La mia settimana...

I've got to get better at this posting thing. It's hard to post daily because I don't have internet at my host family, and while I'm at school I'm either a)in class, b)eating my lunch (panino di mozzarella e pomodoro) or c)doing homework. Oh well, I'll do my best.


My work load will decrease slightly because I've decided to drop my Italian Renaissance History class. Originally I was taking six classes, 18 credit hours, which everyone kept telling me was crazy to do since I'm in Italy and should allow myself time to explore my surroundings instead of the insides of mass amounts of books. I decided they were correct so I opted to drop the Renaissance class over my Italian Lit. class because I'm getting a lot of Renaissance history in my Art History course and I really want to improve my Italian language skills. Plus, the Renaissance class would only count as an elective, while the other courses can actually fulfill requirements.

So, my schedule is as follows:

Lunedi
09.00-10.30 Art History: Medici to Furturists
12.45-14.45 Advanced Language Usage (Italian 325)

Martedi
09.00-10.30 20th Cenutry Europe
13.10-14.40 Italian Government and Politics
14.50-16.40 Patterns of Modernity in 20th Century Italian Lit.

Mercoledi
09.00-10.30 Art History (site visit day)
12.45-14.45 Advanced Language Usage

Giovedi
09.00-10.30 20th Century Europe
13.10-14.40 Italian Government and Politics
14.50-16.20 Italian Lit.

Venerdi
Niente! So, that means that this Friday I'm headed on a day trip to Assisi. I'm really looking forward to the trip, I've heard Assisi is beautiful. On Saturday I'm going on another day trip to Ravenna, another gorgeous Italian city.

This past weekend was full of fun, and a victory for La Viola (Fiorentina)! The game was intense, but it was so much fun. I feel like I've got a photograph of me in my purple shirt and Florentina scarf somewhere, I just have to find it.







Ok, well, my coffee break is done and I must get back to work. I've got a lecture to go to in a few hours about Italy's role in the Holocaust (it's Remembrance week).

Ciao ciao!
Anna =)

School's Out for...the weekend

I've almost made it. Only two classes stand between me and the weekend. =) I've liked all my classes so far, and they aren't really that hard, but the problem is that they are all very reading intensive, and being the academic nerd that I am, I'm taking a lot of them.


I know I can always just drop a class if it's too much (don't want to spend my whole time in Florence indoors with a book in my face), but I don't know which one I'd drop. The reading and subject matter is interesting for all of them, and the profs are pretty interesting as well. Plus, I've never dropped a class in my life. We'll see.


I went to the Bargello museum yesterday. It's mainly a sculpture museum in the center of Florence. It used to house the chief of police and was also a prison before being converted into a museum in the mid-late 1800s. It houses some Michelangelos (not his most famous ones though) and has a room full of Donatellos (I finally saw the actual statue of David in bronze--prior to my museum visit I had only seen it in several different books). Oh, and Ghiberti's and Brunellischi's entries for the Baptistry door competition! Those were interesting, although I don't know how Ghiberti beat out Brunellishci because both seemed fairly equal (maybe a coin toss??).


Anyways, this weekend will be spent exploring the city some more, and trying to get ahead on my reading (next weekend should hopefully be full of trips to Assisi and Ravenna).

Oh, and soccer on Sunday!!! Forza Fiorentina! (haha, you'll see/hear that a lot from me because I'm that awesome).

ciao ciao!
-Anna =)

Monday, Monday

I finally feel like I've got two feet on the ground, and a grip on my life. Don't get me wrong, the past week has been great, but hectic and a bit draining.

I just got out of my first class, Introduction to Art History: Medici to Futurists. It's my first brush with art history, and I think we're going to get along just fine. The class includes a lot of on site visits to view the art we discuss, which will help me to appreciate it more, I think. Plus there's a trip to Roma in February, yea! The rest of today consists of Italian class (crossing my fingers that I'm not in over my head) and Italian Renaissance History (I know for sure that I'm not in over my head with this one, haha).

So my host family is quite cute and fun. Caterina and Alberto live in this pretty apartment at the base of the hill that goes up to Fiesole. Caterina is a graphic designer and Alberto is an architect. Their two kids, Pietro (3 1/2 years) and Dario (15 mos.) are adorable! Pietro runs around pretending to be Superman, or St. George slaying a dragon. Dario is one of the happiest kids I've ever seen, constantly smiling and jumping around. He says "Ciao" and, well, that's about it. The family has an au pair from New Mexico, named Alexis, who is in Florence studying vocal performance. It's nice to have her around to show me and my roommate, Katy, the city.

We all toured the city yesterday, and Caterina and Alberto seemed to know every person we passed on the street. Here are some of the photos from that day:


Pietro!

Ponte Vecchio

View from Pizza di Michelangelo

Copy of Michelangelo's "David" in his piazza

Alexis adjusts Dario, who keeps falling out of his seat


I also bought my first soccer ticket this weekend! It's for Sunday's game, Fiorentina v. Livorno. I'm very excited, now all I need is a purple Firenze shirt.

Forza Fiorentina!

-Anna =)

Please secure your mask before assisting a child...

Well, I made it to Firenze. The past several days have been nuts and things won't be slowing down for at least another week. I flew out of good ol' Columbus on Monday morning. I spent the afternoon chilling at JFK, where I spent $9.00 on a McDonald's salad and a medium diet coke. The flight from NYC to Frankfurt was about 6 1/2 hours, but it didn't seem that long. I sat next to a girl from Poland, who was returning home after studying abroad in New York. She was nice and indulged my tendency to ask a lot of questions. In Frankfurt I had my first cup of European coffee. It wasn't espresso, but it definitely wasn't coffee. In any event, it gave me the kick in the bum I needed to stay awake. We arrived in Firenze, finally, around noon on Tuesday.

Since then it's been an endless laundry list of tasks to accomplish: configure computer for wireless access, make copies of passport, fill out permesso di soggiorno forms for the Italian police, attended many meetings, make up a schedule, meet host families, etc. etc.

So, in a few hours I'll be meeting and leaving with my host family. It's a married couple with a 2 year old son, which should be fun. They sound like nice people and their home is about a 25 min. walk from campus, which I'm actually happy about. I love morning walks, plus now I've got an excuse to get una biccicletta!!! =)

Once I get into the swing of things, I promise photographs and more interesting stories. Right now I'm just trying to get all my tasks accomplished, and then--when I have a moment to breath--I'll finally get to take in this beautiful city.

Ciao ciao!

Take one

So, I know everyone loves those long impersonal mass emails people send out while they are abroad documenting every breath they take in a foreign country, but no one will be receiving those from me. Due to limited Internet availability and my desire to post photos, I'll just be blogging from Florence. Check it out if you want. Or don't (I won't be offended).


A quick thanks to the lovely Sarah Mumma for the idea of a blog.



10 days to go...