Sunday, November 20, 2011

Beware of the Balls

Ciao tutti (hello everyone)! It's me again... I am happy to report that I am wrapping up my second week here in Italia! I have also just completed my first week at Via Lingua. Wow, it feels a little awkward to be back in school. Lord knows I didn't apply myself as much as I should have back at ol' NMSU, but I am certainly doing my darndest to be a good student for the next 3 weeks! I CAN DO THIS!

Anyway, a lot has happened in the last week... let's see if I can't get everyone (my one subscriber and my mother) up to date! Last Friday, Andrea's former roommate, Madeline, and her boyfriend, Paul, came down from Valdagno, Italy for the weekend. Madeline's birthday was a few days before and Paul wanted to surprise her with a trip to Florence and then a day trip to the truffle festival. Yes, I said truffle... Paul is from the UK- he's a little reserved, but sarcastic and Madeline is from Victoria, TX and can be best described as a bit of a spit-fire. Any-who, wonderful couple and I love them both! We basically spent the weekend eating, going out, eating the amazing cheese and butter with truffles that M & P brought back from the truffle festival, going out some more, and.... eating. However, our last meal together was on Sunday night and, as far as I'm concerned, is going to be ever so hard to beat. I don't know if I have mentioned it before, but my roommate is quite the chef. He spent all day Sunday preparing to make pizza for a group of 8 people. This was quite a process; homemade dough, fried potatoes, eggplant, tomatoes, sausage, mushrooms, onions, the list goes on and on. It was seriously amazing. Definitely the BEST pizza I have ever had! On the other hand, the best comment of the day went to Andrea when he warned Madeline and I to "Beware of the balls!" - balls of dough, that is, that were rising on the kitchen table... priceless. (Check out my pictures on FB and try to imagine, although it won't be possible, the most glorious meal).

Okay, now that I'm done drooling, I can tell you a little bit about school. My class consists of about 12 people, mostly American, but also 1 woman from Holland, 1 from Canada, and even 1 from right here in Florence. When the instructors said that this 4 week course would be intensive they weren't kidding. It's been a ton of information to take in, but it's in a very organized format, exactly the format that I will be teaching in, and actually rather interesting. I think I've even been enjoying it a little! Yay me! My favorite part about school is its location. I love that I get to walk over the Ponte Santa Trinita while gazing at the Ponte Vecchio every day (these are bridges btw so look them up on google now if you don't know what I'm talking about... seriously GO). I also pass by all of the top designer stores: Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton, etc. as I stroll down Via de' Tornabuoni on my way to class. A-MA-ZING. Also, this past Thursday there was a fresh flower market in the Piazza della Reppublica, which is where Via Lingua is located. Sooo beautiful! I can't believe I live here! (Fyi- I was unaware that this would be here so I don't have any pictures, but if it's there again this week I will be prepared).

Something that I'm really looking forward to in the coming weeks is the Christmas festival in the Piazza Santa Croce. It starts on November 30th and everyone has already been talking about it. I'm not really sure what to expect yet, but I'm still excited to attend. Speaking of Christmas and shopping, one of my classmates and I (hi Erica!) went on a little adventure yesterday to the local IKEA (pronounced e-KAY-ah in Italy). This was seriously a project. We started out at 3:30 pm and headed towards the Stazione Centrale di Santa Maria Novella (train station). Across the street were several bus stops, one of which was the free bus to IKEA. Now, I assumed that it would be a clearly marked location. I think we all know where assuming got me... I'm telling you this sign couldn't have been more vague and to top it off had been damaged a little by the rain. It looked like a freakin' water color painting. At least we found it. Of course we were 30 minutes early, so, we decided to form our own 'occupy IKEA' along with the 15 other people that were there waiting. Finally the bus arrived and 20 minutes later we were at IKEA! It was my first IKEA experience and, though it may not be my last, I'm probably not going again any time soon. But I did make it home with a new shower curtain, a new candle and a lint roller! By 7 o'clock I was home and just in time for Chef Andrea to make me some dinner! Fabulous!

