As if Friday hadn’t been hard enough, Saturday was worse. We were already emotionally unstable, it only got worse. I was wearing my Fiorintina jersey, my purple Florence sweater, and my yellow SoLo hat. Trying to be in a fun mood on my out. We got to the airport at 4:30 am…it wasn’t even open. We waited outside for a few minutes, ran into about 6 other girls in the program, and chatted with strangers about why we were tear drenched and had so many bags.
When we walked in the airport we went straight to the screens to see which desk we each needed to check in at. Next to my flight number said CANCELLED. Oh gosh. I dropped my bags, and sat on them, defeated. Had I been less sad, im sure I would have been more calm. Maybe. I called my dad, he is pretty good at fixing everything. He helped calm me down, did everything he could from 9000 miles away. No one was in the ticketing booth until about 5:30. Finally I got to talk to one of them, after watching all my friends go. The next and only other flight to London from Florence was at 6:10 P.M. They switched my flight. I was exhausted, unsure of what to do for the next 11 hours. I fell asleep on my bags for a bit of time, and another one of my friends came into the airport. We decided that doing this wasn’t the best idea, but with my exhaustion from the past few days there was no way I would stay awake. I got in a cab and went five minutes down the road to the airport hotel, where I got a room for the day (they thought I was SO weird) and slept for hours. Thank goodness I did so, I would not have made it through the entire day otherwise. (Thank you dad for reassuring me and keeping me safe always.)
I checked out and headed back to the airport around 3:30, just to be safe. I had had a solid 7 hours of sleep, plus a few of relaxing, reorganizing, and checking my flight online. It was still scheduled to leave.
Meanwhile my mom is in London. It was awful knowing she was there ALL day, since 7 am, and I was stuck in Florence, leaving her to start off London alone; sheesh.
I got to the airport, checked in. Got an OBSCENE fine for my bags, I don’t even want to talk about it. Even more tears, you have no idea, it was ridiculous. A kind couple from London was helping me and trying to reason with the mean people at the airport. They had been on my morning flight as well, and spent the entire day in the airport, taking turns of one sleeping, while the other watched the bags. Anyway, they got charged for bags too, which none of were waned about. Lets just say that instead of charging for an extra bag…they charged per kilogram…12 euro, per kilogram.
I spent the rest of my time hanging out with the couple. They were wonderful. Hilarious, and we all made light of the situation by being sarcastic and making one another laugh. Thank goodness I met them. We got to our gate and after sitting for about an hour, the flight time got pushed back an hour and a half. AWESOME. It seemed as though everyone at the gate was in our same boat, so everyone freaked out. They gave us vouchers for food and one drink, to try and settle us, which did help.
Anyway enough of the awful-ness. I got to Gatwik, went through the passport line, got my bags (they were first on the conveyerbelt) and left baggage claim to have my mammas face be the first I see. Best sight in the world. We ran to each other, hugged and cried for a few minutes. Made a scene Im sure, but it didn’t matter one bit. My whole day was 100% better once we were together. We took a train to London, then a cab to our hotel, all the while I was telling her stories of the semester and she was catching me up on news from home. We had a late dinner (I got a big, fresh salad; haven’t had one of those in 4 months) planned out activities for the week, and came home to go to bed in our wonderful hotel.
***Side note: going from hostels (questionable sheets/pillows/bathrooms/cleanliness) to a hotel is the BEST.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
(4/23) The last day
I woke up at 10…three hours after going to sleep. I woke up to the noise of the pensione, although exhausted, I just wanted to be up and be with everyone. I got up, ate, and walked around to all the rooms chatting and what not. Keagan, Sean and Justin were all leaving around 2, so there was an unfortunate sadness around the pensione. Chloe came over around 11, everyone was being sad together so we decided to go out in the city. It was raining…of course. It rained our first day here, so it just had to rain our last. We went to the school, did some last minute things, and headed out to lunch. We got lunch and ran into a bunch of other kids there. We talked about our previous nights, reminisced, and then got up to roam the city. Chloe and I were with Garrett, Brooks, Carl, Kuss and Mary, but this shifted and changed throughout the next four hours. We shopped around.. Some went to get last minute souveneirs, presents for friends, parents, family, etc. It was raining so it was somber. We were all bummed but trying to make the most fun and light of our last day. Chloe and I got our last scoops of Grom Gelatto (our favorite place) and headed home. The plan was to pack.
I tried packing, I did. Multiple times. But it was so hard. Id pack for a few minutes, then stop, run down the hall and sit and talk with Jackie, Kussman, Gibbs…whoever was there. I ran back to school to say bye to the Student Life staff and to Alessandro, grabbed my fresco, and returned to the pensione.
I decided the best thing for my fresco was to give it to Giovanni and Marinella. Marinella was gone for a bit, so I went into the office to give it to Giovanni. (note: neither of them speaks a word of English…) I went into the office and set it down. He looked at it with such shear joy, and said “Brava, Brava!” I told him “Io dipinto in clase di arte, e volglio dare e tu”; that I had painted this in my art class, and that I wanted to give it to him. His face completely changed. I think he had originally thought that I was simply showing him what I had done at school, like “look what I did dad!!” when I told him I wanted to give it to him he looked at me and his eyes filled with tears. He hugged me and said thank you, we kissed and embraced for days (shocker). He then sat and talked to me about the painting. My Italian isn’t great when I try to speak, but when I listen I am much better. He told me he used to paint when he was younger, and had even done frescos. He liked the way I used colors, and how I carved the babies heads to make them look 3-dimensional. I understood everything he said, and he was impressed. We hugged some more, I thanked him for everything, and left even more emotional than before…as if that was at all possible. I packed more, or tried. The room was a complete mess, Roomie was trying to pack too. Her parents had come at some point in the day, Marinella brought them back. While they ran into the room to hug Elizabeth, Marinella and I stood in the halway admiring all the hugging and loving. As we watched them, being so happy they were all together, but at the same time realizing it was all coming to an end. There is such a communication gap between us, nonetheless, we ended up turning to each other at the same timeand hugging and kissing in reaction to all the love going on with my roommates family.
