy and I was exhausted.

Today is going to be much better. I'm watching a movie in Italian right now and only had one other class this morning.

I'm going to buy a bike this afternoon and then I have the Freshman Forum. To finish out the night I have soccer practice which I'm really excited for. We have four games next week but I can only play in three so we have to find an alternate goalie for our first game.

Ahhhh, well. That's about it.

For those of you who want to ask me questions about certain stuff, my e-mail is em.e.allen@gmail.com.

Also, many of you had asked for my address over here.

It is as follows:

Syracuse University in Florence

Emily Allen, Student

Piazza Savonarola, 15

50132 Florence

Italy

Prost!

Das boot.

You win if you can tell me what the title is from.

Long and short of it - I will update next Monday probably due to the fact that...

I am going to Oktoberfest tonight in Munich, Germany.

Peace out homies.

"Maggie, they don't understand moo-lah!"

Haha - oh brother.

Alrightey, so Tuesday was quite the day. Classes were long as always and rather painful actually. I had my comedy workshop right after comedy class and then headed out to soccer practice. I have decided to join the soccer team here at school to compete in the international school tournament that takes place throughout the semester. I am the SU goalie. Holler. Anyway, soccer was tons-o-fun and went til 7:45 ish. Then I literally ran from Campo back home, which took me a good twenty minutes. Not to mention I had my backpack on with my laptop and essentially all my books. My shin splints were killing me and I am incredibly out of shape. Ugh.

Anyhow, got home just in time for dinner. I showered incredibly fast and ate dinner with the family. It was yet another fantastic dinner. After dinner I got ready to go surprise Maggie for her birthday. Rosa and Mary had set up a surprise party ish thing before we went out for the night. It went really well. Aviva and I headed over to the Savonorola hut for a drink before heading down to the Centro to meet up with Maggie's Italian friends.

They wanted to take us to this discoteca that was 20 euros to get in and none of us really wanted to pay that. Maggie tried telling them that we didn't have the "moo-lah" for that and then I got quite rowdy and assured her that they wouldn't have understood her. It was really funny at the time - one of those you had to be there things I suppose.

Regardless, as the evening went on, people began to go home and eventually it was just Maggie, Aviva, Rosa and me. We went to a club called Twice and just danced and had a good time for a while. We all eventually got home around 3ish.

I had class at 9 that I was up and on time for. Despite me being tired, I made it through the day. Went to San Ambroggia for Italian culture class and Rachel, Tori and I got cheeseburgers and french fries for lunch!! Delicious. The best part about it was that we were in a fresh food market and all that and the burger was awesome but instead of using good cheese for the burger they whipped out a Kraft Single - no lie. It was hysterical.

The rest of the day went well. Hung out with Beth in Student Life and then was off to Freshman Forum. Good talk about adapting today, guys. Went to Universo Sport after that to get some new socks and knee braces for soccer. Came home and had dinner and have been in the room since.

I got to vid chat with Mickey tonight!! Highlight of the day for sure. We're starting to plan fall break which is HONESTLY, REALLY, going to be FANTASTIC (hope you appreciate the subtle jokes, McC). Rachel came in at the end which was super cool as well!

My plans for the weekend got shot because Juan came down with the flu. So - if by some remote chance they let me, I will be accompanying the Florence For Fun company, Aviva, Rosa, Rachel, and Tori to Oktoberfest this weekend! I hope I do!

Stay well and swine flu free!

I survived a natural disaster.

There was an earthquake here last night. No - legitimately, it was a 4.8.

I had a good day yesterday. Classes went well and I met with Amy and Beth for a while. Went home, had a great walk with some great tunes on the iPod and then did some math homework with Tori. I remember now why I'm an English major. I couldn't divide 1005632 by 179...

Moving on. Dinner was fantastic and I had a lot of fun with the game and the food and conversation. I did my homework at the kitchen table with Franco. While we were sitting there everything started to shake and he told me to quit shaking the table. When I told him I wasn't and I thought that he was, we both recognized that the whole house was shaking as well. EARTHQUAKE!!! It was crazy. I had a headache for the rest of the night. Well we resolved all of that and I got ready for bed. Skyped with Mom and Dad for the first time which was cool.

Great morning this morning. Classes went fine. Lunch was fine. Weather is great. Happy 21st Birthday Maggie Gleason!! I'm off to soccer practice with Aviva now and then home for dinner.

Ciao Ciao!

Oh p.s. I think I might be acting the Festivale della Creativita in Florence...it's a big international thing. Google it.

I had Switzerland in my sandwich.

