Taking Florence- Part 1

Florence is the capital of Tuscany and the leading city of art in Italy, if not the world. Florence preserves some of the world’s most famous artworks and Renaissance architecture. Famous architecture of Florence can be seen throughout the city and famous artworks can be discovered in museums, such as the Uffizi or the Pitti Palace. There have been controversial debates that Florence is the last Renaissance city in Italy, but by far it is one of the most popular. Florence is home to many famous shops, markets, and tons of tourists. When the weekend came, I looked forward to seeing all the glory of Florence once and for all.
On Friday, February 18th the group went on a weekend trip to Florence. We left the Palazzo heading to the bus station at around 1:35 p.m. in order to catch our 1:45 p.m. bus to Arezzo. The bus ride was one hour long and seemed better than usual. I did not get nauseous; thanks to my sea-sickness bracelet I brought from the farmacia in Sansepolcro. I prepared, therefore, nothing could spoil my trip. Once in Arezzo, we took a train that would transport us to Florence. The train station was very crowded, since it was Friday and people were trying to get home for the weekend. Due to the overcrowding, directions at the train station were confusing. However, Dr. Webb was there to assist us in locating our train. We boarded it, and comfortably situated ourselves for the one hour ride to Florence. It was pleasant; I looked out the window and listened to my iPod the entire time. As we traveled quickly down the tracks, I noticed all the appealing landscapes and graffiti. We passed mountains, rivers, trees, buildings and before I knew it; we were in Florence. There, Dr. Webb taught us how to read the arrival and departure times for trains correctly, and then we were on our way.
With John Rose serving as our tour guide, the group strolled along the cobblestone roads through the city in search of our hotel. Along the way we saw many beautiful buildings, statues and local markets. Although it was very tempting to stop to take pictures, shop, and eat; we did not and instead pushed onward. John Rose put me in charge of the map, which was a good lesson to learn for our future excursions. After a wrong turn, tons of streets signs, and motor bikes; we found our way to our hotel. The name was Convento della Calza. Everyone was so relieved to have finally reached our destination. We quickly received our keys, divided into our assigned rooms, and rested for a while. Once we put our bags down and got situated, some of the girls separated and walked around the town. Megan, Lilly, Shannon, Kelsey, and I explored the town in the hunt for gelato. We walked around for about thirty minutes then decided to head back to the hotel in time for dinner. At 8:00 p.m., we were all welcomed to dinner at the hotel. Not only was it delicious and free, but it was convenient as well. We had pasta for our first course, chicken and cauliflower for the second, and a chocolate treat for dessert. I was full after dinner and could not think of anything but sleeping. The night ended on a good note and we rested up for our long Saturday adventure in Florence.
The next morning, we all woke up at eight in the morning to have breakfast before leaving. The breakfast was small, just as all Italian breakfasts, but it was just enough to fuel us for the day. We all went to buy bus tickets after breakfast, then patiently waited for the bus to arrive. The bus carried us to the train station in Santa Maria Novella. We thought it would be a great place to start and work our way southward as the day progressed. With me placed as map manager, we headed to our first destination. This was the Accademia Museum, but somehow we arrived at the gallery instead. We peeked in and figured out it was the wrong place, so we went a few doors down only to figure out that we had passed it in the beginning. Well, after that little hiccup, we entered the Accademia Museo. It was smaller than expected, but still impressive. The big highlight of this museum was the sculpture of David. David was enormous and way bigger than I imagined. The sculpture actually started off as an unused slab of marble and was turned into a masterpiece by Michelangelo. This statue holds a significant meaning; he represents David of “David and Goliath” from the Bible. The Biblical story explains why David is holding a sling and a rock. The sling and rock were two tools that David used in his battle against Goliath. The sculpture was symbolic and moving to those viewing it. After looking at all the pieces in the Accademia Museo, we went to a shop across the street and bought postcards. Mine were funny postcards of David to send to my friends and of Florence for my family. Next, we set off wandering around in a nearby market, buying scarves and other items that could serve as souvenirs. I ended up buying three scarves, two wallets, magnets, and plenty of souvenirs. Once we finished we the market, we arranged to meet up with the other half of the girls for lunch.
