My Recent Travels

Hello Family and Friends!

It has been so long since my last post due to me being insanely busy! It seems like the studying part of studying abroad has come into reality.

Two weekends was our Bing Trip. As you all know this was entirely free for us except for meals. We had one meal on the Bings and it was amazing. We traveled to Naples,
Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. All in all it was a great time since it was basically FREE. However, I think I had a better time when I went to Cinque Terre. Probably because I did not have to deal with a huge group traveling around and always having to be places at certain times. I like to be a bit more independent. We had a great guide who showed us all these interesting things in those cities but it was all in Italian! At first, I approached it as a learning experience and exciting but learned quickly that it is hard to listen to hours of history in another language. I can only understand so much and then I get distracted. Pompeii was by far the most interesting and amazing to see. However, my favorite
place was Amalfi. It is a small city on the water. They have this church that is absolutely breathtaking. There was a wedding going on at the time we were there so it made it even more spectacular since there were white flowers everywhere. If I had all the money in the
world, I would want to get married in that church. Below is a picture of the insides with the wedding going on (they allowed people to walk around in the church during the wedding! I felt that was awful!)



The week following the Bing trip was Halloween. However, I had nothing to wear and it was the week of midterms. I found out from my host mom that there is a Halloween shindig that happens on the street that we basically live on. It ended up being all these shops were open late with candy outside and a few kids trick-or-treated. I would have wanted to be a mime this year but it didn’t work out. It would have been really easy and pretty funny, if I do say so myself. I can act like I am in a box better than real mimes.

This past weekend I went to Rome with a group of my friends. I do not think I have been so exhausted as I was after returning from this trip. We did basically everything there is to do in Rome! The reason for us all going to Rome in the first place was because our Sociology of Immigration class professor invited us to an Immigration Conference at the Italian Parliament. This was on Monday morning so I headed south on Friday and stayed until Monday afternoon. It was a very long trip.

We stayed in my first REAL hostel. We shared a room with three girls from Quebec, Canada. I have never associated Canada with really annoying people. They would get very drunk every night and stumble in at around 4 am and continue to giggle and laugh for an hour. One was involved in a very controversial relationship within the hostel – with a guy in the room where our other friends from the Stanford program were sleeping! What a horrific time. I am glad that it was just a place to sleep. Therefore, we did not spend more than nights at our hostel. During the day we traveled (by foot or metro) all throughout Rome! I have to admit that Rome is by far one of the most stunning places I have been. The Coliseum was amazing and even better at night. In my opinion, the best part of the whole trip was spending time at the Vatican. I have never stepped foot into a church (or anywhere for that matter) that literally made my jaw drop. St. Peter’s Basilica was breathtaking. I think that St. Peter’s was more moving than even Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. However, it was worth the 2 hours of waiting, 12 euro and the trek through acres of the Vatican museum to see it. I was also able to see the good ole pope! He addressed the masses from his window and it was as if I was at a rock concert. People cheered, screamed, clapped, chanted. It was quite the event. I also had a chance to climb the Duomo and look over all of Rome! After that, we went below the Basilica to take a look at the crypts. It was a surprisingly emotional event. Seeing the pile of letters, pictures, flowers and people kneeling in deep prayer in front of Pope John Paul II grave made the entire scene very emotional. Not to mention being in a room with centuries of Popes was a bit eerie.

I really had a great time in Rome despite my feet feeling as if they were bruised everyday! I loved how everything was lit up at night and how you can stumble upon the most magnificent roman structures! I had a great time walking through the Roman Forum and reading along with my Rick Steves book. I saw where Julius Caesar was burned after being assassinated. People still put flowers on his grave to commemorate all he did for Rome. Che interessante!

I was able to visit Parco del Celio and the Celio* store! I took about 15 pictures in front of them! Also, Celio* had NO clothes with Celio on the front or anywhere visible! Darn. Pictures are below!