Buon(a) giorno/sera a tutti.

Eventful. That can really encompass this weekend. So originally the plan was to go to Cinque Terre and all that and then at the last minute, the oh so fantastic Beth DeFelici in the student life office, came to the aid of the first - years and I and set us up with a hotel in Chiavari. The cool thing about Chiavari is that it is where my family originates from and still lives today.

We got a cheap train and it left at 8:30 from Santa Maria Novella station. We booked it to the train and made the trek to Chiavari. We made it there around midnight after an eventful train trip of goofy pictures, fast food, and overall chaos. When we arrived at the hotel, the woman was really sketchy and informed us that the price to stay had doubled for two nights. We therefore decided that it would be economically best to leave Saturday night. Anyhow, to close out the night we watched Young Frankenstein in mine, Alaina, Emily, and Chandini's room. Most of us passed out until we were so rudely awakened by the multiple trains that came through - since it was right next to the station. Rough night.

Anyhow, we stayed in bed til probably ten. I decided to take a really big leap and call my relatives, Filippo and Clara, who live in Chiavari. They don't speak a word of English. It was very interesting to call them up and essentially say, "Yo. I'm your cousin. I'm in Chiavari. Let's chill." It worked. They came and got me and took me around Chiavari for the afternoon. I got to see this market that only happens once a month. It was pretty cool. They had friends who run a table at the market and I got to help them sell stuff! I walked around with Filippo a bit and he showed me some of the cool sites while Clara bought the bread and pasta for lunch.

We went back to the house and I got to see all pictures of my family and stuff it was really cool. Oh, and as a side note to all of this, they don't speak English. At all. Good stuff, huh? At any rate, Clara made pesto pasta for lunch - delish. It was accompanied by some meat thing that I really couldn't name, salad, fruit, and ice cream. Way too much. She gave me more pasta than her and Filippo combined. Slightly absurd. They took me back to the hotel after a great afternoon.

I met up with everyone else on the beach and hung out there for a little while. It was really nice and the water was the perfect temperature. Some of us got gelato and others just chilled. We sat on the boardwalk and watched the sunset. Caught the train and headed home to Florence. Good trip.

Sunday I stayed home all day and did homework, laundry, and read Watchmen, which Rach gave me before I left. I recommend it if you haven't read it already.

Today was long with class and stuff. Meetings and what not. Went to Masaccio with Aviva for lunch. It was funny because we were trying to figure out what to order and there was an option, number 19, that said that there was (basically) ham, lettuce, and Switzerland. It was just goofy - we were both scared to try it but who knows, maybe a future endeavor. After lunch, we went to the Supermarket which was a fun little adventure.

I skipped out on the comedy work shop today because I was doing a bunch of other things. Got some homework to do tonight. Not too much though. Just wanna take it easy. It's pouring here. Yippy kye ay for getting soaked on the way home.

Odio piove.

( I hate rain. )

Una tempesta.

The title means, "a storm", which is kind of what the memory of the past few days have been like. I've been really busy doing stuff with classes, with the first-years, getting involved, planning trips, getting stuff squared away still. So basically, it's all just a blur. I don't mean storm in the negative sense, just that it's crazy!

I don't have any real substantial things to update you on except my trips for this weekend and next. I leave in three hours or so for Chiavari in Genoa, Italy. It's about 3 and a half hours from here. It's the town where some of my family lives and hopefully I will be able to make contact with them. I am going up there with six of the first-years and Kate, one of the other mentors. Next weekend I will be traveling to Vallodolid, Spain which is about two hours south of Madrid to visit Juan!! For those of you who are not in the know about my buddy from Spagna, he stayed at my house in Smithfield at the beginning of my junior year of high school with the LaSallian exchange program. It will be roughly four years since the last time I saw him - I absolutely cannot wait.

Classes went well this first week. Lots of work but I'm staying on top of it so far. I'm looking forward to the site visits with FIA 313/ARC 300, The Mediterranean City and the acting and laughter from DRA300, Comedy in Italy.

Other than that, I think that I'll say a few things about the culture here as opposed to the mundane goings-on of my day to day activities.

I am clearly an American. I stick out like a sore thumb around here. We all do. It's not so much the fact that we stick out either, it's the fact that the Italians make sure we KNOW we stick out. The staring down, the more than blatant judging and the talking about us right while we're walking past them. It is quite uncomfortable at times. But the Italians, like most people just judge before really taking the chance to know. I have become quite friendly with the people who own Il Masaccio - the best sandwich place in town - because of my rather frequent visits to their place of business. The first few times I went in there, I had to wait an excessive amount of time to be recognized whereas today I walked in and was greeted with, "Ciao, bambina!" (translated - Hello, little one(feminine)!)

