Ciao di Firenze!

Ciao!

I haven't really had much time to breathe but I finally got a chance to sit down at school with some (free) internet so I can type up some details about my trip so far. I've been here 5 days and already familiarizing myself rather well with the city, or at least my section of it. I use the maps I have all the time, but I find that I need them less and less as time goes on. This is probably due to Bill and I using a lot of our initial time here to wander around. Although because of the orientation schedule it's often after hours (everything closes so early... that's Europe for you I suppose) so I haven't had a chance to actually go inside very much. I pass the Duomo every day but I still have not been inside it. I'm sure once I get more established and settled in I'll get around to that. I definitely want to see as much of the historical parts of the city as I can. Although for some museums, like the Uffizi, I think I will wait until after my classes have taken me to visit there, since it does not have descriptions underneath the artwork. I'd rather know what exactly the artwork is before I spend money to go and look at it.

Although I have not gotten a chance to sit down and type extensively at a computer until today I have been writing diligently in my physical journal nearly every day so I will not forget the details before I get a chance to put them here.

My schedule is nice, since I nearly have two days off per week and then jam packed on the other two days (Fridays are reserved for field trips). Which gives me time to get ahead on my work on my days off and to explore the city, get chores done (like going to the shops to buy food, or the farmer's market which is dirt cheap but only open from 7.00- 14.00), and the like. I met one of my professors and while she seems difficult she also seems really fascinating, so I am excited to take the class.

So, without further ado, here is my synopsis of the past few days according to my journal:

01-09-08 Arrival in Firenze

The flight was uncomfortable but went smoothly. We had assigned seats but we just happened to strike up a conversation with someone who had the seat next to Bill, and he was kind enough to switch out. I didn't get much sleep, which made the rest of the day when we arrived a little difficult. We arrived early (by a whole hour), and walked through the rain to two buses waiting for us. However, they had not taken into account our luggage, and we had to leave half of our luggage in the rain at the airport with a supervisor until more buses came to cart them to Firenze.

The Italian countryside was very pretty but also very poor. Most of the houses were dilapidated with entire ruins of centuries-old roofless houses (some of the tiles still sticking to the walls) just sitting in the front yard with a chicken coop and rusted out farming equipment. The vineyards ni the area weren't incredibly large, though I'm sure others are much bigger. To my surprise there were a lot of birch orchards -- birch wood must be in high demand for so many people growing it in neat little lines. Some of the houses are painted curiously only on one side, while the other looks old and rotted away. Many of them are painted in a very bright, very Italian yellow color. I think in the springtime when the leaves come back and the country is greener it will be prettier. But the trees are very interesting, the big tall skinny evergreens and the strange mushroom-capped evergreens that so well characterize Italian plantlife.

So we arrived in the train station of Firenze with no luggage, and had to wait another two hours on the bus to finally go to our apartments via taxi. Everyone was grumpy, wet, exhausted, and eager to just lay down and take a nap. Bill was lucky, he had all of his luggage and was taken straight to his apartment by the bus.

Since we were carted on different buses, Bill and I decided to meet at the Duomo at 18.00. Unfortunately when I got to my apartment I was so exhausted that I overslept and got there 45 minutes late (after getting thoroughly lost and somehow ending up near the Ponte Vecchio) but luckily Bill was still waiting for me when I arrived. I went to visit his apartment, which is on the opposite side of town, about a 25 minute walk. His apartment, though far away from the center of the city, is humongous. They have vaulted ceilings, huge rooms that at UConn would be considered quadruples but here only house two people per room, a giant well-stocked kitchen, and two bathrooms, as well as a garden in the back that they have a key to. My apartment is not quite so nice. It smells a little funny, like an old Italian grandmother, and is decorated the same way -- pink florals and lacy windows covers and towelettes. It's much smaller, but quaint and comfortable, although it is difficult to get any sunlight in the room. The kitchen is miniscule, just one counter with enough room between the stove and the wall for one person at a time, and the fridge is no more than 3 feet tall. I suppose I will have to buy all my perishables the same day, so that they don't spoil -- there is no room in the fridge. My apartment, however, is only a 2 minute walk from the school, and if I could walk out the back of my building I would step out on the doorstep of my school.