Our visit to Parliament was interesting but nothing to write home about. That’s a joke. Actually, there were representatives from all over Europe and Africa to discuss the major problem of immigration. My teacher gave a presentation and it was actually very interesting. We were able to listen to a translator through the use of headphones. I finally was able to fully understand my teacher! I would write all I learned but really that is too much work for this blog☺

We returned just in time for me to get to my Art History class and turn in my Midterm Paper. I ended up falling asleep at 10 pm. I was SO tired. I will be returning to Rome in the following two weeks with Bryce. If anyone has suggestions of something to do that I did not mention, let me know! I would like to see even more of such an amazing city!

This weekend I have NOTHING on tap. And boy does it feel good! I am either going to go to Siena on Saturday or spend the day hiking through the hills of Florence. I still have to make the most of my weekend even if I am not doing a big trip. I have to save up my energy because the following weekend/weeks will be AMAZING. One of my closest friends from life, Jeanne will be visiting Florence for the weekend with her program (based in Macerata). I will be returning from a day trip with my Art History class in Venice to see her! The next day is when Bryce arrives (18th)! I am very excited. We plan to see all we can of Florence, Rome and Venice. Sounds like a great plan to me ☺
Then, after Bryce leaves, my close friends Caitlin Elsner (&parents), Michael Grohman and Chris Baker will be spending two days in Florence. THEN the following weekend I am going to take a trip for 3 days to PARIS. Thank you cheap air tickets! I will be meeting up with 3 other girls from Stanford who are studying in Spain and with other kids in the Paris program.

I love life. But I look forward to Christmas at home so much!

I love you all. I hope you are all happy and healthy. Send me updates of your lives!

My Recent Travels

Hello Family and Friends!

It has been so long since my last post due to me being insanely busy! It seems like the studying part of studying abroad has come into reality.

Two weekends was our Bing Trip. As you all know this was entirely free for us except for meals. We had one meal on the Bings and it was amazing. We traveled to Naples,
Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. All in all it was a great time since it was basically FREE. However, I think I had a better time when I went to Cinque Terre. Probably because I did not have to deal with a huge group traveling around and always having to be places at certain times. I like to be a bit more independent. We had a great guide who showed us all these interesting things in those cities but it was all in Italian! At first, I approached it as a learning experience and exciting but learned quickly that it is hard to listen to hours of history in another language. I can only understand so much and then I get distracted. Pompeii was by far the most interesting and amazing to see. However, my favorite
place was Amalfi. It is a small city on the water. They have this church that is absolutely breathtaking. There was a wedding going on at the time we were there so it made it even more spectacular since there were white flowers everywhere. If I had all the money in the
world, I would want to get married in that church. Below is a picture of the insides with the wedding going on (they allowed people to walk around in the church during the wedding! I felt that was awful!)



The week following the Bing trip was Halloween. However, I had nothing to wear and it was the week of midterms. I found out from my host mom that there is a Halloween shindig that happens on the street that we basically live on. It ended up being all these shops were open late with candy outside and a few kids trick-or-treated. I would have wanted to be a mime this year but it didn’t work out. It would have been really easy and pretty funny, if I do say so myself. I can act like I am in a box better than real mimes.

This past weekend I went to Rome with a group of my friends. I do not think I have been so exhausted as I was after returning from this trip. We did basically everything there is to do in Rome! The reason for us all going to Rome in the first place was because our Sociology of Immigration class professor invited us to an Immigration Conference at the Italian Parliament. This was on Monday morning so I headed south on Friday and stayed until Monday afternoon. It was a very long trip.

We stayed in my first REAL hostel. We shared a room with three girls from Quebec, Canada. I have never associated Canada with really annoying people. They would get very drunk every night and stumble in at around 4 am and continue to giggle and laugh for an hour. One was involved in a very controversial relationship within the hostel – with a guy in the room where our other friends from the Stanford program were sleeping! What a horrific time. I am glad that it was just a place to sleep. Therefore, we did not spend more than nights at our hostel. During the day we traveled (by foot or metro) all throughout Rome! I have to admit that Rome is by far one of the most stunning places I have been. The Coliseum was amazing and even better at night. In my opinion, the best part of the whole trip was spending time at the Vatican. I have never stepped foot into a church (or anywhere for that matter) that literally made my jaw drop. St. Peter’s Basilica was breathtaking. I think that St. Peter’s was more moving than even Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. However, it was worth the 2 hours of waiting, 12 euro and the trek through acres of the Vatican museum to see it. I was also able to see the good ole pope! He addressed the masses from his window and it was as if I was at a rock concert. People cheered, screamed, clapped, chanted. It was quite the event. I also had a chance to climb the Duomo and look over all of Rome! After that, we went below the Basilica to take a look at the crypts. It was a surprisingly emotional event. Seeing the pile of letters, pictures, flowers and people kneeling in deep prayer in front of Pope John Paul II grave made the entire scene very emotional. Not to mention being in a room with centuries of Popes was a bit eerie.

