Benvenuto a Firenze!

So I’m finally here! It’s been a lot of planning and paperwork and frustration with the financial aid office, but now it has all finally paid off. I seems like it took forever to here. My day of flying started at 12 noon central time and it finally ended at 12 noon Italian time. That’s 17 hours of flying and sitting in airports. I was very thankful though that all my baggage made it relatively intact. For some reason, Italian airports tear up bags. My roommate got his bags, but there is a hole about the size of a softball and several bad scrapes. There were several students who arrived sans any baggage and then had to sit in line for a turn to argue with the airport officers.

The airport in Paris, very chic.

This was my first view of Italy on the bus from the airport to the hotel

The first thing that most people will realize when they get to Italy is how bad the drivers really are. Italian driving is one of the largest stereotypes about the country, but it’s definitely true. Little tiny cars and motor bikes easily drive four wide on streets that are only marked for two lanes. Also, Italians don’t stop for people in crosswalks. If you get hit, it’s because you weren’t walking fast enough. I think I’ll definitely stick to walking during my stay here in Florence. Also, many of the streets in the older parts of Florence were planned during the 13^th century; therefore automobiles were not taken into consideration. These streets are especially prone to accidents because most of the sidewalks are only about two feet wide and the street is only about 6 feet wide and even when you try your hardest to stay on the sidewalk you always end up walking in the street and you always end up getting honked at by motorbikes and cars because you’re blocking the street. It’s a little bit chaotic, to say the least.

On my first day in Italy, my roommate and I decided to wander around a bit before our mandatory welcome dinner and orientation with the API group. We walked to the Duomo and the Arno and got ourselves lost within a few minutes. Then it was time to break out the Italian dictionary and figure out how to ask for directions. In Florence, it’s relatively easy to ask the locals for information. They are mostly nice and speak English, so if you try and speak broken Italian to them they usually just smile and respond in English so you can understand. As one local told us “it’s not very easy for foreigners to get lost in Florence, it’s just easy to go the wrong way.”

Hotel digs for the first two nights. Not bad eh?

View from the rooftop terrace of the hotel.

The Arno at dusk

Once we finally made it back to the hotel, we headed out again with the entire API group to the convention center for our welcome orientation and dinner. After being awake for so long it was pretty difficult to pay attention during the orientation meeting and by the time we got to eat we were all like a pack of ravenous wolves. They served us some traditional Italian dishes with plenty of pasta. Most of it was delicious, except for the flan and olive oil loaf, which kind of tasted like a soggy shoe. After dinner, most of the students in our group went out for some drinks and to check out the local scene, it was relatively dead in most places because it was a Monday night so everywhere we went we were definitely the entire bar atmosphere.

First night out. Notice la polizia watching us. I'm pretty sure the whole city heard us that night, typical Americans.

Today, we went on a tow hour walking tour of the city and we learned a lot about the history of some of the buildings and some of the places to enjoy and avoid in the city. It’s still pretty surreal to walk around Florence and try and comprehend that I’ll be here for the next four months. Everything is so old and beautiful, the architecture is outstanding, and the atmosphere is great. Now I just need to work on learning the language so that I can fit in with the locals when I order my daily coffee.

 The Duomo, 4th largest church in the world.

The dome.

This whole experience has been extremely exhilarating so far and I can’t wait to see what else Florence has in store. I have held off on a lot of the picture taking so far to look less touristy, but definitely expect lots of updates in the future. 

Departure Day!

The day is finally here! It's been a LONG break and, to be honest, I was pretty jealous when all of my friends went back to school without me. I've only been away from Mississippi for two months and it already feels like two months too long. While the rest of my friends have been busy with the new semester, I have been working on packing, re-packing, organizing, and clock-watching until I finally get to begin my adventure in Italia! The hardest part about packing for four months is that I keep getting the feeling that I'm forgetting something (who doesn't?) I guess I will probably figure out what I forgot when I get to Europe and, by then, it will be too late. I guess forgetting something wouldn't be all that bad because then I will have an excuse to go the some of the shops and markets in Florence in search of what I need.

This is the stack of paperwork I have been sorting through and organizing to make sure I'll make it into Italy and back the USA relatively hassle free (we'll see). It's not all fun and games when it comes to studying abroad.

 This mess is what I refer to as "packing." This is how most of my packing for trips goes. I throw everything I think I'll need in the center of my room and make a giant pile and then start stuffing it in the bag until I can't fit anything else. Then I usually have to take everything out, fold it, leave some stuff out of the suitcase, and re-pack it until it fits. Since this adventure will be lasting four months the pile was slightly larger and a bit mroe chaotic looking than usual. My mom offered to help pack, but as soon as she walked into my room and saw the mess she walked right back upstairs (she's a clean freak and she can't deal with stuff like that).