Bill's roommates are very nice -- we shared some Chianti with them and chatted before going out to a restaurant. It is weird to feel like a foreigner, and I do feel very much out of my element. It makes me embarrassed and timid, but already I feel that I have learned enough Italian to at least order a coffee and see how much it costs -- even if I have to grunt and point at things or ask them how to say something. Most people speak English but I feel that it's rude to just assume that they want to or can speak English to me. I find that they are much nicer when you at least try.

We already encountered a drug dealer who stands in the same place all day, every day, offering every drug you can think of. We ignore him and he goes away. Sometimes when it's really a bother we just go around, since apparently his corner is consistent. It's shady, but a little amusing.

Firenze 1-10-08 to 1-12-08 Orientation

It's really rainy here. I was forced to buy an umbrella, something I guess we don't use much in America. I suppose because we walk everywhere and it doesn't rain that much. But so far it has rained for at least part of the day every day. The Italians all dress so nicely all the time -- I feel uncomfortable and like I stick out in just a pair of jeans. I definitely don't have the guts to wear a sweatshirt or sweatpants outside, even to go to the grocery store. It's just not something you do here. I don't know why, though, the Italians are so obsessed with their shoes (you can tell an Italian by the quality of their shoes -- the Americans you can spot from a mile away by their footwear) when all it does is rain and you get them all wet all the time. I have not seen a pair of galoshes since I arrived, but a million pairs of expensive leather boots or even metallic sneakers. I feel like I'd ruin all my shoes if I wore the nice ones out in the rain.

The nightlife is an interesting mix of Americans and Italians. Yesterday we went to an American-style bar to watch a football game and honestly it was very boring. The clubs look like fun, full of incredibly stylish people but the cover charges are supposed to be ridiculous: nearly a 15 Euro cover charge, not including actually buying drinks inside (that's over $20 USD). So 20 bucks, just to get inside the stupid place. A lot of the Americans are very embarrassing -- too loud, too drunk, too late at night. You can see why the Italians have a generally negative opinion of us (the American students, anyway). Especially since the Italian youth (although not past 25, it seems) imitate the behaviour as well. Bill and I, two nights ago, went to a wine bar and it was much more pleasant. We enjoyed a few glasses of Chianti Classico red wine and some chips and chatted for an hour or two. This is mostly what the Italians do, rather than the raucous, noisy bars catered towards young Italians and American students.

I am trying to get used to planning dinner and cooking; Bill and I made pasta together with a loaf of delicious Tuscan bread from a local bakery. The water you really have to buy in bottles -- you can drink tap water and be okay, but it tastes very bad do to calcium buildup in old pipes. After just a few days I have already picked up survivable Italian, due in great part to my Italian handbook and by asking locals how to say something. They seem very eager to educate and are generally very nice about teaching words and phrases when I don't know how to say something. I think that I will pick up Italian very fast here, at least to the point of getting through an entire transaction with no English at all -- I'm already almost at that point, and it has only been 4 days. We've sampled some of the local fair -- I must say I've already converted to Italian style coffee, which is basically espresso. The gelato is delicious too. We've explored a lot more than many of the other students here so we already have some favorite places to eat or get coffee.

One weird thing is that you don't tip anyone here, except for taxi drivers. Instead, you pay to take up space -- or rather, to sit down. So a coffee will cost 0.85 Euro standing up at the bar or "to go," but 3.00 Euro if you sit down, for a 2.00 Euro "taking up a chair" fee. It's kind of weird, but amounts to the same thing if you were to tip.

Well, class in 10 minutes. Ciao for now :)