At about 2:00 p.m. we all met up with no idea where to eat. Most of the girls suggested a recommended sandwich shop, but it was closed when we arrived so we had to find a restaurant. Just one street away from the sandwich shop, we came across one called I Ghibellini. It was able to seat all eight girls so we decided to eat lunch there. My meal was amazing; I ordered penne pasta with hot pepper and a side of French fries. I was stuffed after lunch, but I needed the food to help energize my body for the remainder of the day. We had a very nice waiter and he actually gave the group a discount, so everyone ended up paying ten dollars apiece. After lunch all the girls, excluding Kelsey and me, went to climb to the top of the Duomo. Both Kelsey and I wanted to go with the group and see the amazing view, but could not due to health issues. Kelsey has asthma and I recently had spinal surgery, which prohibits me from participating in activities such as that. I was really sad, but decided to go shopping to feel better. It did not last long, so Kelsey and I took a look inside both the Duomo and the Baptistery. After looking around in the Duomo, we met up with the remainder of the girls and went on a hunt for gelato. Not too far from the Duomo, we found a cute little gelato shop. The prices seemed affordable so everyone brought two scoops of their favorite flavors. I had chocolate chip and coffee. Once we finished, the group divided yet again. Some girls wanted to go shopping while others wanted to view more museums. I went with the first group. We searched around for a reasonably priced market and began bargaining. It was fun to bargain with the vendors and then walk away when the prices were too high. All the markets had the same things, so it was easy compare prices and buy sensibly. We shopped in the market into nightfall, but our day was far from over.
We agreed that it would be nice for everyone to meet up again for dinner, but this time we would try a location closer to the hotel. We intended to have dinner at 8:00 p.m., therefore around 6:45 p.m., my group decided to head back across the Ponte Vecchio to get to the hotel. We brought bus tickets at the station, but it was just our luck that we got on the wrong one. Instead of boarding the bus going south towards Via Porta Roma, we got on one that went in north. We rode for about five minutes, and then as the bus grew bare we noticed we were going the wrong way. All of a sudden, we hopped off and scurried into a farmacia. We asked where we were and the clerk laughed. He informed us that we were far away from where we needed to be and must take two buses to get to the Convento de Calza. We were nervous, mad, and scared all at the same time. No one knew what to do, so we just sat at the stop asking every bus driver were they heading to Via Porta Roma but we received the same response every time: NO. Shannon suggested that we take a taxi, but the only problem was how we would flag it down. Then suddenly we looked up at the red light a saw an empty taxi, so we made a run for it. The driver agreed to take us to the hotel and we hopped in. We safely arrived at the hotel in about 15 minutes. We were hungry and tired, but most importantly, we were thankful that we arrived safely.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Light at the End of the Tunnel
My first weekend in Sansepolcro turned out to be better than the week had been. Friday was an exciting day for me, because I had a lighter class load. I only had morning classes and then lunch. Lunch was delicious, as always. We had more pasta and vegetables. I love the pasta here, and can never get tired of it. Margarita and Alessandra are amazing cooks and I am very grateful to have them as our cooks here at the Palazzo. After lunch the girls and I had the rest of the day to ourselves. Most of the girls just relaxed until later that evening. We planned to explore the streets later that night and shop. We headed out around 6 p.m. and looked in almost all of the small shops along the main street. Our first stop was into a shoe store, since everyone was looking for boots of some sort for the surprise trip on Sunday. Luckily, I had brought rain boots in the States so I did not have to buy new ones. All the girls ended up buying the exact same boots, in black and white. I really did not find anything I liked in the stores and I quickly noticed that my style was so different from all the girls here. I like things with more color and elaborate, while the other girls are classy and simple. Due to our opposing styles, it was hard to go in stores that included both styles, but we managed.
