77 and sunny
last weekend the weather dipped down to the high 40s and now its back to beautiful sunny weather, perfect for southern france!
last sunday our art history class went to a monastery that housed frescos by various renaissance artists. it was such a beautiful place. the grass was filled with mint and surrounded by rosemary and lavender. it was a 40 minute busride outside up florence, up in the tuscan hills. at the end of our tour we had the chance to buy chocolate, honey, tinctures and other goodies made by the monks at that very monastery. it was such amazing chocolate! i bought a huge bar of milk chocolate with hazelnuts and proceeded to eat the whole thing. i couldnt resist so i bought one of each of the three kinds of smaller bars as well (milk chocolate, dark chocolate and another milk w/ hazelnuts) although i havent eaten them yet. it was so reminiscent of charlie and the chocolate factory for me because there was an older man standing behind an old fashioned counter, handing out candy to a bunch of kids, i loved it!
that night the roommates and i watched 'office space' and 'that thing you do' while we started making notecards for our huge midterm. its already almost time for midterms?! i dont understand. anyways, monday night i went out to dinner with my friend laura and britt&alison. we went back to that sushi place from my birthday. i somehow spent 20 euro on 10 pieces (not rolls, mind you) of vegetarian sushi. i dont understand it! who knew avocado and cucumber could be so expensive. i did try a specialty roll that was a tempura rice roll with cream cheese and scallions on top, that was delicious! after dinner we went to this local pub called 'joshua tree' near santa maria novella. this place was awesome because they played various U2 albums throughout the night. i was thinking of my dad the whole time.
tuesday my friend karen had a potluck after class. everyone keeps telling me i started the potluck trend here which only makes me wonder, did these people not have potlucks before they came? in any case, my roommates and i got lost on the way to karens house and were so hungry that we ate all the bruschetta (i had made for the dinner) before we even arrived, haha. karen made a few pies to make us americans feel more at home, it was precious. while karen was dishing out the pie i made an announcement that my roommates and i have decided to throw a costume/halloween party. yay for hosting fun get togethers! then we all went to the jazz club and listened to some amazing music for a few hours.
yesterday my photo professor took our class to his studio on the outskirts of florence. it was really nice to see a photographers workspace that isnt at a school. his studio mates/work partners made us american coffee which was really nice. i drank my first cup since ive been here and i was wired! the equipment was pretty old (and by pretty old i mean really old) and some of it didnt even work, so michele decided to let us know that he rarely uses the studio, hence the condition of the equipment. it was still fun nonetheless, we got to use cheesy props and various lights. i would like to go back and have a real shoot.
my film professor started her wednesday night screenings of italian films. the first one was 'life is beautiful'. i had never seen it before and knew that it was a tear jerker but wow, haha, i didnt think id actually cry, let alone twice! that film is the most romantic and tragic film i have seen in a VERY long time, if ever. it has made its way to my top 10 list.
our art history class went to the Borgello museum today. i was excited because we saw michelangelo's 'bacchus' and it was so beautiful! along with his 'pitti tonda' and various works from Donatello and other great sculptors of the time. there were even small statues of animals that were taken out of the grotto of one of the medici villas we visited on our first field trip. most of the animal statues were various kinds of beautiful birds. i took some pictures for you brendan! the best part of my day was when a girl in my class told me that i look like maybe from arrested development! any reference to arrested development that is connected to me makes me ecstatic!
i was going to try and make it to a yoga class today but when i called to see what time the class was the woman didnt speak english. i have to call back in an hour to talk to someone who does speak english. im pretty positive i missed the class today. but i will make sure that i start going at least once a week. its been so strange not having a designated time and place for yoga.
my friend sarah is having a potluck tonight which should be fun. then the 7 of us going to nice have to catch our train at 1230 tonight. the rail guide lied when it said theres an overnight train with couchettes/beds. this means we have to make 4 transfers, in the general seating area, before we arrive tomorrow morning at 1030am. oh well, its all part of the adventure right?
im feeling like myself here and it is really really nice. im being social and making a lot of friends. once i got over the initial hesitation of trying to befriend a bunch of people i have nothing in common with, i realized that almost everyone has the potential to be a good friend. i also realized that this is such an amazing opportunity and i dont want to waste it being unhappy and not getting the most out of the situation. i havent had any sort of anxiety since i first arrived, its such a relief.
