9/16 - 9/22: Whole huge week update

As evidenced by the fact that I haven't posted all week, I've been pretty busy. My week in bullet points:

- Gelato
- Vogue fashion night
- Classes beginning (kind of)
- Visiting the Immigration Office
- Stumping all three professors with Ian
and finally,
- Visiting Pisa and Lucca

And now, the fleshed out version.

Sunday, September 16:
I slept in, then Sarah and I attempted to go to a soccer football game. The line was super long and the student ticket price we'd been quoted was not listed, so we decided to try another time. That way we could pre-order and actually wear some purple (the Florentine team color)! Instead of football, Sarah, Gretchen, Isa, and I got gelato (nutella and mixed berry, for me) and window shopped. After a lovely afternoon walk, Sarah and I headed back to the apartment, where I finished my homework, uploaded photos, and did that last big blog update. Dinner on Sunday was pasta with roasted peppers, meatballs, soft cheese with herbs, salad, bread, and apples. Delicious. I skyped Mom and Dad after dinner, which was quite nice.

Monday, September 17:
During Italian class today, Luigi taught us some bad words. It was really funny watching him get slightly flustered saying some of the worse words, but he taught us "cavolo" (garbage) and "capperi" (capers), which are apparently some polite bad words. After class, I grabbed a quick lunch and then did homework before meeting with Jodi for a chat. Jodi scheduled short meetings with all of us to check in with us individually, see how we were doing in Italian, make sure our home stays are going well so far, and just get to know us a little better. I think a lot of people were a little nervous about it, but Jodi's so nice and genuinely cares about all of us as students and as people, so there really wasn't anything to be worried about! I had a great time chatting with her. Once I got back to the apartment, I dropped my stuff off and then took a walk with Gretchen. We ended up trying out a "yoghurteria" (instead of a gelateria) and finding out that the yoghurt version of gelato is really really good. From what we could figure out, it's got more milk in it than regular gelato (which makes sense), so it's ridiculously creamy. Yum yum. Dinner on Monday was Sarah and my new favorite so far: vegetable soup, Spanish potato and egg pancakes, and peaches. Tonight's "aww" moment came when Nonna started slurping her soup. Anna immediately chastised her, since it's generally not polite to pick your bowl up and chug your soup, but Nonna simply smiled and said "why not? We're all family!" Sarah and I melted. My night was quite relaxing; since I finished all my homework at school, I got to chill out and read (for FUN!) before going to bed early. Nice!

Tuesday, September 18:
We learned more about prepositions today in Italian, but none of us are really sure we understand the proper usage yet. Mostly we're mixed up about when to use both a preposition and an article, rather than just a preposition. Hopefully that will be cleared up later in the week. After the coffee break, Luigi took us out to Piazza della Repubblica for a lesson on "asking directions." He prepped us on phrases to use when asking directions and then handed out a list of location that we had to ask the locals about. Isa and I partnered up and got through our list pretty fast. Most of the locations were places we were already familiar with, so we had to work on acting like we really had no idea that there was, for instance, a pharmacy right behind us. We got a couple strange looks (particularly from the lady who pointed the Duomo out to us - she looked at us like we were idiots) and, funnily enough, half the time people answered in English, despite the fact that we had asked in Italian. I had my first class today: "Power, Protection, and Commerce" with Gail (just an introductory class period, plus a short on-site visit, since classes don't officially start until October 2. This was mostly just to make sure we could jump right into it in October). We talked about the syllabus, were told a little about what to expect from the class, and then visited the Baptistery. What a beautiful place.

The ceiling of the Baptistry.

One of the sets of doors to the Baptistry.