All the girls, except for me, brought boots for our surprise trip on Sunday. Everyone was excited to guess what we would actually be doing for this surprise. We learned about the Italian tradition of carnevale in Italy Today. Carnevale is a celebration that happens 40 days before Lent, in which people of all ages dress up and anything goes. Carnevale is celebrated all over Italy, but the biggest one is in Venice. Carne means meat and levare means to stop. At carnevale people usually were masks to hide their identity and represent everyone as equals. I thought this was interesting and that it was similar to the holiday of Halloween in the United States. I was hoping that this would be our surprise for Sunday, because this is a special celebration that does not happen often. It would be a once in a lifetime experience that everyone could share. The weekend was more of a reenergizing one than partying one for me. Much of my Saturday was spent doing homework and eating. I was very tired from the first week of transition and wanted to rest up for the big surprise.
On Sunday morning, we had to wake up extra early to catch a bus to our surprise location. On the way there, Shannon was the first to notice a road sign telling where we were heading, so at the halfway stop Dr. Webb decided to reveal the surprise. She told us that we were going to Venice for carnevale. After finding this out, I grew impatient of what awaited us in Venice. It was a coincidence that we were going to Venice, because the night before my brother and I were talking of how much water surrounds Venice. Generally speaking, the trip took about four hours and another thirty minutes by boat to reach Venice. I was amazed by all the people and by how many people were actually dressed to celebrate carnevale. I assumed that it would be mostly children and teenagers, but I was proven wrong. There were adults and parents dressed in customs ranging from wasp to kings and queens. I took countless pictures of all the various customs and beautiful buildings that made up the city of Venice. I saw gondola boats, masks, and graffiti. All aspects of the Venice was breathe taking, it seemed as if I was inside a book. I felt privileged to be able to see all the wonderful views and components of the carnevale. The whole experience seemed so surreal and I was wondering how I would explain everything to my family (they probably would not believe it). For lunch in Venice, Bekah, my roommates and I went to a small restaurant on a back street. I ordered lasagna and had gelato for dessert. This was my first time eating gelato and I must say it was yummy; just thinking of it now is makes my mouth water. I tried a cookie flavor and chocolate chip. Since it was so cold outside, we looked for a nice warm place to enjoy our sweet treat. We ended up finding a place right along the water. As we sat, we judged whose flavors were better. Of course, I thought mine was the best. The funniest thing happened to me while I was trying to find a seat along the banister was when a strange man kicked me up. I thought it was very nice of him, but in the back of my head I thought he may have been trying to pick-pocket me. At first I was scared and panicked but when I realized what he doing I calmed down. Dr. Webb warned us about situations as that, so I quickly checked my pockets and found they were safe. Afterwards, he took my pictures and I scurried off into the jumbled crowd. Overall, my day in Venice was great until I got seasick on the ride back home. I felt awful, until we arrived at a restaurant and had dinner. I ate cheese pizza and had a sprite to settle my stomach. To my surprise it helped and I felt recovered the next morning.
The second week was a long one for me. I was given a lot work in such little time, but my theory was just taking it one day at a time. This week all the girls came up with nicknames for each other, and mine was hilarious. The girls came up with the name KFC; Kim the Funny Comedian. All the girls decided that I am the funniest, which is the same response I get back home. In some ways the girls here remind me of my friends at home, but truly they could never compare. On Friday, it snowed continuously all day. It was cold, but my roomies and I stilled went to play in the snow. We threw snowballs at one another on the way to the Pam. I was overjoyed to find fingernail polish remover at the Pam and buy earrings at one of the shops. After all the snow cleared on Saturday, the group took a trip to Arezzo. Arezzo was not too far from Sansepolcro, but I found the trip refreshing. Once we arrived in Arezzo, Bekah showed us around the train and bus station. Our mission was to be able to get ourselves back to the Palazzo alone. Afterwards, we broke into two groups and strolled around the city. My roommates and I made up one group, and the remaining girls were the second group. My roommates and I ended up getting lost on our way back to the bus station, but we found our way back home. We felt very accomplished after making it back to the Palazzo on our own safely. As soon as we got to the Palazzo we took a long nap until later that evening. We planned to go out to the club later on so we wanted to be well-rested. After our rejuvenating nap, we worked on homework and prepared for the club.
