cold.

Not much to write about today. It snowed all morning which was absolutely beautiful but once again it was super frigid in the city! Unfortunately, as my literature professor said, it's as if the city of Florence has an umbrella above it because the snow does not stick anywhere! However he said there are inches of snow in all the surrounding parts of the city; I bet it's so beautiful! 
  
After classes today (which I really love, both involve renaissance history which is so fascinating while living here) it was too cold to really go do anything. I had a classic lazy afternoon, watching two movies and cat napping in our loft. After dinner we had a great time playing games with our apartment and girls from the apartment across the street!
  
Our big adventure of the night was going to a secret bakery. These bakeries are where all the yummy croissants and such are made all night and then delivered early in the morning to bakeries around town. You can smell them from blocks away (it's heavenly) and they are tough to find unless you know what you're looking for! Unfortunately, we got there too early (1 AM) so no croissants for us. :( 
  
And for my father: don't worry, I didn't get too cold because I was wearing a wool sweater, wool coat, puffer vest, rain jacket, and two scarves. I literally looked like a turtle with half of my head in my shell. But, life goes on in this cold weather so we're just going to have to adapt! 

But I'm stuck in colder weather

Well, the snow was a bit of a letdown. It was beautiful when it was falling last night but we woke up only to a mere dusting on the rooftops. However, our study abroad adviser at UNC joked that (since it's so rare) if it snowed in Florence she would buy us all drinks...so we'll see if that pans out... Either way, I'm two for two for rare natural events. With the earthquake last week and the snow this week clearly Florence is putting on a show for me. I just hope this cold weather ends soon, I'm tired of loosing feeling in my face when walking to class!
  
Tonight was my first night in my "Food of Italy" course! I'm very excited about this class and I have a good feeling that my super Italian teacher, Michele, is not going to disappoint. Today he cooked for us but kind of gave us an overview of how the class will run for the rest of the semester. He showed us the best way to chop different vegetables (I've been doing it all wrong) and how to make a delicious simple tomato sauce. I had no idea how easy it was and when we got to eat the spaghetti with this simple sauce I was amazed at all the flavor we got out of just olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, tomato juice, salt, pepper, and a few dried peppers (for a little spice). So simple yet so delicious. 

The most interesting part of watching him cook was when he was boiling the water for the spaghetti. He told us to always have a lot of water in the pot, make sure it's at a rolling boil, then add salt. I always thought "add salt" meant add a pinch or two. He scoffed at that and for the 3 boxes of pasta he cooked he added over a heaping handfull of salt! I thought he was joking but Italians don't joke about their pasta! He then proceeded to add about half a handful of salt to the sauce as well. Yeah, sodium! Now I've got lots of good tricks after only one class, I can't wait to master them!
  
Finally, the last highlight of today was my celebrity meeting. Ok, well you may not consider him a celebrity, but I was secretly super excited. Andy Steves owns a travel agency which leads trips for students studying abroad in different cities. He started his own company and leads tours around Europe on weekends. Oh and no big deal he is the son of Rick Steves, as in THE Rick whose book I read 600 pages of before traveling to Italy (I know, excessive.) Tonight he had a travel info session and I decided to stop in despite the chilly night. He gave good advice and I'm not sure if I'll actually go on of his trips (although I'm sure they're fantastic), but I got a free dinner and drink out of it so no complaints here!

If it's going to be this cold, it just has to snow

Today was day two of classes and they went just as well as yesterday! My Tuesday/Thursday classes are "Italian Renaissance Civilization and Culture" and "Dante, Petrarca, Boccaccio: Italian Literature of the Renaissance". I'm in class from 10:30-1:45 for the two classes but that's it for the day! They seem like they will be very interesting-- I am so excited to learn more about the culture that shaped Florence as a city! 
   
