Ciao ciao! So I've been here for a couple of days now, and I already know that I'll never want to leave. Lemme just list off a few of my favorite things about Italy so far:
-THE FOOD.
-the wine.
-the buildings
-the fact that you have to walk everywhere/up a million stairs everyday = me having buns of steel by the time I
leave
-the timed lights in all the hallways (hey, I'm into conserving energy just like the rest of the Italians)
-il DUOMO
-the history
-the views
-how friendly everyone is
-the fact that everyone around me is speaking Italian
-my future Italian boyfriend (more details to come later)
-no Friday classes
Things that I would like to put into the Italian suggestion box which need to be taken care of:
-No take out food/to go boxes anywhere. I mean seriously, you gotta work on that, Italia.
-regulated heat. Non mi piace
-using the Euro-too confusing
So anyway, let's take it back a couple of days. Wednesday during the day the group split up with different Accademia (my school) staff members to do walking tours of the city. I went with my History of Tuscany professor Nicola who is by far the coolest professor EVER. He's an older man who speaks with a British accent and smokes a pipe. Oh yeah, he's also a COUNT. Yes, you read that correctly, a count. His family is apparently pretty important in Florence, and he's got a ton of archives at his palace or villa or whatever it is. Supposedly, if you're in his class you get to do a few of the sessions at his house while he cooks you dinner or something. I'm pretty pumped for that. Wednesday night me and a few of the girls went out to dinner. Most embarrassing moment of Italy so far? Asking a waitress, "Qual'e' migliore? Questo o Questo?" (which is better? this or this?-happy ariel?), only to hear her say "Uhhhh, parlo solo italiano..." UMMM. Excuseeee me, lady? What do you think I was speaking to you in, Giapponese?? RUDE. Anyway, needless to say, that discouraged my Italian usage quite a bit. Don't worry, I've since regained my confidence and have been understood by all I speak to. Speaking of Japanese. I was walking by the duomo yesterday, and some street vendor said, "Are you Japanese?? Are you Japanese??" What the inferno, dude? Do I look Japanese to you? Think about that, then get back to me. Speaking of my speaking of-I had NO idea there were so many Asian Italians. Everyone who's been to Florence before failed to tell me that. Thanks. SO bizarre seeing perfect Italian coming out of Asian mouths. But hey, it's pretty cool. Moving on to Thursday- had to be at school at 10am to take the Italian placement test. I think I did decently. Everyone had to talk to the professor when we turned our test in and ho-ly cow. That woman was talking to me so quickly and so quietly that if I have to try and understand that all semester it's gonna be a looooong semester. I caught the general idea of what she was saying and just nodded my head and said "Va bene" (okay) a lot. Then me and a couple girls went to lunch and went a got cell phones/explored the city. By the way, Italian bonus points for me: Me and my girl Amanda had walked around so much, and we were pretty far from where we live so we decided to venture into the world of the Italian bus system. Needless to say, it was a flawless experience, and we did it like pros. Go us! Then for dinner that night, me and a group of girls went to one of the most famous restaurants in Florence called Il Latini. What are they known for? Their giant steaks. It was a group of 7 of us, we got there and popped open the bottle of red wine-delizioso! Then we ordered the meal. We got 2 of the 1.1 kilo steaks and split them between 6 people. MIO DIO! Litcherally the best steak I've ever had. Bigger than my face, yeah, but that didn't deter me. After a few cups of wine, I decided I wanted our group to take a picture with the owner. I said "Possiamo fare una foto con te?" (can we take a photo with you?) He said, "Ohhh you wouldn't like that! Beauty and the Beast. Ha ha ha (in a hearty Italian laugh) We will later!" And oh what a picture it was. He loved us so much that he gave us a complimentary bottle of something delicious AND took 37 euro off of our bill. GRAZIE! I will definitely be getting in good with you to the point where you just comp the whole meal. Then we came back to my apartment, drank a little, then went to this pub that was offering a free shot and a free glass of champagne to every student. The pub was eh, all Americans. Which is no good for me, how am I supposed to meet my Italian boyfriend there? Ah yes, my future Italian boyfriend. I know you're dying to know about that one. Well, his name is Paulo. Not really, but that's what I'm calling him for now until I find out his real name. He's a student at my school, and I first encountered him while I was waiting in line at the secretary desk. Amore at first sight. I then saw him again outside the building when I left and debated purposely tripping in front of him. Other than that, I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little disappointed in the Italian men. Besides a "Hey, girl!" I have yet to be swarmed by them. Maybe I'm just so Italian looking that I don't have American appeal? I mean, I know it probably gets annoying after a while, but a girl likes to be flattered every now and then. But I'm not too concerned, once one catches the LJ fever, there's gonna be an epidemic in Firenze. WATCH OUT! Hopefully that first one is Paulo-I'll have to keep you updated on that. Then today I went on the optional tour to Fiesole. Fiesole is a small hilly town on the outskirts of Italy. You take the bus there, and then you climb the hill where you can look out over all over Florence. It was kinda late by the time we got there, and it was pretty foggy so the view wasn't the best it could be, but still stunning. Came home, went to dinner with Amanda at the restaurant right next door, then came home. IL FINE.
And now it's almost 4am, but tomorrow is Sabato, and I plan on using the day to spend hours in a cute cafe' and look around the bajillion stores that are in Florence. And with that I leave you all. Buona notte.
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