I really had a great time in Rome despite my feet feeling as if they were bruised everyday! I loved how everything was lit up at night and how you can stumble upon the most magnificent roman structures! I had a great time walking through the Roman Forum and reading along with my Rick Steves book. I saw where Julius Caesar was burned after being assassinated. People still put flowers on his grave to commemorate all he did for Rome. Che interessante!

I was able to visit Parco del Celio and the Celio* store! I took about 15 pictures in front of them! Also, Celio* had NO clothes with Celio on the front or anywhere visible! Darn. Pictures are below!

Our visit to Parliament was interesting but nothing to write home about. That’s a joke. Actually, there were representatives from all over Europe and Africa to discuss the major problem of immigration. My teacher gave a presentation and it was actually very interesting. We were able to listen to a translator through the use of headphones. I finally was able to fully understand my teacher! I would write all I learned but really that is too much work for this blog☺

We returned just in time for me to get to my Art History class and turn in my Midterm Paper. I ended up falling asleep at 10 pm. I was SO tired. I will be returning to Rome in the following two weeks with Bryce. If anyone has suggestions of something to do that I did not mention, let me know! I would like to see even more of such an amazing city!

This weekend I have NOTHING on tap. And boy does it feel good! I am either going to go to Siena on Saturday or spend the day hiking through the hills of Florence. I still have to make the most of my weekend even if I am not doing a big trip. I have to save up my energy because the following weekend/weeks will be AMAZING. One of my closest friends from life, Jeanne will be visiting Florence for the weekend with her program (based in Macerata). I will be returning from a day trip with my Art History class in Venice to see her! The next day is when Bryce arrives (18th)! I am very excited. We plan to see all we can of Florence, Rome and Venice. Sounds like a great plan to me ☺
Then, after Bryce leaves, my close friends Caitlin Elsner (&parents), Michael Grohman and Chris Baker will be spending two days in Florence. THEN the following weekend I am going to take a trip for 3 days to PARIS. Thank you cheap air tickets! I will be meeting up with 3 other girls from Stanford who are studying in Spain and with other kids in the Paris program.

I love life. But I look forward to Christmas at home so much!

I love you all. I hope you are all happy and healthy. Send me updates of your lives!

Hello Family and Friends!

It has been so long since my last post due to me being insanely busy! It seems like the studying part of studying abroad has come into reality.

Two weekends was our Bing Trip. As you all know this was entirely free for us except for meals. We had one meal on the Bings and it was amazing. We traveled to Naples,
Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. All in all it was a great time since it was basically FREE. However, I think I had a better time when I went to Cinque Terre. Probably because I did not have to deal with a huge group traveling around and always having to be places at certain times. I like to be a bit more independent. We had a great guide who showed us all these interesting things in those cities but it was all in Italian! At first, I approached it as a learning experience and exciting but learned quickly that it is hard to listen to hours of history in another language. I can only understand so much and then I get distracted. Pompeii was by far the most interesting and amazing to see. However, my favorite
place was Amalfi. It is a small city on the water. They have this church that is absolutely breathtaking. There was a wedding going on at the time we were there so it made it even more spectacular since there were white flowers everywhere. If I had all the money in the
world, I would want to get married in that church. Below is a picture of the insides with the wedding going on (they allowed people to walk around in the church during the wedding! I felt that was awful!)



