Allora....

Ciao!!! sorry it has been so long since i have written you all! i miss you all so much and its not because i have not been thinking about you! 
i have had a little detour in my going out/ hanging out/ staying out late schedule...i got sick this weekend and for the past three nights i have slept a minimum of 10 hours even with naps! i finally went to the doctor yesterday and got prescribed 2 antibiotics so i should be on my way to finally getting better! some upper respiratory thing...its such a bummer because i NEVER get sick and even when i do i never go to the doctor! this one has just hit me pretty hard but i'm on my way to getting better! so i have been slacking on updates because when i haven't been in class i have been sleeping! (so that means i also haven't done any work...hmmm...) 
so i this will be kinda jumbled cus a lot has happened so i apologize....
ok so i am soo excited because next monday i am taking a cooking class! seriously i am soo excited! it is offered by our school by a guy name Jacabo (amazing right?) and he is the perfect italian chef and we are going to learn to make pasta! more about that after next monday!
this weekend i went to Assisi with the school. SUCH a gorgeous little city. for those who are unfamiliar, have you heard of St. Francis of Assisi? well we learned a lot about him...he was a pretty cool guy. i won't bore you with his whole history, but it was pretty cool cus the frescos in the main church in assis depicted his entire life. they are remarkably well-preserved, despite an earthquake that took down a couple of the walls. Assisi was just so beautiful...i had the best time just roaming the narrow streets. the whole city has kind of pinkish tint to the color of the stone...it is just such a magical little town. I just loved it...and the church was amazing.
Assisi was just a day trip and me and a few friends wanted to go to siena but we didn't get everything together in time so we just hung around Florence on saturday. it was a great day though despite the rain! we had lunch, went down to Ponte Vecchio (which is the really famous bridge that crosses the Arno where pretty much all the shops are jewelry venders) and then to Pitti palace which is HUGE and gorgeous. then to the Boboli gardens which are part of the Pitti Palace. that Palace is where the Medici family lived who over the years ruled Florence, got kicked out...ruled in again, got kicked out again...basically a very confusing history. but their palace is cool!
oh my gosh I cannot believe this was not the first thing i mentioned--CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL IN SANTA CROCE. heaven on earth. i will out up pictures....set out in front of santa croce which is a famous franciscan church in florence, were so many stands of chocolate vendors. i am not sure where they all came from but im glad they did! haha things that you wouldn't even believe would be made of chocolate or put into chocolate...one of my friends tried a chianti chocolate, a pecorino and honey chocolate, and i tried a peperoncini chocolate which was super spicy! there was a chocolate violin, pigs, 1001 dalmations, chickes, eggs, disney characters--seriously anything you could imagine! one of my favorites was this dark chocolate ball with a shot of espresso inside! you had to eat the whole thing then got the surprise in the middle. they had literally hot chocolate and hot white chocolate, raspberry crepes with chocolate sauce, chocolate liquor, wine that pairs with chocolate, chocolate mouse, seriously---everything. i went on thursday and saturday. but unfortunately it only comes once a year. but i took full advantage of it while it was here!
today was pretty cool because i had two classes out in the city. for my art history class, every week we have one lecture and one site visit. for the site visit we went inside santa croce--last week we went to the Piazza Vecchio. for that class also, we have a :looking assignment" which is a homework assignment--last week we had to go to the Uffizi--where we have a free museum pass, and in these off months we do not have to wait at all--and look at a few paintings. This week was in santa croce. for my italian culture class (we have italian class and one day a week is Language and Culture class) we went to an open air market and looked around and experienced it. observed people buying and selling fruits/ vegetables, etc. it was awesome because i really got a feel for what a typical day is like. it is pretty amazing because my classes are actually taking advantage of the city i am in and showing us the culture. not to mention i am getting a much better feel for the city and finding the shortest ways to get to places because it is sometimes hard to have a site visit then try and get to class on time!
anyway...long update! sorry for that! i love you all and another update soon! i think this weekend i am for sure heading to Cortona and maybe another small tuscan town with some friends! i am also starting to plan trips to visit other friends abroad! so fun! LOVE YOU ALLL!!!! CIAOOO!!!!