I was actually nervous to go out to the club. I would rather have stayed in the Palazzo doing homework or talking with my family but I did not want to miss anything; so I went. All the girls went out to a place called the K Café and had a couple of drinks with intentions of meeting cute Italian boys. Walking in was very intimidating because everyone was staring at us. It seemed that right away that all the Italians could sense that we were American. After about fifteen minutes the mood began to lighten up. A group of Italian boys made their way over to us and began to chat about our stay here. It was very thrilling to talk with them; the only problem was that we could hardly understand them. There was only one guy that spoke English very well and he served as our personal translator for the night. He followed us all night from the K Café into a local bar. At the bar, the girls had more drinks and talked to the Italian boys. I felt sort of out of place since it was my first time in a bar and because I was not getting as much attention as the other girls. Time seemed to be moving very slow but after about thirty minutes I decided to leave. I was extremely tired and wreaked of smoke. I was escorted back to the Palazzo by Lilly because it was dark and random men on the streets. I made it back safely, showered, and went to bed. The night had been an unforgettable one and the first of many.

New Beginnings

As Sunday, January 31st 2010 grew closer and closer my feelings became very mixed. I was excited, scared, sad, and happy all at the same time. I knew I would miss my family and close friends but not the extent. My family and I never traveled far, so I found packing to be very difficult. For a whole week, I packed, unpacked and re-packed again. As with my clothing and other personal belongings, my emotions constantly changed. One minute I was ready to leave, then the next I wanted to spend another month at home with my family. During my last weekend at home the weather was unpredictable. The weather changed drastically; snowing on Friday, January 29th. I hoped that our group departure flight would not be cancelled due to the weather, but it was. The streets were covered in snow and it took a day for the Department of Transportation (DOT) to clear the streets. Due to this setback our flight was rescheduled to Monday, February 1st. Unbelievable!
On Monday, I woke up very early with an uneasy feeling in my stomach. I was trying to face the fact that this was the last day I would see my family for three months. I quickly checked over my bags to make sure there was not anything important I was missing. I got dressed and ate a big breakfast with my family and awaited the arrival of my older sister, niece, and nephew. My family (which includes my mother, younger brother, older sister and her children) all planned to drive to the airport together. Since there was a lot of snow remaining on the ground we left home earlier than usual. At approximately 8:50 a.m. we left my house and headed to the airport. We arrived at the airport at about 9:45 a.m. Everyone in my family was amazed and stunned at the airport. My family had never been inside an airport before, so we were guaranteed to get lost. Luckily, as we walked inside I noticed Kevin Morrison on the left and received instructions from him. With all the chaos in my mind, I managed to get checked in and exchanged a few words for the last time with family. After check-in, we proceeded to the waiting area to relax before our first flight to JFK in New York. Even though I convinced myself that I would not cry or tear up when saying goodbye to my family; I DID! So many emotions rushed into my head and wiped all my confidence away. As I walked through the security check tears rolled down my face and dropped on my sweatshirt. I wondered how I would get through this experience without my family. As I said bye and gave out my last hugs, my granddad called. It was a coincidence because I thought in my head that I did not call him as I said I would. So I said bye to my granddad and told him I loved him. This was something that I had not done in many years, so to hear him say he loved me made tears come down faster. After I passed through the security check, I did one last goodbye wave to my family and was on my way. I was very uneasy about the actual flight because I had never been on a plane before. I had a lot of bad thoughts in my head from movies and stories, but I managed to clear my head of those thoughts before the first flight taken off.