After class I ran some errands around town-- getting my ID made, buying textbooks, and grocery shopping. It's great that I can navigate my way through the city to get all these things accomplished! However, the one challenge to running my errands is this frigid weather! As I lamented about yesterday, Florence is SO cold right now! Stefano, my literature professor, told us that besides the snow Florence saw in December of last year, the last time it snowed in Florence was about 28 years ago and they got a ton! I'll be interested to see if Florence pulls a North Carolina move and shuts down if the snow sticks on the ground. We've had flurries on-and-off since about 2 this afternoon but it's being pretty consistent right now (but no sticking on the ground). Check out the forecast for the next 3 hours... this will either be the storm of the century or a total bust! Either way, I may need ski poles to get to class tomorrow through that wind!

Here's a quick shot out my window mostly for my Mother who requested a picture... not much to see yet!

Baby it's cold outside

I know, I know, you're all anxiously awaiting my report from my first real day of classes. Well, I'll cut out the suspense so you can sleep tonight! (jokes...) Mondays I have two classes from 1:30 to 2:45 and 3-4:15. I like having them back to back so that I don't have to waste time in between, but I also get to sleep in! 

After a lazy morning with a nice breakfast and lunch at home, I went to my first class, Introduction to Italian Philosophy. It's going to be basically what you'd expect... studying Italian philosopher's thoughts, many from the Renaissance. I have Cecilia, my teacher, for two classes this semester and she seems great. The class shouldn't have too much work except readings so hopefully it will be a good exercise for my mind... those of you who know me well know I've been dreading filling this philosophy credit!
   
My second class is my Italian 102 class which is with 8 other UNC students. I love the small class size and my teacher, Mara, seems really great as well... today we learned how to tell time which somehow we skipped in the 101 class! 
  
Tonight LDM hosted a welcome reception for its students... all 1000 of us! I liked meeting people from all over the country/world studying in Florence-- everyone is so different! Most notably though the reception was in the Palazzo Borghese, which is an incredibly beautiful building. I stopped hunting down food (like a scavenger, it's a little embarrassing) and looked around at the opulent decorations of the building and it was just another reminder of what a historic city I live in that has buildings as decadent as these!
  
The most notable thing of though is the weather. Florence is COLD right now! The highs are in the low 40's but the 10-20 mph winds slice right through you! Plus, walking down the streets somehow becomes walking through a wind tunnel. Let's just take a looksie at the 10 day forecast... 

Florence doesn't get snow. The Florentines are still talking about the snow they got last December because it is such a rare thing. So the fact that snow is being predicted for 3 of the next 10 days is just insane! So here's to the hats, scarves, gloves, and three layers of sweaters I'll be wearing to class this week!

Guess who's coming to lunch!

Today I decided to check out St. Mark's Anglican Church in Florence. Although rather unassuming from the outside, the inside of this church was beautiful! The congregation only had about 25 people, and I was probably the youngest person there. The service was very, very traditionally Anglican so once again I was totally winging it, but I'm all about new and awkward experiences!
  
Probably the highlight of this experience was that while leaving the service, the pastor asked me if I was coming to a luncheon they were having. I said I didn't have anything to bring but he insisted I should stay... so instead of ducking out of the clearly awkward circumstance I went for it! Probably the best part was meeting quite a variety of people-- here are some profiles of the most notable.
  
1. An Italian couple who literally looked straight out a movie they were so Italian. The man is a historian and she is either a biologist or pharmacist (Italian accents are rough, yall) at a local hospital. He's planning a move for them in the next few years to an english speaking country in order to get out of the situation with the Euro. His three options are outside of London, Arizona, or New Zealand. They go to this church to help work on their English skills. 
   
2. A man from Melborne, Australia who is the only male in the 5 person choir. He brings them down a whole octave! (I hope someone gets that reference). He mostly just talked about how much he liked the food (there were about 5 different types of quiches there).
  
3. A 79 year old retired Anglican pastor from Texas. He worked at churches in Mexico City, Costa Rica, and Guatemala for a long time. Blind in one eye, he filled me in on the differences between this church and the Anglican church in the United states and told me about the Post Office's cafeteria near my apartment where he likes the cooked vegetables. 
  
