I've officially been in Florence now for four days and it already feels like I've been here forever. Traveling here from Hawaii was not the easiest and jet lag seriously kicked my ass the first couple of days. Crossing four time zones in two days is not the business. But it did give me a chance to get to know two of the other Hawaii students traveling with me. If an 8-hour layover in Minnesota is not a bonding experience, I don't know what is. There, I had my first taste of Chick-Fil-A and a slight dose of racism when the sweet n' sour dipping sauce was labeled 'Polynesian Sauce'. Please Chick-Fil-A, do tell me what is so Polynesian about your sweet n' sour sauce. We rode on all the moving walkways and the monorail that connected the different points of the airport. I was really impressed with the St. Paul airport because they easily have a couple hundred iPads docked all over for people to use. Finally landing in Florence was like a dream. As my cab driver took me to my home-stay house I caught a glimpse of the Duomo from in between buildings and swear to God, my heart stopped for a hot second.
I'm not going to lie, living with a host family frightened me a bit. I've never dormed or lived away from my own family before so having to live not only in another family's home but also with a roommate freaked me out. But I have nothing to worry about because my host mother, roommate, and housemates are all fantastic. Her house is also so extremely beautiful. We're in a gated section right next to this charming park where Italian children play during the day. It even has a mini carousel! She is a great cook and so full of energy. The first night she took us on a walk around her neighborhood and we ended up at this outdoor bar/restaurant where they have a stage for live music. That night a Spanish Salsa band played and she got us to dance for a good hour and a half. It was a great welcome to Florence. I only wish I spoke Italian so I could converse more with her. I'm going to have to go beast mode in my Italian language class.
The following day was our school's orientation day at the Odeon Theatre in Piazza Strozzi. Walking there I realized that I live about 8 minutes from the Duomo and that I get to pass it everyday as my daily commute to school. The Duomo on the daily? How freaking amazing is that. That also means I get to pass the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, the Bapistry, and the Bell Tower. After our orientation, the Hawaii kids decided to climb the Bell Tower. That tower is NO JOKE. You want Insanity, go climb 414 steps of pure intensity. After making it about half way up the tower I felt sick with all of the jet lag so I decided to stop. But even half way up the tower the view was to die for. I think while I was up in the tower it finally felt real for me that I was in fact in Italy. It's been a reach dream for so long that actually being here is so crazy. I start classes tomorrow which I'm really excited for. My scheduling worked out so I can take one of the classes I originally thought I couldn't. I just have to keep my fingers crossed that my home school back in Hawaii will take them as credit. I guess that is all for now so until next time, ciao!
No comments:
Post a Comment