HOW TO NOT ACCIDENTALLY BLOW 30 EURO

The weekend is quickly approaching, and with that brings the possibility of traveling. Not wanting to waste anytime, my roommate and some friend decided to make some trips to places close to Florence, as some sort of test-runs. We decided to just travel Friday and Saturday (since our school is super awesome and doesn't have classes on Friday for travel purposes), but our friends decided to skip the Friday plans because of the rain we're supposed to get. But my roommate, Rachel, and I are still determinded to head out! We fear no rain!

**Note I'm not putting names of places before we go there because this is the internet and there are creepy people lurking. Our family and school will only know beforehand. Pictures after the fact will clearly state where we went**

Rachel and I spent all last night researching the best ways to get to our two destinations, and set out today with an agendy. That agenda was originally mainly for finding art supplied stores around Florence, and a little bit of getting travel details situated. We needed to get bus tickets for the Saturday trip, and a train ticket for the Friday trip.

So we read that you buy bus tickets at any of the serveral Tobacchi shops around the city. After not finding any of the art supplies stores we were out looking for, we found ourselves outside of a Tobacchi shop and decided then was as good of a time as any to go inside and brave our minimal Italian vocabulary to buy tickets. The gentelman working inside was super nice, his english was good enough (he drew pictures when he couldn't think of the word) and after just a few minutes we found out that we had to go to the train station and find the bus ticket place by some big stone stairs (can you guess what he drew?).

That was no problem. We were planning on going there to get tickets for the other trip anyways. So we set of towards the train station. We saw buses entering and departing everywhere, but we didn't see anything that was about the specific line we needed, or that even sold bus tickets to places outside of Florence. We eventually got frustrated enough that we just ended up using the quick ticket machines to buy our train tickets. That process was super easy and successful.

With the confidence from that flowing through me, I approached a worker and asked where the ticket station was for our bus line. She seemed to know exactly what I was talking about and directed me simply "left and then right".

Cool! So simple!

Or not.

Her directions took us outside the other end of the train station where Rachel and I finally found the large stone steps we were directed to before. From ther we could see even more buses coming and going, so we figured that we were in the right direction.

But the only bus building we could find was for a different bus line. And I'm telling you, we looked hard. We walked EVERYWHERE. So we caved and decided on more awkward Italina-English interactions and walked into the wrong bus place and asked for the proper place. The lady here spoke excellent english and was again super helpful (most of the Flourentine people are) and simple directed us to "cross the street and second building on the left".

Once again confience was coursing through our veins, so we set out again, sure that we'd find the building this time! Unfortunately we jumped the gun on out exuberance and it took us a solid 20 more minutes to find the dingy other Tobacchi shop that sold the right tickets.

A few minutes and 31,20 euro later and we had a ticket there and back for Rachel and I.

Rachel, being who she is, was looking over our tickets as we walked away and stopped me. There was no date or tme stamped onto the ticket except for todays date. So we naturally started to panic that the tickets were date stamped for today and we could only use them today. And it didn't even say the name of the bus line.

I was hyperventillating to say the least. We supposedly just blew 30 euro and would then have to spend more to get a train and only spend a few hours at our destination, because clearly we weren't going to be able to find this bus line.

Seeing as it was already nearing 5pm and the rest of our day was a bust, we decided to at least stop by the school and find someone to talk to and see what we did wrong and what we should do instead.

The whole walk there I felt terrible for messing up, and kept telling Rachel that I'ld buy her the book we say in the vintage bookstore earlier (that place is amazing).

When we get to the school we were searching for who was still there, and found someone in the library whom I'd talk to before and who is always pleasant to talk to (though there isn't a worker there who isn't).

We started off by first asking if the line even existed, but as soon as we said the name of the bus, she immediately assured us that it was real. Then we showed her the ticket, and she so causally explain that we just go and validate them whenever we want to get on the bus and it would work. After quickly thanking her and scurring out of the library so she could get home, Rachel and I look at each other with the biggest grins possibly. Eyebrows raised as high as possible.

We did it right! It was the best thing to hear after walking around for 3 hours earlier (2 of them purely in search of these tickets) and thinking we had just wasted so much money.

