One Month

Ok...so I'm still not getting better at updating more often! But I think that might change next week!

Here's the week in review:
Monday- We visited the American Cemetery and Memorial in Florence with my culture class. We took a bus to the cemetery which was about 20 minutes outside the center of Florence. It was created for all of the soldiers that were killed in the region during World War II. This cemetery has over 4,000 American soldiers buried which is only 39% of the total soldiers that were killed in the region. The other 61% are buried in the U.S at the request of the family. The cemetery was beautiful but so sad. It reminded me of when I went to Normandy. Francesca took us here because she wanted to stress how important the United States presence in the war effected the Italians. She says that the Italians owe the U.S. such a great deal and she doesn't think most people realize that. I really liked going here because I don't think I would have otherwise. In Italian language class that day Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A" came on the radio. How ironic!

Tuesday- Tuesday in Cultures we learned about the great Flood that look place in 1966 that destroyed the city and all of its art. After many days of rain and possibly human error by opening the dams, tons of water rushed to Florence overnight. When the people woke up in the morning they found the city feet high in dirty, polluted water. Many people died and so many historic paintings were lost. Along with the water came mud, one ton of mud for every citizen in the city. The city was also stranded by the country and left to clean everything up. The most water was collected in the Santa Croce area of town which is were my apartment is. There was 20 feet of water here and today all of the buildings are marked with a plaque indicating how high the water was in that area. I really love the cultures class. It is just so interesting and we learn about so many different aspect of Italian life. Francesca also told us about this special cake that we had to get called Schiacciate alle Fiorentina. So we searched all of the bakeries in town and finally found a place right after the corner from our apartment that had it. They won't make it again until Lent is over. It was good but kind of plain. It was lemony with powdered sugar on top and the Florentine symbol.

Wednesday- In Cultures we learned about the Mafia. Francesca said its so sad for her to talk about it. It was also Ash Wednesday so we went mass at the Duomo...oh you know...just the usual. It was the first time I had actually been in the Duomo, which is hard to believe considering its 1 block from my apartment and I walk by it at least twice a day! It was beautiful!! Another unbelievable structure. We plan to climb it sometime this week! Back to mass, so it was all in Italian, which is to be expected, so it was a little difficult to follow but for the most part I knew what was going on. It also wasn't heated, so it was really chilly! Instead of calling people up by aisle when it was time to get communion or ashes its just a free for all. Everyone just walks right up! It so unorganized, but I wouldn't expect anything else from Italy haha. So when it came time to get the ashes, I'm in line with Jes and some other people from the program, well a Priest comes ups and splits the line right between me and Jes, shes in the back of one line and I'm in the front of another line. Well...the Priest comes right up to me and I'm waiting for him to put the ashes on my forehead, but nope...he puts them on my head!!! Piles ashes right in top of my head, says something in Italian and goes onto the next person in line. I couldn't keep from laughing! It was so funny! Oh the cultural differences!

Thursday- I had my Cultures final which was in essay form but it was easy. Nothing exciting happened except studying for our Italian final.

Friday- Finals day. It was a little tough but I passed onto level 2...what a scary thought! After one month...I'm now in level 2 Italian! Then we had our usual Friday activities, shopping at the market and such. Nick had everyone over for a get together. It was really fun. He has a ridiculous apartment! He also found out that hes a writer and published a book called "Streetwise Italian." He also said that this is his second favorite job in the world, after his job that he had before which was giving tours of Italy on a bike! What a life?! How can I get his job?! After Nicks, a bunch of us went out to the discotecca. Had a good time!

Saturday- We ventured to Pisa to see that famous tower. Took the train which was about a hour and 20 minutes and it look us through some interesting towns. When we got off at the train station we walked through town, stopping at some stores along the way and then out of nowhere, the tower appears! And it really leans! About 15 feet or 5 degrees! Its actually really small, much smaller than I thought. The town of Pisa is cute but theres not much to do there besides see the tower. Of course, you can't go see the leaning town and not take crazy pictures of it! The majority of our day was spent taking pictures in all sorts of crazy poses! And its so funny to watch because legit everyone does it! Its very amusing! The day was beautiful...I didn't even wear a coat! We then walked around a bit seeing the Pisa's Duomo and its baptistery. Hung out in the "Field of Miracles" which actually isn't that big but it was fun to just hang out. Took the train back and got dinner at a place right across from our apartment. It was so nice to be back in Florence after the day out. We got lost a few times in Pisa and it was nice to be back in a place that I have a pretty good feel of. Then hit the hay as I was beat. Today we are off to a museum. Its cold and possibly going to rain today so we figured inside activities would be best.

Tomorrow we start our new set of classes. Now I will have 4 classes twice a week. I think I will have more free time since I won't be in class from 9-4 everyday. I also have Fridays off now so we can do trips on the weekends. So I will still be taking Italian 2 days a week and then 3 other classes which will be Art History, Renascence History and Italian Cinema which Francesca teaches.

I can't believe I've been here a month already! Its going by so quickly! Nick said the first month is the slowest...can you imagine?! I can't imagine time going any quicker! I also booked a trip to go to Sorento, Capri and the Amafi Coast for the first week in April. I'm really excited for that!