For dinner we had a group of about 12 of our friends, not including the ones that had left earlier that day. When we arrived at the restaurant, our friend Michelle was there with her parents, they asked if we minded that they join in on our last dinner. We of course welcomed them with open arms. Her father insisted that we all share a very traditional italian meal for our last one there. He ordered lots of red wine, 6 orders of a bruscetta appetizer for the table, and told us all to order wisely, because everyone would be having a pasta course AND a main course. We were all shocked, couldnt believe that we were so lucky as to have a friend with such generous parents. They were exited to meet us, hear our stories, and share such a great meal together. I had gnocchi as my pasta and then an eggplant dinner. None of us have ever eaten that much at a restaurant, mostly because having two dishes in one meal is past the amount we want to spend. At the end of the meal Mr. McNulty got up and gave us a little speech. He talked about his Study Abroad experience, that he had 36 years earlier. How the friends he made there were ones he still has. He talked about the importance of keeping in touch with each other, because we are a special group of people, ones who have had an experience that not a lot of others get to have. He had us all in tears by the end and he said exactly what all of us wanted and needed to hear. We all thanked her parents over and over for providing us with such a fantastic final meal, and they left.
The rest of us stayed at the restaurant finishing the wine, and talking. 4 hours after the beginning of the meal we got up and left. We went to the Duomo and sat on the steps for a while, took pictures, etc. Eventually we made our way over to the Shot café. A ton of kids in the program were there. All taking shots, reminiscing, crying, saying goodbye, etc. Our friend Ralph bought about 40 for every GIF student who was there and made a speech before we all cheersed and took our group shot. I sat with my friends for hours, talked, loved, lots of goodbyes, etc.
We finally began to make our ways home when the bar closed at 3. We went home at end of night with a big group, tried to find secret bakery with Ralph AGAIN, and still couldn’t find it. Such a Fail. I never once made it to the Secret Bakery, and I am still bummed about it. I will go back to Florence one day and Secret Bakery will be one of my first stops..
I went home, finished packing and said bye to gibbs, Jackie, Lauren and stina. Then I headed to Kikis and Chloes place to wait for our taxi. I laid in bed with the girls until the cab came, got in the cab at 4 am and headed to the airport.
I tried packing, I did. Multiple times. But it was so hard. Id pack for a few minutes, then stop, run down the hall and sit and talk with Jackie, Kussman, Gibbs…whoever was there. I ran back to school to say bye to the Student Life staff and to Alessandro, grabbed my fresco, and returned to the pensione.
I decided the best thing for my fresco was to give it to Giovanni and Marinella. Marinella was gone for a bit, so I went into the office to give it to Giovanni. (note: neither of them speaks a word of English…) I went into the office and set it down. He looked at it with such shear joy, and said “Brava, Brava!” I told him “Io dipinto in clase di arte, e volglio dare e tu”; that I had painted this in my art class, and that I wanted to give it to him. His face completely changed. I think he had originally thought that I was simply showing him what I had done at school, like “look what I did dad!!” when I told him I wanted to give it to him he looked at me and his eyes filled with tears. He hugged me and said thank you, we kissed and embraced for days (shocker). He then sat and talked to me about the painting. My Italian isn’t great when I try to speak, but when I listen I am much better. He told me he used to paint when he was younger, and had even done frescos. He liked the way I used colors, and how I carved the babies heads to make them look 3-dimensional. I understood everything he said, and he was impressed. We hugged some more, I thanked him for everything, and left even more emotional than before…as if that was at all possible. I packed more, or tried. The room was a complete mess, Roomie was trying to pack too. Her parents had come at some point in the day, Marinella brought them back. While they ran into the room to hug Elizabeth, Marinella and I stood in the halway admiring all the hugging and loving. As we watched them, being so happy they were all together, but at the same time realizing it was all coming to an end. There is such a communication gap between us, nonetheless, we ended up turning to each other at the same timeand hugging and kissing in reaction to all the love going on with my roommates family.
For dinner we had a group of about 12 of our friends, not including the ones that had left earlier that day. When we arrived at the restaurant, our friend Michelle was there with her parents, they asked if we minded that they join in on our last dinner. We of course welcomed them with open arms. Her father insisted that we all share a very traditional italian meal for our last one there. He ordered lots of red wine, 6 orders of a bruscetta appetizer for the table, and told us all to order wisely, because everyone would be having a pasta course AND a main course. We were all shocked, couldnt believe that we were so lucky as to have a friend with such generous parents. They were exited to meet us, hear our stories, and share such a great meal together. I had gnocchi as my pasta and then an eggplant dinner. None of us have ever eaten that much at a restaurant, mostly because having two dishes in one meal is past the amount we want to spend. At the end of the meal Mr. McNulty got up and gave us a little speech. He talked about his Study Abroad experience, that he had 36 years earlier. How the friends he made there were ones he still has. He talked about the importance of keeping in touch with each other, because we are a special group of people, ones who have had an experience that not a lot of others get to have. He had us all in tears by the end and he said exactly what all of us wanted and needed to hear. We all thanked her parents over and over for providing us with such a fantastic final meal, and they left.
