Sunday, January 27, 2013

Week #3 (Jan. 21st-27th)

Hey Everybody!
  Like I said in my last blog, the days just keep getting better in Florence. The sun making an appearance has also made the days just that much better. Here is what my third week in Florence was like:
Monday: Of course the day started off with classes. Monday's for me consist of Italian I, The History of Contemporary Art, and Discovering Florence Through Photography. Italian has been a challenge for me but I am slowly learning. After this blog I should actually get to studying since my first quiz is tomorrow! I know how to give some information about myself though:
 "Ciao! Mi chiamo Christina Micheletti. Sono Americana. Sono di Mason, WI. Ho venti anni. Sono nata cinque Guigno mille novecento novanta due. Sono castana chiara. Ho gli occhi azzeri."
  I am slowly getting there and probably have some spelling error, but I am getting there. My contemporary art course is going to be challenging. We have a new reading everyday, they aren't long readings but a lot of them are so deep and philosophical. I have a hard time reading in general, I swear I have A.D.D. The teacher is great though. I ask questions every class and he usually rephrases what I am not understanding. My favorite of all classes though is Discovering Florence Through Photography. First off, my teacher Gloria is seriously the best. I am going to be sad to not have her as a teacher when I leave Florence. There are only six of us in the class, but it is a lot of fun and I have already learned so much. We did photograms Monday, and I actually really liked how mine turned out. We have an assignment with the photograms where we have to make a story with at least four sheets of paper. I have so many ideas. I will post the final on here when I am done. 


Monday night was the Wine & Cheese tasting at the school, which all Food as Culture students were supposed to attend. My Italian teacher, Matilda, was the one who put on the event. She gave us the "How to" of drinking wine. The first step of drinking wine is to "Look". This is why you want a clear glass and not a colorful wine glass. You're supposed to check out the color of the wine and make sure there aren't any particles of cork in the wine. Older red wine is more clear of translucent than a newer red wine. The next step is to "Smell". In doing this you want to swirl the glass a little then smell it. Analyze what it is you're smelling, like if there is berry smells or flowers, etc. The final step of course is to TASTE the wine. During the class we learned that there are three phases in the tasting stage: The attack phase, the evolution phase, and finish. Since being here I have tried to get into drinking wine, but it's just not the drink for me. I really hope I can get use to it though because a glass with your meal is actually really good for you and helps you digest better. We got to try three different types of wine (and of course I forgot the names). I tried the first two and only had a sip of the third one. The wine tasting wasn't until 7 and I hadn't eaten anything since noon, so the two glasses I had was enough to get me a little dizzy. That's when I started chowing down on all the cheese. They were both really good cheeses, she never told us what kind they were but I am on a mission to find them again! 
Tuesday & Wednesday: Tuesday is usually a pretty chill day for me. My only class of the day is from 3-4pm, which is Italian Renaissance Art History. Wednesday is the same classes as Monday, except I also have an Arts & Culture Seminar. There really isn't much time to do anything else during the day on Wednesdays, but I love that I stay busy the whole day.
Thursday: My favorite day of the week. Not because it is the last school day of the week but because one of my favorite classes is on Thursday; Food as Culture with Tina. Tina is like our second mother. We went to the two markets: Sant' Ambracio and Market Centrale. I encourage anyone who travels to Florence to buy your groceries from the markets. The food is amazing. Amazing is an understatement actually, words can't describe how wonderful it is. We started off at the Market Centrale. We just tried a bunch of different food there like some kind of weird meat, some fried fish, biscotti, and a few other things. We actually made it on TV apparently. While we were eating fish, these two people were watching us and they had a camera. The camera man started talking to Tina and then she asked our group, "Which one of you had the Italian last name?" and I said "I do, Micheletti." Then they filmed me finishing off the plate of fried fish and me and the classmates saying "Finito!" After Market Centrale we went to the Sant' Ambracio market. This is the market where the real Florentines go. The other one has a lot of tourists. At this market we sat down and had some lunch. I would tell you what we ate but our teacher just ordered a bunch of random dishes for us to try. There were five courses and then dessert. One of these days I am going to explode. The food is so unbelievably good though. After that myself and two other classmates had to run from the market to the San Lorenzo Church so we wouldn't be late for Italian Renaissance class. We ended up being late anyway and didn't make it in time to buy our ticket for the museum. We get in free with our museum cards anyway so I can go another day. After that, we headed to the Medici Palace. It was beautiful. I usually listen to our teacher really good when she talks about the churches and museums we are in, but I am also in awe over everything! 
 

