September 7th

Today was my last day of class and it seems like it went by so quickly! I woke up and had my last two eggs (looks like only toast and pb tomorrow for this signorina) then went to my first class of the day which was Table and Wines of Italy, an Educational Tour Through Vineyards. Too cool. On my way home I passed through a flea market in the Piazza della San Lorenzo and ended up purchasing a cute little fedora! One with black ribbon! It is so cute. He was selling it for 20 Euro, then offered it to me for 17, and I said I only have 15 (which was honest) and so he sold it to me! Great buy! The one I wanted to get was from JCrew and was $45 which is obviously too expensive. So, not only did I get a great one for 15Euro, but now whenever anyone asks me where I got my hat from, I can smile, and say "oh a little flea market in Florence". I feel so cool. Also, I have gotten so many compliments on it today that I have practically gotten it for free! Every compliment knocks .5 Euro off the price right? Is that how it works?

After my amazing purchase, I came home and finished off my salami with a sandwich I made for lunch. Then headed off to my Italian language class which is the only class that I have twice a week. After class I went to the registrar's office to try and get signed up for a class that would transfer back to Harrington as an actual class, but was not successful. The information I was given in the first place was not correct so the course was actual never reopened after it had been closed. I was totally bummed because I walked all the way there with the thought of crossing one more class off of my Harrington list. Oh well, such is life.

I ate dinner with Courtney and walked with her to class because I had nothing else to do. After getting back home I decided wash my comforter and put my other clean clothes away. I was able to organize a few other things before Courtney called to tell me that she was done with class and was ready for some gelato! We went to our favorite place which is just around the corner from our apartment. I got nocciola (which is hazelnut) and fragola (which is a small fruit) OH MY GOSH I found my favorite flavor combination. And also possibly my favorite flavors since I have been here.

 

 

Con amore, Ciao!

September 6th

First and most importantly, I have an address!!!!! It is:
Lauren Moore
c/o FUA-Florence
University of the Arts
Via Magliabechi, 1
50122-Firenze-Italia

I know no one would, but please don't send any packages. I have to pay at least 300 Euro to receive a package and it takes at lease 2 months to go through customs. However, letters take only a week so please send as many as your hearts may desire!

So today was a rather emotional day mostly because of classes. I am moved into an independent study class due to lack of enrollment. I am not even sure if my teacher is teaching me the correct program or not either. I will find out though once my teacher from Harrington emails me back. It was just scary to think that I could have gone through all the trouble of coming here, and then having the one class that I truly needed not even be taught to me correctly. Hopefully it will all work out though, but I will find out soon enough.

I came home after that class and took an amazing power nap because I am starting to feel sick. Mostly, I think it is because of the lack of sleep the first week and also being home sick doesn't help me much either.

Then I went to my Sustainable Project Design class which is going to be AMAZING! We are designing a school house for some culture of our choice and making it sustainable. The only requirement is that the structure is made from a metal shipping crate. How cool is that? So cool. That is the correct answer. Oh, and get this, for our final project, we are getting to redesign an existing 1200 sq foot 1500 year old farm house in the south of Tuscany. Which of course we must go do an on site verification for. :)

After class I came home and did an intense workout which felt awesome! Then I made dinner, a repeat of last night, but it is so good that I am still not tired of it yet! Next week I think I am going to go for a more Italian dish with olives, cheese, cherry tomatoes, and a few other things. They had it in the deli at the supermarket and it looks super delicious.

Following dinner, I went to a meeting for a program that my school offers to be placed with a local family. From what I understood from the meeting it is a bartering system. For example, I babysit and they teach me how to cook. Sounds good to me so far! I will be filling out the application and finding out soon to see if I am one of the few chosen who get to participate.

I finished the night with popcorn! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD. It had been too long since I have made it and omg it reminds me of home and mom  :) Oh, and my first little batch of homework, which I didn't mind doing at all. Also, I got to skype with Chris and his amaaaazing coworker, David Cox, owner of Flo-tography. David also helps me get a hold of Chris when Chris is refusing to get on Facebook :)

How was that for a shout out, David?


Con amore, Ciao!

September 5th

Today was the first day of classes and it good! I was wrong about my classes when I posted yesterday, I had my Special Event Management class this morning and then my Italian language class in the afternoon. I even had a big enough break to go back to the apartment to eat my sandwich! Awesome! So SEM class was good, exactly what I expected it to be. The teacher is really nice and there is a girl who is sat next to me who was really sweet. Later, I found out she is also in my Italian class. Since this week is syllabus week, it was a pretty easy class and the teacher just went over what we are going to learn this semester.

