First Week In Firenze

I've been to all my classes now, and had Italian every day this week. I seem to be learning more phrases and words, but whenever I actually need to use what I learned I can't remember it. 

Funny story. I was at the grocery store, and was at the checkout when the cashier held up the lemon I had put on the counter. He started saying a lot of things in Italian that I didn't really understand and I got flustered to the point that all I could do was shake my head and make a confused face. It was really awkward. Eventually he realized I didn't

 speak Italian (of course this felt like five hours later and it was really five minutes) and he asked, very slowly, very drawn out, "do you want-a this-a lemon?" I said no and basically jogged out of the store. This probably doesn't sound that embarrassing, but when you're trying to pretend  you understand what they're saying, and then stand there dumbstruck when they wait for an answer...it's not good. 

Had some good experiences too though, most of my classes seem pretty interesting except for my music theory and aural comprehension classes. But those are always boring. My politics class seems really interesting; our professor is German and the class is about Western European Politics, so naturally, he's pretty qualified to teach the class. There's only five students in the class, so I feel like we will get a lot of individual attention. (a.k.a. can't skip class.) Not that I do this!!!

We watched the inauguration during this class (it happened to be at the same time) and it was interesting to see what a different perspective you get watching it from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. It's amazing how our election affects so many people around the world, and can spark such debate and celebration. He mentioned once how our democracy is not true to the sense of the word, that democracy means "the people govern" or something like that in Greek, and that since America's president affects so many other countries and political choices around the world, the whole world should vote for our president...or something like that. It was an interesting point. Obviously, a democracy in that sense would be impossible in America's case...but it was interesting nonetheless. 

       Moving on from politics, I had to wake up this morning

 for my 9 o'clock class, which was not fun. My art market class seems really fascinating, we get to take trips to see real workshops around Florence, like a woodworker and gold gilder and silk weaver's workshop which all sounds amazing. 

Back to food, I had the most incredible pastry this morning with my cappucino, filled with chocolate and some kind of egg cream. It was seriously so good. I didn't know Italians had such good pastries. I must say, I'm beginning to enjoy the way they eat around here. 

Kristine

First Few Days in Florence

When I arrived in Florence, it was close to midnight. I was exhausted after a loooooong day of traveling, and I was standing in line to wait for a taxi to take me to NYU's campus. I didn't know much Italian, I learned to say "buona sera" on the trip, so I said this to my taxi driver when he came to take my bags. I was surprised he was so nice, even when I asked if he could speak English. He tried to give me a few facts on Florence as we drove around in the dark, of what few things I could actually see. We eventually got to NYU and I picked up my keys and an orientation packet and he drove me to my apartment. I lugged my two suitcases in through two big doors and up one tiny elevator, and was finally here. 

Since then, I have learned to be as inconspicuously American as possible. Traveling in large groups is a giveaway, as is speaking loudly in English. I have met both rude and lovable Italians, and have surprisingly been picking up basic Italian pretty quickly. At least the important things, like how to order food, and how to ask for directions. 

Our apartment is shared with 11 girls, and we live in a building with other Italian families. Most of the girls are really nice, and me and Nicole have made friends with a lot of them. 

It took me a few days to get my bearings, but by now I have a good general sense of direction, and can find my way to the Duomo and a few of the piazzas and campus without too much trouble. The city doesn't seem as big once you know your way around it. We also were given a short walking tour of our neighborhood, which wasn't too helpful, except we got free gelato and found a good place to buy fresh bread.

The bus tour we took today was probably the most tourist-y yet informative thing we have done so far. We saw so many of the great landmarks in Florence, and I got really good pictures overlooking Florence and of its churches and streets. 

Last night, we made a really good pasta dinner that cost us probably 2 euro for both me and Nicole, so we should definitely try making dinner ourselves as often as possible. 

I guess that's it for now, I will post pictures and things later. Feel free to comment! 

Ciao!