Friday: I got up early and went exploring on my own just to get the feel for Florence a little bit more. I headed up to the Piazzale Michelangelo (I've been there like three times now). This is one of my favorite places to go. The view is amazing, and since the sun has finally come out, it has made the view ten times better. I walked even farther until I saw what looked like a church. I walked up even more stairs to find I was at the San Miniato al Monte (St. Minias on the Mountain). I learned that it is one of the highest points in the city. I didn't go inside the basilica because I wasn't even sure where I was or what I was looking at. I would love to go back another day though. It was extremely beautiful, and another great view of Florence. I walked to the Ponte Vecchio on my way back and was trying to figure out if I wanted to go to Le Cascine Park but I was tired by that point from all the hills and I had a good couple of hours of walking in. On my way back home, I had to stop at Vecchio Forno to get myself some kind of treat. I ended up getting this kind of pizza like thing with ham and cheese. Friggin' delicious. My favorite place. I bummed around the rest of the night and skyped with my brother, sister, Kelleen (my brother's girlfriend), and her kids. It made my 
night.


Saturday: Another day of exploring. I got up and ran for an hour early in the morning, relaxed until noonish, then went on another adventure. My assignment for photography is to take pictures of textures using the assigned aperture and shutter speeds. I brought my camera to Le Cascine Park and enjoyed the amazing sunshine. Everything about that walk was just great. Although, seeing people in love makes my heart melt, it was awkward seeing as many people making out in the park as I did. PDA seems to be acceptable in Italy. It's amazing all the elderly couples I see at the park holding hands though, it's really cute. Nothing could bring me down that day (Or at least until I picked up my invoice for school. Ha, ya gotta love school payments). Other than that, Friday was fantastic. 

Today, I started my day off by relaxing for a bit then studying for my Italian quiz tomorrow. I finished my readings for all my classes and my film for photography. Been trying to plan out the story I am going to make for photograms. I have something cute planned, we'll see if it turns out. It was warm out today, I am hoping the spring weather is deciding to come early. I wouldn't mind sunshine all this week! I will hopefully have some good adventures this week to share with you. A group of girls and I are planning a weekend for the Amalfi Coast sometime in February. I also have to start planning my trip to Rome since the trip through the school got cancelled. :( Excited for another week of school!

Ciao! 

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Italy week #2

Hey everybody,

The days just keep getting better while I am in Florence. The first week was rough being homesick and actually being sick. Most my classmates are sick with a cold because of the rainy weather. We are all anxious for some sunshine and nice weather. I wish I would have just been smart and packed a few big sweatshirts but I was too busy looking at the average temperatures here that I didn't even think to pack more warm clothes. You live and learn I guess. I really enjoyed this week. Monday was the start of my first week of classes. Never have I enjoyed all the classes I have taken in a semester until now. I seriously love all my classes. The art history classes I am taking are a little intimidating. I could have dropped one if I wanted but I figured I should fill up my schedule while I am here. All my teachers are amazing. Another nice thing is that I don't have to buy any books except for my Italian class. We have a little library at school where we can rent out the book and make photo copies of the readings. Thank the Lord. I had to buy my supplies for my photography class which was really pricey, so I am kind of glad I only made it in the one photography class for the semester. I learned my lesson last semester with taking too many studio classes. Although, I do love studio classes it wasn't a good idea to take three at a time. I feel like any creativity I had in me was drained last semester. It will be fun to take my first real photography class :) And what better place to take it than in Florence! I am also really excited for my Food as Culture class. One of my goals for study abroad was to learn about the culture of Italy. Food is pretty much a religion here. They are SERIOUS when it comes to their food and wine and family time. I've learned that fast. One thing different here than in America is that most of the little shops and businesses close from 1pm to 4pm for lunch hour. People actually go home to be with their families during lunch time. I think that's great! It sucks if you're the one out shopping or looking for some lunch though.
Monday through Thursday consisted of classes. Thursday night we did our get together dinner again. In the group of people I have met at SRISA we do sort of potluck dinner where each house brings one part of the meal. One will being either the pasta, meat, fruit, or dessert. I bought some tiramisu ice cream that ended up being delicious. We went to Julia, Henry, and Ericka's house this time and they made the pasta. It was really good, and of course there is wine to go with every meal. I still haven't gotten into drinking much wine but I have discovered I like the white wine better than the red.