After class I went back to the apartment to have a salami, mozzarella, and red onion sandwich which was super delish! YUM! I feel started to feel guilty about eating out because it was getting sort of expensive, but now since I am still cooking the food I bought the other day, I am very happy and not feeling guilty.

After my lunch I went to my Italian class and good Lord is that one going to be tough. I could barely understand the teacher when she was speaking in English. I understand that these are not supposed to be easy classes, but I just was hoping that the teacher would be easy to understand, you know, like they are in America. Oh well, I have had to tell myself many, many times so far that this is most definitely not America. I am going to try my hardest and spend my Thursday afternoon in the lab since I don't have class on that day. Obviously, I will be giving updates on how it goes throughout the semester.

After class I came back to the apartment and decided that I wanted to venture out by myself across the river! I took my camera and I got on my big girl confidence and did it! It was so beautiful and I got some AMAZING pictures. Make sure that you are all checking my facebook for all the pictures! I will figure out how to add them to this and maybe start putting them up!

Since it was too warm for a run this afternoon I turned that walk into my work out. There are so many hills across the river that I definitely felt it! When I got back I taught Court how to cook sausage in a fry pan while I made my dinner. Tonight I had spaghetti again but this time I put salami, red onion, red pepper, and mozzarella cheese into the sauce! SO GOOD. Next week I will start getting more adventureous with my cooking so if anyone has any good ITALIAN recipes they would like to send out please do!

After dinner, since Courtney and I are both starting to feel home sick, we decided some gelato should help solve our woes. Unfortunately, mine wasn't the best I have had. The chocolate flavor was really delicious, but the vanilla flavor I got was really watery tasting. Oh well, this wont be my last gelato :)

I skyped with mom for the first time tonight! It was so great! Since I am starting to feel really home sick, it was great to see and talk to her. Dad quite literally scooted her chair out of the way and started talking to me too, it was really funny. After skyping with them, Chris and I got to chat for a little :)


Con amore, Ciao!

September 4th

Today was a very boring day. Courtney and I started out for a run which was great! I did a run and my 100s work out which was a lot harder than I remembered it being! We finished the run and I showered then went to the Basilica di Santa Croce for mass. I thought it was going to be in English because that is what the sign said, but unfortunately, it was totally in Italian. At least I knew what was going on! Oh well! Next week I am going to try out the Duomo mass on Saturday evening because that one for sure is in English.

After mass I came home and had some lunch and took a nap! I was so excited for my nap because I have been running off of so little sleep for the past three days. It was nice to be able to catch up on a little bit of it.

I woke up and we went to look around the city to try and find out where our classes are. During our journey, we were caught in a rain storm. While in the rain storm we ducked under an awning and had a great conversation with a couple from England. People here, Italian or foreign, are so nice. They are always willing to chat or to help with the pronunciation of different words. We did a pretty good job of going the right direction and shockingly, we were able to find the buildings we needed to.

After finding our buildings we came back to the apartment and I took another nap. I sound so lazy! However, in my defense, I have been adjusting to a new time zone. I skyped with my sister Jessica after my nap. It was so good talking with her and to see her. After the skyping I made my first dinner! I made spaghetti and sauce. The sauce was just a regular tomato base and I added in fresh red pepper, red onion, and mozzarella cheese from the open air market. It was so good! I do need to get some more basic things like seasonings and such. I was nervous with food shopping this week though because it was the first week and I was not sure how much things would cost or how quickly they would add up. I did great though! Only 15 euro for 5 days worth of food. Not to shabby Gabby!

Well, tomorrow I start school! I am so excited! I have two classes, my 3d autocad and my Italian language class. I am both excited and nervous! It will be a great first day.

Also, today homesickness kicked in. I listened to songs that reminded me of people (obviously this was a good idea, not). Skyping with my sister did help though because I was able to see and hear a familiar voice from home. I am missing my mom and dad a lot too, church this morning was lonely. I get to skype with mom tomorrow so I am VERY excited for that!

Alright! Better get going to bed, I have a very big day tomorrow!

Con amore, Ciao!

September 3rd

Today was a good day! We were so productive that it felt amazing.