Walking into shops and trying to business is the most difficult. I see it as even harder for those of us who speak a little bit of Italian. We try to utilize our knowledge of the language and are scoffed at sometimes when we try and use it. What do they want from us? Be real tourists or actually try and appreciate the language? It's baffling.

Clearly, American style of dress (and my "look") in particular are quite different. I dress comfortably and in what I wear in the States. The Italians live by what is known as the Bella Figura. They always dress as if it was a special day; no dress down days or even comfy casual for that matter. We're all overshadowed by this. I tried wearing a hat the other day - even with my hair down - and got so many weird looks by the time I hit the piazza (about a two minute walk) that I just put the hat in the backpack for the rest of the day. It's so tough trying to live here knowing that ultimately, the way you dress is going to affect the type of treatment you receive. Needless to say, I'm not changing a thing about my wardrobe.

Anyhow, just some food for thought.

Spero che questo blog e vi trovando bene.

(I hope that this blog finds you well.)

Slushies?

So yesterday after my last post I basically just hung around campus and did nothing for a while. I met up with both groups of people I've been hanging out with (the kids from the Greece trip and the freshies :]) to figure out trips out of the country and within the country alike. We hardly got anything done because everyone is just all over the place.

At 4:30, Kate and I took the first years to the Paperback Exchange to buy books. They're a really, really, really awesome group of kids. We had a fun trip down to il Centro and back. I took a few of them to the volunteer meeting and Kate took the other half to get notebooks and stuff. On the way back, Dimitri was insisting that we stop to get slushies. Upon realizing how expensive it was, everyone but him dropped out. He got the orange one because he's from Syracuse (they learn fast!). We goofed off the entire way back and it was just a fun time overall.

The volunteer meeting went well. I'm glad I'm going to get to do community service while I'm here as well as my work study, classes, and everything else. Jenna and I headed back home for dinner after the meeting. I played some calcittone (foosball) with Tori and Franco for a bit and was able to beat them both which was quite the feat. I had a really good conversation with Barbara and Franco which tells me my Italian is coming back. We played a game at dinner to help Jenna and I with our vocabulary. Essentially, there is a letter of the night and we need to go around in a circle listing off words that begin with that letter. For example : attenzione, ascoltare, anche, angelo, aranciata (orange!!), aeroporto, etc... It was really great and a lot of fun.

Jenna and I then came back to school to do some more trip planning but it turned into me, Kate, Mary, Jenna, Rosa, and Maggie just watching YouTube videos. Haha. We went to Piazza Savonarolla afterwards to just hang out. A bunch of the architecture kids were there. I got to see Tony again which was nice. We got back and I skyped Maggie and talked to Bags and Brian for a bit. It was a good end to the night.

Woke up late this morning and scurried around trying to get here on time. Italian was painfully boring and I had my first Literary Travels class. It seems interesting. I'm sitting right now waiting for Comedy to start. I'm pumped about this one. We have a Student Activities and Housing Zone 2 dinner tonight.

Not much else to report - hope you're all doing well!

Domani!

"Excuse me - Hello! I speak English!"

Here's a little tid bit of quirky info for you - an English speaker was not the quotee of this post title. I'll explain in a little bit.

Alright so last I told you I was off to a transportation meeting. That was cool. Got to really hang out with Maggie, Aviva, Jenna, Liz, and Mary. After that, Jenna and I headed home I'm pretty sure. We had some dinner with the fam and then went out with Maggie, Aviva, Jenna, and Kate. We got some drinks in Piazza Savonarolla and then decided to head down to the Duomo and just walk around. We stopped for some pizza and just people watched after that. It was fun - but crazy expensive. To finish off the night we had to set Aviva up with a cab which is no easy feat in Florence let me tell you. Finally, at about 2 she got picked up and everyone headed home.

We made plans to meet in front of school at 11 to go shopping in Piazza di Lorenzo. It's just your typcial market. There were so many vendors it was ridiculous. I bought a new wallet (to replace the velcro Billabong one that I have held dear since I was 12) and an Italian National Team jersey to represent Totti in honor the game that night against Georgia.