The week following the Bing trip was Halloween. However, I had nothing to wear and it was the week of midterms. I found out from my host mom that there is a Halloween shindig that happens on the street that we basically live on. It ended up being all these shops were open late with candy outside and a few kids trick-or-treated. I would have wanted to be a mime this year but it didn’t work out. It would have been really easy and pretty funny, if I do say so myself. I can act like I am in a box better than real mimes.

This past weekend I went to Rome with a group of my friends. I do not think I have been so exhausted as I was after returning from this trip. We did basically everything there is to do in Rome! The reason for us all going to Rome in the first place was because our Sociology of Immigration class professor invited us to an Immigration Conference at the Italian Parliament. This was on Monday morning so I headed south on Friday and stayed until Monday afternoon. It was a very long trip.

We stayed in my first REAL hostel. We shared a room with three girls from Quebec, Canada. I have never associated Canada with really annoying people. They would get very drunk every night and stumble in at around 4 am and continue to giggle and laugh for an hour. One was involved in a very controversial relationship within the hostel – with a guy in the room where our other friends from the Stanford program were sleeping! What a horrific time. I am glad that it was just a place to sleep. Therefore, we did not spend more than nights at our hostel. During the day we traveled (by foot or metro) all throughout Rome! I have to admit that Rome is by far one of the most stunning places I have been. The Coliseum was amazing and even better at night. In my opinion, the best part of the whole trip was spending time at the Vatican. I have never stepped foot into a church (or anywhere for that matter) that literally made my jaw drop. St. Peter’s Basilica was breathtaking. I think that St. Peter’s was more moving than even Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. However, it was worth the 2 hours of waiting, 12 euro and the trek through acres of the Vatican museum to see it. I was also able to see the good ole pope! He addressed the masses from his window and it was as if I was at a rock concert. People cheered, screamed, clapped, chanted. It was quite the event. I also had a chance to climb the Duomo and look over all of Rome! After that, we went below the Basilica to take a look at the crypts. It was a surprisingly emotional event. Seeing the pile of letters, pictures, flowers and people kneeling in deep prayer in front of Pope John Paul II grave made the entire scene very emotional. Not to mention being in a room with centuries of Popes was a bit eerie.

I really had a great time in Rome despite my feet feeling as if they were bruised everyday! I loved how everything was lit up at night and how you can stumble upon the most magnificent roman structures! I had a great time walking through the Roman Forum and reading along with my Rick Steves book. I saw where Julius Caesar was burned after being assassinated. People still put flowers on his grave to commemorate all he did for Rome. Che interessante!

I was able to visit Parco del Celio and the Celio* store! I took about 15 pictures in front of them! Also, Celio* had NO clothes with Celio on the front or anywhere visible! Darn. Pictures are below!

Our visit to Parliament was interesting but nothing to write home about. That’s a joke. Actually, there were representatives from all over Europe and Africa to discuss the major problem of immigration. My teacher gave a presentation and it was actually very interesting. We were able to listen to a translator through the use of headphones. I finally was able to fully understand my teacher! I would write all I learned but really that is too much work for this blog☺

We returned just in time for me to get to my Art History class and turn in my Midterm Paper. I ended up falling asleep at 10 pm. I was SO tired. I will be returning to Rome in the following two weeks with Bryce. If anyone has suggestions of something to do that I did not mention, let me know! I would like to see even more of such an amazing city!

This weekend I have NOTHING on tap. And boy does it feel good! I am either going to go to Siena on Saturday or spend the day hiking through the hills of Florence. I still have to make the most of my weekend even if I am not doing a big trip. I have to save up my energy because the following weekend/weeks will be AMAZING. One of my closest friends from life, Jeanne will be visiting Florence for the weekend with her program (based in Macerata). I will be returning from a day trip with my Art History class in Venice to see her! The next day is when Bryce arrives (18th)! I am very excited. We plan to see all we can of Florence, Rome and Venice. Sounds like a great plan to me ☺
Then, after Bryce leaves, my close friends Caitlin Elsner (&parents), Michael Grohman and Chris Baker will be spending two days in Florence. THEN the following weekend I am going to take a trip for 3 days to PARIS. Thank you cheap air tickets! I will be meeting up with 3 other girls from Stanford who are studying in Spain and with other kids in the Paris program.

