It Almost Feels Like Italy.

Oh my god I think I'm in Italy, mentally. It took a week, but it happened. Starting on Wednesday, we had three days' worth of Orientation in the Villa Rossa, the big Syracuse University in Florence compound. It's located in a piazza, the Piazza Savonarola, located slightly northwest of the city center. What's kind of really amusing is that today, coming back from buying a planner at Florence Copy (there's a whole 'nother story) I noticed that the Villa Rossa is directly across the street from the Chinese consulate in Florence. I am totally going over there on Monday and saying hello. Well, maybe not, but I am giving the idea some serious thought. Speaking of Savonarola, the piazza is awfully tranquil for such a fiery fella. I like the fact that the school is out of the hustle and bustle of the city center, away from the crowds.

Funnily enough, the hotel that we stayed in during orientation was the same hotel that I stayed in the last time I was in Florence, with the Latin trip. Sadly, I did not remember this until the second morning, when I recognized the subterrenean taverna that the hotel relegated the group travellers to during mealtimes.

The planner: I finally bought the right planner, after two false starts. The first Moleskine planner I bought ended up being a monthly planner; and the second started in calendar year 2009. Now, finally equipped with a 18-month Moleskine Weekly Planner 2008-2009, I can start the vicious cycle of color-coding and labelling that has gotten me a fair share of loveable mocking already. No matter how frustrating the multiple purchases were, I really appreciate the fact that the third planner I purchased came at the third time I went to Florence Copy, the store having been in siesta the first time I went and closed the second. The symmetry really pleases me.

I met my host mom and roommate yesterday afternoon. My host mom's name is Patrizia Frigau, she is a 45-year old single mother with a 10-year old son named Gabriele. My roommate, Kristin, and myself don't get to meet Gabriele until Sunday, though, because he is spending time with his father this week. Kristin, my roommate, is from Sudbury (MA) and is an economics major at Trinity College in Hartford. She seems like a really nice girl. Our room in Patrizia's apartment is really quite awesome, even if the location isn't, necessarily. She lives even further north of the city center than the school, and it's about a forty-minute walk to the Piazza del Duomo, Piazza Signoria, etc. It will be hard to get home after the buses stop running at night, I think. BUT the room we share is really great. She lives on the top floor of a five-story apartment, and the two of us have the second floor of her own apartment, in a big attic/loft space, with our own bathroom and everything. There are two futons and just a ton of space. Patrizia is a math teacher and psychologist and an excellent cook. I am really excited to live with her for the next four months! I think meeting her and unpacking all of my stuff was really pivotal in making me feel like I'm staying here. I'm going to be walking around the city and taking the same meals and (hopefully!) speaking the language for the rest of the year. It's both daunting and the most exciting thing that I've ever experienced. Much like New York this summer, I hope I can feel just a little bit like a local at the end of this experience. Doing so in New York was easier than I thought, but I have a feeling achieving the same level of comfort in Florence is going to be harder than I can imagine now.

I also registered for classes this morning. My last name was in the second-to-last registration block, so I feel really lucky to have gotten into all the classes that I wanted to. I'm taking four classes, three art history and one introductory Italian course. The art history classes are: Ancient Art: The Etruscans & Romans; Art of the Late Medieval Period & Black Death; and a seminar on Michelangelo. Additionally, each class comes with required field studies, which means that I am "required" to go on trips to Siena, Carrara, Assisi, Arezzo, and Ravenna, "required" to have a private tour of the Sistine Chapel and "required" to go on a three-day journey to Naples, Pompeii, and Herculaneum. Coming into this program, I expected everyone to be Art History majors, which turns out isn't the case at all. The people I've met have been English and Economics and Sociology and Chemistry and Psychology and everything-else majors; I've actually met the fewest fellow Art History majors.

This afternoon I have a meeting where I turn in my permesso di soggirno (permit to stay) forms and then I think I'm going to a used-book store called the Paperback Exchange to look into buying books for my classes. Also earlier this week, I re-found my favorite store from the last time I was in Italy, this tiny little mercantile that seemed to ply trade only in antique postcards, off the Piazza Signoria. Later, hopefully, I'll be going back into the city to experience the nightlife with some friends. I've made friends! They don't seem to hate me (though only time will tell) !!