The first weekend here!

Italy is incredible. This place continues to amaze me everyday!!



Thursday we had our first day of school. I am in Italian 1 with my professor, Olga. There are 14 of us total in the class and we have it four days a week for three and a half hours each day. Olga only talks to us in Italian which I think is very helpful, as it challenges us to really listen and try and interpret what she says while expanding our own vocabulary as well. It's great living with a host family and being able to practice the language every night. We just learned the alphabet and how to say our numbers (HOW EXCITING). I can ask simple questions like "What is your name?" and "Where is ____?" so that's usually what I'll contribute to the conversation. Also, the phrase "Come si dice ____" means "How do you say ____" so I'll add that every so often. Everyone giggles at my attempts and my accent, including myself, so it's a lot of fun.

Speaking of accents, I met a guy from another study abroad program on the bus last week who asked if I was from Australia because he said I had an accent! WHAT?! YES! Dream come true. I said I was from Sydney and then when he asked where in Sydney and I said "P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney" -- everyone immediately knew I was lying. It was interesting to hear that he thought I sounded different…. maybe from living in Louisville? I've never gotten that before.

Friday we had class in the morning and then I stayed in the city to meet up with my friend from high school, Alyssa. She has a really cute apartment near the Duomo! It was great to catch up with her and we will both be here until December so I know we will be traveling together. We then had a guided walking tour around different parts of the city. ACCENT, our program, arranged the tour and it was really interesting to hear some cool facts that I hadn't known before. I have no idea how a tour guide can talk for two and a half hours straight…. memorizing all of that info must have given her a headache. After that, my friend Gaston and I went to the steps in Piazza Santa Croce to drink some wine and watch the crowds in the piazza. I walked home afterwards, had dinner with Tomasso and Carol, and then went to bed. During dinner, Tomasso introduced us to my new favorite biscotti -- biscotti with almonds. We dip them in this sweet wine for dessert and it is monte bene (so good!)!

Walk home from school on a cloudy afternoon

Still walking home…. takes almost an hour

Walking to Italian class after our break! Moments before we got so lost I had to turn on my data for a google map on my phone

The best pizza. Also it's only two doors down from our program center…… YES

Mmm

2 Euro vino

Saturday morning, Carol and I woke up at 6 to go to Cinque Terre! We went with a guided tour program called Florence for Fun -- they host trips and coordinate travel plans for students studying abroad. Everyone met at the train station and then we took a bus to Cinque Terre. I had seen pictures of it in the past but seeing the city in person was amazing! This place is so beautiful. We took the train from Riomaggiore to Vernazza, and then hiked from Vernazza to Monterosso. We got lunch, hung out on the beach for a bit (the Mediterranean was so nice) and then took the train back to the first town where our bus was waiting. If anyone visits Italy, Cinque Terre is a place that you must see!! The weather was beautiful (80 degrees and sunny) and the day was great.

Walking in Vernazza

View from top of the hike!

Posing with the Mediterranean Sea!

All in all, a day very well spent!

Today (Sunday) we are checking out one of the museums in Florence to start checking them off our bucket list. With our program, we get a Firenze Card which grants us free access to most of the big museums so we must take advantage of all the beautiful art here! I also need to do my Italian homework. Wait, homework?! What is homework? Isn't it still summer?!?! Oh wait I actually am here to study…. We have a mock test this week to see if we have been studying correctly and a quiz the week after so the academic semester is already getting started and unfortunately won't slow down anytime soon. I also have my first culture class tomorrow! The History and Culture of Food. I know that we go wine tasting sometime during the semester so maybe it's tomorrow? Probably not but a girl can dream.

Everything else is going splendidly. I have FINALLY slept through the entire night so I think my sleep schedule is back on track which is a relief! I do not do well on three hours of sleep

Carol and I are still figuring out communication with the host family. We are technically only supposed to have dinner with the family Monday thru Thursday nights. On Saturday night, after we got back from Cinque Terre, there was some raw pasta and rice left out on the counter and a pot with water in it on the stove. Was this out for us to make dinner? or had Barbara just gotten back from the market and didn't have time to put anything away? Barbara and Andrea were both out at a friend's birthday party so we were not really sure but didn't want to take any chances! I will keep you posted if we figure out this mystery…. so for dinner we just ate some bread that I had bought at the market and turkey. This is why I am living with a host family because I cannot cook for myself! Something I hope to learn in Italy with a cooking class that they offer later in the semester on random weekends. I hope it's pizza on the class menu!!

And, once again, pictures of the animals.

Stella

Megan :)

Arrivederci!!