Learning to Appreciate even the "little things"

I have decided that as cute as the tazzina (little tea cup) of caffe that I have in the morning is, there is something about the American coffee mug that is comforting. Having that mug of caffiene at your disposal sitting next to you in an early morning class cannot be beat, I will never take my mug of coffee for granted ever again. However, for now, I will enjoy my cute little cup of very strong, rich caffe italiano brewed fresh on the stove every morning.

I also will appreciate my English-speaking professors at school that are much easier to understand. I have to say I will probably go back to Wake Forest and be much at giving my attention to the professors. Do not get me wrong, these Italian professors do speak English, but it is harder for them to get a point across to the class and often speak in a very round-about way. I do really like my Marketing professor, he sounds like his is preaching to the class about Marketing- he puts much enthusiasm into his words and as a typical Italian, uses hand gestures to add to the passion his puts into his lectures. My professor for Italian is absolutely flamingly fantastic and by that I mean is a flamboyant, energic homosexual. We have gone on fieldtrips to the market to learn new vocabulary and he has taken us to get gelato. On the otherhand, it is very frustrating to deal with my professor for Business Operations because he has a very difficult time communicating what he means to students. He ends up coming across as very rude and unconcerned with his students.

All Settled In

After a week of classes, I feel like I am settling into this foriegn place I now call home. It is definitely different than what my home usually is with loud Italians constantly sounding like they are yelling at each other. I have come to learn that that is just how they talk to each other, but then again I should be used to that having a brother and a dad that typically sounds as though they are arguing about everything.

(do you see my clothes hanging on the rack outside in the corner there?)

It is definitely a change having to speak Italian all of the time. I think I am catching on quickly, however, there are days when I wake up thinking that I really do not feel like speaking in a foriegn language for the day or when I just get so tired that paying such close attention to each word in a conversation is not entirely what I want to do. I do think that it is helping my listening skills in general though. You really need to follow the professors so closely to interpret what they mean even when they are speaking in english to be able to understand the point they are trying to get across. I think all of this "stare in attenzione" will help me to pay better attention in my classes at school, hopefully.

I do love my Italian teacher. He is gay and has more energy than any other 30 year old man I have ever seen. We plays games and just casually converse everyday. One day last week he had us meet in centro (the center of town) at la basilicca di san lorenzo where the market is, so that we could have a vocabulary lesson. We had to do a scavenger hunt through the food market then we walked along the vendors learning words for scarves, belts, rain boots, luggage, wallets, ect. Finally, he treated us to ice cream. How can a class get much better?!

So far I have just done day trips. The first weekend I went with a group from school to Lucca, which is a really neat little walled-town that was one of the first independent republic states even though it seems itty bitty to be cabable of ruling itself, but there were a lot of wealthy merchants from the silk trade in its day. I had a really delicious lunch there, the best gnocchi I have ever had and it was gluten-free!

This past weekend I went to the beach with some friends (called Viareggio). It was about an hour and half train ride. It just amazes me how much the landscape can change in such a short distance! Not only from the city of Florence to the country-side of Tuscany that surrounds but here at this beach I could stand far out in the water on a sand bar and see snow covered mountan-tops on what seemed like just the other side of this small shoreside town. We rented some umbrellas with beach chairs (because that is the only way you were allowed on the beach) and standing there on the beach it was a mirage of colorful umbrellas. Probably from a birds-eye-view it would look like a stained glass window.

Oh yeah and I bought a bike, which makes the walk (which takes 45 min- an hour) into town a lot quicker (only like 20 min). It certainly is an experience biking through Florence though. Kind of a maze when you are trying to ride on one-way streets. One time I took a rode to avoid going against traffic and I have yet to figure out where I ended up or how I got there. Luckily butlers from the 4 Seasons Hotel are always there to help you out when you need them because they speak English and always know how to point people in the right directions.

Oh and our campus is absolutely unbelievable. I stand there everyday and thank God that I am so luckily to even see a place to gorgeous in my life let alone every day!

Well that is all for now, talk to you again soon!

Il Primo Giorno

Ciao!

When I arrived yesterday I went to my hotel, but my room was not ready. Definitely a good thing because I would probably have not be able to resist a nap otherwise. So, I went into town and luckily my memory of Florence came back quickly and I had no trouble getting myself around. First thing, I went a bought a SIM card so that my phone would work, knowing that my mother was going crazy at home already due to the fact that I had no means of commication at that point. Then I got myself some lunch at a little place called Il Ristorante and ending up eating with two girls traveling from Australia. It was only 5:00 when I could not stay awake any longer and pretty much fell to sleep for the night.

This morning I woke up and went straight to the university which from what I saw was quite beautiful. I finished the visa process very quickly since I was only the 4th person there and got to my new home around 11. Now I am all moved it. Already, I am catching on to Italian fairly quickly. No choice really. My family probably speaks about as much English as I do Italian (maybe less), which is not a lot. The mother's name is Anna Maria and the father's name is Giuseppo. They have two children, a son, Davide (15) and a daughter, Helga (13). Their daughter has a gluten allergy too, so we have our own cabinet of gluten free food haha. Looks to me like more gluten free items than I have seen in the United States. Giuseppo is a businessman who works in a winery. I have only met Anna Maria so far, but she is very nice.

On a different note, I should have gone with my instinct not to bring the thinkpad and get a new computer instead because it is dead and this time, it does not look like anything the Bridge could even fix (not that that matters). Luckily I bought a mini computer as a back up. I just wish I could practice my rosetta stone on this other computer since I need all of the help learning Italian as I can get.

As for the adgenda for the rest of the day. Giuseppo is coming home from work at 1:15 and we will all eat lunch together today (however, she said normally they are not home for lunch). Then they will go back to work, so I will probably go for a run and explore the area a little bit more. The university is only about a 20 minute walk from here, up a steep hill. I can probably just roll back down it haha. So now when my mom complains about how she has to walk to her house in Altoona from baker school everyday I can say that I had to walk up a very steep hill to school too. I do not know when my roommate will get here, but I am glad that I got to unpack my stuff first. We will be sharing a bathroom with the live in maid but she is on vacation until mid september.

Alright well lunch should be ready soon.

Arrivederci!
Megan