First Impressions

I will do lists. Mostly because I've learned that is a good way to organize, secondly because it helps me keep things straight!


APARTMENT AND ROOMMATES
So my apartment is HUGE. There are 5 of us- two were here last semester (Marcy who goes to school in Baltimore and Nelly from London) and then three of us are new, Diana from New Jersey and my roommate Liz from Pennsylvania.

There are 3 singles and my double room. But the double is like all of the singles in one room size wise so we kind of treat it like another living room. There are two bathrooms, a living room, kitchen, dining room and this extra room that so far we use for hanging laundry (no driers which I predict will make me frustrated soon at least concerning my jeans!).

We are literally right next door to SACI which is pretty convenient. Although of course, there are two buildings and EVERY SINGLE one of my classes is in the other building that is a 15 minute walk away. Oh well, makes me not be lazy and explore the city more.

THE CITY ITSELF
Florence is a gorgeous city, so full of history and art and life. I haven't been to many of the "sites" yet, but am planning to do it all while I'm here!

The interesting thing to note about Florence is it is full of tourists and Americans studying abroad. I had no idea when I decided to study here. I thought it was kind of off the map for studying abroad and I would be going somewhere a little different. I guess this is because the Rome program at my school is so popular. But now I know after reading a TON of guide books that Florence is the most popular study abroad location in the world. Who knew?!

My favorite thing so far, but also one of the most frustrating/challenging, is the grocery shopping. Now I'm pretty sure everyone knows that I am not the best chef, although I definitely get by with a little creativity and sometimes the occasional creation (do people remember my enchilada casserole sophomore year? quite good. plus the occasional potato/pasta salad). Now here I don't have my staple peanut butter (WAY expensive), Cheerios or tortillas to make the go-to quesadilla. I've been exploring different ways to make pasta, loving myself some bread and sandwiches and going crazzzy in the market trying to decided what to buy. The market is so overwhelming. It's a huge indoor market with fruit, vegetable, meat, bakery...you name it, they've got the stand. I've been trying out my Italian, learning how to order things. It actually works out great because today when I tried to order in Italian and showed an interest in the language, the cutest old man serving me gave a wink and added some extra items to my bag for free! Score.

But enough about the market...FOOD! GELATO! BREAD! PIZZA! PASTA! so good. Everyone saying Italian food is amazing was not wrong. Definitely so great that I came over a week early with my dad and had the wonderful food experience with him because now I have to life the typical college life and can't go out dining on Italian cuisine every night. Instead I have to create it myself and wait for the special nights out to indulge. But this of course doesn't count towards gelato. That is allowed any day of the week.


SACI AND ORIENTATION
I commented a little about SACI and classes in the last post so I won't say much here. The first couple days upon arrival we had orientation. Paperwork was confusing as anything, but I am pretty sure I have everything in now to register with the police and have a permit of stay.

The best thing we've learned is that for all of the weekend field trips run by the school (that are mandatory for classes) are free for all other students! So we put down a 50 EURO deposit and as long as we show up for the trip, we get the deposit back. So this weekend I am going to Ravenna on Saturday and the Medici Villas & Vinci on Sunday. I'll update on those afterward!


NIGHTLIFE
Yes indeed...I am now legal to drink! At least here...still not for 6 months back in the states, but luckily I will spend 5 of those months abroad.

First night out we ventured to this place Fish Pub. Free champagne for international students and then 5 shots for 5 euros. We tried various flavors...but then decided to move on to new venues because this one was full of American students. We wandered, wandered and stopped into a couple of places but finally our group had grown smaller and we ended up at this little place Shot Cafe. We befriended the bartender and ended up talking to him all night, getting advice on places to go in Florence and his favorite restaurant in the city (he gave us the chef's name and told us to tell her his name and we would be taken care of...nice!). It was a successful first night out.

Since we have tried a couple random Italian clubs, a few more bars...but nothing notable. I did get lost in the city trying to walk a couple friends home late at night. But surprisingly, it was ME who was guiding us and found our way to both apartments and then back to our place! I have definitely improved my sense of direction. Maybe because I'm not relying on other people to get me there...either way, I am excited.

Okay this post is long enough. I am done. After this I will just do current updates, hopefully less rambling but that is how I function sooo we will see if I organize my thoughts any better.