ONE.

February 1, 2011

Ciao from Firenze!
I decided to start writing while I am in Florence so that whoever is curious can know what I am up to... and so I can keep a record of my time here! It has almost been a week since I arrived, so the jet lag has worn off, and I am ready to go!

The apartment we are staying in is on the south side of the Arno River. We walk across the Ponte Vecchio and past the Uffizi to get to the main building of our school. The building where all the Italian classes are is adjacent to the Duomo. Let's just say, I enjoy walking to school! It's not a bad way to start the day. :) The apartment itself is nice, but the only bad thing is our toilet hasn't worked since the first day. At present I am waiting for the plumber to come. We are hoping they can fix it quickly! Having a working toilet would be great haha.

So highlight of my trip so far would be the visit to the Uffizi. I literally almost burt into tears when I walked into the Botticelli room and saw both the Primavera and The Birth of Venus. It was incredible to see these masterpieces in real life. I also saw the Doni Tondo by Michelangelo, The Duke and Dutchess of Uribino by Piero della Francesca, Bacchus by Caravaggio... the list goes on. I'm so glad I took some art history prior to coming, because I think that made me appreciate it all the more. I'm ready to hit up my boy David, but I'm going to wait to see if we are going with my art history class (museums are not cheap!).

Today I had photography. Our professor was out, but the lab tech was there. We didn't do much, but we did go to buy film and paper as a class. I was done super early, so I came home, dropped my stuff off, and proceeded to walk around the city for nearly 5 hours (small breaks for cappuccino, checking my e-mail at school, and going in a few shops). It was a fantastic day. I walked west along the Arno past the main city and came across a huge outdoor market with clothes, bags, shoes, food, etc. There was just a huge strip of vendors. No one had told us about this (maybe because it is a 45 min walk from the city center?), but I am going back for sure! When I got there everyone was paking up shop (1:00pm), so next time I know to go earlier. I wandered back and really did just walk around Florence all day. No agenda, just went where ever I felt like going. My feet are a bit tired now, but it was a wonderful day.

Tomorrow I have my Women and Religion class and Italian. I am excited to start learning the language. I will leave you for now. Much love!






So I didn't post this before the "plumber came," and this is what happened:

It was in fact the landlord, an old semi-grumpy Italian man, not a plumber who came. I was alone when he showed up, and we did not speak the same language. It was tooo awkward till the FUA lady showed up. After he investigated, the FUA woman translated that a real plumber is coming tomorrow. The girls next to us must have told them the water was not hot because none of us mentioned it, but the FUA lady also asked me if our hot water was working. Let me just tell you... I have been DREADING showers because they are not hot. We were told that hot showers here are not what they are in the states. I pretty much just figured it was fine, but the FUA lady said it should get hot. She went to the shower, turned on the water for a minute, and said it should be hotter than it was. So the landlord adjusted the water heater. Will I finally have a warm shower and not cry every time I have to get cleaned up? Was the cold shower thing not the norm!? Wish me luck and send hot water thoughts!