4. A british man who has a daughter my age studying in California right now. He was the most friendly and reminded me how awesome british accents are. 
  
5. A sculptor/actor from Pennsylvania who traveled in his younger years through the southern US doing acting? Most notably, his voice sounded exactly like Jack Black's. 
  
So there you have it, my bizarre morning ended up pretty interesting by just saying "yes" to a new situation... we'll see where I end up next Sunday!

Oh right, I'm in Italy!

So, after my Americanized day yesterday I decided to spend this relaxing Saturday a little more authentically Italian. I went to the market this morning for some grocery shopping and it was super overwhelming! I had a hard time finding what I was looking for but by the end I started to get the hang of it. It's amazing how low the prices are there and the high quality of the food! My favorite buy was a fresh loaf of bread the size of my arm for one euro, nothing beats it! Fortunately, most of the shop vendors are incredibly friendly and helpful. Many did great sign language with me when I had questions!
  
After the market I went to the supermarket, which I clearly frequent now and stocked up for the week! I splurged a little and got "miel pops", basically honey coated corn pops for breakfast food. Cereal is not cheap here but it is a nice treat and will hopefully last me a while.
  
This evening Kaitlin, Kenan, and I went to the Duomo for 5 o'clock english mass. Believe it or not, it was my first time inside the beautiful cathedral outside my window, but what a great opportunity! The mass was held in one of the smaller sections of the cathedral and had an interesting array of people young and old. I've never been to a Catholic mass so it was a very new experience for me! The service was very solemn but beautiful at the same time--I couldn't believe I was attending church in a building people have been worshiping in for hundreds of years. It was a neat experience that I'm very excited to have had. However, I'm glad I brought my gloves, it was colder inside than outside! 

Can you believe I can go to church here?

 Tonight for apartment dinner Kaitlin made wine cooked Spaghetti. Literally, spaghetti cooked in wine instead of water. It was very unique and delicious even if the noodles looked a little like worms!

  
For dessert, Kenan found an American bakery and treated us to brownies. It was a great dinner with good company! 

[insert cliche reference to Friday here]

Thank goodness we made it to Friday! If you couldn't tell, this class we've been in has been pretty difficult and draining. Today, we had our final exam and although I left it not feeling that great, now that we have a weekend with absolutely no stresses I feel awesome. Granted, I will miss my Italian teacher, Luca, who was very patient and helpful with us, but I think I can speak for our whole apartment in saying that we are all ready for our new classes to start Monday! 

Today after class I walked just down the street to the international food store just to check out what goodies I could find. And glory, glory, I found peanut butter. I know, how could I give in so quickly? Well, since my home diet consists of a 7th food group, peanut butter, I've been missing it more than I realized. The store was rather pricy but the peanut butter was as expensive as it would have been at home. I also got some panko bread crumbs so I can try to fry shrimp sometime soon! I got the recipe from dad, we'll see what happens! I liked seeing all the international foods at the store so I can continue to experiment with my meals.

My lunch today: Milk, crackers, peanut butter, and an orange. Perfect in every way. 

We had a nice Friday evening shopping to check out the sales which are still going on! I didn't get any clothes but it's always fun browsing. I learned in class today that Florence used to be the fashion capital of Italy until just recently since Milan has stepped up to the plate. But seeing tons of designer stores at every corner definitely speaks to the fashion reputation of the city (not that I can afford to go in them!).
  
Lastly, tonight Kenan and I went out for a special treat to The Diner, one of the few American restaurants in Italy (do you see a pattern to my day??) We went at 7 and were the only people in the restaurant the entire hour we were there... still not used to the early Italian meal time. It was so worth it though for my beer battered fried chicken and french fries. Granted, they are not in 100% American style, but it was SO worth it. Such a treat to end the week!
           
I'm going to bed early tonight-- too tired from this long week! But I will promise to do something genuinely Italian tomorrow to make up for this culture lapse today!