First few days in Florence... mi gusto!

Hey Everyone!
My first few days in Florence have been a crazy mix of culture shock, sleep depravation, and absolute awe of the city I am now an official resident of! Heres a breakdown of what I have done so far:

Day 1: After 4 planes and about 20 hours of travel I FINALLY made it to Florence.  It was kind of fun because I met up with a lot of other students (from TCU and other schools) who were headed to Florence for study abroad on all of my different flights.  Unfortunately, I didn't think to get last names of any of my new friends from Clemson etc. so we'll see if I can find them at the University or something! Once in Florence, the first thing we had to do was go to the ACCENT center (the program organizing our study abroad) and turn in paperwork to become official residents of Florence.  This means the police now have my passport, visa, address, etc. so if I get in trouble they will have no problem finding me! That rules out stealing the David... DARN!  Getting to the center was hard because Florence is a maze of winding streets and the cars don't stop! We learned that we need to cross the street with confidence and commitment and we will not be run over.  I've been practicing and haven't been hit yet! Fingers crossed this continues! Anyway, after turning in paperwork and getting paninis at Gusta Panini (SO GOOD) I slept for about 2.5 hours and then took a shower.  I wish I had taken a picture of the bathroom because the shower so crazy! It was not separate from the rest of the bathroom and the floor had one central drain that drained by the toilet.  Also, the water pressure was about 4 drops coming out at a time so it took 30 minutes just to wash my hair! Quite an experience... it actually made me miss the gross showers in the Zeta House! Around 7 all the TCU students went to dinner with our ACCENT sponsor at this amazing restaurant.  They served us 4 courses... but didn't tell us how many there were.  We all stuffed ourselves with the first course and then started freaking out when they kept bringing food! I had never tried tiramisu before and I LOVED IT! This new found love is NOT going to help my weight gain.  After dinner I put in my ear plugs, put on my eye mask, took a benedryl and went to sleep... thank goodness!

FLORENCE IS SO PRETTY!

The Duomo, I cannot get over how amazing it is!  I get to walk by this every day!

Day 2: opps day 1 was kinda long.. I'll try and keep this short.  Around 8:30 we met in our hotel lobby and got broken up into our roommate groups and taxied to our apartment! Its soooo nice and my roommates are awesome!  Here are some pictures:

living room/ dining room... Oh hey Kaylen!

Kitchen

Mine and Carrie's room

Mine and Carries bathroom... ITS HUGE

After moving in we had a bunch of orientations with ACCENT and a walking tour.  The walking tour was good because they showed us things we need like pharmacies, doctors, grocery stores, ATMs etc.  Also, they warned us of cultural differences we need to be mindful of... like eye contact.  Apparently the Italian men think when you make eye contact with them and smile (like when walking by on accident) that it is an invitation to flirt.  Its totally true too.. I accidentally did this and got an enthusiastic "Chao Bella!" and a whistle!  While a total ego booster the first time, I can definitely see how this could get annoying.  They told us to walk on the streets like "ice queens" and not make eye contact with anyone!  So much for southern hospitality!  After all the orientations, tours etc. me and my roommates went and got phone, check how high tech this thing is!

this thing is better than the Iphone! 

Then me and my roommates went to Gusta Pizza which is a famous pizza place in Florence. It was AMAZING! Although once again, those Italian men are something else.  After accidentally flirting we got heart shaped pizzas (which no one else in the restaurant had) and then when I tried to get to go boxes, they were passing them around the counter playing keep away... its entertaining, but will definitely get old after a week or so!  We also got our first gelato which was sooo good! 

Day 3: We had orientation with the University today (LdM) which made me realize that yes, we do have to go to school here.  I kept forgetting that I wasn't here just to have fun and travel!  I'm actually looking forward to my classes though because I am taking all electives, surprisingly you can't do nursing clinicals in Florence haha.  Then me and my roommate Kaylen went grocery shopping.  The grocery store is so tiny and really only has one option for each product you wish to buy, except wine! We are all stocked up now, about time right?! The grocery boy, who did not speak english kept asking me to translate what one of his friends had written on facebook which was "Scared in your pants".  I told him this might have been translated incorrectly but he didn't really understand.  He told us to come back and winked at us on the way out, oh those Italian men.  Kaylen and I have generalized all cute Italians into "Paulos", like in the Lizzie McGuire movie.  The Italians don't seem to get the joke, wonder why?!  We are going out tonight to wine bars, discoteccas etc. which will be fun! I'll keep yall updated on what happens and try to post more often so that these aren't so long! I miss you all so much, and please keep me updated on everything going on in Texas through facebook or email! 

Heres one more picture from today.. cappacinos and the ponte vecchio bridge! Could it get more Italian than this??

Lots of love from Florence!! xoxo

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