Friday I spent the day with my friend, Sarah. After my meeting to get my permit to stay, Sarah, Emily, and I went to the market to get some food. I just got oranges, bananas, and prosciutto. Prosciutto is heaven. It is a thinly sliced ham that is dry-cured. I think it is uncooked, not sure. It is delicious though. I roll it up with some cheese or else put it in my scrambled eggs. It's amazing. After the market Sarah and I just walked around Florence and shopped. I bought an Italia Soccer jersey, I have been wanting one. Then we went to H & M because it has been having a HUGE sale. I got three shirts for 13 euro. BARGAIN! :) Then we got pizza, at a place where once again I can't remember the name. Then we walked to the Ponte Vecchio and over to the Piazza de Michelangelo. The walk up there is pretty killer. It's up steep hills and a lot of stairs but I promise you it is worth the pain to see the view. Thinking I might do my hill workouts there ;) I got some more tiramisu gelato when I got up there, too. Always good. After that we were both pretty tired so we both went back to our apartments. It was sunny that day but every other day has been pure rain and clouds. Depressing.
Yesterday the only excitement in my life was going to see Michelangelo's "David" at the Accademia and hanging out with my roomies and Julia and Molly last night. After seeing David, Emily and I stopped at this place called Vecchio Forno (I think), where there are all these cookies and other delicious looking things. Then we were lazy all day until Molly and Julia came over. We just painted our nails and talked but it was a good memory for sure. Hoping for another fun filled week in Florence. It's down pouring this Sunday morning. Hoping for a break in the rain so I can go for an enjoyable run.
Ciao!

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Cortona, Italy! Field trip #1

Yesterday I went to Cortona, Italy. Most of the ride there, on the private bus, I spent sleeping but the time I was awake I was amazed with the beautiful Tuscan hills. It was pretty gloomy the whole day we were there but that didn't stop us from having a great time. Cortona is everything I hoped it would be. As of right now, Cortona is my favorite place in Italy. It's pretty quiet and it's a clean little Etruscan town. It's on a very big hillside so we had an amazing view from where we were. We had a guided tour in three different churches there. I accidentally took some pictures in one I wasn't supposed to but nobody yelled at me, so I think it's okay. Maybe? Anyway, after our tour we were free to wander around the town for a couple hours. We ate at a very good restaurant. Once again, I can't remember the name but the bathroom was very rememberable.  It was filled with porcelain dolls that were staring at you through the mirror. I didn't take a picture but I should have. It was a little scarring. :) They had the best ravioli I have ever had. Seriously. I didn't order dessert but a lot of people did. There was a dessert, something like tiramisu, but covered with fudge. Also, a dish with pears covered in chocolate sauce. The last dessert was a plate of arrangements of homemade chocolates from Cortona. I can't remember all the flavors but there was pine nut, pistachio, hazelnut, rum raisin, barley, chile, and a couple others. I would really like to go back to Cortona, because it was so cute and the view was beautiful. We were all pretty beat after the field trip because it had started to rain at one point. Me being the intelligent person I am decided to wear a pair of my flats. Not a good choice. I'm sure I will learn :)
        



Week 1 in Florence

Hey everybody!

