Hey everyone! Sorry (michelle!) for not updating yesterday, I fell asleep really super early from pure exhaustion haha. So yesterday we had some more orientation in comfy chairs (more sleeping occurred) about the academics of florence, but no one seemed too worried about handling the workload since it's relatively easy here. We then took a tour of the campus which is BEAUTIFUL. We don't actually have classes in the building they advertise (villa la pietra), but we have classes in the surrounding villas which are also really pretty. There's a tiny little library with a view of the whole olive grove valley and hopefully there'll be room for me to do some studying there. It was a pretty long tour with some "survival Italian" class that actually made me feel pretty good about my Italian skills (that's right, I know how to say my name and where I'm from...) so that was nice. I'm actually one of the more competent speakers here which is slightly an ego boost but also a reflection of how few of the people here speak Italian! We got back pretty late and all my roommates were pretty sleepy so we went to a take out pizza place that had been recommended to us that's right on Piazza San Marco (five minutes from us) called Pugi and it was DELICIOUS. It was really different from American pizza so I wasn't sure what to expect, but the ingredients were really fresh and the bread was amazinggg... I love italy :) We brought the food back and all 8 of my roomies just chilled in the common room exchanging stories... it was really fun :)
Today we had to head to campus to take sessions about safety and traveling etc. it was actually pretty helpful and we learned a lot of good information. I mean, apparently all Italians are creeps that are trying to steal your money, but better safe than sorry! Then afterward we got our museum passes (we get into most museums for free) and signed up for a red bus tour and had lunch with pretty much everyone in the program. I got to catch up with a lot of people I knew from Duke who I hadn't gotten to see (mainly Chris Matt Amaan and Alex - the last of which accidentally ended up in a homestay because he didn't fill out the application correctly!) so that was really fun. We all (me Caitlin Allison Chris Matt Amaan Alex and some of their roomies Matt and Chris haha) went down to la mercato centrale to get fresh fruit from a big farmers market, but it had closed at 2. matt chris matt and chris needed to get phones so we three girls and amaan and alex went wandering around down toward the arno and, just in passing, hit the duomo, the uffizi, and the pontevecchio, all a straight shot from my apartment! It's so funny to see these amazing sights as just a glance on the road. I'm wondering if I'm even going to have done any of the "touristy" things by the time mom and dad come in october, because I pass by all the big attractions so casually! haha I'm not quite Italian yet but I'm loving the atmosphere and avoiding all the tourist hot spots (I'm talking to you ben&jerrys at the duomo). It was really nice because we just got to walk pretty much the length of florence and just take in the atmosphere... we found a nice cafe and just sat and talked for awhile.. and then headed back and found a nice dinner spot along the way... and then came back and chilled at the apartment!
It's really been amazing so far the freedom and enthusiasm of the city and what it inspires in all of us. Besides the language barrier, it's a city that makes you feel like you're home :)
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