My family brought me to KCI for my flight on Saturday. I met up to travel with two girls also in the Florence study abroad program, Madeline (my roommate!) and Jacie! My mom had a bit of a tough time leaving me at the airport--she waited and waved for about 30 minutes outside the security gates before I boarded the plane--but I think she's doing okay now :)
Jacie, Madeline, and me
My last view of the US before taking off!
We arrived at our host family's home in Florence yesterday and were greeted by Marisa and Paolo, along with their son (Roberto, who is also a teacher at our school!) and grandson (Jacopo, Roberto's 8-year-old son). Our home is on Via del Pino, which is about 30 minutes away from the historic center of the city, where our school is.
Madeline's and my room. The doors open out to the balcony overlooking Via del Pino
Flowers on our balcony
View of Via del Pino
After settling in at our home, Madeline and I went exploring in the city for a couple hours before our orientation at the school. We saw il Duomo, la Piazza di San Marco, Ponte Vecchio, il Mercado Nuovo (where we rubbed the boar statue's nose; legend has it that if you touch its nose, you will return to Florence again!), and il Palazzo Davanzati (one of the palaces I studied in my Italian art history course last year). It's so exciting to see in person all of these places that I've learned and read about!
Street leading up to il Duomo
Il Duomo
Il Duomo
Il Duomo
First gelato of the trip! MANY more to come :)
Il Palazzo Davanzati
Boar statue in front of Mercado Nuovo
Ponte Vecchio
We met at the Duomo for our orientation session and walked a couple of blocks to our school, la Accademia del Giglio. The school is about 5 minutes walking distance from the Duomo. After the orientation session finished, Madeline and I headed back home. The streets are a bit more confusing than we thought originally... We got lost on our way home and ended up having to take a taxi! Florence is a beautiful city to be lost in, though, so everything was fine. While we were wandering around, we stumbled upon il Ospedale degli Innocenti (another building I learned about in my art class! It was originally a children's orphanage) and a quaint, little farmer's market.
Ospedale degli Innocenti and the farmer's market we found while we were lost
We made it back home just in time for dinner at 8 o'clock--Italians eat a lot later than Americans typically do! Marisa homemade everything--a delicious pasta with red sauce, chicken, zucchini, spinach, and bread. We drank wine that was made by one of Paolo's friends who owns a vineyard about an hour outside of Florence. For dessert we had biscotti and tons of fruit. I'm hoping to do a lot of walking during my time here, otherwise I'll be gaining so much weight eating all of Marisa's amazing meals!
Today was our first day of class at the Accademia del Giglio. We took a placement test, then we were split into groups to work on our Italian conversation skills. All of the instructors at the school are so nice and enthusiastic. With all of the practice we're getting, I'm excited to see how well I can speak Italian by the end of the trip!
That's all for now... More to come later. Ciao, i miei amici e la mia famiglia!!
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