With that weight off of our shoulders we were able to drag our aching feet home to finally relax and make outselves dinner.

Now we just have to get through all of our classes tomorrow an we'll be off on all new adventures!

Ciao!

SCHOOLED IN LAUNDRY

Today was the start of our classes, but not for this lucky lady. My only class for the day (which wouldn't have started until 3pm; goodbye 7:45am classes!) was cancelled for some unknown reason. So I'll just have to wait until next week to being studying video, media, and architecture.

My roommates and friends all started classes today, though. So I decided to get up at the same time as them and work on some necessary things while they were away.

First on my list was laundry.

Not only is the washer a completely different set up than the ones back in the states, but it's also in Italian, and has funky little symbols that are supposed to mean things.

I'm just thankful our apartment agency equips us with two different handbooks that help us work the appliances. That's probably more so they don't have to keep paying for washing machines broken by us silly Americas, but that's besides the point.

Once I had finally figured out which two slots to put the detergent in (yes, there are TWO slots, and even a third one for fabric softener) I kept on getting nervous because it was taking so long. Apparently it takes about 3 hours to do a load. And then you have to wait 5 minutes after that for the washer itself to decompress so you can open the door.

And then, as I'm sure almost all of you know, there is no dryer. Since we were blessed with an apartment that has a beautiful balcony, we were given a clothes line, but no indoor drying rack. This was a bit of a problem today since it was super chilly and not at all sunny. Since it's supposed to rain tonight an tomorrow, we were forced to improvise. We took down the line, strung it through our hallway, and hung what we could on it. And since we did a larger load we still had more. So currently we have clothes hung in various places all around our room, hoping that they'll dry eventually. But who knows, because our room is pretty chilly still.

The excitement for the day was getting our museum cards that will get us into almost any museum in Florence for free. The art history nerd in me is beyond excited! Especially since we live right by the museum that houses the David statue. We will be taking great advantage of our cards from here on in. Pictures will follow said adventures.

As for yesterday, we went to church twice: first was a morning Italian Catholic service in the Cattedrale di S. Maria dei Fiore (that's the Duomo). And then we went to an evening English Christian service. In between there we had quite a few hours to spare. My roommates and I decided to go explore some of the parks around our apartment, which ended up taking us towards the outskirts of the historic center. There isn't much else to say about it, so I'll just show you.

Florence seems to have a lot of Whomping Willows.

View out into the Tuscany Mountains (I'm assuming) 

Wee 'ittle 'obbit 'ouse

This river may have been small, but it certainly retained it's beauty (much like everything in Italy) 

I believe Rachel wanted to lay down in this hill indefinitely. It looked SO soft

We kept walking even closer to the mountains, and it got even more beautiful.

This little park seemed a little dingy too, but it had its jewels like the statue above and arch below. 

And this is what we got to walk towards as we trekked home before church again. 

I have my first official class stating tomorrow, and studio starts tomorrow as well. Wish me luck!

Ciao!

IM GOING ON AN ADVENTURE

Well, technically I already went on one today with Rachel. And I felt a lot like Bilbo. Mainly because of the scenery, but also because I'm a total homebody like him, so venturing out into the city was a lot for me. I'm trying not to be lame like I am in the states.

So I took my fancy new DSLR with me and took some pictures. I'm only going to share a few with you all now so I don't destroy the internet for my roommates and neighbors.

So this is the Duomo. I pass it at least 3 times a day, and yet I still never get over how massive and beautiful it is. When you learn about this building in Architecture History, the material is mainly about the dome (which is massive) and all of the pictures you see are aerial. Nothing prepares your for the gorgeous statues and colored marble that adorn the exterior, or for the massive size of the building itself. I cannot wait to go up into the dome and see just how massive that structure is.

Pretty Rachel at the Arno River.

We called this the pro-suicide statue. I seriously have no idea what it's doing or why it's even a thing.

Ahh, and the lovely Italian road signs. I said in a previous post that we used the pictures on the products in the store to figure out what they are. But this picture isn't helping me at all. Seriously, someone explain what this means!

We kept on trekking further up; as a result, you can see how beautiful Tuscany is in the distance.

This is the photo-set of the things that really made me feel like a hobbit. I mean, come on. Look at that scenery.