So we keep on walking along and Maggie stops to try on a leather jacket and we all kind of just lingered in the street for a bit. I went to go find her and was sidetracked by this guy telling me I dropped something. I turned around and he said, "Hello!! You must be Irish and Italian. I like your style. Where are you from? I have a free jacket just for you because I like your style." I have enough confidence in myself that I followed him into the store. I can definitely hold my own against a lanky Italian store owner. So he has me try on this jacket that fits me perfectly and tells me that he will give it to me for a special price. Now, I don't really ever picture myself as a leather person, so I was a little skeptical from the start. But I kinda rocked it. It was strange. The price of the jacket was 320 euro. He told me that he would give it to me for 110 - still a ton of money. I told him I wasn't sure and would come back later. By the way, during the course of all of this pedaling, we got to talk about Italian stuff. He told me he was from Sicily originally and I told him I was too so he freaked out and started going off about how we were cousins and stuff. Really funny. We also introduced ourselves - a little late into the conversation but it happened nonetheless. Angelo was a really nice guy and so I promised him I would come back with the girls.

When I came back he was ECSTATIC that I had brought friends. He set up each one of us with a jacket that honestly fit us all perfectly - it was crazy. He was pretty convincing in the manner in which he was soliciting us. Jenna decided not to go through with the jacket so Angelo told us that he would give me and Maggie our jackets for 100 and Aviva and Kate theirs for 120. Just for number purposes, please note that two of the jackets were originally 320 and the others about 370 and 380. Insanity. Maggie dropped out and went next door to see if she could get a better price.

She got it. 95. Angelo freaked and decided to give us all our jackets even more discounted. I got mine for 90 and Aviva and Kate got theirs for 110. Dang good deal. Angelo had gotten us drinks and stuff and treated us like queens. He engaged us in conversation as well as selling stuff. His tagline was the title of this post. He spoke English quite well. His boss Rino also befriended me and offer me more deals. I had to turn him down because let's face it, 90 euro still isn't cheap. The three of us exchanged business cards and chatted some more. They invited us back whenever if we ever needed anything. Maggie ended up returning her jacket and buying a bag and jacket from Angelo. He set us up with a good place for lunch then we all went off in separate directions. It was a good day.

Dinner was nice and we all watched the soccer game as well. Italy won over Georgia 2-0 but a Georgia player who actually plays for Milano as well scored both goals for Italy - irony.

Sunday we went to Mass at La Basilica della Croce - one of the more famous basilicas in Italy. Sat right in the front row, of course. After Mass, Franco took us up to Fiesole. The views from up there were incredible. I can't explain it. It reminded me a little bit of Anacapri. We walked around for a bit and then headed back for lunch. We had a nice lunch and then got ready to go to the Monastery just outside the city. It was really ancient and had some cool views. On the way back, we stopped in Piazza di Michelangelo which is where a lot of the pictures and paintings of Florence are done from. Magnificent. I wasn't really feelign well so I stayed back while Jenna went to the park with Tori and Frankie. We had dinner when they got back which was smaller than normal because we did a big lunch. Jenna and I went over our itineraries for the semester with Franco and Barbara and then called it a night.

The first day of classes was today. I had Meditteranean City which is basically architecture. It'll be awesome. Italian was the second and last class. The level I chose was too easy so I have to move up a few. Agh. Anyhow, I'm sitting in the courtyard on campus and going to grab a sandwich before heading home.

I'm thinking about going to see Justin this weekend and meeting him in Paris? Gotta travel.

Buona giornata.

"Sono andato! Non sono venuto!"

Things have definitely taken an awesome upward turn in the past day and a half. It is about 2:30 here in Florence and today has been fantabulous. Yesterday I'm not even quite sure what was up to most of the day. I basically just got all of my meetings and stuff out of the way then went and chilled with Emily. We got some gelato and then I went to get the present for my family, the Maceras. My buddy, Nicole Stanek, and another girl Kate Gieser have stayed with the family before so as their welcoming gift, I gave them a picture of the three of us in a frame.
Tori is my little 8 year old host sister. She is adorable she is a stickler about Italian grammar and won't let me get away with anything, hence the title of this post! Barbara is actually from Seattle but is insistent upon using Italian in the house. Franco is beyond awesome. They have a 24 year old son named Frankie who is in the Carabinieri (military police) in un altro parte d'Italia. I will meet him tonight. He comes home every other weekend.

My roommate's name is Jenna and she is from University of Denver in Colorado. She lives in Colorado Springs. We are both clean people and really organized. She is down to Earth and super cool. I'm really lucky. She went on the pre-trip to Greece so already has a lot of friends on this trip and in turn has asked me to start hanging out with them. They are actually really cool. I think only two of them are from SU though and one is actually from RI! Woo! We stayed up and talked last night for a while and got to know each other.