[side note] i want to apologize for my constant spelling errors and most likely incomprehensible sentences. im mostly posting all of this for my memories so that i can look back and remember the little things, hence the silly details. my time is very limited when it comes to posting so i never have time to edit. with that said, i have to go study!
lots of love.
last sunday our art history class went to a monastery that housed frescos by various renaissance artists. it was such a beautiful place. the grass was filled with mint and surrounded by rosemary and lavender. it was a 40 minute busride outside up florence, up in the tuscan hills. at the end of our tour we had the chance to buy chocolate, honey, tinctures and other goodies made by the monks at that very monastery. it was such amazing chocolate! i bought a huge bar of milk chocolate with hazelnuts and proceeded to eat the whole thing. i couldnt resist so i bought one of each of the three kinds of smaller bars as well (milk chocolate, dark chocolate and another milk w/ hazelnuts) although i havent eaten them yet. it was so reminiscent of charlie and the chocolate factory for me because there was an older man standing behind an old fashioned counter, handing out candy to a bunch of kids, i loved it!
that night the roommates and i watched 'office space' and 'that thing you do' while we started making notecards for our huge midterm. its already almost time for midterms?! i dont understand. anyways, monday night i went out to dinner with my friend laura and britt&alison. we went back to that sushi place from my birthday. i somehow spent 20 euro on 10 pieces (not rolls, mind you) of vegetarian sushi. i dont understand it! who knew avocado and cucumber could be so expensive. i did try a specialty roll that was a tempura rice roll with cream cheese and scallions on top, that was delicious! after dinner we went to this local pub called 'joshua tree' near santa maria novella. this place was awesome because they played various U2 albums throughout the night. i was thinking of my dad the whole time.
tuesday my friend karen had a potluck after class. everyone keeps telling me i started the potluck trend here which only makes me wonder, did these people not have potlucks before they came? in any case, my roommates and i got lost on the way to karens house and were so hungry that we ate all the bruschetta (i had made for the dinner) before we even arrived, haha. karen made a few pies to make us americans feel more at home, it was precious. while karen was dishing out the pie i made an announcement that my roommates and i have decided to throw a costume/halloween party. yay for hosting fun get togethers! then we all went to the jazz club and listened to some amazing music for a few hours.
yesterday my photo professor took our class to his studio on the outskirts of florence. it was really nice to see a photographers workspace that isnt at a school. his studio mates/work partners made us american coffee which was really nice. i drank my first cup since ive been here and i was wired! the equipment was pretty old (and by pretty old i mean really old) and some of it didnt even work, so michele decided to let us know that he rarely uses the studio, hence the condition of the equipment. it was still fun nonetheless, we got to use cheesy props and various lights. i would like to go back and have a real shoot.
my film professor started her wednesday night screenings of italian films. the first one was 'life is beautiful'. i had never seen it before and knew that it was a tear jerker but wow, haha, i didnt think id actually cry, let alone twice! that film is the most romantic and tragic film i have seen in a VERY long time, if ever. it has made its way to my top 10 list.
our art history class went to the Borgello museum today. i was excited because we saw michelangelo's 'bacchus' and it was so beautiful! along with his 'pitti tonda' and various works from Donatello and other great sculptors of the time. there were even small statues of animals that were taken out of the grotto of one of the medici villas we visited on our first field trip. most of the animal statues were various kinds of beautiful birds. i took some pictures for you brendan! the best part of my day was when a girl in my class told me that i look like maybe from arrested development! any reference to arrested development that is connected to me makes me ecstatic!
i was going to try and make it to a yoga class today but when i called to see what time the class was the woman didnt speak english. i have to call back in an hour to talk to someone who does speak english. im pretty positive i missed the class today. but i will make sure that i start going at least once a week. its been so strange not having a designated time and place for yoga.
my friend sarah is having a potluck tonight which should be fun. then the 7 of us going to nice have to catch our train at 1230 tonight. the rail guide lied when it said theres an overnight train with couchettes/beds. this means we have to make 4 transfers, in the general seating area, before we arrive tomorrow morning at 1030am. oh well, its all part of the adventure right?
im feeling like myself here and it is really really nice. im being social and making a lot of friends. once i got over the initial hesitation of trying to befriend a bunch of people i have nothing in common with, i realized that almost everyone has the potential to be a good friend. i also realized that this is such an amazing opportunity and i dont want to waste it being unhappy and not getting the most out of the situation. i havent had any sort of anxiety since i first arrived, its such a relief.
[side note] i want to apologize for my constant spelling errors and most likely incomprehensible sentences. im mostly posting all of this for my memories so that i can look back and remember the little things, hence the silly details. my time is very limited when it comes to posting so i never have time to edit. with that said, i have to go study!
lots of love.