 Somehow I always seem to pull through in the end. My backs are packed (AND organized) and I even managed a bit of extra room to make souvenir storage a little bit easier on the return trip.

My last two days in Wisconsin:

 My family is very close so I ended up spending the last few days I had in the US with them. It was our first winter in Wisconsin as a family so we decided to stop being hermits like rest of the population here and we got out in the snow. I took my sister and the dog on a walk down the river behind our house. I was literally ON the river because everything is frozen solid here. She found some icicles and the dog found the only soft spot in the ice. He was fine, I just think it scared him when his foot went in the water. My sister also figured out why so many people prefer to wear snowshoes on the trail. There was fresh powder from the night before and when she walked it came up to her knee! The dog didn't much like the high snow either.

 You can tell by Dakota's face that he was traumatized by the snow. Fifteen minutes into our walk and he kept trying to sit down somewhere so he wouldn't have to walk through the drifts.

On my last day, we went to the local sledding hill and had some fun. It was nice because we were the only ones there, probably because we were the only ones crazy enough to go sledding in -10 degree weather. I hadn't been sledding since I was about eight and the rest of my siblings had never been before. I was a successful day, except I got a little sun burned from the reflection from the snow. I know, I know. Who gets sunburn in the snow in -10 degree weather? This kid.

I'm excited and nervous about my upcoming adventure, but I'm sure I'm going to have a blast! Coincidentally, the day I'm leaving is also the same day (and time) as the Green Bay Packers' playoff game vs. the Chicago Bears. Everyone here is all dresses up in their packer uniforms, including my family, and there is absolutely no traffic on the road because everyone is at home with their faces glued to the TV. I hope the Pack win, but I won't be able to find out until I land in Paris tomorrow morning.

To all my friends and family: I miss you all already and make sure to look for a postcard in the mail sometime in the next month or so! Also, make sure to keep checking back here on my blog for photo and video updates of my time abroad.

Ciao!

Felice Anno Nuovo!

Ciao! Welcome to my blog where I will be documenting my semester in Italy over the next four months. I have never written a blog before, or kept any kind of journal for that matter, so you'll have to bear with me as I try and figure all this out. Since today is January 1st I figured I would go ahead and write a test post to kick off the new year.

I am very excited about my semester in Italy for Spring 2011, but with my excitement there also comes a bit of anxiousness. I have been on Christmas break for about three weeks but the realization that I won't see a lot of my friends back in Starkville for quite some time is just starting to set in. I miss everyone already and I know it's not going to get any easier over the next few months. I hope to stay in contact with many of them via Skype while I'm overseas and hopefully modern technology will make is easier to be away from them for so long. I know the time change is a bit of an issue (Florence is 7 hours ahead of CST), but we'll work around it. It's a good thing I'm a bit of a night owl.

While in Italy I will be living in an apartment in Florence with four other students from various universities across the United States. I've done a bit of facebook stalking already (come on, who wouldn't) and I won't say anything specific, but from what I've found it looks like we should all get along fine. One roommate is from New York, one is from New Hampshire, another is from Massachusetts, and the last one is from Florida. My brothers have been making fun of me this week because I have been using Google's street view on Google Earth to virtually walk from my apartment to the university I will be studying at. It's ok. I'm a nerd, I know. I'm not one of those people that just likes to wander around aimlessly or dive into something without first doing some research. Maybe that's a good thing considering my goal is to go to medical school after undergrad.

Anyways, I will actually be doing school work in Italy and not just jetsetting around the country and the rest of Europe at my leisure. Architecture, Italian language, and modern trends in Italian cuisine will be the focuses of my studies while abroad. I have two LONG Italian classes per week in the Spring. I took three years of Spanish in high school, so hopefully having a background in another foreign language will help me pick up on Italian a bit quicker than a complete beginner. My cooking class should be a good mix of presentations, learning, practicing, and sampling (of course). I've never really fancied myself a cook (my siblings constantly remind me of all the terrible meals I have ever cooked for them), but I figured if I was going to study in Italy then why not? My architecture classes are what I am most excited about. I have two classes each week, one focusing on Florence's palaces and the other concentrating on the built environment of Florence as a whole. I think my biggest trouble with classes in Italy will be convincing myself that I'm actually in school and not some prolonged vacation.

Sorry if this is long for a first post, but like I said I'm still in the process of figuring out this whole blogging thing. I'll make sure to try and keep this updated at least once a week leading up to my departure and then while abroad. I'll also make sure to add lots of pictures and video (when I can) so you all can actually see what I've been up to in Italy and not just read about it.

If anyone would like a postcard from Italy, just make sure to email me your MSU PO Box number or address and I'll add you to my ever-growing list.

Arrivederci!