The rest of us stayed at the restaurant finishing the wine, and talking. 4 hours after the beginning of the meal we got up and left. We went to the Duomo and sat on the steps for a while, took pictures, etc. Eventually we made our way over to the Shot café. A ton of kids in the program were there. All taking shots, reminiscing, crying, saying goodbye, etc. Our friend Ralph bought about 40 for every GIF student who was there and made a speech before we all cheersed and took our group shot. I sat with my friends for hours, talked, loved, lots of goodbyes, etc.
We finally began to make our ways home when the bar closed at 3. We went home at end of night with a big group, tried to find secret bakery with Ralph AGAIN, and still couldn’t find it. Such a Fail. I never once made it to the Secret Bakery, and I am still bummed about it. I will go back to Florence one day and Secret Bakery will be one of my first stops..
I went home, finished packing and said bye to gibbs, Jackie, Lauren and stina. Then I headed to Kikis and Chloes place to wait for our taxi. I laid in bed with the girls until the cab came, got in the cab at 4 am and headed to the airport.
(4/22) The beginning of the end…
Well finals were done, so I had nothing important to wake up for. I got up at a decent time anyway, ate breakfast, and packed a bit more, as always, pretty depressing. I took clothes to school to donate, returned books, and took pictures all over school. Thursday afternoon was our last lunch/meal at Soggiourno Laura. It was the usual lunch, not much was different. After it however, Chiara came out with a bag full of Soggiourno Laura hats. There were yellow and white ones, so I obviously took a yellow. All of us put out hats on right away. After lunch we headed upstairs to the terrace to take a group picture of all of us with the staff. All of us kids are wearing our hats and Marinella is right in the middle of all of us.
We were all getting nostalgic and began taking multiple pictures with each other, Marinella, Chiara, Jesus, and Giovanni. At 2, a group of us headed over to Boboli gardens. It was a beautiful sunny day and that is the best place to sit in the grass, toss a Frisbee, and enjoy the sunshine…so that is exactly what we did. We spent a few hours there, taking pictures, roaming the gardens, playing Frisbee. Brooks, Tucker and I left the group around 430 and went and met another group of friends on the Triangle Bridge. It was our friend Jack’s birthday, so we had some champagne, enjoyed the view of the arno, and took some final, beautiful pictures on the river.
We all headed home to shower up, pack a bit more, and get ready for our last big group dinner. Sean called and made reservations for 20 at a restaurant suggested to us by Alessandro (a teacher at school). The restaurant was down by Santa Croce, which was perfect because that’s where all our favorite bars are. Chloe and I both had the gnocchi for dinner, no surprise there, and it was absolutely fabulous, as always. After a while at dinner, everyone moved around, (we were at two tables of ten, sadly) so people moved from one table to the other. Sean came over to our table, mostly of girls. Christina asked him to go through every person and tell the story of how they first met. He went through every person at the table, nine of us, and told the exact story of how he had met each one. Sean has been studying there a year, so for some, had to remember back to August. His memory was so prime that he was even able to go so far as to saying what each of us were wearing the night we met. As for me, we met in the hallway of our pensione, I was wearing the old (I think its from the ’80’s) crewneck UofA sweatshirt I always wear, and he was worried I would be the usual, snobby LA kind of girl, but pleasantly surprised and happy that’s not how it was. Anywho, other members of the table tried doing what he was able to do, and it turned into a big discussion of all of our first meets, first impressions, story telling of the semester, etc.
After a long dinner, we all left for the bars. Some went to Kikuya and some went to Moyo. Chloe and I decided to go to Moyo with Tucker, Carl, Brooks, Sean and Kussman. We ordered drinks, enjoyed the ambiance and continued reminiscing. We moved on to Kikuya to get the rest of our friends, then stopped by Exbaco. We were there only for a short period of time, Jackie and I did handstands with Roy out in the front area of Santa Croce Cathedral while the others sat outside of Exbaco having a good laugh at us. We then all hopped in cabs to go to Finnegans, at the other side of the city, to see our friend Jack for his 21st birthday. Finnegans closed soon after our arrival, but there we met up with about 50 other people from the GIF program. When the bar kicked us all out for closing, we frolicked around in the street for a while, and agreed on Shot Café, a nearby location for our next bar. We ALL went there, it was fantastic. We enjoyed being with so many people from the program. We bought pitchers and stuck multiple straws in them, as always, and enjoyed hanging out with our best friends, along with the kids we had had in our classes all semester. At 3, it closed, and everyone quite slowly made their way home.
Back at home Chloe, Garrett and I sat outside reminiscing even more, and getting way too nostalgic to the point where all three of us were in tears. Sean and Kuss came home with the genius idea to fill the waterballoons we had been holding all semester. We did, and of course decided to attack all of those who had come home early and were sleeping. We rampaged them, obviously woke them, and then all played and ran around the pensione together until about 4 am. Obviously a great time.
Brooks came over and told us to throw on comfy clothes, because we were heading to see the sunrise. We threw on sweats, sweatshirts, rain coats, and grabbed umbrellas and headed out. I was with Brooks and Chloe, and Sean, Antonina and Kussman had gone ahead. We met up with them in Piazza Singnoria around 5 and began our climb up to the top of Piazza Michelangelo. Kuss was too tired so she grabbed a cab, but the other five of us made it to the very top. We took pictures, hung out, opened a bottle of champagne. We didn’t exactly see the sun ‘rise’ but we saw the city go from complete darkness, to light, which we decided was just as awesome. We finished the champagne, made a toast, and headed home in a cab. We got back around 730 am, and fell asleep.