Fun fact, I dropped my lens cap on this hill and it rolled super far down.  YAY.

And this is the result of me leaving Rachel half way up the hill to get my cap. Also, note my hobbit size within the scenery. [end hobbit-feels photo-set]

I tried to get all fancy shooting the Duomo through the fountain at Piazzale Michelangelo.

The gorgeous view looking down the Arno River towards the heart of Firenze.

And then when I got home, I was ordered to take a picture of their dinner. These neighbors are so cute. But really, They're mighty adorable and lovely to live next to.

ITS HEATING UP....

...literally.

You'll see what I mean.

After the bit of orientation I had today (which consisted of mostly walking. Walking will come into play later), I was ready to go on the planned grocery/necessity shopping trip with my roommates. After meeting up with everyone we first set off to find an electronic store to get a converter for one of my rommies. We walked for quite a while and no such luck, so we soothed our poor american spirits with our first taste of gelato! (I had the teramisu flavor) After we had our fatty fix we headed back past where we were originally and a few blocks farther to get to the store. 

Once we were there, Rachel and I were on a mission. Having decided that our apartment would buy food indiviually with a few stock items for communal use, we went around picking out everything we need to make ourselves food. We also had to get some major necessities for the apartment, like toilet paper (like badly). Seriously, we spent AT LEAST and hour and a half in this store. And it wasn't because we didn't know how to read the labels; they had pretty pictures on the labels that helped us out. We just literally needed that many things. Fortunately this place is super inexpensive, which is what us broke college students need, and i only spent around 28 euro (including the joint items that I'll get reimbursed for). For as much as I bought, that seems like quite a steal.

Then came the joy of taking all of our heavy bags back to our apartment. It's not difficult to get to it from the store or that long of a walk (only about 10 minutes) but with all of those bags it was certainly exhausting. But as we got back to our apartment we see the repair-men in the apartment next to us. Pam and Megan came over when they heard us get in and told us that they had already gone into our apartment and turned on the heat. HALLELUJAH WE HAVE HEAT! That made my day like 50x better, except that I was already sweating at that moment from lugging the groceries back.

So after we got back to our apartment and unpacked the groceries, we had to set right back out to turn in a form to the agency that handles our apartments. It was just around the corner, so it was super nice and easy to do. Right after we got back, my other roommate had gotten home and told us about how she found a place to buy a converter for 3-pronged plugs. Since I didn't have any of mine (they were all in my suite case) and I would need one for the studio anyways, one roomie and I headed out for the store around the corner. We got there, and I knew just enough Italian to be able to purchase the plugs for the two of us, and we headed right back. As soon as we got back we both had wanted to charge our computer, so we plugged them in.

And then mine didn't work.

So we had to go all the way back, and switch them out. The man at the shop was super nice and just gave me another one, but I feel bad for whoever wants one next because he just threw the broken one into the drawer with all of the rest.

After that we headed back to the apartment to test out the new converter. and BENE! it works!

I then set out to the kitchen to heat up water and make myself a cup of my new instant coffee, since I've been lacking on my caffeine intake lately. As soon as I put the pot on the stove, Pam comes running over to tell me that all of our luggage just arrived at the school.

So not even getting a moments rest, I walk across the city to get my long-awaited-for luggage. Unfortunately we get to drag our 50lb bags back across the cobble-stone roads. Sure, we could have gotten a taxi, but it didn't seem worth the 20 euro (and I still stand by that). With a broken wheel on my suite case and the cobble stone roads, I was lagging behind my friends and thoroughly exhausted; even more so when you consider how much I walked around today (please also note that I live on the third floor).

When I was finally able to get my suite case all the way up to my apartment (big ups to Pam for being she-hulk today) I saw that my coffee water was still hot so I decided to still treat myself to that cup of coffee.

A+ to Italy for even have good, cheap, instant coffee. Seriously, this stuff is fantastic. Especially for instant coffee.

So with a cup of coffee and one of my new apples, I set out to finally move into my room. Since it is now officially homey, I took some pictures to show you all the my swagged out pad.

 Rachel would kill me if she knew I was posting this. Oops!

 Our beds face this direction, towards our little desk we share.