The flight to JFK in New York from RDU in Raleigh, North Carolina was very scary for me. The plane was so tiny and compact; it felt that if I were to stand up the plane would tip over. I felt very claustrophobic, but looking out the window was not helping. So I just closed my eyes and prayed silently. I sat in seat 1B, which was in the front next to my soon-to-be roommate, Shannon. I was terrified the whole ride, but thankfully Shannon was there to ease the stress. The flight was not that long but I was happy to land on ground. Our next flight was to depart New York to Rome at 5:20 p.m. This flight was not as bad as the first. I felt prepared and comfortable, because this was my second plane ride and the plane was bigger. It was very hard for me to fall asleep on this flight for two reasons. The first was that I could not seem to get comfortable and the second that the passengers around me talked the entire way to Rome. I was a little upset, but soon got over it. I found myself falling in and out of dreams; of all the situations that would be left behind and the new experiences that would come true right before my eyes once in Italy.
Tuesday morning we arrived here in Italy. We landed in Rome, only to find ourselves bouncing away on a four hour bus ride to Sansepolcro, Italy. Once we arrived, Dr. Betty Webb and Sara were waiting to greet us. They both seemed really nice. I felt very special that Sara offered to help carry my bags to the Palazzo. Sara was the first “true” Italian I ever set eyes on and I found myself staring at her in amazement. It took about three minutes to walk down the cobblestone road to get to the Palazzo. I was astonished at the beauty and surroundings of the Palazzo. It felt as if I was in a dream and had not awakened yet. All the different smells was refreshing and new to my senses. The smell of pizza and cigarettes lingered, which would last for three months. The Palazzo was gorgeous and the thought of it being my home for the next few months brought a smile to my face. But that smile soon disappeared once I began to unpack. As I unpacked I got very homesick, very quickly. I did not want to talk to anyone or see anyone but my family. At lunch I felt it the hardest, because I kept looking around and did not see anyone I knew. I just wanted to hold my head down and cry but I just kept quiet. After lunch, the group went walking around the city to get a feel of a Tuscan atmosphere. We walked to a store called the Pam, but on the way we saw many significant areas. We saw the town cathedral, the Piazza Torre Di Berta, and many small shops along the way. It was very exciting and motivating, but it still did not change my mood. For dinner we ate delicious pizza, which was the best I ever tried. Overall, the first day was depressing. So that night, I lay in bed and said my prayers till I fell asleep. I thought that things could only go up from here.
On Wednesday, my week started to look better for me. I was overly tired from jet-lag, but I pushed my way through four classes. My first impression of the class schedule was unpleasant. I felt overwhelmed and defeated before my experience began. After lunch, for some reason my entire attitude began to change. I felt better about my surroundings and lucky to be here. I had an art class later that day, which was very interesting. It was interesting not only because I was looking at the professor using Skype but also because I actually knew some of the material. A few topics, such as Greek columns and Roman inspirations, were familiar to me. After class, everyone went back to our computers to update our families on our newly found lives in Italy. All the girls sat in the green lounge, facebooking and skyping away. The green lounge was the only area, at the time that received internet connection, so due to this mishap all the girls were confined to the lounge. Later on that night, some of the girls realized that the plugs were not tightly secured in the wall, which was why the connection was bad. So then they fixed the plugs, making it more convenient to use the internet in our bedrooms. I was glad because walking to the green lounge was cold and uncomfortable. I talked with my mother and granddad that night. They were overly excited to talk to me and made me feel good about my decision to come here. The next morning I woke up early again for three classes. It was Thursday and I was excited, because that meant my last class would be over by 3:30. After my Justice and Liberty course, the group went to the COOP. The COOP was very similar to the Pam, which we had gone to a couple days before. Both stores were similar to a grocery store in the States, but still differing in many ways. It was interesting to look around and take pictures. I was really surprised at the shopping carts. The carts were neat; there was a hand-held cart that you could actually roll on the ground. It was my first time using Euros, not dollars. After leaving the COOP, everyone was tired. We attempted to do homework, but found it better to talk about all the things we had seen and will see soon!