I have never been so content with a night. As the last night for me to stay up that late, and see the sunrise, I couldn’t be happier that I made it to that point and actually got to experience it. It was my last full night-into-morning I had in Florence, and I couldn’t think of a better way to have spent it.
I wish this could never end. I leave in less than 24 hours…
We were all getting nostalgic and began taking multiple pictures with each other, Marinella, Chiara, Jesus, and Giovanni. At 2, a group of us headed over to Boboli gardens. It was a beautiful sunny day and that is the best place to sit in the grass, toss a Frisbee, and enjoy the sunshine…so that is exactly what we did. We spent a few hours there, taking pictures, roaming the gardens, playing Frisbee. Brooks, Tucker and I left the group around 430 and went and met another group of friends on the Triangle Bridge. It was our friend Jack’s birthday, so we had some champagne, enjoyed the view of the arno, and took some final, beautiful pictures on the river.
We all headed home to shower up, pack a bit more, and get ready for our last big group dinner. Sean called and made reservations for 20 at a restaurant suggested to us by Alessandro (a teacher at school). The restaurant was down by Santa Croce, which was perfect because that’s where all our favorite bars are. Chloe and I both had the gnocchi for dinner, no surprise there, and it was absolutely fabulous, as always. After a while at dinner, everyone moved around, (we were at two tables of ten, sadly) so people moved from one table to the other. Sean came over to our table, mostly of girls. Christina asked him to go through every person and tell the story of how they first met. He went through every person at the table, nine of us, and told the exact story of how he had met each one. Sean has been studying there a year, so for some, had to remember back to August. His memory was so prime that he was even able to go so far as to saying what each of us were wearing the night we met. As for me, we met in the hallway of our pensione, I was wearing the old (I think its from the ’80’s) crewneck UofA sweatshirt I always wear, and he was worried I would be the usual, snobby LA kind of girl, but pleasantly surprised and happy that’s not how it was. Anywho, other members of the table tried doing what he was able to do, and it turned into a big discussion of all of our first meets, first impressions, story telling of the semester, etc.
After a long dinner, we all left for the bars. Some went to Kikuya and some went to Moyo. Chloe and I decided to go to Moyo with Tucker, Carl, Brooks, Sean and Kussman. We ordered drinks, enjoyed the ambiance and continued reminiscing. We moved on to Kikuya to get the rest of our friends, then stopped by Exbaco. We were there only for a short period of time, Jackie and I did handstands with Roy out in the front area of Santa Croce Cathedral while the others sat outside of Exbaco having a good laugh at us. We then all hopped in cabs to go to Finnegans, at the other side of the city, to see our friend Jack for his 21st birthday. Finnegans closed soon after our arrival, but there we met up with about 50 other people from the GIF program. When the bar kicked us all out for closing, we frolicked around in the street for a while, and agreed on Shot Café, a nearby location for our next bar. We ALL went there, it was fantastic. We enjoyed being with so many people from the program. We bought pitchers and stuck multiple straws in them, as always, and enjoyed hanging out with our best friends, along with the kids we had had in our classes all semester. At 3, it closed, and everyone quite slowly made their way home.
Back at home Chloe, Garrett and I sat outside reminiscing even more, and getting way too nostalgic to the point where all three of us were in tears. Sean and Kuss came home with the genius idea to fill the waterballoons we had been holding all semester. We did, and of course decided to attack all of those who had come home early and were sleeping. We rampaged them, obviously woke them, and then all played and ran around the pensione together until about 4 am. Obviously a great time.
Brooks came over and told us to throw on comfy clothes, because we were heading to see the sunrise. We threw on sweats, sweatshirts, rain coats, and grabbed umbrellas and headed out. I was with Brooks and Chloe, and Sean, Antonina and Kussman had gone ahead. We met up with them in Piazza Singnoria around 5 and began our climb up to the top of Piazza Michelangelo. Kuss was too tired so she grabbed a cab, but the other five of us made it to the very top. We took pictures, hung out, opened a bottle of champagne. We didn’t exactly see the sun ‘rise’ but we saw the city go from complete darkness, to light, which we decided was just as awesome. We finished the champagne, made a toast, and headed home in a cab. We got back around 730 am, and fell asleep.
I have never been so content with a night. As the last night for me to stay up that late, and see the sunrise, I couldn’t be happier that I made it to that point and actually got to experience it. It was my last full night-into-morning I had in Florence, and I couldn’t think of a better way to have spent it.
I wish this could never end. I leave in less than 24 hours…
(4/21) I have never been so sad to finish Finals…
On Tuesday night we pretended it wasn’t finals week and played Monopoly all night. The boys in our Pensione love Monopoly, and finally decided to let the other Annie and I play with them. They are overly-competitive, harsh, and over-the-top, so now we understand why its an all boys game. Annie and I played with them once and decided we should leave it an all-boys game so we would still love them by the end of the week.
