I want to go to a Florentina game

I'm trying to think about what exciting news I have for all of you but it just feels like an average Wedesnesday. I had a site visit today, we went to the church of San Lorenzo and discussed the architecture and how it is deductive and not additive, meaning evyerthing builds off each other and if one thing is changed everything changes because the elements rely on each other. I got back to campus from walking to the center to find that my 1pm Italian class was cancelled today! So, I was able to get some Health and Nutrition reading done outside in the sun. I am feeling better, although I'm not totally cleared up so I saw the doctor this afternoon. The appointment was short and brief. He gave me a prescription for Augmuntion in case my sypmtoms get worse and I can use that anywhere in Italy...thankfully they seem to be getting better.



Big update: I have officially decided what I am doing during my fall break: I am going to Greece! I signed up for a trip through a travel company for students called "Bus2Alps" and we are taking a cruise to Greece and will be in Athens and Corfu. We also can go on a day trip to Aeginia. Picking where to go over fall break was not an easy task, so I am excited that this is finally set in stone. My parents are coming to Florence right before I leave for Greece, so with this departure date I will get to see them for at least a couple days.



We have had a tournament this week for soccer at school. We had two games on Monday and we had a game yesterday but I had a late class so I couldn't go. We have another game tonight though, at 6 so that should be fun! Its fun to play soccer here. I actually scored in Monday night's second game. I also went to pilates again yesterday.



I think one of the most entertaining days in Florence are days when Florentina has soccer games!! We can see the stadium from the apartment so at dinner last night we could hear all the cheering and watch the television as well as view the stadium during dinner. Florentina beat Liverpool last night 2-0 so that was a big deal! When I got out of pilates to take the bus home, the traffic was insane and all the buses were filled with people headed to the stadium. There are plenty of motorcyles and bikes to begin with, but last night I had never seen so many in my life. they were parked in every corner and they zoomed in and out of lanes like bees getting ahead of our bus. I am definitely going to go to a soccer game if not a couple, I just need to buy my titckets. I can't wait for that experience. Ludo, my host sister, gets very excited about the soccer games, so does Vittoria. Alessio, our host father, not as much, but both times Florentina scored last night Vittoria would run into our room jumping up and down with excitement. Soccer is huge in Europe, to say the least.

I'm sure I will have much to update you on after the weekend as I am headed to Sicily this weekend!

The school weeks go by quickly now, but Thursdays are always pretty long since I have 3 classes that are spaced out through the day from 9am-6pm. But, I was able to get more medicine and have a nice lunch that was something other than pasta and paninos! They had a chicken salad at a bar/restaurant near school that was delicious!

Did I tell you that a bike ran over my foot? I think I did..

This morning I got up early to go on a day trip with my Art History class to Siena and San Giminoigno. They are both beautiful towns! I wish we had more time to spend there and wander around. I'm sure I'll keep discovering new ones but I seriously think I had some of the best gelato Ive had in Siena. They had signs saying they are world famous too.

We got back to Piazza Savonarola around 7ish and Myra, Lauren and I enjoyed a great dinner at "Edi House" right across from school. Also, the waiter is very cute. I know you are all thinking...ohhh noo hear we go. But, quite honestly I have not been very impressed with the Italian men here and its been hard to make friends with locals...but Marco seems like he could lead us into meeting Italians so this could be a gold mine..we shall see. At least better than the creepy ones that say buennnnno sera or hiss at you like cats near the bars.

Well, I have to go now but I love you all!

Happy and congested from Firenze,
Buona notte! Laura

ho mal di gola

I'm sorry it's been so long since I last posted! I feel like I never have time I'm at the computer labs at school or its just not as private to do it but I purchased Internet access through the WIND store where I bought my Italian cell phone and therefore I should be able to blog more here in the apartment from my little dell.