 Thanks for the converter Thomas, we're putting it to good use!

"So will there be a bidet on the way to the hospital?"

Roomie #2 cooking.

Then I went across the hall to bother my friends as they were making dinner. Well, Megan was.

 This was how I found two of the ladies, working real hard...on facebook. They had wine out on the table so I took a sip. Not recommended. T'was nasty. We'll have to work on finding a fruitier wine to suit my taste buds if I'm ever going to drink any.

 Then poor little meg-meg is slaving away of the stove (I'm being dramatic of course, guys)

So i decided to annoy them with one final picture before I left. ahhhh I'm such a good friend. 

Anyways, I went back, and finally cooked myself a meal; it happened to be my first meal of the day since I apparently was just so busy I forgot to eat. I made bow-tie pasta, cooked some sausage meat in pan, and then poured sauce over it all. I'm quite proud of how it turned out since I never ever cook at home. Thanks mom! 

Anyways, that's all I've got for now. Two more days of orientation left, one day off, and then school begins.

Ciao! 

WE MADE IT

I'm not even sure what day it is.

Our flight, which was supposed to leave at 10:19am didn't have wheels-up until 4:40pm. From our first flight. All because the plane that we were supposed to be on was coming from Columbus, and it was delayed. I guess I shouldn't really complain though since their flight was supposed to take off at 7am that morning, so they definitely had it worse.

Because our flight was delayed so heavily, we almost missed our connecting flight to Frankfurt, Germany, despite having schedule a 6-7 hour layover.

How does that even happen??

Luckily a guest student who was meeting up with us in Philly had them hold the plane for us.

Needless to say, I smell so bad from running through the Philadelphia airport.

The next flight, then, was 8 hours straight into Germany. I didn't get much sleep, what with the couple in front of me all splayed out and leaned back almost literally into my lap. But it's all good. They had a good movie selection. And we got fed twice. And I got to see the sun-rise a little bit, and all of the city.

I'm glad I got a window seat.

Once we left the states, and while on the flights, there was no free wifi to be found, which made it super difficult to communicate with people back home. I hope they weren't too worried. Even now I'm writing this in the German airport waiting to post it until I get to my apartment and have free wifi.

At this point I don't even care if it's good or not (the nerd in me has given up).

I'm too tired.

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UPDATE

We made it to our apartments, but my groups luggage did not. So that's fun.

But the internet works really well, and my apartment has the router ;)

Once I get my converters and am able to charge my laptop I'll upload photos of the apartment. 

This is it

The night before take-off. I'm all packed. My suitcase is exactly on-weight. I've seen all of my family. 

The only thing left is...to go. 

I feel like I'm going to hurl. And I can't quite tell if it's from excitement or fright. 

And I keep refreshing my flight information hoping that my flight doesn't get cancelled. 

Yeah...that's how I'm spending my evening. [After many a phone call from my roommate (who is taking different flights) about not being able to flight out tonight or tomorrow or who knows when.]

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I'm just boring at this point. So I bid you all adieu. 

Ciao to the New Year!

Happy New Year friends, family, and random readers!

2014 is now upon us, and the time to take-off is nearing! I only have about 4 days now until I leave for Italy. It seems so surreal, and also too soon. There is so much I still need to get done before I'll be ready to go, and the date is nearing whether I'm ready or not.

So today, as only the second day of the new year and snowed-in, I'll be cranking out as much as I can. I'm spending the day finishing up my resume, setting up my new external hard-drive, setting up my Italian phone, and practicing my Italian.

I do feel very relieved, though, that I was finally able to pick up  my passport. I got to see my spankin' new visa (the picture for which is dreadful), which was super exciting. And I got to find out that I'm going to be neighbors with some of my best friends.

With all of these new developments slammed in my face as soon as business hours started again for the first time this new year, this trip is starting to become so real so fast. I feel very blessed to be able to have this experience, and I also feel very humble that it is a dream coming true.

I'm not very nervous about living abroad, or living away from my family; that's something that apparently isn't very common. But I just feel like I'll do fine over there. We'll see how that goes once the 'culture shock' sets in.

For now, Ciao!

(and sorry for the cheesy sign-off)