The Beginning

Ciao i miei amici e la mia famiglia! I have only been in Italy for a couple of days and I can already tell it is going to be an experience of a lifetime. So much has already happened and has already exceeded the extreme expectations I’ve had, and I cannot wait to see what the next 7 weeks have in store for me.

I have to say, I’m not a huge fan of blogging (not that I’ve ever done it before), but I am going to do my best to stick through it and keep this up. Mostly because I have heard from experienced travelers that it is worth it, and because family members have expressed interest in keep updated on my experiences. And because of the 6 hour time difference and the thousands of amazing stories I will have at the end of this trip, I figure I can bear through the pain of knowing people are reading my writing, because ultimately, I know I will look back and be happy I documented everything.

So. To begin. I got a little emotional saying bye to my mom at the security gate in Chicago, and that was the first time I experienced any emotion other than excitement. I suppose I was scared; scared of going to a foreign country by myself where I only sort of speak the language, scared of not really knowing anyone else going, scared of failing the class (a full year’s worth of material jam-packed into 6 weeks still scares me a bit), but mostly scared that the trip wouldn’t live up to the life-changing-experience expectations that I had attached to the trip since day one. And I can happily say, that fear is no longer with me. For the whole 2 and a half hour wait I had at the terminal, an IU student who is also studying for 6 weeks in Florence pleasantly distracted me with casual conversation, travel tips, and a jiu-jitsu lesson (theoretical, not practical). As soon as I got on the plane I took Tylenol PM, watched the first half of No Strings Attached, and passed out. It wasn’t the most comfortable sleep, but it was sleep. I had a short layover in Switzerland (I wished it had been longer so I could go out an explore the beautiful countryside), chatted with a Brazilian who had apparently sat near me on the plane, and boarded a short flight to Florence. I was able to meet up with Matt and we took a taxi to the Villa. He dropped us off on the side of a street alongside an old wall—surely having taken us to the wrong place, I questioned him and apparently, it was correct. It certainly didn’t look anything like I had imagined a 600-year-old Villa to look. However, as soon as we walked inside I knew it was the right place. I was ecstatic at the sight of an impressive lawn, but I about died when I looked through the iron gates into the formal gardens. I am certainly not talented enough with words to explain the grounds—look at my pictures on Facebook and keep in mind they don’t do the place justice. I am living in a 600-year-old castle and surrounded by gardens and grounds that go on forever. That first afternoon we spent a good couple hours exploring the grounds and the inside of the never-ending Villa. At night we explored around a little, but because it was a Sunday evening not much was open. A few of us did manage to sniff out the local gelateria and enjoyed the first of many gelato stops. That first day was all I could have hoped for—and we hadn’t even had orientation yet.

Yesterday (Monday) was even more incredible. We started off the day with a delicious breakfast of Italian bread and Nutella. Yum! We then had a quick program orientation, after which a couple of us went into town to a café to try some authentic Italian coffee. I had a shot of espresso, which was strong but delicious! After coffee we had a walking tour of Sesto Fiorentino (Sesto is the town we’re actually staying in—it’s right outside of Florence). The cool part? Our tour guide didn’t speak a word of English. It was a little hard to understand him because he talked super fast, but I was able to catch the main points. After the tour we got another incredible meal—I am going to be eating VERY well these next few weeks—and then got ready for our tour of Florence. We caught the train and met up with our tour guide outside the station. We all have unlimited bus passes and it’s only about a 20 minute ride into Florence so we plan to go back and forth a lot. Our tour guide for Florence spoke English, but gave most of the tour in Italian which was very cool. She was much easier to understand, so when I wasn’t marveling at my surroundings I was able to comprehend most of the tour. Our first stop was Chiesa San Miniato, a stunning church with an even more miraculous view overlooking all of Florence. After a history lesson and some marveling we walked into the heart of Firenze. The whole tour lasted about 5 hours, so we were all happy to sit down and enjoy the sun in a small piazza after. After another delicious meal we all sat down to plan our weekends. Nothing is set in stone yet, but the ideas that were thrown around were Cinque Terre, Capri, Rome, Barcelona, and Pisa on top of our already planned trips to Siena (on my birthday!) and Venice.

Today will be a little bit of a reality shock since we actually start class—four hours a day four days a week. Yikes. Plus I have an internship at an elementary school with two other girls for an hour every Monday morning. It will be a lot, but these past couple days have gotten me really excited to really improve my Italian and speak it and just learn.

Sorry this was such a long post! I don’t know proper blogging etiquette so if this was long and exhaustive, I apologize. I will [try] to update as things happen. Until then, have un bello giorno (a beautiful day)!

Lots of love,
Alison