I love life. But I look forward to Christmas at home so much!

I love you all. I hope you are all happy and healthy. Send me updates of your lives!

Un Aggiornamento Buono

Hello I Miei Amici and La Mia Famiglia:

I am very unhappy to report that it has finally gotten cold in Firenze and that I am ill prepared for it. At the moment, I am fighting very strongly the urge to get sick. Many other students in the program are sick with colds but I refuse to get sick. As of now I have been having a dull nausea. Not fun. I am pretty sure it was the extreme differences from this past weekend till now in temperature. Unlike this past weekend, It is POURING rain. I had to walk from the duomo to my appartment in flip flops and let me say that cobblestones are impossible to walk on without getting wet. If I still had that boot I would be a gonner.

Last week, the Bing Family treated us Stanford students to a night at the opera. It was a great cultural experience but I do not think the opera is my form of high culture. The costumes were entertaining and the story line was funny but it was hard to pay attention for so long and try to translate things in my head the entire time! Other than that, it was a great time and I enjoyed getting dressed up and meeting up as a big group. At least now I can say I have been to an Italian Opera. Oh and we had amazing seats so that is another reason to thank Mr. and Mrs. Bing.

This past weekend I adventured to Cinque Terre with 5 other friends. We got up extremely early and met at the train station. The train ride is at most 3 hours and we got into Riomaggiore (the first of the 5 towns) at about 10 am. Just stepping off of the train you are hit with a vast body of water and beautiful scenery all around you. The weather had changed drastically from the morning about it had to be in the mid-70s. We got to our hostel but realized it was a bit of a walk to our hostel. To be exact: 166 steps that most were at a vertical angle. I think till that point it was the most exercise I have done in 2 months. Our hostel is what you would expect of a hostel – a pretty gross bathroom and very little but beds and a dining room table. But, the view from our hostel was incredible. It looked straight out over the town and onto the water. (Picture Below)



The first thing on our agenda was to go to the fifth land: Monterossa. This town is known for its beaches. We took the time to lay on the beach and play in the water but I was antsy to get moving and see what each town had to offer. After a couple hours and failing to find a good place to eat we took a train to the fourth land: Vernazza. Vernazza was possibly my favorite of the lands. There were a lot of people but the chance to just sit out at the dock and look around was worth it. We eventually had to move because a boat full of tourists were heading right towards us and needed to dock. We ended up taking a short hike up hill above the town to an incredible spot that allowed us the see the setting sun and the town below us. We took many pictures of course and just hung out and watched the sun go down. We then headed back to Riomaggiore to shower off and get ready for a dinner out. The fact that I do not really like fish put me in a bad position when eating out because Cinque Terre is known for its fish. I ended up having some pest gnocchi and was pleased with the outcome. Who knew I would like gnocchi so much? The rest basically consisted of us hanging out in our hostel/deck talking for a very long. It was a great bonding moment.



The next morning, we all woke up at 9 am. I was the person in charge of waking everyone up (lucky me) but for some reason I was unable to sleep. Riomaggiore is a pretty creepy place when everyone is asleep – very eerie and deserted. After everyone had woken up, we headed out on our first hike. We hiked from Riomaggiore to Manarola. It was a very easy walk but you walk along a path which they basically call the path of love. The walls are all filled with names like “James + Cindy = Love” and so on. Plus they had a guy on an accordian playing “Strangers in the night.” It was pretty romantic. We got to the second land which did not have much too it and A LOT of people so we just headed to the third land. We had to climb 400 steps to get to Corniglia but the pictures and views were entirely worth it. Corniglia was definitely the least touristy and the most Italian. It was beautiful and different from the previous 4 we had seen. It was the one that was talked about the least by Rick Steves but was one of our favorites. See? Rick Steves does not know all.

We then headed back to Florence but it was by far my favorite weekend so far in Italy. I actually don’t know how one could have a better time. The beautiful weather, scenery and good company made for the best time yet! I suggest to anyone going to Italy to spend about two days in Cinque Terre because it is breathtakingly beautiful. I would go back in the drop of a hat.

