I'm not very good with the whole blog-updating thing, but I figured I may as well try it out and keep you posted at least some of the time!
I have been living in Florence, Italy for the past month, and I absolutely LOVE it. Everything everyone said about going abroad was so true - I realized it within the first week of being here. You HAVE to do it. Living in a foreign country is such an amazing experience. For me especially, learning a new language and culture is a big part of it. Something about being able to communicate with people who speak an entirely different language (or people who speak a language other than English, and are also learning Italian) is fascinating to me. I've always enjoyed my language classes (in high schooo, Spanish, in college, Italian) and actually being able to/having to use it?! Incredible. I've always been a sucker for this communication thing though - I wrote my college essay about the communication of dance and how it allows you to communicate without language.
I did most of the touristy museum things the first time I came to Florence a few years back, so I haven't really done much of it yet, although I plan to. I have walked up to Piazza Michelangelo to see a gorgeous view of the the city from across the river Arno. My friend Katie's host mom, Rita, also took us up to Fiesole, this beautiful little town just north of Florence, that was built on top of Etruscan ruins. The view from here was INCREDIBLE. All of Florence and some of the surrounding Tuscan landscapes. We also drank hot chocolate while the sunset!
The other weekend we went to Interlaken, Switzerland. I wouldn't normally have chosen to go there, considering it is the European hot-spot for extreme sports (skydiving, canyoning, paragliding, etc. etc.) but a friend recommended it to me so I went anyway. I didn't skydive or anything (my mom would have killed me....and it was really expensive...) but I did get to snowboard on the Alps. Despite my lack of snowboarding skills, it was BEAUTIFUL and I have never seen anything like it. The snow, the mountains...they put Mammoth, Big Bear, and Tahoe to shame! We also went night sledding. I was really nervous that I was going to fly off a dark cliff and never be seen again - but thankfully I am still here. The only light we had were the glowsticks that we wore around our necks. A great experience. I have to say that I've become a lot more spontaneous while living abroad. You kind of have to be in order to make the most of your time! I can't say that I am really a fan of the German language or German/Swiss food for that matter. It's a good thing I'm studying in Italy then, I'd say...
Even though I was only gone for the weekend, I found myself missing Italy and speaking Italian. I am excited to spend this weekend here...we are going out for a steak dinner for Julia's 21st birthday, and tomorrow we are taking a day trip to Ravenna with Syracuse. I really want to check out this dance show that I've seen posters for all over town too.
Speaking of dance, last night I took a hip-hop class at the gym I joined, Palestra Ricciardi. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I miss dance so much and was excited to be able to do it. The class was really fun!! Marco, our friend from the gym, taught the class and after he even said "Sei brava!" which means "You're good!" Hopefully I'll be able to take more dance classes while I'm here.
Classes are good - I'm taking two at Syracuse (Italy Since 1870 and Family & Gender in Contemporary Italy), and then my intensive Italian course at the Universita degli Studi di Firenze - Centro di Cultura per Stranieri, which I am actually enjoying a lot despite the fact that it is every morning Monday through Friday at 8:45 or 9:40. A little early for my taste, but I've been managing it quite well. Maybe because my roommate, Brittney, is always up before me and a good alarm clock....:)
The food here is amazing...I took a cooking class the other week and learned how to make ravioli, taglione, and tagliatelle by HAND. One of the pasta's had this delicious bell pepper sauce - you wouldn't think it would be that good but it WAS! I wanted to sign up to learn how to make Gnocchi, but it was already full. The next one is risotto....but I already know how to make it thanks to Grandma's recipe (which, is nearly identical to the saffron risotto my host mom Teresa made...minus the funghi!). The cooking classes are fun, but kind of difficult to learn how to do everything since there are 20 people in one kitchen. I think I'll just have to bring some recipes back and try them out with my mom in our nice, big kitchen!
My friends and I have been really good about avoiding the really "American" bars - we really want to try to meet as many Italians as we can. We've already made a few friends - Marco....Andrea...Cristiano! They're all great and really fun to hang out/dance/speak Italian with! I'm so fortunate that I came into the program with 2 years of Italian under my belt. Although I wasn't very good at actually speaking it when I got here, I have already improved a ton. Hopefully by the end of my semester here, I will be practically fluent. I know it will be hard to come home and have to return to saying "Hello?" instead of "Pronto?" when answering the phone or "Hi/Bye!" instead of "Ciao!"
I actually had a dream IN Italian the other night. Rita (Katie's host mom) says that this is a huge signal that you are really learning the language! So that is pretty cool...
That is it for now! I miss home...but I wouldn't rather be any place else in the world!
Baci e abbracci! (Kisses and Hugs)
Katie
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