Life in Firenze

Living in Florence has been such an adventure so far. I am slowly learning my way around the city, and I've found that getting myself lost has been the best way to better my sense of direction! There is so much to do and see and the city is always so busy that it's a little overwhelming.

My english teacher is taking our class to a monastery museum tonight. I'm not exactly sure what it will entail but I'll be sure to write all about it. There are only 5 of us in the class so she has promised to take us to different important museums and sights around the city - something I'm really excited for!

Walking down the narrow streets of Florence has been my go to activity outside of class and homework. Through this I have found that pedestrians do NOT have the right of way here in Firenze.. crossing the street is super dangerous! If you're not totally aware of traffic you will get run over by a vespa. Not kidding. It's scary!

I haven't had too much trouble with gypsies or anything like that, the only place that i literally clutched my purse the entire day was Paris. The mugging is super bad there. People's purses get slashed open, ripped off their bodies, it's bad. I always have a hand on my purse but I haven't had any threatening situations here in Florence yet.

I'm taking a class called Sociology of Italian Culture, and it's really interesting. It's once a week for three hours, 3:30 to 6:30, and so far we have been discussing the major differences and stereotypes between the American and Italian cultures. What makes it interesting is our teacher, who is a Florentine, studied abroad in American when he was 17 so he can relate to being immersed into a totally different culture, just like we are here in Italy. He has stereotypes of Americans just like we do of Italians so it's really interesting to discuss. He was totally shocked when I told him I had never seen Under the Tuscan Sun because he thought all American women loved the film.. so when I told him I hadn't seen it he automatically assumed I was not very feminine. He said, "oh, so you're a sporty girl?" It was pretty comical. I guess I'll have to see the movie now!

This weekend I'm going with a student travel company to the French Riviera. We're going to Nice and Monaco, and I really hope the weather is going to be nice! It's pretty much the last weekend to spend any time at the beach and all that, so I'm praying for sunshine! Either way, I know it's going to be an awesome weekend and I am excited to take some really beautiful pictures. Ciao for now!