I have finally noticed this week that I am in the flow. I have a routine…in Italy. It is quite strange to think about. I know the people pretty well now and expect to see them everyday. We have the same bars/clubs that we go to every so often. I have my favorite sandwich shop, which they definitely recognize me at. I think they recognize me at this one gelato place – I should work on making sure they don’t recognize me anymore.

My classes are continuing to go well. I have to say that I am kind of disappointed in the classes as a whole though. I know I do not have the range of choices that I have at Stanford and maybe because I am taking a class out of my major but I am not that happy about them. Art History is very interesting of course but the teacher is a bit pretentious and plays big favorites. I don’t think she realizes that most people in that class have never taken art history in their lives. My other class (Sociology of Migration) is all in Italian and that means it is HARD. The teacher is Arab with a French accent but only speak Italian to us. This means it is very hard to understand what he is saying. The basic topic is interesting but I don’t think I can ever really like it since the teacher is very unorganized and always late (plus answers his phone during class). AND, the class is 3 hours! I am really testing my attention span here but so far I am doing pretty well at paying attention to the entire time. Finally, I am taking an Italian class and I love it. I get to improve my Italian even more and we talk about Italian culture a lot. I like the ability to have discussions about things that happen in our everyday life.

Tonight we are having a joint dinner with another host family and Stanford students. It should be fun. It is sort of like a family event. I am always pointed out as being really white. It is GREAT. Especially when I am with someone who is Mexican, a girl who is Filipino, and a girl who is Indian. OF COURSE I am white. I don’t feel like I look that different from them but I guess I do to them.

This weekend I am heading on a day trip to Perugia. There is a chocolate festival and this is the last weekend. I expect the chocolate to be plenty and expensive. At least I will be eating well☺ I plan to have a laid back weekend and prepare for midterms since they are in two weeks and we have our Bing trip the week after next. We are going to Pompeii, Napoli and the Amalfi Coast. It will be SO fun. We are being put up in a nice hotel and we get a big lunch and dinner while there. I am also excited to all be living together for once.

I will update in a week or so! I miss and love you all!

PS: I am putting up a Snapfish album of my adventures so far. More to come later.

Another Week of Italian Goodness

Ciao!

It has been awhile since my last post but time has been slipping by so quickly and I have finally realized that I am here to STUDY in Italy. This would mean that I actually have homework, papers, and tests. I have to be honest that these classes are less than thrilling and confirms that I would never be an Art History major. It is interesting information since I know very little about Art or its History but to me it does not seem to be important information. I have to kick that ‘tude if I am to do well in the class though☺

Since my last post, I said I was going to go to Viareggio (a beach town in Italy). However, in a tragic incidence I slept through my alarm and woke up 10 minutes before the train left. I rushed to the train station and missed the train about when I arrived. I could not figure this out for the longest time though and ended up having a mental breakdown of sorts in the train station because the people who speak even a little bit of English or understood my fragmented Italian were no where to be seen. On the Brightside, I went home and slept and ended up going to the wireless café and working on homework with some friends and having a relaxed Saturday. Plus, the beach was overcast so no big loss.

That night, we attended an “Aperitivi” party. This was a bring your own beverage of choice and enjoy appetizers. A previous student (my Italy Student Advisor) hosted the party. He is doing something unknown/nothing in Italy. It was a nice time to see my trip-mates outside of the center since we never hang out all together. However, there is still a bit of a divide but I think it is breaking down a little more? Who knows, it might last all trip but to be realistic we probably never be a close knit group!

The following day my friends and I attended an Italian soccer game! Whoop-dee-doo. It was fun to say I did it and it was fun to see the other Italian fans and how involved they get in the game but I was pretty bored since it is just a lot of kicking of a ball rather than a fast paced game like basketball, volleyball or football.

That night Amanda, my roommate, and I went to church at Santa Croce. This is the church I see from my window that has the tombs of Galileo and Michaelangelo (Just to name a couple). There is a lot of construction that is occurring so it was not as impressive as it would be without. There is very little emotion in the mass and I can’t understand the homilies. Someday…Someday.