Buonasera!

oh my gosh i just got back from a chocolate festival in the piazza di santa croce....HEAVEN on earth!! it is here all weekend so i am going back at least another time. literally the entire piazza was filled with different booths of various different kinds of chocolate--chocolate covered espresso beans, dark/milk/white, wine that pairs well with chocolate, chocolate with liquor in the middle, melted chocolate (literally "hot" chocolate), chocolate in the shapes of turtles, rabbits, mice, mickey mouse, pigs, and even dinosaurs! seriously--HEAVEN i am telling you! :)

Tomorrow i am going to Assisi with the school and then on saturday a few of us are taking a bus to Siena! i am also going to siena later with one of my classes which is soo awesome...i just LOVE Siena! it will be cool to be guided through it and to just wander. last night we went to the opening of this bar/club called Mericana--AMAZING! seriously like you see on TV...a huge bar area, huge dance floor, multiple stories...it was soo fun! so today i slept till 10 and was off to class cus i didn't have class till 1:00...i have to walk through an open-air market every day--I LOVE IT! it is ALL italian locals--shopping for clothes, fruit, food, watches--they have sooo much stuff for SOO cheap! it really cool to experience this open air market with people who probably shop here every day for local vegetables, fruit, everything.

kinda random... but today i had this memorable little moment as i was walking home....here in Italy, you do not see many people smile as you pass them on the street. in fact, as a woman, they tell us do not even make eye contact with men on the streets. even something as little as eye contact will give them the wrong impression. soooo--its hard because in America you kind of naturally walk by someone with a little smile to say hi or whatever...well not here. anyway, i was walking home from school today and i saw this adorable old italian couple. it was an old woman with a long coat on and a red scarf on the arm of her husband that was not much taller than her. as i walked by, i looked up and made eye contact with her and couldn't help but smile. she said "buonasera" with a huge smile and it truly just made my night. she was the most typical old italian lady and seemed to be so happy that a complete stranger smiled at her. anyway, it was a little moment, but really fun. thats another thing,....is i always walk sooo much faster than anyone around me! i notice that wherever i go, everyone around me is waking slower, enjoying the views, enjoying each others company, seemingly walking aimlessly, as if they have no place they have to be. i love it. it is allowing me to step back, slow down and truly enjoy every moment here.

anyway i am off to bed now because i've got an early day tomorrow for the assisi trip! BUONANOTTE a tutti!!! :)

First couple of days in classes...and inauguration day!

Ciao! so i just got back from dinner at a neighbors house...every tuesday we will go to the neighbors house who is a woman who also has two host girls, and every thursday they will come over here. (nonna's cooking is way better! :) but it was still fun!

so today we had a viewing of the inauguration in a large classroom at the University. at first i thought that i wished i was in the United States for this historic election and all the events surrounding it...i felt that i was missing out. but then i realized that it is SO great to see a different perspective. every person i talk to here is SO excited that Obama is the president--there is overwhelming hope and excitement for not only the US but also for the world. they see him as truly a beacon of hope which is really cool. its been fascinating to be in Kenya the year of the election and seeing their reaction to the election--overwhelming excitement, again, because his father is from Kenya. One of the first questions everyone in Kenya always asked us was "so you like Obama?". and while we have been here, there have been similar questions when the conversation turns to politics...when we watched the inauguration today, there were a HUGE number of people packed into a classroom--teachers and students--to watch it. some teachers cancelled their classes to watch it. there was so much excitement--it felt almost like watching a concert or something--there were cheers and clapping very frequently and people could not contain their excitement or believe what they were witnessing. pretty cool to be with people to witness it all together.

today was my second day of classes. by now i have had all of them--i know i will love all of them. for my art history class, we meet in the classroom one day, and then on the other day we meet, we will meet at a place in the city to have class. today it was the Piazza Signoria, where one of the oldest government buildings in Florence is. it is also where Michelangelo's David was first placed..we learned about one of the symbols of Florence--the lion and how there are lions all over the city! on the bases of lampposts, randomly on buildings, and in crests. it is pretty cool to realize that every building i walk by was there so many years ago. Last night, while walking to an Irish pub, we walked by the Duomo and Santa Croce, on cobblestone streets and surrounding us were buildings from hundreds of years ago, and charming, narrow streets with dim lighting from lampposts. WOW--i still cannot believe i am here. i love florence during the day, at night--any time! hopefully i can get up early one of these days to go on an other run! however, the fact that everything starts so late here may hurt my chances of that...

but tonight is the first night that i actually have to do some reading so i should probably get back to that! I hope all is well! Love you all! :)

Ciao, Ciao!!!

so i just got back from a run and wow....i am in Italy. sorry i keep saying that but i can't believe it. i left my house, walked over a little foot bridge that goes over a little river and ran up a hill (my nonna's neighbor told me about this trail--she said you go up a "little" hill...ya right. it was a steep hill ALL the way up! ha it was unbelievable though!) I had no idea where i was going but i figured i woul run for 25 minutes one way then run back down the hill....i stumbled upon a little town with one street. it was 11:30 so the bells were ringing, and its sunday so church was just getting out--old couples were gathering outside the church, little children were running with their mammas, and i literally felt like i was watching a movie. it is one of those things where you imagine how Italian people live and what they look like--if you have seen that movie "under the tuscan sun", where old men are walking along the street in long rain coats and hats kind of hunched over, old women are walking on the side of the road with bags of groceries from the local open air market, little children are bundled up in hats and saying "ciao mamma!", and people are surrounded by old, old buildings with clothes hanging outside the windows on clothes lines to dry...all these things happen every single day. these italians are just living their lives and i am fortunate enough to get a glimpse of that....its amazing. 

