Brief Update :)

Here is a brief update of what I have been up to lately...

Last week we had Italian classes every day for an hour and a half plus our regular classes. The classes I am taking are Italian, Politics of the European Union, History of Europe in the 20th century, Modern Renaissance Art, and Dante's Commedia (a literature class).  So far the classes haven't been too bad, but the politics class and history class require a lot of reading. They seem fairly interesting though, so that helps. For the art class, we meet in class once a week and go on a "field trip" once a week. Last week we visited the Uffizi, an art museum here in Florence! It was so cool to see the original art that we had talked about in class the day before. All of the art and architecture here is beautiful. There is so much history throughout the city and surrounding areas. For example, walking past the Duomo nearly everyday...awesome!

The weekend was fairly uneventful. On Friday night some friends and I decided to try out the Mexican restaurant down the street (we needed a small break from pizza and paninis). Surprisingly, the Mexican food was delicious! I also had a hamburger this weekend which was also very tasty :) But enough about the food...Saturday was spent walking around the city and then doing homework. I felt pretty lame sitting inside working, but it was cold, so it wasn't all bad. On Sunday I decided to get up fairly early and walk to an American church I had found online, St. James Episcopal Church. It was about a 25 minute walk from my house to an area of the city I had never been before, so it was a nice adventure. The service was very beautiful, but much more traditional that what I am used to. There were a few other college students there and the people were all very friendly and even invited me to a luncheon after the service, but I decided to just head home and eat lunch with my roommates. I think I'll go back next week, or maybe try a different church! Florence is at no loss for churches, so there are plenty to choose from! The problem is finding one where I can understand the service. On Sunday evening, my friend, Ellie, and I went to a ballet at one of the local theaters. The ballet was La bella addormentata, or Sleeping Beauty :) I had never been to a ballet before, but it was beautiful! This weekend we are going to see A Midsummer's Night's Dream which I am really looking forward to. Below is a picture of me at the ballet.

For the rest of the week I am just attending classes and eating my host mother's delicious dinners (we get dinner at home 3 nights a week).  On Saturday a group of us are going on a hike in Chianti, a small town just outside of Florence, for some wine tasting and sight-seeing. Although it may be a little chilly, I am very excited to get out of the smoggy city to the beautiful Tuscan countryside.

I hope all is well at home and you are all surviving the freezing temperatures! Miss you all!