Day 31: Coughing My Way Through the Day

At 9am I had to be on the other side of the city to teach. This morning my class was a level 1. They spoke English pretty well for the most part and I got to talk to some of them in a smaller group. They are currently studying menus and hobbies. They asked me questions about different things I like to do such as my favorite music and if I could swim.

After class, I went with some of the other interns to Mama's Bakery and got a sesame bagel with butter. It was delicious! Then I had a tour of the San Marco Convent for my Art History class. The frescoes there were pretty cool, but Luca's lecture was extremely boring and redundant.

San Marco convent

I didn't have class again for several hours, but went to the Palazzo Capponi library. I had a short meeting with Laura and Alessandro then ate my lunch and went on reddit. I tried to take notes for my paper, but I didn't get very far. Instead I doodled on my notes.

My sketches/ doodles based on two of Giotto's paintings

Architecture class was pretty interesting. Luca lectured on the urban planning of Florence and the various sets of wall built around it throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. He ended class early and I started walking home.

Before I got to the bridge, I saw my roommate and Joe in the copy store. I walked in behind them and startled them a little. I waited for Joe to get his plane ticket printed so I could walk home with them. We went to a gelato store two doors down that just opened. I had "cookies" flavor, which was french vanilla with chunks of chocolate oreo like cookies and crumbles of chocolate chip cookies. It was really good and I will be trying other flavors at this place soon.
When I got home I worked on my Architecture midterm paper for a little while. For dinner I had rice with tomato sauce cooked in it, breaded beef on a stick (looked sorta like a corndog, only it was greyish beef instead of a hotdog inside), and then two mystery round pieces of something. One was a dark green and the other was maybe chicken with almost tempura like breading. For dessert Rosanna made donuts coated in sugar.
I met up with some of my classmates at a bar. I'm still sick and coughing, so I just stayed for a little bit in hopes of being just a little bit social. I wasn't a big fan of the bar we were at, it was overcrowded, loud and had a weird layout. The rest of my classmates went to a club after, but I went home and to sleep.

Day 30: 1 Month Done

Its crazy to think that I have been living here for a MONTH!! I would say the time has flown, but it actually hasn't. Though some days I don't do much of anything, the days here seem to last forever. I like to take each new day and discover, learn or experience something new. That's what this trip is about after all, isn't it?
On my walk home today I was thinking about my adventure here so far. Have I changed? yes, in so many ways. I am so much more open to the possibilities life presents to us. I don't say no (well, I mean, I do sometimes) and instead let myself experience ever thing and every moment available to me. When I hear people say "oh I'm skipping that class", I think to myself, WHY??! Its all part of this amazing journey that we, as young people, have and should feel lucky every day to be here, in a beautiful city thousands of miles from home. We are not here merely to study and attend classes, we are here to see the world and LIVE. Life has given us an amazing opportunity and I fully intend to take advantage of it. In sickness and in health, I am determined to make this adventure the best it can possibly be. So I go to class, not to learn, but to enrich myself. To fill myself with the knowledge that only these professors can bestow upon me, to take a little bit of them, a little bit of Italy back with me to America. Have I changed? Of course I've changed. I change everyday, every minute, every second. Every moment I experience here changes me in just the slightest way. I am constantly looking around me, soaking in the people, the smell, the old buildings, the shops, the uneven cobbled ground. I observe and am observed, that is the best way to learn. I know this city, or at least my routes to school, like the back of my hand, but I do not let myself go on "auto-pilot," I slow down, I look up, I see what others ignore, I let myself be influenced by Florence and in turn I influence Florence. Its amazing to be absorbed into a city so quickly and to be able to call it home. This journey may be one month over, but I like to think of it as one month began.

