HI EVERYONE!

I’m back, did you miss me? The last two weeks have been absolutely amazing, and I have officially been here for 5 weeks (WHAT). I’ve settled into an amazing routine here in Florence, and I feel almost like a local, which is amazing. On Mondays I have all four classes which never fails to remind me that studying abroad really does mean studying… a lot. But I love all of my classes and my professors are pretty cool. One of my favorite things is that since I am taking three art history classes about half of my classes a week are on site, which means we are either walking around the city or going to a museum. Last week we took a bus up one of the mountains near Florence to talk about Mediterranean migration patterns while actually looking over Florence. IT WAS SO COOL… a little windy and cold, but awesome. Last weekend I also headed up to Bologna to visit the Dickinson in Bologna students because it’s only a 30 minute train ride. It was so nice to see all of the Dickinson students because it felt like being at school again. It was really interesting to see how the programs differed and how different it was to be living in an apartment compared to my home-stay. I also got to eat amazing meals because fun fact: Bologna is the gastronomical capitol of the world. The food was amazing, to die for, enviable, rich, pasta, I could go on. The coolest thing was that all of the main streets in Bologna close on Saturdays so the whole community was out and about shopping, and just living. It was so fun to see a huge Italian community together because Bologna is WAY less touristy than Florence. I got back on Sunday to go to our favorite brunch place- a good substitute for Fays! Then I geared up for my long week this week!

On Tuesday I only have one class but then I fill the rest of the day! I am volunteering with a Cooperativa here in Florence, and I work once a week with the most amazing artist doing art therapy. Neither the artist nor any of the students in the class speak English so its a really good way for me to speak Italian and gain some teaching experience. Then this Tuesday I got to take a cooking class after with my friends! We made our own pasta from scratch, and made ravioli, tagliettelle and tagiolini (angel hair pasta). We also made our own sauces- one pepper sauce and another tomato with a bunch of other vegetables. We also made the most amazing tiramisu ever. THEN we got to chow down and eat it all! It was so much fun and so worth waiting three hours to eat it! Tonight I am headed to a Fiorentina soccer game and I am so excited. I’ve already bought my purple and I can’t wait to go ALL OUT. It’s supposed to rain because typical Florence, but I’m still pumped. This weekend I’m heading to Rome with a class so I will make sure I keep you updated! Okay ciao for now!