The week in review

Ciao!

A week has almost gone by since I arrived in Italy. So much has already happened, it's crazy. Wednesday was our first day of class. First we had an orientation meeting, followed by our Florentine Art and History class. Our teacher, Francesco, is sort of like a tour guide here in Italy. He taught us class for 2 hours, we had lunch, and then we all rode the bus down to Florence to visit the places we had just talked about in class. We walked by the "Duomo", which is a huge gorgeous church. Along the way, Francesco would stop and teach us about different things. We went inside the Basilica of Santa Croce. Also a beautiful church, it is the home of the graves of many famous people. For example, Michelangelo and Galileo are buried there. The art and architecture inside was amazing! We walked through the streets more and ended up in the piazza where a replica of The David is. After we were done walking around for class, we split off into different groups. We went and got gelato. I tried a small cone of chocolate mint so I could compare it to America's. I have to say that I like America's better. But, I think that the fruit gelati will be much better. I have yet to try them yet. That night we had a dance party with some local Italians. They taught us Italian songs and dances, it was fun.

Thursday we had Italian class in the morning. My teacher's name is Giovanni. He speaks in Italian during class with only a couple English words now and then. It was overwhelming at first trying to figure out what he was saying. Once I got the hang of it, it got easier. He uses actions and a marker board to help explain things to us. That class lasted 2 hours as well. In the afternoon we had our Saints and Mystics of Italy class, also 2 hours. That evening I went into Florence with a few people to the Piazza di Michelangelo. Here you can look out over the whole city of Florence. It was amazing at night! I want to go back again sometime during daylight. On the way back we stopped at a cute little pizzaria. I didn't get anything, pretty sure that didn't make them very happy. haha

Friday we had Italian class in the morning. After that I went into Florence to the market. There people sell clothes, purses, hats, books...etc. It was pretty cool. We walked around the market for a while and then explored other streets and shops in Florence. It was quite fun. By the time we got back my legs were quite tired. But, I went on another walk later that night with 3 others. The road led us down and around Settignano. It was an enjoyable walk.

Yesterday nearly all of us took the bus to Fiazole, a town on a hill similar to Settignano. There we climbed to a great lookout above Florence and ate our lunch. We did some other exploring and made our way to cool looking building (maybe a museum) and we sat out on the steps and enjoyed the afternoon. On the way back, some of us stopped at the Coop, a local grocery store. We bought some bread, ham, and cheese for our dinner that night. As we headed up the hill on a bus to our Villa, we met another bus going the opposite direction. The roads are very very narrow and there were cars lined up behind both busses. The bus drivers had to have a momentary conference about how to handle the situation. They did quite the maneuvering before we eventually squeezed on by. Driving in Italy is scary!!! I spent some time with my professor's family that evening. He and his wife have 4 boys (12, 9, 5, and 2). They were a lot of fun.

Anyway, today I went to Mass in Italian just up the hill in Settignano. I felt like I was sitting there with a bunch of Nana's. :-) I did homework, went on a walk, and just relaxed. It's been a good day. Tomorrow we will have Art and History class by touring more in Florence and also class in the classroom.

I hope you all are well. I love and miss you.
Buononotte! ...as we like to say here. :-D
Anna