Italy Week 1
I left mid-day Friday June 14th with no idea what was to come over the next few days. Every part of the journey to get to Florence was amazing and eye opening. I started the journey, on a 9 hour plane ride to Paris watching shows and eating lots of food trying to relax before the excitement of a new country. I realized that everyone was sleeping on the plane because it was a red eye plane for the European people (which I should have caught onto). When arriving to France I quickly realized how much they valued their language. I was nervous because I knew no French. Slowly I realized a few people speaking English here and there which gave me the idea that most everyone knew how to speak a little English (I wish I could have learned more of the language before arriving). The flight from Paris to Florence was very short and I sat next to a lady and her husband which were from Paris and were going to Italy to backpack through Tuscany, both of their kids live in the United States which helped me to create conversation and eased my anxiousness slightly. When I arrived in Florence I was picked up by the head of the school and taken to the apartment. At the apartment, I met up with my friend Ally, one of my roommates for the trip and my sorority sister. The rest of the day was spent sleeping, eating, and slightly sick from the lack of sleep. On Sunday we had our orientation for school, they gave us a tour around the city, talked about classes, and things we need to know about Italy and its culture. The rest of Sunday we spent preparing for the week of classes and trying to adjust to the 9 hour time difference. During this school week I attended my 2 classes which are held twice a week for 3 hours each. They are photography and packaging design. The teachers here love to incorporate their culture and history into the classes as they know we are here to learn about it. My photography project is a blog which I am doing here, and my first packaging design project is to make a package for any kind of pasta. My time out of class this week was spent exploring the city, eating gelato, drinking wine, taking in the culture, going to the gucci museum or gucci garden, and finding amazing places I am going to be traveling to on the weekends. I am so excited to write about my time here and all the amazing opportunities I get to do. I will try to keep things posted at least once a week. This weekend I am off to Siena, San Gimignano, and Lucca.
Ciao