getting my bearings straight.

DAY THREE

The view right outside my front door!

Let's just start off by saying last night I slept GREAT!  I am pretty sure the importance of a good blanket has been underestimated, but I now appreciate them a lot more.  I woke up around eight ready for a nice jog around the city with Danielle.  We set off and did a loop around some of the city that I had not yet seen, eventually making our way into more of the city center.  It was the first time I actually took the opportunity to explore beyond my comfort square of Firenze and truly get my bearings straight.  Running has always seemed to help me with directions.  Even in Gainesville, I discovered nooks and crannies that I would never have found if I hadn't been aimlessly running and getting lost.  Firenze has officially been programmed.

So... now that I know how to get around better, I am now working on being brave with my Italian words.  I definitely know enough to get by, but I need to talk in Italian to my new favorite bread guy instead of my go-to "Italish," which seems to dominate my speech.  Carrie and I attempt to talk in Italian whenever possible and we have noticed a few patterns about the Italian language.  1. When something is a supposed to be really really tiny, you just ALWAYS add -ini to the end of the word, just like -ito in Spanish.  It works every time.  2. When something is VERY delicious and you want to emphasize this notion, you take your index finger to your cheek, twisting it back and forth, and say "buuooonno!"  Just saying "buono" won't do it justice...  3. When you need a filler word because you are drawing a blank, just say "allora."  It will make sense, just as the word "like" fits anywhere and everywhere in the American English dialect.  You now know enough Italian to survive three whole days in Firenze!

All jokes aside about the certain linguistic differences, I truly love the Italian language, and I find myself beginning to respond in simple Italian phrases to people all around me.  The difference between studying Spanish and Italian, at least for me, is that I actually want to learn this language and my desire to speak and understand is all there.  Being passionate and dedicated are the most important parts of learning another language.  And what better to keep me motivated than to put me in social situations where I am forced to speak Italian in order to get food?  This is the best form of bribery because if I can't speak, I won't get fed, and that won't work!  Alllora, I learn the Italian language!

I am absolutely loving my new backyard.  I love the uneven sidewalks that barely fit a full-sized human, I love the smell of fresh bread from the bakeries on every corner, I love that the streets barely make it half a block before changing names, I love the small old ladies and how they speak to their puppies, and I love all the everyday surprises, such as...  

What's on the wall over there?

Paper?

No... MONEY!

...I have always known money doesn't grow on trees because money grows on walls.  And when the season is right and the money is ripe, you can even pick them!  This here is a dollar wall and they only grow in Toscana.

Anyway, on this slightly overcast Wednesday, I had a wonderful time going to my second day of classes.  My Italian class is starting to review what we have already forgotten from Spring semester, and my wine culture class is proving itself to be a bit more challenging than originally expected!  No jokes here!  Two days into the class and I already have a hand cramp.  Who knew the history of wine and the process of production could be so in depth and detailed!  I always thought that I had a pretty decent sense of smell, but when it comes to wine I only smell grapes.  Apparently today in the Riesling there was a hint of bananas... at a time like this, I just nod my head and agree because there were absolutely no bananas in sight in my glass of Riesling!  Who knew wine testing could be so complicated?  Despite my weak nose, I thoroughly enjoy learning the appropriate motions of "tasting" rather than simply "drinking" wines.  It is nice to actually know what I am doing... eventually.

Carrie and I have made it our mission to get our rather stiff, and possibly nervous wine teacher to crack at least one smile during each class period.  We succeeded today!  She smiled a new record of two times today!  She likes it when people attempt to speak in Italian, which me and Carrie often do (her better than me).  She is a very nice lady and she has a great passion for wine.  My favorite part was listening to her speak English knowing how hard she was trying to get every word right and sounding out every letter.  It was so cute!  I know if I had been attempting to speak Italian it would probably not be good AT ALL.  Props to her!     

Posting up at the Duomo. Unimpressed.

Next Wednesday we are off from school, and I plan on hiking to the top of Il Duomo that day with my roommates!  I see it every day on my route to and from class, and I am still so astounded at its actual size.  It is SO BIG that it almost doesn't seem real.  I have never come across a building that makes me feel so incredibly small and that just seems to tower over me.  Along with "The Church on Spilled Blood" in St. Petersburg, Russia, it might be one of the most impressive structures I have seen (twice).  Apparently, again circa 1999, I visited Firenze with my family over the summer and I was surely unimpressed with Il Duomo and its sum 400 plus steps to the top.  This time, however, I will be more than impressed at the incredible view across a city that I have now already grown to love.  I hope when I am at Il Duomo I can re-enact this pose!  I was always a really cool kid.

After class today, Carrie and I walked back to the apartment.  We stopped along the way at my "regular" bread guy and I bought a delicious looking pizza with prosciutto and mozzarella.  I cooked it up in the oven when I got back to the apartment.  It was awesome! I love me some pizza and some Italia!  Ci vediamo domani!