September 20th 2007
Firenze
So I have had a few days to settle in and attend a couple classes. One of my professors for two of my classes has been sick and because of his illness we have not had class for two days yet. This is making me feel anxious because I have to learn how to use Gonzaga’s “Blackboard” online posting system. It’s a little bit confusing. My italiano class is going very well. It is very similar to Spanish; however, there are a lot of differences. We have covered a few greetings such as: Bounjourno, Ciao, arrivederci, etc….and questions such as “Come ti Chiami? (What is your name?), Come stai? (How are you?), Come si dice…?(how do you say), Di dove sei? (where are you from?). We also have begun to learn articles and the alphabet and numbers and using the verb “to be.” It is very interesting and fun. My classes here are fairly small compared to my classes at Seattle University. My Italiano class is only 15 students and is located in a small classroom on the third floor of the Mozilo Center.
On Wednesdays I have my drawing class. There are about 15 students in this class as well and on the first day we went to the art supply store (this very small hole in the wall place) and bough $50 Euro worth of art supplies, pencils, ink, charcoal, portfolio, paper, etc….We then proceeded on a 20 minute walk to the art studio. Altogether the professoressa’s studio is about 30 minutes across town from our main campus. We walk down our street past the University of Florence (one block away), past the Academia (Where the statue David is), through the Duomo and past the train station. We finally arrived at the studio where there are partial frescos being created and stands for easels. It is definitely an art place…smells, looks and feels like a place where art is created. We will be drawing and sketching in museums such as the Academia (David), Uffizi, Duomo….etc. We will begin with daily sketches in our sketchbooks, still life, random things around Firenze and conclude with sketching nude models for our final project. It will be exciting and fun!
My two other classes, Operations and Management have been cancelled due to my ill professor. He has given us assignments already; however, its not the same until I meet him personally. My econ 311 class will not begin until this coming Monday since I only have it once a week for 3 hours.
I have had little time to actually explore Firenze so far and since today (Thursday) is the day before the weekend, I have a three day weekend to explore, taste, and see Firenze. I will take lots of photos this weekend to show you my home for 90 more days.
Last night I was able to find a lavandaria for washing. Laundry here is very expensive. About 5 dollars per load. So…since I had three loads, two wash and one dry it was an expensive night. I will be trying to make things last as long as possible without being too stinky….
The most difficult thing here to deal with so far are the mosquitoes. They are everywhere and I have been bitten everywhere. I have counted about 30 bites on my body. Its so difficult and bothering, especially at night trying to sleep and all you can hear are the buzzing of those pesky mosquitoes in your ear.
Tomorrow morning we have a group photo and orientation of Firenze. The rest of the weekend is free to explore.
Saturday the school is taking us to IKEA located outside of Firenze. I hope to purchase some items to make our room more hospitable and my life a little more easy in the pensione, since our campus closes early in the evening and is impractical to study at night.
I will post some more photos of Firenze later this weekend.
Ciao!