Wednesday morning was my Italian final. All three of Russo’s classes (101, 102, 301) took the final in the same room at the same time; yet still there were only about 30 of us in the room. She walked in, put her things down, and began speaking to us in Italian. She thanked us for being great students, told us how happy she was about how the semester went, how lucky she felt to be her age and still be coming and teaching new students all the time. She expressed her sadness that this was the last time we would be together, and how much she would miss us. She reminded us that if we were to ever return to Florence, that her home is always open, and to please come and visit her. Those of us who understood what she was saying were obviously moved, because she too, got emotional as she expressed her feelings to us. Russo and I have grown so close over the semester that I was obviously teary-eyed from the Italian send-off, and even more emotional that I had actually understood it all. My friend Amanda who was next to me had absolutely no idea what had been said so at least I got a good laugh when she turned to me and said “wait, what is going on, why is everyone quiet???” haha… It was a great way to end such a fun class. The final wasn’t too hard, I finished in about an hour. At the end of the test I asked Russo to come outside with me for a picture. She did so more than willingly, and gave me her e-mail address so I could send her the picture and so that we could continue to keep in touch. We had a very tearful goodbye, and quite a long one, before I left for the day, and she went back into the room.
I ran home to put down my backpack, then went over to the train station to meet Lucas Miller and his family. It was so exciting to get to see them! I took them over to the river, across the Ponte Vecchio and to the Piti Palace/Boboli Gardens. Along the way we exchanged stories, I gave them as much history as possible, etc. The gardens are huge, 11 acres, and we walked a majority of them. I left them at 1230 so I could make it back for lunch at home. After lunch I cleaned and began packing. This was obviously depressing so I stopped, and went to meet the Millers again at the Accademia to see the David. After David they needed a rest so we all went home to freshen up for dinner.
That night I took them all out to Zaza’s for dinner. We had a wonderful meal full of stories from mine and Lucas’ semesters. We talked a lot about museums, art, our favorite cities, etc. After dinner Lucas’s grandparents went home and Lucas and I brought out Mr and Mrs Miller to the bars with us. It was trivia night at Old Stove, so it couldn’t be a better opportunity to bring out the parents. The Millers were obviously a hit. Lucas and my friends instantly became friends, and everyone wanted to meet Jim and Michelle. We played some trivia, but not really because we got there late. Michelle is a Delta Gamma so I gathered the other DGs in our program and we took a group photo. We drank, there may or may not have been tequila…all my friends met the Millers, had great conversation, danced, and of course, and most importantly, sang karaoke. The Millers and I sang a song together, then Jim and I sang one, then I sang Man in the Mirror with the girls…as always.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller left us around midnight, and a group of us headed over to Kikuya. We introduced the Dragoon to Lucas and left at closing. Jackie and I walked home a majority of the way with Lucas but had to split when we got closer. I looked for Secret Bakery with Matt Smith and Amanda Westwood, but sadly, never found it. I am determined to find it before I leave…
Ciao!
Wednesday morning was my Italian final. All three of Russo’s classes (101, 102, 301) took the final in the same room at the same time; yet still there were only about 30 of us in the room. She walked in, put her things down, and began speaking to us in Italian. She thanked us for being great students, told us how happy she was about how the semester went, how lucky she felt to be her age and still be coming and teaching new students all the time. She expressed her sadness that this was the last time we would be together, and how much she would miss us. She reminded us that if we were to ever return to Florence, that her home is always open, and to please come and visit her. Those of us who understood what she was saying were obviously moved, because she too, got emotional as she expressed her feelings to us. Russo and I have grown so close over the semester that I was obviously teary-eyed from the Italian send-off, and even more emotional that I had actually understood it all. My friend Amanda who was next to me had absolutely no idea what had been said so at least I got a good laugh when she turned to me and said “wait, what is going on, why is everyone quiet???” haha… It was a great way to end such a fun class. The final wasn’t too hard, I finished in about an hour. At the end of the test I asked Russo to come outside with me for a picture. She did so more than willingly, and gave me her e-mail address so I could send her the picture and so that we could continue to keep in touch. We had a very tearful goodbye, and quite a long one, before I left for the day, and she went back into the room.
I ran home to put down my backpack, then went over to the train station to meet Lucas Miller and his family. It was so exciting to get to see them! I took them over to the river, across the Ponte Vecchio and to the Piti Palace/Boboli Gardens. Along the way we exchanged stories, I gave them as much history as possible, etc. The gardens are huge, 11 acres, and we walked a majority of them. I left them at 1230 so I could make it back for lunch at home. After lunch I cleaned and began packing. This was obviously depressing so I stopped, and went to meet the Millers again at the Accademia to see the David. After David they needed a rest so we all went home to freshen up for dinner.
That night I took them all out to Zaza’s for dinner. We had a wonderful meal full of stories from mine and Lucas’ semesters. We talked a lot about museums, art, our favorite cities, etc. After dinner Lucas’s grandparents went home and Lucas and I brought out Mr and Mrs Miller to the bars with us. It was trivia night at Old Stove, so it couldn’t be a better opportunity to bring out the parents. The Millers were obviously a hit. Lucas and my friends instantly became friends, and everyone wanted to meet Jim and Michelle. We played some trivia, but not really because we got there late. Michelle is a Delta Gamma so I gathered the other DGs in our program and we took a group photo. We drank, there may or may not have been tequila…all my friends met the Millers, had great conversation, danced, and of course, and most importantly, sang karaoke. The Millers and I sang a song together, then Jim and I sang one, then I sang Man in the Mirror with the girls…as always.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller left us around midnight, and a group of us headed over to Kikuya. We introduced the Dragoon to Lucas and left at closing. Jackie and I walked home a majority of the way with Lucas but had to split when we got closer. I looked for Secret Bakery with Matt Smith and Amanda Westwood, but sadly, never found it. I am determined to find it before I leave…
Ciao!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Two Finals down, Two to go
Last night Anita's test went so well. We did the listening portion first. I was the most worried about that so I spent all day listening to the pieces she gave us. I was worried that it wasnt going to go well, I had Chloe quiz me which helped, but not much confidence going in. Apparently no one spent as much time as I did on the listening, and I ended up being the only one to get all the composers, compositions, and movements correctly. Which I was pretty excited about. Besides labeling which composition it is (along with composer, symphony number, and movement number) we also had to analyze the meter, tempo, dynamics, etc of each piece. We turned those papers in and began the written portion of the test. That went pretty well also, and I didnt have too much difficulty. While we were writing she graded our listening portion so we could have that back before we left, I got it on my way out and got a 98% on it, pretty pumped about that one. Anita is a doll and said that if we gave her our home addresses she would mail us the other portion of our test. She also reminded me on my way out to keep in touch, and keep dancing, and let her know if I ever end up performing to a piece by Tchaikovsky.
