First Week in Florence

Sept 1st

I waited in a McDonald's for my friend when I realized that her train had already arrived. I called but her number was not working so I had to think fast otherwise she would never find me with so many people around.

My gut instinct told me to check my email so I went on a mission and walked out and asked a local who kindly pointed me into the right direction and I did it in all Italian. Man that felt so good!! I get online and on Skype and call her and the coordinator lady that was going to let me into my apartment. We make arrangements and meet up. We go to my apartment and I get my room and it is the most amazing thing ever because I literally live next to the Duomo!!!!!!

Me and my friend then take off and explore the city en route to find a place to eat. So we go to the Piazza di la Signoria which is where the Statue of David is and then walk next to the Uffizzi Museum and to the Ponte Vecchio. We see all of that and then get some food. Interesting note, During WWII Hitler destroyed all the bridges except the Ponte Vecchio because he had a soft spot for certain historical things like that.

Well naturally the first thing I ate was Spaghetti... It was different in the sense that I could taste the tomato and the fullness of flavors. I had a small bottle of chianti wine to accompany my meal and I was set for the day. We then crossed the Ponte Vecchio and went to the Medici Palace. I was BLOWN AWAY!!! Inside the ceilings are painted with so much beauty and the perspectives are absolutely astounding. I could hardly believe it. There were a lot of artifacts from history and navigation, and we then went to the gardens which were by no means anything similar to the ones at Versailles but instead reflected the dry and rustic nature of Florence.

We then walked around some more and then we had to part ways. We both went home. When I got home all my roommates were there and we all took some time to get to know each other and two of the guys were from Cal Poly another from LA area and one from New Jersey. We ended up going out to dinner with some people from upstairs and stayed up late. The next day we went to our day long orientation for school and it was informative and I got a lot of the logistics taken care of for my stay here. After that we went to dinner with a bigger group this time, and we again went out and stayed up late. It was crazy because some of these people are not...well 21 so you can imagine how they must have felt in a country where they don't ask for ID anywhere.... so it was quite the sight for me to see them all trashed actually.

The next day we meet up again at 9am and everyone showed up some in the same cloth as the night before and others clearly exhausted from the night before. We had our orientation thing and then me and girl went out for some wine. She was all about the art and wine. It was nice to be able to hang out with someone who appreciated art as much as I did and was knowledgeable about it. We randomly walked into the Medici Chapel and got to see Michaelangelo's sculptures Day Night, Dawn and Dusk. The chapel was under renovation so it was covered up with scaffolding and it was not that nice. But it really was impressive to see the other stuff.

We then walked around and got some wine at some random little shop and I observed Italian culture at it finest. I was told that in Italian customer service consists of leaving you alone. Nobody asks you "How are you doing, How may I help you" nothing like that. So we walk in and the lady is reading a book she looks at us and we look at her and we go about our business. Then we get a bottle and I spark up a conversation with her and all of a sudden...bam! she is all about helping us out telling us about what is good and where it comes from she was so nice and asks us questions about us. It was very nice and interesting to have witnessed this.
We leave and enjoy the wine over a nice conversation.

We then go to our scheduled tour time of Florence and learn about the History and landmarks of Florence.
My school is located in Piazza della Republica which is the EXACT CITY CENTER of Florence this was where the Romans had their Forum and then it was a market and now its just a Piazza. The city crossroads between North and South, East and West lie here. It's pretty amazing to be able to study here and just think about all the action and things that mush have taken place here and to imagine how little things have changed. I realized that some of these building alone are older than the EXISTENCE of the United States!! How crazy is that?

We stay in this night because nobody wanted to go out. I caught up on some rest and organized myself. I think I went out and just walked the streets of Florence at night and got some Gelato...which is amazing by the way.

The next day I had class at 9am (International Business), at first we all thought it was going to be boring and dull because the guy was lecturing about what the class was going to be about. But then...he said something about futbol/soccer and I seized the moment to inquire about futbol and he just went off about how great futbol is and how it is Italy's real religion and how it affects the cities mood and people's attitude based on whether they win or loose. He tells us about how the Florentine team website gets more hits than any other website locally and people are just crazy obsessed about their local team here. Later people were commenting on my brilliant move.
He talks about French people and his dislike for their arrogance and how they don't have better wine instead they have better marketing.