We both slept well despite the awful heat and humidity during the night. We got up early this morning, had some breakfast and hit the road for school. It's only about a ten minute walk - super easy to navigate. I registered for classes, turned in my work study app, hung out in the Student Life Office, and went to my safety and security meeting. After that, Jenna called me and I went to go meet all her friends and we got lunch at Il Masachio which has PHENOMENAL paninis. I got ham, with spinach, and cheese - toasted. It was fantastic.

I went back up the SL Office to chill with Beth because the girls had a meeting. Since then, I've been down here in the Skype room talking to Katie and also messaging a few other people. I'm off to a transportation meeting now so that I can learn how to use the buses and stuff around here.

I'm definitely having a great day and hope you are too!!

Thinking of you, Mom and Dad.

Aveste un buon giorno tutti!

We were where?!

Okay. Got some paperwork stuff done, took my Italian placement exam, and some other things here yesterday before I headed out for the day. I decided that it would be nice to go explore yesterday since I had a bunch of time before dinner.

4:45pm - depart from SU.

I proceeded to walk towards the Duomo and explore the center of town. I got myself a Panna Cotta gelato and just wandered through the street not necessarily keeping track of where I was going. It was great people watching for sure.

~6pm - decide to start heading back to the hotel.

I went in the direction that I had assumed to be towards Il Fiume Arno (The Arno River) because my hotel was right next to it. As I kept walking things started to get quieter and quieter. It was still light out so there was nothing to be afraid of. I came across a piazza that looked oddly familiar. Upon closer examination I realized that I had been there roughly 20 minutes beforehand.

~6:25pm - decide that it is time to take out the map.

You have to understand that the roads here in Florence are clearly marked but they are all so small that cartographers deemed most of them unnecessary to be included in maps of the city. So I kept going until I found an army looking guy and asked him quite simply "Dov'e' siamo??", which means, "Where are we?". He chuckled a little bit and then struggled to figure out where we were on the map, because like I said, the maps here stink. Anyhow he showed me the way (without the map) so I took off. I was convinced I wasn't going in the right direction so I stopped at a gelateria that I was passing and the really nice girl behind the counter started a conversation with me and helped me get home as per way of the map.

6:52pm - arrive at the hotel.

I went right up to bed and collapsed for a few minutes before heading down to dinner. I had dinner with Emily, Brandon, and Vallusi. They're pretty cool. Emily went to a host family Q&A after dinner and I went and slept til 9:45 when she got back. We went and got the boys and headed out to go explore the Ponte Vecchio and surrounding area. Well, that ended up being a three hour and fifteen minute excursion to very southern part of Florence - basically the boundary of the city. It was insane. We walked for so long and saw a lot of stuff but we were basically just wandering aimlessly. It was quite the long night.

Slept like a rock and now I'm at school. We meet the host families in four hours or so - oh the suspense. Hopefully tonight will be nice with the family and stuff. Gotta figure out my way around without getting lost at some point. My rationale is that you can never find anything unless you get lost! So I'll get lost now so that I can really live here in the near future.

Ciao.

Sono arrivato.

Heya,

Travel - done. Got to the airport by one today. Sported my OL polo with pride. Said bye to mom and dad and then indulged in some fine American cuisine before heading inot the international gate: McDonald's. Got through security and all that just fine and scored myself and aisle seat for the trip from NYC to Germany.

So we landed in Munich around 7:45 am Germany time. The flight was so long. I couldn't sleep because I couldn't get comfortable. I didn't get sick from the food this time which was a plus. I've talked to a few of the kids in my flight group, three of which are architecture students. They, like the majority of the group, are travelling with friends. The flight from Munich to Florence at 12:55pm was a tough one. The plane smelled bad and it was very cramped so I solved those issues by sleeping. We arrived at the hotel in Florence around 2:30 and had until three to get settled before we headed out to campus. We walked 25 minutes to campus with our guide so we could scope out important things in the city. We stayed there for a meeting and stuff til about 5 and then I took off to explore the city a little, get myself a phone and some necessaries that I accidentally forgot to pack in my carry on for orientation.

Got back a little while ago and took a much needed shower. Dinner starts in like 15 minutes then I think I am going oto just read and go to bed.

Tomorrow starts at 9am for some info stuff on campus so I have to make sure the jet lag isn't going to completely mess me up. I'm planning on exploring the city by foot tomorrow because I only have 2 meetings. One is at 1:15pm and the other is at 8:30pm so I am hoping to find some cool stuff.

Off to a slow start - I'm hoping classes will make it easier to meet people and make some connections.


Per adesso.