The first week has already been a great experience. It's been a little tough for me to adjust this whole week but I am finally getting settled in to the lifestyle. I do miss home a lot but I have been able to keep in contact with family which has been nice. I have been pretty busy with orientation the past couple days, which has been nice that way am constantly moving and doing stuff. Our orientation has consisted of learning basic Italian with two of my teachers at SRISA Lorenzo and Matilda. By the way, the staff at SRISA is amazing. They're all so nice and helpful. The school is really small. The group that I have been around most of the time is around 20 people. Matilda was giving us a tour the first day of orientation and showed us some places that will come handy to us this semester like the post office, library, market, etc. I'm sorry for not having specific places in Florence I have been to, I have been extremely tired and forgetful this week. Lorenzo, the art history teacher (I believe), took us to order gelato another day this week. I ordered tarimisu flavor, it was unbelievable. Once again I don't remember what the place was called, but I will find it again I can promise you that. We had our SRISA welcome dinner the other day as well. The food has been amazing, a lot of different things to try while I am here. I have been too busy to look around and shop until today, so a group of us are planning to hangout today and shop around Florence. The next few days we have free to do whatever and then classes begin Monday. Since our school is so small a lot of classes got cut, like the writing one I wanted to take. I will be in two art history classes; The History of Contemporary Art and the Italian Renaissance. I will also be taking Discovering Florence through Photography, Food as Culture, and Italian I. I am really anxious to start classes Monday, I like staying busy but I am also excited to explore. I just hope I start feeling better. I have had a headache since I landed in Florence, I thought it was the fact I haven't had caffeine  for a week but I had an espresso and American coffee this morning. I've also been drinking water like crazy. I've had a bad cough, chills and sweats at night, muscle pain. I'm sure I will feel better soon. I will write more exciting stories soon when I start school and explore a little more.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

My Arrival

Hey everybody,

I arrived in Florence safe. I left on the 6th from Minneapolis. The day before my departure was pretty rough, it started hitting me around noon that day that I was really leaving and that I was about to be in a place I was totally unfamiliar with and about to be surrounded by many people I was also unfamiliar with. It was hard saying good bye to my family at the airport, all I wanted to do was cry my whole flight. I started to relax when the plane finally left for Chicago, but arriving in Chicago was another story. I hated every second of being in that airport. People were so rude, even the majority of the people I asked politely for help. It was stressful trying to find where my terminal was but I found it and before I knew it I was on the plane headed to Switzerland. Luckily for that flight I was sitting to a very nice girl from Eau Claire who was also studying abroad but for graduate school in Madrid. She was very nice and we talked a lot during the flight. We stuck together at the airport since we were headed to the same terminal. It was easy getting to the terminal in I needed in Zurich, but the plane was crammed. As long as I had the window seat I would be happy, and luckily I had the window seat. I stared out the window the whole flight; the Swiss Alps were beautiful. Before I knew it I was in Florence. I was beyond tired at this point (and still am). I got my bags easily at the airport and got a taxi to the school. If I would have been fully awake for the taxi ride, I probably would have had five heart attacks. It was craaaazy. I thought we were going to hit people and bikers.
When I arrived at the Santa Reparata I met with Laelle, the woman from the register's office. She gave me my apartment key and we walked to the apartment. The sidewalks are pretty small and I have learned that people don't usually move out of the way, so I was balancing on the edge of the side walk with my suitcase trying not to fall into traffic, haha. When we finally got to the apartment I was so excited. My roommate Emily was already there so it was a relief to have someone to talk to. The apartment is beautiful! It is the cutest little place ever. I will upload pictures to Facebook obviously. I have to get wifi at my apartment first though. Later on, my other two roommates Jordan and Veronica arrived. My roommates are all great, super nice. We went out to dinner around 7pm, I can't remember the name of the place but we went with a group of students from SRISA. I have already met so many new and amazing people. After dinner, Emily, showed us all round town. She knows so much about the city, it's amazing. Laelle told me to stay awake until nighttime here, so I was extremely tired by the time I got to go to bed.