Day 3: Classes and Bars

Amanda and I at the Palazzo Pitti

Today I had to leave earlier and go to the British Institute for Italian placement tests. Amanda and I ate a quick breakfast then left our apartment around 8:00. I had mapped a route out the night before, however we did manage to get very lost. On our walk we passed the duomo, which I knew is a few blocks North East of the BI. We walked a few blocks more before ending up near the train station, which is basically on the opposite side of the city from our home. We went south a few blocks and eventually were able to find the Piazza della Repubblica. The Piazza del Strazza, where the BI is located is only a block down on my map, but when we went this way it was not right. After looping around several times, I got a call from Laura. I navigated my way to a large statue and then she met us there. The BI was only a few blocks away from there, and I am now able to piece together where it is in relation to my house.

After arriving a half hour late to Italian, I was sent into a room of the rest of the non-beginner Italian students. I was given a piece of paper and then took my test. Since the test was the same for all levels, I found it to be very difficult. I then had to take an oral exam in which I was asked questions by Alessandro and a BI professor. After my oral exam I went back to the other classroom and we did some activities with one of the BI professors. We listened to and sang a song, and played battleship in Italian.

I then met up with Amanda, who was in a beginner class, and we headed to the other side of the Arno. We stopped at the Palazzo Pitti, a museum that is a block from our school and got tickets (for free with our student cards). We decided to go through the gardens. It was very foggy, but there will still very nice views of the city.

The Palazzo Pitti

A fountain

A garden

There were lots of path to walk on

I then had English class where we are studying Dante’s “Commedia” with my professor Alessandro. He went over some basic English concepts, a little bit of religion and some history. 

After class I went to get gelato with Amanda and two other classmates, Christina and Liz. Then we headed home and had dinner. Rosanna’s daughter, Laura came over and ate with us. She speaks English, so we were able to talk to her and she told us a few things we needed to know about the house. 

Around 10pm Amanda and I met up with two of our classmates, Nikki and Jess, and went to a bar called Oibo. It was really fun and we met some new people. There were three girls there from Chile, named Theresita, Sophia and Martinella (excuse my spelling). We also met some local men, Mario, Roberto, Danielle and Giuseppe. Roberto speaks English fairly well so I asked him how to say different words. Mario speaks a little English so I talked to Mario partially in Italian and partially in English. I didn’t speak to Danielle and Giuseppe much, but I used Roberto as a translator when I didn’t know a word. There was also a guy who worked at the bar who was really fun and spoke English very well.