In the morning we started off with breakfast where I had a tuna sandwich that was very juicy. It was really good and I am glad that tuna is so common here because I love eating tuna fish sandwiches. We then wandered around looking at different open air markets and finally found one that was very good with prices and quality. I did a little bit of vegetable shopping so that I am able to start making sandwiches from home and also cooking my dinners. After not finding everything I was interested in, Courtney and I went to the super market and finished our shopping. Personally, I feel like the super market is less expensive. Here is the best example, at the open air market, green beans cost 8 Euro for a kg, however, in the super market, they were only 2.5 euro? It seems like it is hit and miss on what is cheaper where. I didn't get any green beans but I am hoping to start being adventurous in my cooking adventures soon! Maybe next week though.

After the super market, we were able to finish all of the shopping that we needed to do for supplies and we went back to the apartment to relax. Tomorrow, I am going to post pictures starting at the front door and have you all walk up the stairs with me. It is getting easier for me and so now it is a little funny when others come over and they have to make the climb themselves.

I was able to skype with Chris and my dad today so I feel a little bit like I connected with home. It was nice being able to skype with people.

Dinner was really, really delicious. Courtney and I decided it would be fun to do a last-night-of-spending-money-at-a-restaurant dinner so we went with our friends Melanie, Harry, Freddy, and Adrian. It was great food and good company. I had tortellini panna e prosciutto and gosh it was delicious and so worth it!

After dinner, us girls thought it would be a lot of fun to also go out dancing again as a last-night-out-before-school-starts kind of celebration. It was a fun night but the music was not the best which was very unfortunate, near the end it did get better.

Overall, it was a fun night and a good way to end the first week here! Tomorrow, I have work out, church, and lazing about! If any of you have skype, please find me! My contact name is lauren.c.moore

Con amore, Ciao!

September 2nd

We started off the day with breakfast which was DELICIOUS! I had an egg, ham, and spinach sandwich with a cup of fruit. The fruit was so fresh and sweet that I wish it were a never ending fruit cup.

After breakfast we were sent on another wild goose chase by the locals to try and find a copy shop. We needed to have a copy submitted of a form we had which none of us knew about. Once we found the copy shop we were able to head towards orientation. Orientation was pretty boring but the women who are running this program are so funny that it is worth while to listen to them. The orientation was all just normal things about what services the school offers and other things like that.

After that, a few of us wandered around a little bit looking at the city and just discovering new things. We came back to the apartment and waited until it was time to go to the reception. We had dinner there and it was really good. I am definitely getting my servings of carbohydrates here and my goodness, i love it! However, I have discovered one thing that I do not enjoy about Italy, the grapes have seeds and the olives have pits.... this is not something that is good to have as a surprise!

Once we ascended our 14 flights of stairs, we were able to start getting ready to head out to the disco! It was definitely fun getting ready. I love getting ready to go out. Sometimes, I love it even more than the actually going out part!

We went to the apartment that the boys live in because we were all curious as to what it looked like. Their apartment is very large with what seems like 30 foot ceilings. Ok, obviously they are not that high, but they sure seem like it! We waited there while the boys got ready and then headed out to the disco!

It was a lot of fun dancing and just being silly with everyone. Courtney is so much fun to dance with and she is a really good time. The only difference between Italian discos and American clubs is that the Italians seem to love Shakira, I heard about 5 Shakira songs in 3 hours! It is great because she is easy to dance to and has just fun songs in general. I had my first malibu and pineapple drink and I have decided that it is my new favorite drink! SO good! After dancing our little booties off we walked home and had another great surprise.

Chris and I had our first skype date :)

Con Amore, Ciao!

prima post!

Aug 30^th and 31^st

So let’s start at the very beginning of my day! We went to church in the morning and then went to coffee with a few of dad’s friends. They were very nice and of course interested in hearing about the trip. After coffee, mom and I went to Urgent Care because my ear was still really hurting. Turns out, that I did have swimmer’s ear but because we didn’t catch it in time, it turned into an infection. We got the medications for it and went on our way home to race around finishing packing and race to the airport. We stopped by Stones Jewelers on the way to replace my watch battery, which of course the band broke as soon as I stepped onto Florence soil. We made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare and I ended up sitting and waiting for two hours before my plane took off. It was obviously a tearful goodbye but it was a good one. Hilary was able to come with us which was a great thing to have her come along. Having the two hours to wait was actually nice because I was able to talk with Kelly for such a long time. She is such a great friend and I am so thankful for her. Chris took a few minutes out of his day, as did Ronnie, so it was very nice to talk to them and hear their final well wishes. Ronnie was telling me to drink wine so I could fall asleep, such a good older brother.

