Oh the things that you see!

Last night we had a bit of excitement when a water pipe burst on our street causing our water to be shut off! It happened to be right when we were getting ready for bed but we managed to use the trickle from the faucet to brush our teeth at least! We learned this morning that this is not uncommon in Florence in the winter-- the pipes are so old and small that when temperatures get very cold they freeze and easily burst. We are truly living the Italian way now!

   

Not much to report from today-- class was better but I have been busy studying the last few hours for a quiz and presentation tomorrow! Our cultural activity of the day was watching an Italian movie with Luca, one of my Italian language teachers right now and I think also teaches the Italian Cinema class during the semester. We watched "Caterina va in città" which was pretty long but I did like it more than I expected. Check it out if you get the chance!

Since I don't have much to share for today I thought I'd share a few of my many observations of Florence:

• Dogs are treated like people here. Most of them are smaller dogs but you see them on the streets, in restaurants, in clothing stores, or running around by the river. Most of them look to be purebred and treated like royalty!
• We still don't know how to take out our garbage. There is a bin outside our door our landlady told us to use but then someone told me not to when I tried to do it! As of now we sneak out our bagged trash at night and put it with the restaurant's pile across the street... don't tell on us!
• Streets are not marked here and are hectic. Oftentimes when walking to class we think we're on a pedestrian only area only to have to dodge a bus! Also, sidewalks here are a joke; they are so skinny that two can barely walk on them in parts and most people just walk on the street and jump on the sidewalk when cars approach. 
• When walking back from class by the Duomo I often pass many street vendors doing caricatures, selling art, or little touristy things. Some people sell posters of pictures of Italian-esque things by laying them all spread out on the street to display. Today a police car drove by the Duomo as I walked by and they quickly scooped up their posters and walked away nonchalantly... something smells fishy! 

That's all for today-- expect some adventures from this weekend!