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:)