In the lobby at the school I teach at

Today I had Italian, then teaching and Dante. Teaching is really the most notable part of my day, so I will talk on about that. I taught in the 2D class with Mariagrazia. She warned myself and the other interns that the children in the class were rather rowdy and childish. They were, but at the same time I found them to be sweet and excited to learn. We introduced ourselves and then some of the students introduced themselves to us. Mariagrazia divided the class into four groups and assigned each of the interns to head a group. My group was comprised of a girl who was one of the best students, three of the worst boys and two level 1 students whose teacher was absent for the day. Despite being "bad" students, two of the boys tried to engage with me in conversation. The girl, Chiara, spoke very well and assisted them with a little bit of translation (for certain words they didn't know). I talked to Chiara a lot and she was so sweet and kept apologizing for her classmates loud and rude behavior. One of the boys loved asking me questions and saying things to me, i.e. "Do you have a boyfriend?" and "You're really pretty" (he said the latter in Italian). I worked with my group on hobbies and comparison, "Football is more exciting than collecting stamps." They were not too engaged in this activity, but I did get them to practice a little bit.
After class, one of the boys from another group, Nicolas, was trying to put his chair away while Mariagrazia was talking to us. I saw him struggling, as he is very small. I went over to him right as he almost fell over. I picked up his backpack and put it on his desk then lifted the chair for him. He had the biggest smile on his face and said "Thank you!" a little out of breath, than ran away to play with the other kids. I don't know why, but this made me really happy. I think it was because it was the first moment that I feel I actually helped one of these kids. No, I didn't teach him anything academic, but I think I taught him about helping and maybe even conveyed that Americans are good. There is a lot of prejudice in the school I teach at and in Italy about "new Italians" and immigrants, so I hope that during the rest of my time here I will be able to teach these students, the future of Italy, that tolerance and coexistence is important.

Day 29: Happy Birthday Riley!

 Today is my little sister's 13th birthday! I cannot believe she is officially a teenager. I sent her an ecard and also bought a real card (which I seriously need to mail.. whoops), but her present will have to wait until I am back in the states.
My day was slightly better than yesterday. I feel slightly better, mostly I am just less disoriented/ dizzy. I am coughing a lot though and my throat BURNS. I had my internship meeting this morning with Alessandro and we talked about our experiences so far at the school. Then I had a break where I talked to Laura (Chiara wasn't here today), and Lindsay and Cella at the front desk for a while. I then went to the library and did some reading for a big paper I have due in a few weeks.
Today was my first day working in a history class. I met a new teacher, Lucia, who speaks very little English. I was with two other students, Katie and Jess. We answered the students questions and told them a little about our family background. They are studying immigration, so if I go next week, I will teach them about that.
I then went home and had lunch. Around 3 I took a nap, as I felt so drained from the day. I woke up again around 7 and then had dinner at 8. I had cheesy rice, cooked spinach and some sort of cheese puff pastry like bread. For dessert I had the same pastry from a few nights ago, which is hard like a shortbread cookie, but rolled like a crescent roll. It was filled with chocolate instead of cream tonight, which I preferred.

Day 28: The Monday Blues

I woke up feeling even sicker than the day before. I couldn't stop coughing and ended up curled into a ball, tears streaming down my face. I decided that going to my morning class was not ideal. I woke up again around 10am chocking on my own spit (ew). I managed to sit up and breath again, but felt so awful. I forced myself to get out of bed and got dressed. I stumbled around the room and spent at least 5 minutes attempting to scoop peanut butter onto a piece of bread without much success. I then went to school. My walk was difficult to say the least. I was extremely dizzy and disoriented, so I fell off the sidewalk a few times (the sidewalks here are very narrow and slippery), but somehow got my self to school. Upon my arrival I talked to Chiara and she suggested I go see the doctor. I didn't listen (surprise, surprise) and instead sat through my Dante class. I got my paper back and Alessandro gave me some feedback to improve next time. I got a A=, which I'm not entirely sure what that means, but its an A of some sort, so that's good. I then went to our meeting room and sat in the back. I got my weekly schedule and meal allowance, and ate my lunch. Then Alessandro talked just to the interns about adding teaching in history classes. Then I took a 15 minute nap before Art History. I went to Luca after class and told him I wouldn't make it to our Architecture outing later in the day, then went home. Missing class is a little less bad here since the professors know us. They would rather the students get better and miss class than continue being ill. I, however, hate missing class and feel horrible about it. I went home anyways and fell asleep until a little before dinner, around 7:30.
For dinner Laura and her roommate (or friend) came over. We had pasta with cream sauce and cheese, cooked cabbage (I think) and breaded chicken.
After dinner I kept myself awake until about 10pm by doing some homework. Then I went back to sleep again.

