Ciao amici!  The past week has been INCREDIBLY busy, but I have loved every minute of it.  Last I wrote, I was spending my first night in my home-stay, with my host mama, Rita.  So far, it's been absolutely amazing living here!  I absolutely adore her, she has a beautiful home, and wants to do everything she can to make sure we take in as much of the Italian culture and the city of Florence as possible.  Last weekend was Full Immersion weekend, where students staying with host families eat every meal with them and spend the weekend together.  It was also my first weekend to experience Florence nightlife, and I had an absolute blast.  Friday night we had dinner with a girl who stayed with Rita four years ago and now is doing her Master's in Florence.  It was amazing to see that they still kept in touch and see each other whenever they can- it definitely left me feeling hopeful about this experience!  After dinner, my roommate and I met up with some of her friends.  We didn't have much of a plan, so we bought some wine, and drank it by the Duomo.  We then continued on to a bar called the Red Garter and a friend I met at Skidmore met up with us.  Normally, its very American, but since we are one of the first programs to get here, there were a lot of Italians there.  That night, I did something I have never done, but always wanted to do- karaoke!  We sang two songs, and it was so much fun!  It was a perfect first night out.

The next day, we had breakfast with our host mama and left to go meet her sister and brother-in-law and hike up to Piazzale Michelangelo, which overlooks the entire city of Florence.  I have never seen anything so beautiful.  You can see everything from there- the Ponte Vecchio, the Duomo, Santa Croce, and all the surrounding hills.  We took some pictures, then continued on to the Basilica of San Miniato al Monte.  It was unbelievably beautiful.  I wasn't sure if you were allowed to take pictures inside, so I didn't, but I will be returning to capture the beauty of this church.  After exploring the grounds, we hiked back down, saw the Via del Monte alle Croci and the Via S. Niccolo.  That night, we went to another family's house for dinner with three other host families.  It was a giant meal, and we all enjoyed great food and company.  All the students then went out together to a cafe by the Duomo for drinks and back to the Red Garter to watch some football.  It was a very low key, but enjoyable night!



Sunday was a very long, but wonderful day.  We had lunch with Rita's ENTIRE family, and we had the best lasagna I've ever had.  To work off all the food we ate at lunch, we met another host mom and her students and hiked up the hill Fiesole.  There, we explored a market, saw the Teatro Romani- Scavi Museo (an ancient Roman theater- the actual site was closed, but I will be coming back to see it!), the Duomo di Fiesole, Chiesa di San Francesco, and the Antico Convento e Cella di San Bernardino.  On the way back down, we caught the sunset over Florence and the surrounding hills- breathtaking!  Later that night, we had a host family over for dinner and met her two students- one of whom is from Norton and has known one of my best friends from home for years!  It's amazing how small this world truly is.  It was yet another delicious meal!


Monday marked the first day of classes.  This semester I'm taking 20th C. Europe, Italy Since 1870, Italian II, and Italian Cinema since 1945.  So far, I like them all!  We've already watched two films in the cinema class- "Rome, Open City" by Roberto Rossellini and "Bicycle Thieves" by Vittorio De Sica, both of which I fully enjoyed.  Unfortunately, I had a very bad flare up of Fibromyalgia on Wednesday; I stayed home, but luckily it's the first week so I didn't miss much.  We had dinner with some more host families and friends of Rita (she is a VERY popular lady!).  I've become good friends with one of the girls we've had dinner with, and we booked Spring Break!  I am now looking forward to 11 days in Paris, Amsterdam, Ireland, and possibly even London!  I'm very excited!

Finally, we come to this weekend.  Friday I didn't do much- there was a school trip to Assisi, which is also offered next Friday, so I stayed in Florence.  I got my coursepacks and books, and just explored the city with a few friends.  Yesterday, I went on the school trip to Ravenna, which is on the west coast of Italy.  It was a beautiful drive through the mountains, but when we got there it was extremely foggy and VERY cold!  I was definitely not dressed for the weather- no one was!  Ravenna is a city that is famous for it's mosaics- I have never seen anything like them.  We started off at the Basilica di S. Apollinare in Classe, continued onto the San Apollinare Nuovo, Dante's tomb, the Orthodox Baptistery, Piazza del Popolo, the Basilica di S. Vitale, and the Galla Placidia- lots of churches, and lots of mosaics!  I couldn't believe how beautiful they were, and its unbelievable the amount of work and skill that it takes to make such amazing creations.  We spent the morning touring with the school, then left on our own for lunch and exploring.  I had lunch with two of my friends at a restaurant called Il Melarancio and had a DELICIOUS eggplant ravioli and a regional wine called Sangiovese.  After lunch, we walked around a bit and did some window shopping until it was time to meet back up with the group and head back to Florence.  Last night, I went out with some friends to a bar called Naima that was hosting a "Welcome to Florence" night just for Syracuse.  We had free drinks, drink specials that were colored blue and orange, free champagne, and an entire room to ourselves.  It wasn't anything crazy, but it was definitely a great night out!

I've only been in this city for about two weeks, but I have absolutely fallen in love already.  2011 was tough, and I went through a lot of struggles, both emotionally and academically; the only thing getting me through it was the fact that I knew I'd be coming here.  Within these two weeks, I can already feel the scars from the past year healing.  I am happier than I have been in months- I feel so at home, and just so content and happy with where my life is now.  These two weeks have been some of the best of my life, and I know the next few months are going to be simply wonderful.