Where to start? week Alex Taddeucci's mom and grandma were in town so they took a few of us out to dinner in Florence whcih was very nice of them. It felt surreal stepping into a taxi to go to dinner from their hotel since I am so used to walking everywhere when we are down in the center, or let alone up where I live in Campo di Marti. I would say that walking to and from school from our apartment is one of my favorite activities, even if my backpack weighs me down and people give me the look over for wearing rainbow sand sandals, I love seeing the day in and day out moments of Italian daily lives. In the morning I see lots of parents walking their bambinos to school, I see the cutest older Italian ladies with their shopping bags or groceries, who often don't smile but more than often you will find two ladies holding hands or helping each other stroll the streets. Men really do dress up more here. Its cool to see people all dressed up for work, looking snazzy, but riding a bike or a motorcyle/scooter. Its Something I rarely see in California. Italy is very environment cautious. At least my host family is...leaving lights on is a definite no no. And my family reuses everything. Bottles, water bottles, jelly glasses, etc.

Today I got a nasty sore throat (mal di gola) so I trecked around after classes were out in search of a farmacia. Pharmacies are not located in major grocery stores, they are sporadically around town and cannot be missed by the big green cross thats illuminated. I had bad luck at the first two farmacias that were not open but the third one gave me some sort of nasal spray...It doesnt do a whole lot but I think this cold will just have to run its course.

Today in my Italian class we had an activity where we had to go in groups to a nearby supermercato and il forno (a bar or caffe, place for lunch) and answer questions in italian, compare prices, and talk to people. It was fun to get out of the classroom, but weirdly enough a bike ran over my foot. It wasn't bad at all but bad enough to leave a bruise and some scrapes. I was able to walk fine though and it didnt startle me too much..it could have been a lot worse.

Yesterday I did the pilates class again and I think I am going to give this instructor a chance. It was only myself, the instructor, and one other girl on Tuesday, although typically we should have maybe 4 or 5 people. She speaks English and is from the South of the USa but lives in Florence now. I'm already sore, and although I'd love to do yoga, I think pilates will be just as good if not better for me.

The day trip to Ravenna on Saturday was awesome! It was so cool seeing the mosaics there. I have been in a few churches since Ive been in Italy but these were the first ones where I really was mesmerized. It was neat seeing the Mausoleum stairs and then the famous Justine and theodora mosaic I'd studied previously. Ravenna is a much newer city than Florence because it was rebuilt after WW2 when much of it was damaged. The streets are wider and look more modern. There were alot of neat little markets and people selling jewelry and miscellaneous items.

Syracuse Univ. in Florence is about 250 students, many of them from the east coast and only 26 or 28 boys i believe! I've decided it kind of feels like high school in the sense that the amount of time you see people is just in and around classes and the campus...whereas at SCU you see peple and get to know people more and better because you are in the dorms. It's kind of cliquey, although there are also some very nice people I've met.

I want to type more but I should go to bed because I have a test tomorrow in health and nutrition. More updates soon!

Love, laura

day trips are awesome!

Greetings from Firenze on a Monday afternoon that is wet and cold. We have had a weather change around...its been warm, hot, and sticky since I arrived but right now it is pouring rain! Rainbow sandals just won't suffice anymore, but I wore them to school with yoga pants and a t-shirt because I am trying out a free pilates class this afternoon. Im excited because even with all the walking I do here, I still feel like I need to figure out how to get workouts in...and a friend told me this weekend that she asked the activities office about finding a pilates place and sure enough its 5 minutes from school and today is a free trial I guess!

Soo this Friday I went on an all-school trip to Assisi. It was very fun to explore the town! I had lunch with some girls at a good restaurant and we explored the town.

I wish I could post more pictures on here but they take a long time to upload, so check out my facebook for more pictures of Assisi and Cinque Terre!

Saturday I slept in, did, some homework, and since we don't get fed on weekends I found a cafe for a panino called Il Masaccio. I met my friend Maddy at school and then we headed down to the Uffizi to look at "Virgin and Child" by Giotto, Ducio, and Cimabue for a class. We wandered around the center for awhile afterwards, and getting in and out of the museum is kind of hectic but luckily our passes got us in for free. I have discovered my favorite gelato place thus far...I had cinnamon and after eight which is like a mint chip flavor. The gelateria is called Le Perignale gelateria artigeniale. Manja manja. I went out to dinner with some girls and had the best margherita pizza and a yummy salad. On Sunday, I woke up early and took the bus to the train station where I met many other people to go on a day trip to Cinque Terre whihc means 5 towns and we hiked though all the towns ( Southeast part of Ligurian coast). We even went in the water and laid out on the beach, had gelato (its kind of an everyday event) but the hiking was extensive and views were beautiful!!! I'm so glad I went and I highly recommend Cinque Terre for a day trip.