On the way back to Linguaviva, I stopped to grab some gelato (from a place right on the way to the Duomo that I had, for some reason, never noticed). I had a triumphant moment: I ordered my gelato entirely in Italian (including a quick chat with the man behind the counter) and impressed the Japanese tourists behind me. I also heard from the Study Abroad coordinator at Coe. He wrote to all of the students off-campus this semester to check up on us and fill us in on the news back at home. I wrote him back and told him a little about life in Florence; he was thrilled about my love of gelato, to the point of saying "woman survives 4 months in Florence on 38 flavors of gelato and one sentence in Italian." My sentiments exactly. Once I got back to the apartment after class, I did some homework (including putting a lot of deadlines, site visits, etc into my planner) before dinner (which was penne pasta, homemade fish sticks, stewed cabbage, and plums - of which I had four). Afterwards I did some more reading and then headed to Piazza della Repubblica for Vogue's fashion night. All that fashion night meant was that the really expensive stores around Piazza della Repubblica stayed open later, played music a little too loudly, and handed out free drinks and some appetizers. It was fun and I'm glad I went, however I never have to do it again. There were a few too many people there and I couldn't hear myself think. Oh well. Experiences are good! 

Wednesday, September 19:

Italian class today was spent prepping for our quiz tomorrow (yes, on a Thursday rather than Friday), followed by a trip to the Immigration Office. We have to finish filling out our "permit of stay" to be legally able to live in Florence for the semester, which requires finger-printing and filing some paperwork at the Immigration Office. Kate took us all down there this afternoon to show us where to go and walk us through the paperwork (which we actually filled out during orientation). Thursday and Friday we'll have our individual appointments, at which point we'll be heading down to the office ourselves. When we got back to Linguaviva, it was time for lunch before my second "first" class, "Gender, Patronage, and Power." It rained steadily all day, so I was glad to have my umbrella with me while I waited for the bus. I had a few hours of downtime at the apartment, which was nice. I did some more homework (reading, mostly) and then had a super awesome dinner of vegetable soup, spicy chicken and tomato salad, bread, apples, and plums again. Our dinner conversation was really great tonight and made both me and Sarah feel much more confident about our language skills. I talked with Anna about opera (which she loves), told a story about Italian class today (where Luigi told me that plums were nasty and Anna replied by giving a very sassy "you tell Luigi that your Italian mama says plums are delicious!") and Sarah and I talked about today's classes (explaining that it was pretty much music history right now), and our love of gelato. Anna laughed when we told her that we always want gelato and she told us that there was a gelateria just down the street. Sarah and I put our sweaters on and went straight out after dinner. It was just one of those days where gelato was necessary (but let's face it, I have those days all the time). We ate our gelato and walked around the neighborhood for a little while before heading back to finish our Italian homework and go to bed.

Thursday, September 20:

The Italian quiz went well today - despite the fact that it was graded solely on reading comprehension and writing. Other than that, class was uneventful. I grabbed gelato between class and lunch (gotta sneak it in sometime!) and then headed back to Linguaviva to enjoy the sandwich I had packed. (Note to future students: it's really tempting to buy lunch every day. There are so many foods to try and they all look and/or smell so good! However, this is extremely expensive. A lunch you pack yourself is just as tasty and much cheaper than anything you'll buy on the street or in the store. Trust me.) I had my last "first" class today, Jodi's "The Medici as Patrons of the Arts." We went through the syllabus, pulled the subject of our first oral report out of a hat, and then headed out to the Baptistery (which is still just as beautiful). Today we focused on the tomb of Pope John XXIII (who was, in reality, one of the anti-popes who was elected during the Great Schism and was, in Gail's words, "a very horrible person"). After class, Ian, Sarah, and I walked to the travel agency to check how much a ticket to Perugia costs. We're trying to hit Perugia up at the beginning of fall break, so as to experience the Perugia Chocolate Festival! Hurray for making fall break plans! When we got back to the apartment, I looked up flights for fall break, but was only comparison shopping for now. Dinner consisted of potato gnocchi in tomato sauce, fried sardines (which were oh so salty), salad, bread, olives, and grapes. Anna's friend Vittoria was over for dinner again and it was great to be able to talk to her a little more. Anna and Vittoria left early to go to a movie (a double feature with Marlena Dietrich, from what we understood), so Sarah and I were left alone with Nonna. We've discovered that Nonna speaks a slightly different dialect of Italian, so even though we're getting better at conversation with Anna, we're still totally lost when it comes to talking with Nonna. However we were able to understand when she asked if Sarah and I were friends or sisters, because we talked like sisters. We laughed and told her that she was very sweet. After dinner I blow Nonna's mind by helping her fold the tablecloth in a way that she had, apparently, never seen before. We instantly became best friends and I wasn't totally unsure of what I had just gotten myself into. I then had to stay with Nonna in the kitchen for a while, helping her "clean up" (which just meant take the things that were on the table and move them to the counter, while moving everything from the counter onto the table.... one by one....) before I could escape and get to my homework. I finished up fast and headed to bed. My Immigration appointment is early Friday morning!

