Orientation and Full Emersion

Orientation here was very similar to Pomona’s, with the slight difference of the language being spoken alternated between English and Italian: va bene. We were definitely spoiled in the Pomona way, with lectures in a historic and beautiful (well I think those two words always go to together, but that’s just me) theater house and dinner in a classy restaurant next to the Palazzo Vecchio. It was a good night with good food, jazz, and a great view.

Syracuse University in Florence is set in the Piazza Savonarola, and yes it is a nice as the name implies. We have courtyards with wireless (which is the only place I can use the internet for free) and some nice panoramic views of the city from the upper floors of the school. The rooms get a bit hot, but that’s why I have a portable fan shaped like an ipod, yes very motherly of me, but it helps beat the heat. My favorite place by far is the “Quiet Room” where they have couches, chairs, tables, plugs for to charge your electronics, and windows that open out to the main square and back garden. I would have to say the real reason why I love it in there, is because of the sign that says you can sleep in there. The sign said I could, so I did and it was the best nap I’ve had since I arrived in Florence. This room is going to be my new hide-away at the school, if for no other purpose, than to sleep during down time.

I registered for my classes, and for the first time was in the first group to register and subsequently got into all of my classes. I’m also living in a single in my home stay, so I’m hoping this trend will continue into next semester. My classes are Intermediate Italian, A History of Witchcraft, Art History: Antiquity to Michelangelo, and Classical Mythology. The best part is that there are no Friday classes, making it that much easier to travel around. We have field trips with our classes and the school practically every weekend, a great bonus. I’ve planned out my trips already, and this coming Friday I’m heading out for a day trip to Assisi.

My home stay is pretty awesome. I’m living a 15-minute walk/short bus ride away from the school. I have a single room in the apartment of an older widow named Franca. She speaks no English, which isn’t a problem at all and since I’ve been living with her my Italian has gotten so much better. She says I speak well, which makes me really excited and gives me hope of being amazing after 4 months of living with her. She enjoys the movies and television, so we’ve been watching a lot of TV during our down time. I’m very happy that I’m going to get to watch some of my favorite TV shows while I’m in Italy, dubbed over in Italian of course. Ugly Betty starts this week, along with Franca’s favorite show Il Dottor House! I can’t wait for House’s sass in Italian. And before these shows begin, there is a Pomona favorite, Chuck Norris è Walker: Texas Ranger. Basically, Italian TV is very amusing.

After Syracuse finished orienting us, we were set free on our full emersion weekend. On Saturday, Rody and I walked around exploring Florence. We met these really nice Alumni who guided us to a yummy and cheap restaurant for lunch. The food was pretty good, but it was really all about the fruit we had there. Rody will back me up on this. We also learned that Hugh Grant’s brother owns a sit down restaurant in the same area, I have vowed to go back, find it, and eat there, when I have more money. We then went to the centro and began taking lots of photos of the Duomo. I know I’m going to be here for a long time, and that Duomo is going to get so many photos taken of it, by me it’s going to be ridiculous. I know I look touristy doing it, but I have accepted it and have moved on. While walking around, I also saw my first designer stores/prices. I took photos of the D&G prices, cause I just needed proof of how ridic expensive these clothes are. After I came out of shock, we continued to walk around, burning off the calories from the delish Italian food. Then we came upon, the Uffizi Gallery. Well first we came upon the Palazzo with all of the huge statues and fountain with huge statues in it. Then we spotted the fake David, which was the sign that we were at the Uffizi Gallery. Art + history + museum with amazing panoramic views of the city = me in heaven. But the Uffizi is huge and we were tired so we didn’t stay long, plus we have a free museum pass so I’ll be back again in no time.

On Sunday, I woke up and did something I was excited for but still very nervous to do: I walked, on my own to church. Granted it was only a few blocks, but it was the first time I had gone out by myself to a place I wasn’t quite sure where it was. I got there with no problems, acting like a local and not speaking to sketch street vendors who called out to me. Then the next hard part, get through a Catholic Sunday mass entirely in Italian with strangers. I do know how the mass works; it just took a while to catch on to what was being said. I mean, the priest wasn’t just speaking Italian, he was speaking church Italian. Off the top of your head can you tell me the translation to “peace I bring you, my peace I give you. Lord look not on our faults and failings...” and so on? Yeah, I thought so. Also, the Creed is hard enough to remember in English, let alone another language. So I kinda faked it while I was there, I mean it’s the thought that counts. But on a plus side, cute boys go with their mothers to church. Afterwards I made it back to my apartment and had lunch with Franca, her daughter Piatricia, and her old friend Mariza. Trust me, it was confusing. She decided to call me La Marisa, and Mariza simply Mariza. It made sense in context. Then Piatricia and her husband, who are in their late 30s, took me on a trip to Chianti. In retrospect, traveling is fun, but getting there and back was difficult to say the least. The rodes in the countryside are steep, windy, and not really wide enough to fit to cars at once. There were several occasions where we had to pull over to the side ie the small amount of grass that separated the cliff from the rode, or back up so the other car could pass. But it was worth the fear and nausea. We went around some of the smaller towns in Chianti and stumbled upon a wine festival. It was very crowded with people tasting the vendors’ wine (I mean it is Chianti), cheese, and other products. I was glad to see that no one was selling any Fava beans….or liver. Hahaha, I crack myself up. Sorry guys, I just started school, I need some amusement. We had some gelato, and the decided that the place was way too crowded so we set off to explore another neighboring town. Then we came upon the most amazing place. Basically, long Italian name that you don’t care about the origin of, the main point is, is that it’s a really old medieval town, home to about 100 residents. I was thrilled to see, first hand, how people lived in the era that I am studying. The streets were worn down from centuries of traffic, and the outer stone wall still showed its’ battle scars. I felt transported back in time, and then I looked over and saw one of the inhabitants of this place open a shed and get into their Audi, and it kinda killed my daydream. We then took a rollercoaster of a car ride home and settled in for the evening.

That’s about it for now. The facebook album with photos from my travels is up, so you can look at it in conjunction with this post for the full effect. Alla prossima.