Piazza Signoria

I woke up to my eye still swollen but after taking my first pill after breakfast I feel like the swelling has gone down slightly! So hopefully by Saturday I will be back to normal. I do feel better today, though. I had my first site visit today with my art history class. I met some girls at school and we rushed down to the Duomo area on bus 17 to then try to find Piazza Signoria. After a little running, and trying to figure out where we were, we found our class by the fountain. We have two TA's for that class who are really nice and are in their twenties so every Wed. we will meet them somewhere in the city for a site visit. Today we learned about 300 years of history and an overview of the Medicci family power. We talked alot about the Republic and we studied about 6 different sculptures that are outside in Piazza Signoria, though they are not the originals. I can't wait to see the originals! Especially, to see the David in the Academica. We have a student museum pass that supposively zips us through lines and gets us in for free. Awesome, huh? On our way back we picked up a slice of pizza to go and get back to school for my next class. I was a little late for my next class, but my Italian teacher didn't seem to mind. Italian is my favorite class here so far, though I haven't had many classes. It is fun to try to use my Italian at bars (which is basically a caffe) or just around anywhere, if I can. If you haven't been to Italy you must know that there are many places where you can grab something quick to eat without sitting down, or some bars don't even have room for you to sit down. Many Italians crowd into these little bars for a quick espresso or panino.

I found my teacher who teaches Family & Gender in Contemporary Italy this afternoon since I missed her class yesterday. She was really nice and gave me the syllabus. Yesterday afternoon there was an acitivities meeting and there are a lot of cool extracurriculars to get involved in, including soccer and sports, dance classes, cooking classes, and even conversaciones with italians where it would be like an exchange...you try to speak italian with them for 30 minutes or an hour and then you help them speak engnlish. I definitely want to look into these things.

There are also many compies that help students plan traveling or have preorganized travel weekends to Greece, Switzerland, Prague, Cinque terre, you name it! My host mom suggests waiting to go to Cinque terre until the touristst leave in a couple more weekends. Alot of people are going this weekend but I think I will go on the day trip to Assissi on Friday, and then enjoy another weekend in Florence. I haven't even climbed the steps of the Duomo yet or gone into the Uffizi! One thing at a time :-)

I am feeling better though, if you can't tell and I hope you all are have a good day too! (Buona goirnata! --have a good day)

swollen eye and a little homesick

The mosquitoes are terrible in Florence. The first night I probably got at least 15 mosquito bites and we are not talking little bites...they get big and red and swollen...so I dealt with it and the next few days we have just been good about turning off the lights in our room at night and trying to keeo the windows closed...buttt last night...we had the window slightly ajar and the mosquitoes definitely invaded. I tried to close the window but I wasn't able to close it...needless to say, i woke up to my right eye swollen and puffy, red, and irriated. I didn't sleep much last night either so that has not helped my emotions today. It really made me miss home or just long for something familiar as I am adjusting to my new environment. Overall things are going well, but the doctor isnt here today so I wont be able to see him until tomorrow. I did go over to the farmacia and buy some cortisone, so hopefully that helps. I also popped a benedryl. Once I got to school I felt a little better because I have seen some friends. I've been adjusting well overall, and excited about my new surroundings, but this morning I just had a moment.

Thank god for my sunglasses.

On the upside, the weekend was pretty fun with the host family and I like my Italian professor a lot. I can't wait to get better at italian, and try using words and phrases when I am at home or in town.

I feel like time is limited, I have to go get some lunch before class, but thanks for reading, and I will let you know more about where I live, and the city, and my classes in the next blog.