This past week is a bit of a blur. I have had a lot of class and have been going to watch the MLB playoffs at an American bar. Two of my closest friends here are avid fans of the Oakland A’s. Therefore, I am supporting the A’s because of them and because of West Coast, AL pride. This week we had our Bing Dinner out and we had a great time but rushed out at the end so we could catch the end of the A’s game.

Recently, I have been feeling in a bit of a slump. I realize that it is not just a 2-week vacation that I am on but that I will be here for a couple more months. So, if I speak with you and I sound less than completely happy than it is just my second round of getting accustomed to living in a new place. I think I broke out of this slump a bit last Thursday. My good friend from Stanford, Ryan Williams, came to visit his girlfriend that is in my program as a surprise. I met with him before the surprising and went to lunch with him and took him to some Florence sights. I think I needed this piece of home/Stanford since I am without any close or even historical friends. Even though this was the only time I would see him, it was very refreshing to hang out with someone who wasn’t the same ole same ole. Also, that night we got all of our friends to go out (which is hard considering people live so far away from each other) and go dancing. It was a ridiculously fun time where we could dance to some American music, Italian music and some classics like “grease lightening”, “YMCA”, “We will Rock You”, “I will Survive”. I felt like I was at a really bad wedding or karaoke session but it is so much more exciting to hear those songs in Italy. Because we all know how bad “YMCA” is.

The next morning, my roomie and I had to wake up really early so we could go to the U of Florence to attend an American History lecture with our Language partners. Let me say that history professors can be boring everywhere. This guy just read off a piece of paper and mumbled everything in Italian! I wrote down everything I understoof and my language partner helped me fill in the blanks. But, I knew most everything that he was talking about. Yah Woodrow Wilson, Trust-Busters and Economic Crisis!

Following that Thursday/Friday Morning, we watched the A’s game on Friday night and then on Saturday we took the train to Bologna. Bologna has a different feel from Florence and has A LOT less tourists. It was such a good time! The main reason for going to Bologna was to see the Morandi exhibit at the museum. I really need to read more about him because he sure painted a lot of bottles and vases and then call it abstract art. We ending up shopping a lot (mostly at H&M) and went around to different Piazzas and we climbed at 500-step tower that had the most breathtaking view of Bologna. I have many pictures of this and will attach them to this posting. The stairs were frightening and definitely didn’t look stable. Looking down made me feel faint but I knew the end result would be great. By the time we got to the top we were all sweating profusely☺ But, it was so fun! Definitely the highlight of the weekend.



This week school will not be fun because I have so much reading and a quiz in Italian tomorrow (by the time I post this…the quiz will be TODAY) and I have a feeling it will be hard. Alas, now I must get back to the books! In my next post I will talk of great adventures like the Bing Opera (tomorrow night) and my weekend trip to Cinque Terre. Every weekend gets better!

I MISS AND LOVE YOU ALL!

Hello Dear Friends and Family,

Luckily, I have found a small posh internet cafe that just requires you to buy one drink and have 120 minutes of free wi-fi. It is totally worth it in my opinion. So as of now we are sipping on some coffee and bellinis while browsing facebook and where to venture to this weekend.

It has seemed that time has been passing by quickly even though I have now been here for a week and a day. My class schedule is set and I am taking a Modern Art History class that is by far my favorite class. It is all I wanted from a Art History class because we get a chance to look deeply into many different artists and get all the interesting facts about it without needing to memorize a lot of things and know the complete history. We even have multiple field trips to bologna to see the museum of Morandi and a field trip to Venice. Not too shabby.

This weekend we are planning to go on some little trip. I think to a place called Viarrego. It has a beach and a market and is a small random Italian town. I think it will be better than gong with all of the other kids to Sienna. We will definitely be going there but probably in a week. On Sunday we are going to a soccer game that will probably prove to be all kinds of insanity know italians and their soccer.

I feel I have not done too much in the past week. However, with the boot that encompasses my leg people do not like to hide their feelings. Italian people looove to stare and remark to each other about how weird I look. It gets a bit annoying, almost as if I am a monster. Most of the time it is just funny but really asthetics are so important here that people do not try to be discreet about their feelings.

