I could live here....

It has been awhile since I have updated and it is impossible for me to remember everything that has happened because I have been very busy. I will start with my classes. Midterms are coming up this week for me and they are definitely different from midterms back home, meaning they are not really multiple choice. All of my classes have been going quite well so far, it turns out that Fashion Illustration is my favorite. I am better at sketching than I ever thought I would be which is why I think I like it the best. It is definitely challenging for me because everyone else in my class is SO much better at it than me but it is very fun to learn how to do things along the way. My sketches may not always turn out so well, but I can typically recognize what is wrong with them I just don't know the proper techniques to fix it. Recognizing your mistakes, to me, is the first step in learning anyway, so I am on the right track. Italian is definitely improving for me, I am still a bit hesitant to speak it but I can better understand when someone speaks to me and can usually get my point across when I do speak it. Plus after quizzes in class we typically get to go on a fun field trip. For instance, after the first quiz we went to this mosaics laboratory, which was really interesting because these artists make such beautiful pictures out of stones. We were walked through the process and the attention to detail and time it takes to do the smallest piece is remarkable, and the laboratory we went to is one of the last surviving in the world. After the second quiz we went to this little gelato place, which is always a treat.

Aside from classes, I am mostly busy with going out and experiencing the culture of Italy. I have been going out to clubs and bars with friends, trying out little restaurants, and finding places to be a regular at, and I have been going out shopping (one of the Italian favorite activities.) I have also gone to some museums with classes such as the Ferragamo Museum, who was a shoe designer so basically a museum of shoes, I loved it of course; the Alinari Museum, which is a photography museum; and on my own I went to the Uffizi, which is an art gallery. I also went to the chocolate festival and I was amazed at what people can do with chocolate. They were truly artists. Along with going out and experiencing the Italian lifestyle, my friends and I did find a restaurant with American food which was a nice little treat.

Along with going out and about Florence I have been doing some traveling around Italy. I went to Siena at the end of January and aside from all the rain that day it was a very beautiful city. Siena was definitely different from Florence, first there were A LOT more hills, and it was a lot less touristy. We didn't get a lot of time to explore the city so I only saw the main sights such as the Duomo, which was amazing...I really can't describe the beauty of it. I also went to Carnevale in Venice the first weekend in February. Carnevale is an Italian Celebration that historically occurs 8 days before Lent, but today the celebration spans a couple weeks . I loved Venice...unfortunately due to the mass amounts of people in Venice for Carnevale I did not get to explore much of the city other than the main area where festivities were going on and I also did not get to ride in a gondola. The masks and costumes of Carnevale were quite amusing as well as extravagant. We also went to a glassblowing factory and got to see the process, which was very interesting since Venetian, especially Morino, (the factory we went to) is some of the finest glass in the world. On the way home we stopped to use the restroom and it cost 1.50 euro to pee!! I thought that was insane, I am well aware that in Europe you typically have to pay for public restrooms, but 1.50 euro is over $2...to pee!! I will never take for granted being able to just go into a gas station to use the restroom for FREE again. Overall Venice was definitely a good experience to have in a lifetime, but I would like to go back to do a little more exploration of the city itself and of course ride in a gondola. This past weekend over the 20th of February, we went to Pompeii and Sorrento. Sorrento was pretty, mostly because it is on the coast and the view is amazing, but it wasn't very sunny that day so it was an interesting atmosphere. This trip was provided in my Study Abroad program so I just had to pay for my meals. The hotel was stayed at was very beautiful and had a great view of the mountains and the sea. The Rome based program was also at the same hotel and lets just say they were very American and not in a good way. They drank way too much and trashed the hotel...of course they suffered the consequences, but based on their behavior I am not shocked that Europeans have bad impressions of Americans. Honestly, being in Italy has made me dislike American behavior somewhat as well. I understand that Italian and American culture are entirely different and I don't think that when going to another country you need to entirely conform to their culture, but at least show some respect for it whether you agree with it or not. Now back to my travels, Pompeii was gorgeous, definitely my favorite place outside of Florence for sure. Well, at least the excavated city of Pompeii, we didn't really visit the surrounding city. The day we were there is was gorgeous I was walking around in a t-shirt and was still hot...in February!! The sun was out and bright and the grass was so green. It amazed me that in a place that was destroyed, and perfectly preserved at the same time, by a volcanic eruption thousands of years ago, still had so much life. I started out exploring with a large group of my friends and then just ended up with my roommate Tori and eventually another friend Lindsey, but the smaller group was fun. We mostly explored the part of the city that is still being excavated, and since we had no tour guide and the only information booklets left were only in Italian we had no idea what anything really was. So, of course I made up my own stories, with the help of Tori, and we had quite a fun day. I would love to go back to Pompeii and explore the remaining city I missed, but I might wear some better shoes next time because the streets were pretty hard to walk on. I would definitely recommend going there.

My friends and I have been meeting a lot of people, mostly guys though since Italian women are not exactly fond of American women. For instance we met some guys that are studying to be in the Carabinieri, which is an Italian Military Police force, then we met some guys that are already in the Carabinieri, we have met guys that work at restaurants and clubs (which is nice because we get discounts and free coat checks :)), and then we also just meet your regular everyday Italian guys. We did meet these two Italian guys that brought us to a secret bakery, which was quite delicious and interesting. Apparently in Italy there are what Italian refer to as secret bakeries that make delicious pastries, pizza, and snacks late into the night and are allowed to sell them to Italian people. Very interesting and helpful when they don't have 24 hour restaurants to go to after a night out with friends. It is interesting the Italian slang and gestures that I have learned from my new-found friends that I couldn't learn in a classroom and Google translator wouldn't get correct. The culture really is very interesting and very different for me. I have already become accustomed to being hit on every other minute when I am walking down the street and seeing people old enough to be my father in bars, restaurants, and at clubs hitting on girls my age, sometimes even me. I just ignore it now and they usually leave you alone. I have found it to my entertainment though, that when guys tell me they love me or try to invite me with them on the street to say "No ho capito," which is Italian for "I don't understand" and then I just keep walking. The sheer look of confusion on their faces is priceless. I have adapted quite well to their culture and have even learned a little in the art of bargaining. When everyone was telling me I would experience this huge wave of culture shock and homesickness after I had been in Italy a couple weeks, I expected it, but I think they were completely wrong. I have yet to feel homesick, that is not to say I don't miss people because I do, but I still feel like I could live here forever, or at least a few years. Honestly I do want to come back and live in Italy at some point in my life, and I think I want to live in other countries too. I really enjoy learning about other cultures and see how they differ from my own perspective. I think there is a lot that other cultures could teach me. Now, as for the culture shock, I have noticed and still notice the differences, but I have embrace them all, whether I like them or not, it is part of the culture and that is what I came here for. After all I am only in Italy a little while....