Until then! ciao ciao

After my first night with my host family

Buona sera!! Much has happened in the last few days. I had a great weekend in San Francisco with my family before taking off for my flight. Saturday's dinner at 'La Barca' was fun and it was great to see some friends before I left, in addition to the total surprise of my dad just showing up at the dinner. I was under the impressiont that he was not coming up to SF for the weekend, so he totally surpised me by showing up on Saturday night. It was actually warm in SF on Saturday! I've never experienced warmer weather in SF! Sunday was low key- we went to church, made breakfast and watched the Little League world series championship game. We went out for a very nice dinner at the Boulevard in the financial district...then the traveling began on Monday!



I flew from SF to Paris on Air France..we were an hour late taking off, and the flight was pretty long but there were a lot of other Syracuse students on the flight. I met girls from Santa Clara that I didn't even know were going to Florence in addition to feeling at ease knowing other girls from SAnta Clara. We all bonded through the traveling experience I feel. I was seated next to a girl on the plane named Maddy from Whitman and we definitely got to chatting and she is the person who I have spent the most time with so far. Once we got to Paris, it was actually raining and it was good that there was a big group of us to find our connection because it was pretty far away, and included getting on a shuttle to the other side of the airport. Buses took us and all our luggage to the hotel we stayed at for the first two nights. The hotel was really nice and was called "The Mediterranean" and was pretty close to the center of Florence. We were a block away from being able to walk adjacent to the Arno. That afternoon, I went on a brief walking tour with a student who had studied in Florence before and she took us to her favorite gelato stand and gave us advice about what phone service to buy, that you buy bus tickets at the Tobacco shops and other miscellaneous info. The streets of Florence are small and pretty. The first few days, and even now I just smile and laugh at all the motorcycles. They are so common and are found everywhere since the streets are smaller and there are a lot of one way streets. The cars in general are a lot smaller and Vespas and scooters are everywhere. The motocicletas have huge windows in the front and do not look like motorcyles do back home.

One of our first nights out in FLorence after we got to the hotel we just wandered around the streets walking near the Arno and we admired the piazzas and streets. The second day was very busy with orientation and going to school to sign up for things. We had a large dinner at the hotel and a safety meeting and meetings about the host families as we were to get our host family the next day. Alex, Julie, Maggie and I decided to go out that night too and check out a bar. First we walked on the other side of the Arno and we found an outdoor area with literally thousands of young Italians. I felt like we stuck out like sore thumbs as there were no Americans in sight and we clearly did not fit in, but we walked around and observed people. I tried twice to talk to some Italians and ask "pala inglese?" but no one spoke English. So we found a bench and just watched the hundreds of young italians socialize at this summer night scene where there are outdoor bars. We noticed that they all seemed very jovial and social, not drunk, but happy to see friends and just hang out. Mannnnny of them smoke though. Cigarette smokers are found everywhere in Italy. Just when we were about to leave we ran into 2 girls from Syracuse and they were headed to a bar so we decided to join them. We went to 'The Red Garter' in Santa Croce where we enjoyed a Carona and danced a little. It was very fun.

The next morning we checked out of the hotel, did a lot of busy and annoying but necessary things at school, and finally at 5pm I met my roomate, Kiera, and around 6pm we met our host mom, Vittoria, who we love!!

Friday we registered for classes and today was my first day of classes but we had a good weekend with the host family. Vittoria and Alessio, are our host parents and they both speak English. Vittoria is actually an Italian professor at school. She is so welcoming and nice. She is very informative and helpful, not to mention the meals have been great so far. I don't usually like tomatoes, but the way they eat them with vinagrette and salt, they are so good! Maybe food is just better in Italy. The bread here is unsalted mostly and every meal starts off with pasta or some sort of rice dish then u may have a meat and vegatables. I have had lots of gelato of co urse too at different gelaterias. We met out host sister on Friday night. Her name is Ludovica and she is 13! She is so sweet and helpful. She is very loving and easy to get along with.

Friday night we went to the Duomo, and had wine on the steps. We socialized and walked very far to a dischotech called "central Park' where I have never seen so many greasy and dressed up Italian men in all my life. We took a taxi home as the Duomo is about 45 min walk from our apartment. We are only 20 minutes from school though. We have been doing a lot of walking here!

I have to go now, but I will write more tomorrow about my weekend with my family and my first couple days of classes!

Love and miss you all.

Ciao ciao