Here's something funny he an ITALIAN told us...European are very concerned about water conservation and don't see the necessity of showering every day...what was that? Yup, confirmed. That explains the smelly train coach that I had to take from Vienna to Florence. Also, why sometimes I choke walking around and suddenly feel like there is no oxygen in the air. But hey that's just the way it is and I accept it for what it is. It's crazy but interesting. Now I know why the French are known for their perfumes and colognes.

He talked to us about how professors are in Universities and how they publicly humiliate you and treat you like shit...IN FRONT OF EVERYONE. We are so spoiled in the United States when it comes to respecting other people and job rights. Its just crazy, the stuff he was telling us. He speaks his mind and cursed when the moment for a curse here and there. It made for a very entertaining class period. But everything good always has its end and we had to go.

That's when I went to the Market and bought some groceries. For like twenty Euros this is what I got.. And this is what I made (PIC of Sandwich).

It was good. Later we had dinner upstairs with our Flat mates and enjoyed a nice meal getting to know more people. Some people went out but we just chilled and went out to some bar and then to some other bar and I just got a drink. It was fun because we met up with some more people and I was the only guy. The ratio is ridiculously in my favor, its like 5 girls for every guy.

Random stuff worthy of notice: It is said that specifically Italian women are VERY difficult to talk to but I was convinced that this would not apply to me for many reasons. So on our way home from some disco we were wondering where Il Duomo was and there were some obviously Italian girls talking outside. So with my best accent and pronunciation I approach them and ask "Mi scusi, ma dove Il Duomo, non sono di qui?" Translation: Excuse me, but where is il Duomo, I am not from here. They both lit up and were eager to help and point me into the right direction and then said something at the end so fast I could not catch it, but it was good because they were smiling and I was like um okay grazie smiling saying thanks wishing I knew what they were saying as I walked away to catch up with my group. It was so cool to be able to speak a foreign language. I did the same thing when I got some gelato, but instead asking about the Duomo I asked about the music that they were playing and the same thing happened. Her face lit up and was so helpful just because I was talking in Italian. The trick is simple: I have a sexy spanish accent hahahaha I look different and don't approach them like an Italian would...and I guess well you know having ridiculously good looking looks might help a bit. hahaha just kidding I am not that vain people.

We then saw Il Duomo which was literally a block away and called it a night when we reached home.

09/04/2008
The next day I had class from 9am until 4:30pm it was for the most part fun. I really like my professors and classes except for the last one. He was a straight asshole. He referred to me by the name on my shirt and made other people in class look like fools when they asked questions. I know that that's the way it is in Italy but I don't have to put up with that so I immediately after class walked to the office so I could begin my dropping the class procedures. He was boring as a professor.

After I finished that some friends invited me to go see some monks sing at Mass right after I was done with that. We buy our bus tickets at the most awkward of places...a tobacco shop. We get to the train station where all the buses arrive and depart from and I have never witnessed so much orderly chaos. It just seems so so so unorganized but people seem to know where to go.

We hope on a bus and it ends up going to the same place just the longest way possible. We end up getting to the Church and her the monks say their last prayers and then we get to hear the organ but they get kicked out by some monk because they were showing too much skin and their celibate bodies could not handle so much temptation in their church.

We then come back home and I cook something up and then I go to bed to take a nap. But at this point I was SOOOOOOOO dead tired that I just lay there. I was the craziest thing ever!! I kept telling my body to get up but my body was boycotting my brain and didn't listen to it. It was crazy, I have never experienced something like this before. I just slept in what I was wearing I could literally not get up. Then the next day I wake up like at 10am after sleeping for like 10 hours, this felt gloriously great I was like Tony the Tiger when I woke up. I wasn't the only one either other people told me the same thing about sleeping for a long time and finally feeling normal again.

09/05/2008
Siena and Wine Tasting!!
Okay so I woke up refreshed and ready for an exciting day!! Today we were going to go on a day trip to Siena and get a tour of the town and the cathedral. It was interesting learning about the history about how it started and its rivalry with Florence.
Briefly, this city was founded by middle class businessmen and established a sovereign republic city state with a scarily similar if not exact form of government as the United States they prospered for many years until the black plague struck and severely weakened their population.
Overall, Siena was cool to see their main square called Il Campo and the houses made of brick and the many hills and narrow streets. It was cool, but not impressive

Then the fun part was going wine tasting. The way up there was absolutely amazing. It was just how I pictured it, rolling hills with a house here one there and olive trees with tons of vineyards everywhere. It was a beautiful thing to witness. I didn't drink too much wine and I enjoyed the amazing food that came along with it. Then we came home and I slept on the bus ride here.