Dinner was delicious, we all got pasta and then the vegetarians had pasta shells stuffed with spinach.
After dinner I began organizing, but it got depressing so I stopped. Michaela came over to study for Philosophy, which of course didnt happen. We sat and talked and enjoyed each others company, and after an hour she went home. I barely studied for philosophy, I know it all pretty well, and I finished the final paper weeks ago, so last night was relaxing.
I took philosophy this morning, it was a breeze, I had plenty to say and to write about so I felt confident when leaving.
I just finished my paper due for my art class tonight, and took pictures of my fresco to show you all at home. Im currently sitting with Chloe and Kussman in the computer lab, all getting tid-bits of work done while gabbing and laughing and making jokes about the silly volcano that is messing with everyone's plans.
As of now all three of us are fine, but we have plenty of friends who found out this morning that their flights on Saturday are cancelled. Its really a day-by-day process right now, and no one will really know anything till Friday night.
Pray for strong winds so I can go to London with my mamma.
baci
Dinner was delicious, we all got pasta and then the vegetarians had pasta shells stuffed with spinach.
After dinner I began organizing, but it got depressing so I stopped. Michaela came over to study for Philosophy, which of course didnt happen. We sat and talked and enjoyed each others company, and after an hour she went home. I barely studied for philosophy, I know it all pretty well, and I finished the final paper weeks ago, so last night was relaxing.
I took philosophy this morning, it was a breeze, I had plenty to say and to write about so I felt confident when leaving.
I just finished my paper due for my art class tonight, and took pictures of my fresco to show you all at home. Im currently sitting with Chloe and Kussman in the computer lab, all getting tid-bits of work done while gabbing and laughing and making jokes about the silly volcano that is messing with everyone's plans.
As of now all three of us are fine, but we have plenty of friends who found out this morning that their flights on Saturday are cancelled. Its really a day-by-day process right now, and no one will really know anything till Friday night.
Pray for strong winds so I can go to London with my mamma.
baci
Monday, April 19, 2010
Splorin' Florence
Since we had a restful evening, Chloe and I got up at nine, ate breakfast, got ready, and were out the door by ten. We went to the market, shopped around. Then we walked through the city to the Santa Croce area, I have never been in the actual church, just around it, so we tried to get in. It was closed of course, so, c'est la vie, ill go the next time in my life when I return to Florence. After that we walked down our favorite street full of bars, through a few alleys and over to the Arno. We went over the Arno, past the Ponte Vecchio and saw a sign for San Spirito Church. A month or so ago in class, Russo was very mad at the seven of us because none of us had been to that church. She scolded us and we all promised we would go. When I saw the sign I told Chloe we MUST go there so I could run back to Russo and make her day. So we went. It is hideous on the outside. It actually is. Its such a bummer because the inside is absolutely marvelous. We went in, looked around, stopped at paintings, lit candles for Ali (Saturday was her 21st birthday) and had our chats with God.
Right outside the church is a little outdoor market. There were fruit and veggie stands, second hand item stands, clothing, books, etc. Very different from the San Lorenzo market which is full of tourists, and all more souvenir-like things. We looked around, enjoyed a completely tourist-less market where everyone spoke Italian. We turned a corner to look at the outside of Piti Palace, but didnt go in because Chloe has already been, and I promised Kussman Id go there with her this week.
We walked back to the market area because it was surrounded by restaurants with outdoor seating, and it was a beautiful sunny day. We picked a restaurant and sat outside eating gnocchi and pizza.
After lunch we took the long way home, simply marveling at and enjoying this city we call our home. Saturday marked exactly one week until our departure, so that thought was looming over us the entire time.
We came home around three, chatted with the girls in Club SoLo, then went back to Chloe's to watch a movie and take a nap.
For dinner Gibbs, Jackie, Chloe, Kiki and I went to a new place right down the street past Piazza Liberta called Perseus. It was an extremely local place. It opened at 7, thank goodness we got there right then, because by 715 every single table was full. There was no english spoken, only italian, which is ALWAYS a good sign. We enjoyed a delicious dinner then headed home to get ready for the night.
We went out to Old Stove for a while but my friend Matt and I got sick of it so we left for Santa Croce. There I ran into a friend of mine that goes to a different school named Ross. We went to a few bars together and then I told him I wanted to go to Secret Bakery. He said that instead of secret bakery he wanted to take me to secret pizza. I agreed and so we went to this pizza place hidden in an alley, pretty difficult to find (just like secret bakery). They had AMAZING pizza, I still cant believe how delicious it was. Ross walked me the majority of the way home, but a bit before my place we ran into a bunch of other kids in my program at the Kebob shop so I went with them so Ross could go back home.