A dopo!  Abbracci e baci!  xoxo

Ciao!  Today is my fourth day in Firenze, and Orientation has finally calmed down, so it's time for a new post!  Though my trip began a little stressful, it ultimately went perfectly well.  Everyone who knows me knows that I have the WORST travel luck, so this was an absolute miracle.  I guess all that bad luck finally brought me some good karma!  I had to pack and repack several times, because my bags were WAY overweight, even after we narrowed things down with the help of Sally!  Sunday night, my mom made a bunch of desserts and had family and friends over to say goodbye.  Luckily, Laura, Hank, Alex, and Emilio (here's your shout out! (: ) didn't mind that I was packing and helped me out a lot.  My mom and sisters brought me to JFK and we were two hours early, so we went for a drive around Long Island to see the beaches.  At first, I wasn't too nervous, but as my check-in time approached, I began to get very anxious about my checked luggage and and carry-ons being overweight.  Luckily, they were under the weight limit and they never weighed my carry-ons (there is absolutely no way they were under 18 lbs!).  I said my goodbyes to my family and went off through security.  It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be- very easy!  I proceeded to my gate, boarded my plane, and began my journey.  I tried sleeping, and did so by drinking some FREE wine, but it did absolutely nothing.  I ended up watching 4 movies instead!  No one was in the seat next to me, so I had plenty of room and was very comfortable on the flight.  We made it to Frankfurt early and I got my passport stamped for the first time!  We boarded and exited the flight to Florence on the tarmac, and I felt like an absolute celebrity.  Finally, I was in Italy!  I got my luggage, which thankfully wasn't lost (21 students did lose their luggage), and went to the hotel to begin Orientation.


It's been a LONG few days, filled with meetings and made worse by jet lag.  Because I've never been overseas, I had no idea what to expect and it was TERRIBLE.  I stayed in the first two nights because it took every bit of me to stay awake past 8.  Before dinner, me and a few girls walked along the Arno, down to the Ponte Vecchio and got our first gelato!  I got Panna Cotta and Tiramisu....I was in heaven.  I WILL be going back for more, and probably very often!


Yesterday, after much anticipation, we finally moved in with our host families.  When we got our assignments, the housing director made a special comment to us saying how lucky we were to get her.  My host mother, Rita, is a widow with an older son who is married and with young children.   We were told they visit a lot, which I am very happy about because I LOVE little kids.  The house is beautiful.  My roommate and I share a room and bathroom downstairs, and have a lot of privacy.  We also are one of the few lucky ones to have Wi-Fi in the house!  We were both SO happy.  As soon as we logged on, I was able to talk to my family and friends for the first time since Sunday, which was wonderful.  So far, I'm thrilled with my placement.  She doesn't speak much English, but I think this is for the better because I will learn so much more.  Luckily, my roommate knows a lot of Italian, so she helps translate.  Rita is an AMAZING cook.  Last night, we had wine, bruschetta, pesto, fried chicken, salad, carrots, and fruit and an Italian pastry for dessert.  It was INCREDIBLE.  A few of her friends joined us for dinner, who also didn't speak much English, so it was a bit overwhelming, but I think I did alright!  In the next few days, one of her previous students and a few neighbors with students in our program will be joining us for dinner.  I'm excited to meet everyone!  I also had my first Italian coffee this morning- it was black (no milk or sugar), and VERY strong.  It's going to take some getting used to, but I did like it!

Overall, I am absolutely in love with this city.  Firenze is absolutely beautiful, like something out of a movie.  It hasn't quite set in that I'm in Italy and will be living here until May.  It still seems just very surreal.  I will be doing much more exploring now that jet lag has subsided, and I'm planning to go to the center and to a museum or two this weekend.

Ciao for now!  Abbracci e baci!  xoxo

It's almost time!  I have bought some Euros (which look strangely like monopoly money), my appointments are done, and all errands are complete!  The only thing I have left to do is pack, which, my mom says, I'm not allowed to do because I will pack WAY too much.

The closer my departure date gets, the more unreal all this seems.  My view of the world is limited to what I've seen of the East Coast; the only time I've ever left the country was when my family went to Niagara Falls, which doesn't count because I didn't even need a passport.   Now, I'm leaving to live in ITALY for FOUR MONTHS.  I will be seeing as many countries as my bank account will allow.  I will meet as many people as I possibly can and experience everything.  There will be no holding back, and I will do everything and take as much in as possible.  I want to make the most of this experience as I can.

Anyone who knows me knows I'm addicted to social media; I have my BlackBerry attached to my hand, and am constantly on Facebook and tweeting.  I'm using this time away to get disconnected and break away from that addiction.  I can't wait to live in the real world instead of the cyber world.  As happy as I am for this break, it also means that I won't be able to talk to my friends and family nearly as much as I normally do.  It's for this reason that I'm doing this blog.

I want to share my adventures with everyone.  I am just so far past excited, and I want my friends and family to share my excitement.  I want them to see all the amazing things I'm doing and how much I am growing and changing.

This is going to be such an amazing experience.  Everyone always says how studying abroad will change your life- that's exactly what I want to happen.  In FIVE DAYS, I will be starting my journey of discovering the world, and discovering myself.  I can't wait to share it all with you!!

Abbracci e baci! xoxo