The one good thing about having a boot is I get to use elevators everywhere. The problem is that the elevators are so rickity I feel I am taking a chance in life using them. I use one in the center and one at my apartment. At my apartment I have a crotchety old italian woman who sits at her door day and night watching people come in and out. Her voice sounds low and angry even when she says "ciao bella" or the equivalent nice greetings. I have just figured that she is a bit lonely and I try to make a little conversation with her (only a little because my italian is not that good).

The group of kids in the program is turning out well. It is obvious but there is quite the divide. It seems as the people who are in the greek crowd stick together but really it is expected because they all know each other. I know that by the end of this experience we will probably bond a bit more but as of now everyone is sticking to their little cliques. Boh.

Today I went to the Uffizi. It really is all it is cracked up to be. We only covered one floor and it took almost 2 hours. I got to see the Primavera, which is one of my favorite paintings. It is just breath taking to be standing in the uffizi looking outside and see where I go to school everyday. Let me be the first to admit that my life is pretty enviable right now.

Ok, my free wifi is ending and I must go home to another 3 course meal that never fails to be delicious. I will end with a picture of the view from my bedroom window:)

I miss and love you all.

Fotografie!

Chris and Michael at a Pub in London after I saw Billy Elliott!

The smallest hotel room for 3 people I have been in (London)

Smelsner and I at the Pub! Cheers.

Maria and I at the Eye of London before our boat tour.

Il Inizio Della Mia Avventura

I arrived this past Monday in London with my Mom and sister. I know the airport is supposed to make me feel better about flying but the hour wait in the check-in line and the complete search of my carryon seemed a bit much.The plane ride was one of my longest with a total of 9 hours and 30 minutes. I am sure you all have beat me since have of you have been
to asia and beyond. I am not quite what you may call a "world traveler." The flight was long, stuffy and bumpy. I watched a bout 5 episodes of Grey's Anatomy, 4 episodes of Entourage and "Just My Luck" with Lindsay Lohan. To be honest, I think I went insane. London was a jolly good time and I saw all those sites like tower bridge, big ben, london bridge, the london eye, etc, etc. I actually really enjoyed London because it was so easy and almost familiar. The tube was fantastic and I pretty much went all over London for two days exploring around and visiting my cousin and friends who are studying
abroad there with another program. I saw "Billy Elliott" the musical which made you laugh, cry and say 'what the hell?/are these british jokes supposed to make sense?'

We left a few days ago for Milan. Let me just say that when the pilot welcomes you to the flight with saying that one set of brakes arent working so don't mind the loud and scary noises that one would usually FREAK OUT. However, I held it in and we made it safely but it was a very shady plane ride for being British Airways. We were in Milan for about an hour and have seen nothing but the airport and my hotel room. But really all I was concerned with is this free wi-fi. booo yah. The trip to Firenze was a bit taxing with an hour bus ride to the train station and a 3 hour train ride.

I have now been in Firenze for about 3 days and am in love with it already. I am living with a good friend, Amanda. I do not think I could have gotten luckier. We are living really near the Stanford center and from my window we can see San Croce. It seems to be a great place to live since its very close to the bars. My host Mom's name is Rossana and is a very warm woman who is nothing but smiles. She serves endless food to us since the custom in Italy is to have 2 courses plus either antipasti or dolci. The apartment is never ending and has very high ceilings. I also got a language partner that will be a great resource here for the night life. He speaks perfect English so I wont be much of a help to him.

Our Bing trip this quarter is to Napoli, Pompei and the coast of Amalfi. I am sure it won't disappoint. My foot is doing okay and I have mastered explaining what happened in Italian. Only a week until the boot come off!

Mom and Maria are still in Italia. They are visitng Sienna today and then coming back to Firenze to have dinner with my host family Sunday night. This will probably be very interesting considering my host mother speaks little English and Mom and Maria speak almost no Italian.

I will be posting more later with more play-by-plays and observations! This Blog is noting special but I hope to keep you all updated:)