On Sunday we all woke up and spent a majority of the morning fretting about the damn volcano. Many friends who were supposed to have their parents come this week all had to cancel their trips. New flights were booked, and new trains because the Italians are going on a train strike for Thursday and Friday...perfect timing.
The sun was shining, so we put our computers away and went on the terrace to lay in the sun and eat cookies with nutella.
At 4 everyone in GIF headed up to Piazza Michelangelo for the GIF group picture. After the picture we stayed a bit to take pictures with our closest friends, or members of our pensiones.
On our way back Chloe and I stopped at school for mass. It was the last mass of the semester, and way more kids than usual showed up, which was really nice. Our little chapel at school was completely full. Father Brian gave a great mass, a lot to do with being thankful for this amazing time here, praying for our safety upon departure, etc. We stand in a circle when we take communion and I was standing next to Father Brian, he passed it the opposite way so I was the last to get the wine, he nudged me and told me to finish it, quite a task with that sweet of wine. Michaela helped me out and everyone had a laugh because that is just so typical of Father Brian to do.
At the end of mass he reminded us to stay in touch. That we always have his email and no question, favor, or prayer is ever stupid to ask for. He said "Once your Jesuit, always your Jesuit". We really lucked out in getting such a great Jesuit to be with us for the semester. He understands us and is great at communicating with us. We all got up at the end and thanked him and said our goodbyes, then headed home for dinner.
It was eggplant, our favorite. Marinella was all lit up and full of joy when serving it to us because she knows how much we go crazy for it.
After dinner I headed to the library to study. I was in there with mostly all engineers, so we were all cracking jokes with each other about who was there at that time and why.
I love the engineers. Some of them are shy, or difficult to crack, but they are all really great kids. A lot of people in the program dont know them, simply because they either dont go out at night/shyness/whatever it may be. I have managed to become friends with almost every single one, and I couldnt be happier that I did so. They are so much fun and really kind sweet guys. Ted and Craig walked me home at the end of the night since we all stayed till closing. I slept over at Chloe's again last night because my roommate is still deathly ill. She has been sick for over 9 days and its just not getting better. I havent been sleeping there because she isnt very aware of how much she spreads germs, and Im really trying to not get sick.
Its funny to think back to when I lived with Shelbie (a dance major) because whenever either of us got sick we were very conscious of coughing into our elbows, cloroxing door nobs, etc. It's a very different experience living with someone who is unaware of these things.
Anywho I slept over with Chloe and woke up at 9 this morning to head back to the library for studying. We just had lunch, Gnocchi...delicious, and Im headed back to the library now for more studying. Anita Garriot's (classical music) final tonight at 5. I refer to her as Anita because she asks us to, and she also emails with me at least twice a day either chatting about the day or about papers or tests. She is such a character.
Back to the library. Wish luck.
Ciao.
Right outside the church is a little outdoor market. There were fruit and veggie stands, second hand item stands, clothing, books, etc. Very different from the San Lorenzo market which is full of tourists, and all more souvenir-like things. We looked around, enjoyed a completely tourist-less market where everyone spoke Italian. We turned a corner to look at the outside of Piti Palace, but didnt go in because Chloe has already been, and I promised Kussman Id go there with her this week.
We walked back to the market area because it was surrounded by restaurants with outdoor seating, and it was a beautiful sunny day. We picked a restaurant and sat outside eating gnocchi and pizza.
After lunch we took the long way home, simply marveling at and enjoying this city we call our home. Saturday marked exactly one week until our departure, so that thought was looming over us the entire time.
We came home around three, chatted with the girls in Club SoLo, then went back to Chloe's to watch a movie and take a nap.
For dinner Gibbs, Jackie, Chloe, Kiki and I went to a new place right down the street past Piazza Liberta called Perseus. It was an extremely local place. It opened at 7, thank goodness we got there right then, because by 715 every single table was full. There was no english spoken, only italian, which is ALWAYS a good sign. We enjoyed a delicious dinner then headed home to get ready for the night.
We went out to Old Stove for a while but my friend Matt and I got sick of it so we left for Santa Croce. There I ran into a friend of mine that goes to a different school named Ross. We went to a few bars together and then I told him I wanted to go to Secret Bakery. He said that instead of secret bakery he wanted to take me to secret pizza. I agreed and so we went to this pizza place hidden in an alley, pretty difficult to find (just like secret bakery). They had AMAZING pizza, I still cant believe how delicious it was. Ross walked me the majority of the way home, but a bit before my place we ran into a bunch of other kids in my program at the Kebob shop so I went with them so Ross could go back home.
On Sunday we all woke up and spent a majority of the morning fretting about the damn volcano. Many friends who were supposed to have their parents come this week all had to cancel their trips. New flights were booked, and new trains because the Italians are going on a train strike for Thursday and Friday...perfect timing.
The sun was shining, so we put our computers away and went on the terrace to lay in the sun and eat cookies with nutella.
At 4 everyone in GIF headed up to Piazza Michelangelo for the GIF group picture. After the picture we stayed a bit to take pictures with our closest friends, or members of our pensiones.
On our way back Chloe and I stopped at school for mass. It was the last mass of the semester, and way more kids than usual showed up, which was really nice. Our little chapel at school was completely full. Father Brian gave a great mass, a lot to do with being thankful for this amazing time here, praying for our safety upon departure, etc. We stand in a circle when we take communion and I was standing next to Father Brian, he passed it the opposite way so I was the last to get the wine, he nudged me and told me to finish it, quite a task with that sweet of wine. Michaela helped me out and everyone had a laugh because that is just so typical of Father Brian to do.