Friday, September 21:

I spent two hours in the Immigration Office this morning, meaning I missed the first half of Italian class. While the teachers had all been warned that we'd be late (so I didn't miss too much), I still felt miles behind and totally confused when I got back. We started reflexive verbs today, but didn't spend too long on them, meaning that part of our homework (writing 10 sentences using reflexive verbs) will be a little tricky. Even though there are no classes or ACM obligations scheduled for the afternoon, a few of us eat lunch at Linguaviva anyway. We also gave in and got french fries from McDonald's. We've been here for three weeks and the smell of french fries wafting through the air every time we walked past McDonald's to get to the train and bus station was driving us nuts. Thankfully fries don't cost much, so we grabbed some to complement our lunches. Afterwards, Ian and I walked to Gelateria di Medici (which is our favorite gelateria so far). Once we got our gelato we walked to a small park near the gelateria and sat there enjoying the sun, talking, and eating. Fun times. I headed back to the apartment and hung out for a while, I debated taking a nap but didn't end up getting there. Gretchen and I headed back into town at one point, to walk around and see what we could see. We ended up doing some shopping (we both have a new dress now) and then finding the English bookstore near the Duomo! It was the cutest bookstore. I perused their "gently used" shelves and ended up buying myself a little something. When we finally went our separate ways, it was almost time for dinner. I had been craving pasta all day and was happy to discover that our first course of the night was, in fact, pasta with tomato sauce and lentils! We also had omelets, coleslaw, cauliflower salad, and apples. We also discovered that I can recognize a butt-load of Italian food words (not really surprising when you think about it). We asked Anna what was in the coleslaw, since it looked like cabbage and had a dressing that we didn't recognize on it and she rattled off the ingredients for us. I don't know why, but for some reason, the speed didn't phase me. I followed along quite well and found out that this was not, in fact, cabbage but kale coleslaw with a dressing of olive oil and apple cider vinegar, along with a dash of salt and pepper. I have mad food skills. The moral of this story is: I am, apparently, not so good conversationally, but put me in the kitchen and I'd be just fine. 

Saturday, September 22:

Today was spent in Pisa and Lucca! Pisa was amazing; the baptistery, cathedral, and the Camposanto were beautiful - plus the leaning tower (which is actually a bell tower) was, you know, still leaning. And very touristy. But awesome. Jodi started the morning off by buying everyone a pastry and a hot drink at one of Pisa's most famous café's. I had a cannoli and hot chocolate (which was so chocolately, it seemed like they had just melted a chocolate bar in my cup) and they were worth it. We visited the sites (and Ian and I stumped Professors Jodi, Gail, and Sarah when we brought up the mythological figure of Lilith. None of them had ever heard of her! We were shocked.), took tons of pictures, and were dazzled by the amazing artistry that makes up these locations.

The Leaning Tower!

Inside Pisa's Duomo.

Frescoes inside the Camposanto.

Jodie showing off a Roman sarcophagus.

Once we had finished up in the Camposanto, we were free to do our own thing. Ian, Gretchen, Isa, Kara, Sammy, and I took pictures with the Leaning Tower and then found a cheap restaurant for pizza and pasta for lunch. After lunch we caught the train to Lucca and spent an hour or so there and are determined to go back sometime. It was great. We walked around on the walls of the city and I got my gelato for the day (chocolate and strawberry). We took the train back to Florence and got back just in time for dinner (which was green vegetable soup again, with beef stew and apples) before heading back into town for the last night of the Florentine Wine Tasting festival. Isa and I got another commemorative wine glass and tried some really nice wine. It was a nice close to a beautiful day.

The requisite tourist photo.

And there you have it, my entire week. Jeez.