Anyway... I'm clearly in a very wordy mood tonight, so I'll try harder not to let so much time pass in between posts! Until next time...

Ciao,

Abby

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Va bene!

Well, I am finally in Florence!  This is my second full day in Italy and I managed to sleep through half of it :(  I set my alarm for 8 am and proceeded to sleep for 4 more hours.  Va bene (oh well/it's okay)!  Eventually my body will get used to the time change and I'll be able to function like a normal human being again.

    My flight(s) went better than I had anticipated.  Each one was on schedule. I didn't have to pay an extra fee for my luggage weighing more than 50lbs. per bag (although there was a $75 fee for having a second bag which my parents, very lovingly, paid for... thanks Mom and Dad!), I got to watch 3 movies that I've wanted to see, and going through customs in Amsterdam was a breeze!  Once I arrived in Italy, Andrea (my Italian roommate) met me at the airport on his lunch break to give me the keys to the apartment.  It was nice seeing a familiar face.  I think he was glad to see me, too, until he saw my luggage.  I believe his exact wording was, "Whoa, you have a lot of stuff!"  (Okay people, I'm MOVING to Italy not coming to visit for 2 weeks!)  Thank God he offered to meet me at the apartment to help me get all of my 'stuff' up the 6 billion stairs to the 3rd floor.  He literally ran both of the large suitcases up the stairs while I struggled to get my small carry-on to the top.  I have a feeling that my fitness level will be increasing in no time after a few trips up and down those puppies!  Once inside, I met my other roommate, Kathryn Irene.  She is an American from Washington D.C. area.  We haven't spent much time together, but it's comforting to have another female and english speaker in the house. 


    Around 7 pm my new friend and fellow blogger, Sally, came to collect me at my apartment.  Sally is actually the person that I can thank for getting to live in such an awesome place!  She also lived with Andrea when she first moved to Florence in August 2010.  She now lives just down the street.  She has been very generous with advice and in helping to ease some of my fears about living abroad.  She has also proved to be an excellent tour guide!  Anyway, the two of us set out to find a place to eat.  On the way, Sally introduced me to some friends of Andrea's uncle.  Fabio and Luca own a furniture restoration shop just a few blocks from where I live.  I was almost taken-a-back when Sally carried on a conversation with Fabio and Luca in, what seemed to me to be, perfect Italian!  I am so jealous, but now hopeful that I, too, will be able to speak the language of my adopted city.  We ended up eating at a restaurant called Il Muna Cielo (I think), and feasted on pizza, meatballs with marinara, bread and vino of course! 

    After dinner we met Andrea at Piazza Santo Spirito for some evening cocktails.  With a little coaching from Sally and Andrea I was even able to order our second round of drinks all by myself!  Yessss!  Unfortunately, I had forgotten how tired I was and may have had one too many... needless to say my tummy wasn't 100% the next day.  After sleeping in until 12:30pm, I got up, got ready and went be-bopping around Florence with Sally while she ran a few errands.  I even stopped at Apartments Florence www.apartmentsflorence.com so I could meet Christine Dickert (another fellow blogger).  Christy has also made herself available to me for advice and reassurance about my move.  I ate Gelato, saw Santa Maria del Fiore (The Duomo) for the first time, visited Stazione Centrale di Santa Maria Novella (train station), and went grocery shopping.  Then, to end the day on a high note, Andrea and Sally prepared a delicious meal of pasta with sausage, crostini with pate, fresh cheese and vino.  Oh, and then we went down to the corner gelataria for dessert (my second helping for the day)!  All-in-all a fabulous day. 

Today, I went exploring for the first time by myself.  I was a little scared, but now that I know I can leave the house and find my way back on my own gives me a sense of relief.  Oh, and my friends, Kendra and DJ, are currently living in Perugia, Italy.  They called me today to check in and to invite me to spend Christmas with them!  Kendra said that there is the possibility that we may get to go to evening mass at the Vatican in Rome on Christmas Eve.  Yes please!

Alright... ciao for now!

P.S. uploading images from my iPad to the blog is proving to be problematic. If you are friends with me on facebook you can view all my pictures so far! Thanks for stopping by!