when i finally reached the top of the hill (well not quite but i needed to go back), to my left was a view of Firenze--I could see the Duomo as I ran. I was in complete awe. Above me were Italian villa's, some with private gates and name plates that read "villa ...."--it seems as though the large villas are named by the resident's last name. just like a movie. I love where I live because i am a little bit away from the city center in a purely residential area. while i was out, i did not see one other american--no hotels, no americans in tennis shoes with cameras, no english speakers. it was just me and italians, spending a sunday morning together. it was incredible.
today i am spending time with my family...i have to go because my nonna is cutting the bread which means lunch is almost ready. the table looks gorgeous...meals are much more formal here. no pajama's for breakfast even...table cloths for every meal and beautiful table settings. this weekend is called "immersion weekend" which means i eat all three meals with my family today, when usually it is just breakfast and dinner (dinner 5 days a week, breakfast every day, and never lunch together). we are going to the plaza michelangelo today which is one of the highest points in Florence so we can see the whole city...i will show you pictures from that shortly i am sure! 
ok we are being called for lunch! Ciao!!! 
xo, katie

Sam and I at a bar called Lochness on our second night in Firenze.
La mia nonna e la mia nonno! They could not be a more adorable Italian couple. Yesterday was nonno's 87th birthday and nonna is about 84. Nonna is so spunky and sweet and has such an enormous heart--not to mention she is an unbelievable cook! Nonno has a little bit of short-term memory loss--he loves his T.V., his jokes, and his wine :)
The beautiful view from the top of the Duomo. We climbed the steps at 5:00 so we heard the bells ring--AMAZING. We were able to see the city of Florence during the day and at night--it was such an incredible experience.
view during the day.
On our way up to the top of the Duomo (463 steps!) there was a portion of the walk that led us around the inside of the church, inside the dome. This is a picture of the ceiling which depicts the Last Judgement.
This is the Syracuse Florence campus--the Villa Rossa. There is a great courtyard in the middle of the main building--the red one on the left--and the library which was behind me when I took this. This courtyard is going to be a great place to study and just hang out.

View from the top of il Duomo

I am finally in FIRENZE!!!!

CIAO!!!! Oh my goodness...I am sitting in the courtyard of the Syracuse University Campus in the middle of Florence, Italy and this is the first time I have been able to hang out and use the internet! We have had orientation for yesterday and today and I meet my family tonight! I could not be more excited...I could be right near the campus, or a 45 minute walk so I will keep you updated on that. so a little update on how i got here....

I woke up on my 21st birthday :) to my parents singing happy birthday before 6a.m.! It was a great way to start the day and it continued for a lot longer than I had expected....I flew from Long Beach to San Francisco for 4 hours before my flight to Paris. we boarded the plane, hung out for over an hour, and then we were told that our plane was missing a part and that part needed to be flown up from LAX and then take another hour to install it--2 hours. well... (alora..)..5 hours later, we were off to Paris! The problem was, we missed our connecting flight to Florence. That was a problem--but I was on the plane with about 18 other people in my program so we were all in the same boat! We ended up being re-routed to Pisa, then were picked up on a bus and finally arrived at our hotel at 1:00! 

Sorry i am all over the place with this because I have been in and out writing this...but now I'm going to finish my thought! I just got back from Academic Advising and I met with all of my future professors and i can't believe i will be taking all these amazing classes!!!

OH MY GOSH I just picked up my host family! they are named Maria Pia and Aldo Brini...they are an elderly couple with a cat and a dog! i dont know my roommate yet but i hope she is good! Oh i am soo excited! aprrently "nonna" is a good chef! oh my goodness...i will update more later! CIAO!!

less than a week left in the U.S.!

I can't believe I leave in less than a week (on my 21st birthday!) I have been packing and shopping for last minute things and it's all becoming real to me! I have a few friends who have already left for abroad--Cass and Tay!--so it is very much becoming a reality. In this last week I am experiencing excitement, nervousness, and anticipation for what the semester ahead will bring! I have so many ideas of what it will be like...the people, the school, everyday life, weekend trips...it is just exciting to think about everything. I will hopefully give you an update the day before I leave! Ciao!!! :)