At the end of mass he reminded us to stay in touch. That we always have his email and no question, favor, or prayer is ever stupid to ask for. He said "Once your Jesuit, always your Jesuit". We really lucked out in getting such a great Jesuit to be with us for the semester. He understands us and is great at communicating with us. We all got up at the end and thanked him and said our goodbyes, then headed home for dinner.
It was eggplant, our favorite. Marinella was all lit up and full of joy when serving it to us because she knows how much we go crazy for it.
After dinner I headed to the library to study. I was in there with mostly all engineers, so we were all cracking jokes with each other about who was there at that time and why.
I love the engineers. Some of them are shy, or difficult to crack, but they are all really great kids. A lot of people in the program dont know them, simply because they either dont go out at night/shyness/whatever it may be. I have managed to become friends with almost every single one, and I couldnt be happier that I did so. They are so much fun and really kind sweet guys. Ted and Craig walked me home at the end of the night since we all stayed till closing. I slept over at Chloe's again last night because my roommate is still deathly ill. She has been sick for over 9 days and its just not getting better. I havent been sleeping there because she isnt very aware of how much she spreads germs, and Im really trying to not get sick.
Its funny to think back to when I lived with Shelbie (a dance major) because whenever either of us got sick we were very conscious of coughing into our elbows, cloroxing door nobs, etc. It's a very different experience living with someone who is unaware of these things.
Anywho I slept over with Chloe and woke up at 9 this morning to head back to the library for studying. We just had lunch, Gnocchi...delicious, and Im headed back to the library now for more studying. Anita Garriot's (classical music) final tonight at 5. I refer to her as Anita because she asks us to, and she also emails with me at least twice a day either chatting about the day or about papers or tests. She is such a character.
Back to the library. Wish luck.
Ciao.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Cinque Terre!!!
Cinque Terre was unreal. We left around nine, arrived about 1, and set out on our hike. We decided before we started that we would do the ENTIRE thing, all seven miles, which on average takes 5 hours (Being young girls we did the actual hiking in just under 4 hours, but when you include the stops it took a bit longer). We know a lot of people who went, but only did one or two towns, but we figured that would be silly to go all the way to Cinque Terre and not see it all. I was with Chloe and Kalea (thank goodness for a small group). We hiked from town to town, stopping in each for a bit to enjoy the personal characteristics of each. The hike was easy in the beginning, but definitely got more challenging as we went on. Each town was sweet and unique. We stopped in one for a quick lunch of caprese and pasta and continued on. The sky was clear, the sun was shining, and it was so warm out, the perfect day for a hike. We got plenty sweaty but enjoyed being in the sunshine. The hike was a lot of up and downs, over and over, and staircases.
About half way through we stopped for a while at Vernazza, we met some retired American men who we discussed with whether being retired or being abroad was more of a vacation. They were hilarious and we always love running into Americans because they are so fun to talk to.
As we were heading back onto the trail we ran into Kiki and her parents. Faj was a bit sweaty to say the least, he didnt necessarily wear the right gear...and Kiki was overjoyed to see us and get to finish the rest of the hike as a group. We did so, all together, which was nice because we stopped more so her parents could take breaks. The hike is pretty tough, we all got winded. I enjoyed the breaks because it gave me time to take more pictures. At the end of the day I had about 160 pictures from the day alone.
A majority of the hike I was being over-dramatic (shocker) and screaming about the epic beauty surrounding me. I was in shock basically the entire time. I wish that I could use the right words, or even have good enough pictures to explain to someone who has never been there what the place is like. It is so phenomenally beautiful it blew my mind.
We spent the hike getting so excited to jump in the ocean at the end, but by the time we got there the air was chilly and we figured for our coughs and runny noses, the cold ocean probably wasnt the best idea.
We parted with the Moline family and hopped on a train back to Florence. We were exhausted, sweaty, covered in dirt, so going out didnt sound like a good idea either. We walked Kalea home and Chloe and I went home, showered, put on sweats, hopped into bed and watched a movie until we fell asleep.
About half way through we stopped for a while at Vernazza, we met some retired American men who we discussed with whether being retired or being abroad was more of a vacation. They were hilarious and we always love running into Americans because they are so fun to talk to.
As we were heading back onto the trail we ran into Kiki and her parents. Faj was a bit sweaty to say the least, he didnt necessarily wear the right gear...and Kiki was overjoyed to see us and get to finish the rest of the hike as a group. We did so, all together, which was nice because we stopped more so her parents could take breaks. The hike is pretty tough, we all got winded. I enjoyed the breaks because it gave me time to take more pictures. At the end of the day I had about 160 pictures from the day alone.
A majority of the hike I was being over-dramatic (shocker) and screaming about the epic beauty surrounding me. I was in shock basically the entire time. I wish that I could use the right words, or even have good enough pictures to explain to someone who has never been there what the place is like. It is so phenomenally beautiful it blew my mind.
We spent the hike getting so excited to jump in the ocean at the end, but by the time we got there the air was chilly and we figured for our coughs and runny noses, the cold ocean probably wasnt the best idea.
We parted with the Moline family and hopped on a train back to Florence. We were exhausted, sweaty, covered in dirt, so going out didnt sound like a good idea either. We walked Kalea home and Chloe and I went home, showered, put on sweats, hopped into bed and watched a movie until we fell asleep.
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