Buongiorno!

Ciao!

So this week was a busy one, but in a good way. Monday started out with getting a cafe latte (a very small espresso with steamed milk) and a croissant to go. Italians don't really do the eat-on-the-go thing, but hey, we can't drop all of our American habits. Then came my 9:30 photography class. There's 8 people from my program in that class, so it's really nice and small. Our professor is this young Italian woman that can speak english but not very well. She talked about the usual syllabus/course info and then she showed us a powerpoint on different styles of photography. The course consists of 2 parts: constructing and using a pinhole camera and then doing projects on our own digital cameras. The pinhole camera is pretty basic for an intro photography class, but we have to go to different places in the city (la cartoleria, the art shop, a photography store, etc) to get all of the supplies. It's kind of difficult since most of the shop owners don't speak very good english, but we're trying our best to use our limited Italian skills and various hand gestures. One of my roommates is a photojournalism major, so she can definitely help us with making the camera and taking pictures with it. We also get Photoshop FREE with the class since we'll need it for our digital portfolios:) Our professor then went to each person and taught us about the different settings of our cameras and put it to the best ones for the kind of photos we'll be taking. We got out an hour early too, which was nice since I hadn't really explored much of the city yet. Overall, photography seems like it will be really laid back but also allow us to learn a few things about the city and

what the art is all about.

The rest of the day we spent grocery shopping, getting our cell phones, and pretty much getting settled in. For me, it consisted of a lot of getting lost and then finding my way after some time. The good thing is, Florence is not that big of a city so you'll almost always find your way if you get lost.

I found this great path along the Arno River where I can run. It's so beautiful that I'm hoping it will encourage me to run everyday. I also had my first gelato, which was to die for. There's about a million gelaterias on every corner, but we found this one on our street that is super cheap and delicious. I've decided that if all I ate for the rest of my life was gelato, I would be completely fine with that. I'd be 500 pounds, but totally content. We didn't go out Monday night since most of us were exhausted/jetlagged(me)/hungover(them).

Tuesday started out the same way except for I went to my 9:30 Michelangelo art history class instead. My professor speaks perfect english since he grew up in the states and went to Syracuse, then moved to Italy and has been here ever since. He's awesome. His teaching style (which he told us outright) is that he just wants us to learn from him, as well as gain an appreciation for the art and the city of Florence. He said he's not one of those teachers that is going to test us on the miniscule details, just the big picture of what we have learned. Our book is this well-known history of Michelangelo book, in which we are responsible for very short readings. Nearly every class day is at a different museum, which I absolutely

love. There is nothing more boring than sitting in a classroom when you can see the actual works. We get a free museum pass, which is usually 20 euros. After he went over the course info, we went to Piazza della Signoria and he explained the history of many of the sculptures. He's a great lecturer because he speaks in a way that is easy to follow and funny. This is a godsend for me, since history is DEFINITELY not my favorite aka is incredibly boring to me. He also let us out early, and I spent the day exploring, taking a run and attempting to make travel plans for the weekends. This has proved to be pretty overwhelming since there's so many places I want to go and limited time to do it.

We went to watch the Italian vs Paraguay soccer match at this place on the river that had this outdoor big screen tv. It was PACKED with pumped Italians. I actually saw a couple people I knew from UT there! Who runs into people they know half way around the world?? It was weird but apparently they were on a senior graduation trip that goes all around Europe. Anyways, Italy and Paraguay ended up tying but it was a great game. Afterwards, we came across this Billabong party that you had to be on a list to get into, but somehow all of us got into it. It was sooo much fun! We danced and drank wine all night. A perfect first night out for me. We went out at night, unfortunately to this Irish pub that's down the street from our apartments. It was literally filled with Americans, probably only a handful of Italians. It was super crowded, but outside was the perfect temperature. Afterwards, we attempted to go to this Italian club, but ended up following a few new Italian friends that had no idea where they were going. Once we found our way there, it had a huge cover so we ended up going home and drinking more wine. This was completely fine with us, since there are 19 of us and anywhere we are is pretty much a party anyways. :)

This weekend has been super busy, but great. I really feel like I am getting to know the city and loving every bit of it.

Much Florentine love,

Hilly Jo