Day 27: Still Homesick and Sick-Sick

I am officially absolutely totally 100% homesick. I wish I was home or at JMU and would do anything to get there. I love it here in Italy, but being away from my friends is too much. I really wish I could have made close friends here like I have at home. This journey would be so much better if I had, but alas, I have not and now I am stuck with one friend here and all my amazing, best friends on the other side of the world.
On top of that, I would give anything to have my Dad or Mom here right now. I am so miserably sick. I slept until 1 today, woke up for maybe 30 minutes, then slept again until 5:30. I managed to go to get dinner and the grocery store, but am ready to go back to bed again at the early hour of 8:45pm.
The superbowl is tonight, starting at I think 1am here, but I will not be able to see it. I had originally planned to go to an event for it at a bar, where you get unlimited food and a drink for 15 Euro. Instead, I will be sleeping away this awful sickness.

Day 26: Homesick

Today was a rough day to say the least. I slept in, as I am still trying to fight off a cold. It was pouring rain most of the day, so I stayed in my room and read. For dinner Amanda and I trudged out in the rain and got chinese food at a restaurant a block from the Duomo (in general, there is a lot of good food near there). I had a cafe and fried rice with shrimp.

After dinner, I went back home and skyped a big group of my friends, several of which were visiting my home campus for a basketball game. The internet connection here is horrible, especially with the rain, so the video kept freezing and it was sometimes hard to hear. Depsite that, it was really fun to talk to my friends. There was about 9 or 10 of them, so it was crazy as they were having side conversations, talking to me and moving around the room. I talked to two of the guys and I taught them some curse words in sign language. I also was left briefly "alone in the room" with my one friend while he changed clothes, I was dying laughing and we had a conversation about speaking German. It was a fun time talking to everyone, but it was also extremely sad for me to be away from them.
On top of that, my fraternity (its co-ed.. obvi..) handed out bids on Friday and had the bid celebration. I keep seeing pictures and posts about it on facebook and am so upset to be missing an amazing semester with my brothers.
I have also not yet talked to my family. I have emailed, but haven't skyped or talked to anyone on the phone. It is tough since everyone has busy schedules and phone calls are expensive, but I will need to have a call with my family with in the week.
So, I just am extremely homesick at this point. I have yet to really make good friends here, except my roommate, and it is difficult when I talk to my good friends, knowing what I am missing at school. In many ways I do not want to rush my experience here, but at this point I would do anything to have friends and more so to be with my friends at home. I do not regret my decision to come here, but right now I am debating whether it was the best choice.

Day 25: A Quiet Day in Firenze

Despite not having classes on Fridays, I had to wake up early to go to the immigration office. The appointments, for whatever reason, were done starting with P then to Z, then started over again at A. That made my M last name one of the last people to go. When it was my turn to go, I signed a paper and was electronically fingerprinted. On my way home I stopped at the grocery and bought two clementines. I ate one on my way home. Once I returned to my room, I did lunges, stretches, and an ab workout before going back to bed. I am unfortunately coming down with a cold and am trying to fight it off the best I can. My throat was so sore that I found it hard to sleep, but I managed to sleep until the mid afternoon.
Though this day was somewhat of a waste, I need it to hopefully not get sick and ruin my other days.
For dinner, I went to a pizza place about 5 blocks from my house. I got a funghi pizza, which had tomato sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms and basil on it.