My flight to Amsterdam was great and it went pretty quickly. I sat next to this lad from Dublin and he was really nice. Don’t worry Chris, he loved your joke. Unfortunately though, I wasn’t able to sleep. I am not sure what the reason was, but this girlfriend was not pleased.

Waiting at the Amsterdam airport went slowly, I was able to skype with Chris but mom and dad were too lazy to wake up and remember their daughter so I wasn’t able to tell them that I arrived safely. Amazing how quickly they forget the little one… 

I slept almost the entire flight to Florence which was very nice to be able to take a nap finally. One of the best feelings in the world is when you see all of your luggage come rolling around on the conveyer belt at the airport. I have never actually been nauseous with the thought that the airline could lose luggage. Well, I guess there is a first time for everything. After picking up all of my bags, I went to the office to find out where my apartment is. Turns out that our apartment is RIDICULOUS. It is so beautiful and we have gorgeous views! We can see the Tuscan hills and also the red clay rooftops of our neighboring buildings. Since our building is one floor higher than our neighbors, we are able to see almost everything. We are only a few blocks away from the Duomo, only a hop skip and a jump away from the Piazza Repubblica, and on one of the best streets, Via Calzaiuoli. AMAZING! We are so blessed to be so close to everything. It is awesome! Only problem is that we have 14 flights of stairs to climb. No joke. It took me 45 minutes to climb the stairs with all of my luggage. It is so worth it though. Seriously. 

After a few hours to myself, Courtney got here and she is amazing. She is so great and everything I hoped she would be. We went out for dinner followed by my first gelato. So here is the thing. I had real Italian Lasagna for the first time and even though it was good, it was nothing like my mom’s. Dah mamah moore’sah famousah lasagnah is toah dieah forah! I have been learning Italian as I am sure you all can tell! After dinner we walked around for a little while and then headed back to finish unpacking. The other two girls were almost to the top of the 80^th flight of stairs when we caught up to them and helped them with their luggage. Ellen and Miriam are both so sweet and such great girls.

So that brings us to today! September 1^st. It has been a great first day in Florence and the city is AMAZING! It is so beautiful and still so surreal that I am here. There were so many bumps along the way and I am just so thankful to the good Lord that I am able to be here and experience this amazing opportunity. Today we had orientation and then went to out to lunch with two boys (Freddie and Adrian) that we met and they are so nice. I had a sandwich on ciabatta bread with artichokes, tomatoes, ham, and some sort of cheese/mayo/delicious dressing. Omg. I might have a new obsession with artichokes. SO good. Then we walked around for about an hour trying to find a supermarket but with no such luck. We are going to have to google that sucker to figure out where it is. We asked seriously 20 different Italians and none of them knew where it was. After our walk, Courtney and I went for our first run! It was great! Unfortunately, I got light headed near the end so I had to walk for a little and then finished running. We came home and showered, separately of course, and then discovered we had internet! Such a wonderful invention! We are actually grabbing the wifi of the girl across our ally/courtyard. It is not either, but more so a combination of the two.

 We then went to dinner and had DELICIOUS food. It was sooo good. The best thing we had was an eggplant parmigiana dish. Oh I want to learn how to make that sucker. It was too good. Then for dessert we had tiramisu, WHICH was so much better than any other I have had. I have never had tiramisu with coffee actually in the lady fingers, and let me tell you, it was so good. After dinner we walked around for about three hours trying to figure out where this one disco was. One thing I have learned about Italians, no one really knows where anything is. It is SO frustrating. It was Adrian’s birthday so we wanted to go out dancing. We ended up going to a bar called Slowly which had some good music so of course I turned it into a dance floor. That is one thing that I am not afraid of, being the first one out there and making a fool of myself. I love it. So we stayed there for a few hours and it was awesome! I danced like a crazy person, so for those of you who know me very well, equals me having a great night! AND now you are all caught up on my first few days of my Florence adventure! I promise to be better about posts but it was so difficult because we were without internet.

I am not at the point of missing home yet; I do miss the people though. It still feels like I am on vacation so it will probably hit me in a week or two that I am here for a while.

Con amore, Ciao!