Still can't believe I live here!

The past few days have been absolutely amazing. I'm over jet lag and sickness and really got to explore the city. I had my first "I actually live here" moment when I was standing on Ponte alle Grazie looking over the water at sunset.

Back a few days... on Thursday morning I had SAI orientation in the morning, roamed the streets of Florence, went to my first open market (which was amazing to get such fresh fruits), and then had a welcome dinner. The welcome dinner was at a palace, Plazzo Borghesc, that was extremely beautiful. It was just a tiny door on a street in the city, but when you enter and walk up the stairs the palace is unreal. Everything here is made with so much detail and beauty! I couldn't even imagine a place similar in the states that they would have an orientation. As my roommate, Megan, said "America would probably serve pizza and soda as their first meal." Not in Italy! We had a mulit-course Hor D'oeuvres. The food was a little expensive for my taste, but I truly enjoyed the dessert- tiramisu and champagne. The room this was held in had gorgeous chandillers and handsome young servers- more about them later. I later found out that this place hold all kinds of banquets, including weddings. Humm :) After the welcome dinner I went with Sarah, the other girl studying abroad from Missouri State, and her roommates to try and find a nice, relaxed bar to sit at. Her roommates are great and want to travel to places similar to me, so it looks like I found some travel buddies! I was also really excited because one of her roommates, Annie, is also going to Apicius. Almost everyone I meet is going to Florence University of the Arts, so it is nice to meet another Hospitality major!

The next day also started with student orientation and was followed by filling out my permit of stay and giving 75 Euro to the Italian Government, not so fun. But afterwards I decided to go on a mission to the school to get my internet hooked up. After getting lost, my new favorite thing to do, for a good hour I finally made it and discovered that the guy couldn't hook it up until Monday. This was depressing, so I wandered back to my apartment and passed a used book store/ bar with free internet. I was very excited, but I had to buy something to get internet. Not really in the mood for a drink at 3 in the afternoon and not wanting expresso when it is 90 degrees, I decided to look at the books. I looked through the tiny American section and found "A Tuscan Childhood". Perfect to go read as I sit in a piazza soaking up Florence's beauty someday. I was also really happy to get a book to read for pleasure since I didn't bring any. This shop was very cute and I am glad I found it. Getting lost here is actually a wonderful thing. I love discovering new places and you will always find your way back within the hour. One thing that shocks me here is the amount of gelato/bar places and cafe/bar places. They are everywhere! After soaking up the internet, I came back and went to get my first gelato with my roommates Kassi and Kait. I got "After 8", the mint chocolate chip.

Yum! There was another welcome reception that night that we went to at Florence University of the Arts. Beautiful school. I am lucky I have my Sustainable Tourism class here! Laura came back to my apartment and Megan and I showed her around. Then I got this fantastic idea to look at Megan's computer and display the characters on the internet password. INTERNET! Yay! I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner, all of my roommates have had internet since the first day. We had a glass of wine and then went out to our first pub crawl. A travel agency Florence For Fun created this pub crawl the first weekend to promote their agency. This was neat because there were students there from the schools all over Florence that we met. The first bar was free champagne, which was a nice was to start the night. Then we all headed over to the second bar where we ran into the servers from the welcome reception the night before. Megan and I stayed behind to chat with them when everyone else went on to the disco. It was great to talk to Italians our age and get to hear about the city. They just happened to go our for a drink after work and recognized us from the reception. Many servers here in Florence are hansome. They were very pleasant to talk to and exchange stories about the U.S. and Florence. When I told them I was from Missouri, in the Midwest they automatically assumed that I ride horses and raise cattle. Clearly stereotypes are real. They attempted to teach me some common Italian phrases and I failed miserably, but I tried. It turned out to be a great night and Megan and I are hoping they will show us around Florence.

Today was the day I fell in love with Florence! I started off the day going over to Sarah's and planning weekend trips. This is incredibly fun, but there is so much to do and so many decisions to make. The travel agencies have great trips but are a lot of Euros! We are planning some trips on our own - including a Harry Potter tour of London! We headed to the open air markets again, because they are so great! Look how amazing, and it's everyday until 1. Later, we headed to find Apicius, where my food classes are held. Along this 15 minute walk is very Italian places, not as touristy. We also came across an open market with jelwery, handbags, paintings, and all kinds of other gadgets. We were on a mission today, so we just browsed and will probably return next week. We took the senic route back by the Duomo through more open air markets with leather, leather, and more leather. Got more gelato, and headed back to keep trip planning. I start off my trips tomorrow with heading to Arrezo for the famous jousting festival with Laura and Sarah (the Missouri State crew). I ended up the night getting my first Italian pizza at Gusta's. I got a typical Italian Margherita pizza. Delicious! Look how good!

I'm going to try to end each post with a new cultural tibit I realized. First things first, I love Italians. They are so passionate about everything- very hospitable. They care for their country and are not wasteful with electricity (no air conditioning in most places and no dryers, just washers), trash, etc. Even at the grocery stores almost everyone brings their own reusable bags. Probably because they charge 10 cents a bag if you don't. Genius if you ask me, America should pick up on this. I also love how Italians speak. Even though I can't understand almost everything, I can tell a lot for the tone. They always speak with tone variation and big hand gestures. I know it's stereotypical, but it's a great thing to watch. Also, most Italians are very nice and funny. They like to joke around and laugh a lot. I have not met one rude Italian. I do know that they appreciate when I attempt to speak Italian. It's usually just a Ciao and Grazie. I will use most as I learn it, but that's about I have for now. Ciao!