Been a few days...

Haven’t written in a few days. It’s not that there isn’t anything to write about, I’ve just been SO tired at night that all I want to do is crash. Monday was our first day for class. For Saints and Sinners we toured the St. Agnese church on the outside of the city walls and St. Augustine’s church right up the road from our apartment. Both of them are amazing. It’s interesting to compare the inside of a Catholic church to the inside of a Mormon church. We’re very plain and conservative. Not saying that Catholics are boisterous, but their décor definitely says something to that effect. Inside St. Augustine was a man-made grotto. We held part of our class in their which started pretty cool. It was nice and cold. But the mold started to get to me. No bene.

For lunch we went to a different pizzeria on the main Corso(main street). The pizza was the best I’ve had. I love our little place by the supermarket, but this was delicious! I’m afraid to say that pizza back home will not be the same! It just can’t possibly be. For Renaissance and Reformation we had to meet the class at the Piazza Grande, which is at the top of the city. Not a fun hike…at all. We went through the Duomo and it is incredible! Again, the ornate décor is amazing! We’re going to go to mass one Sunday.

After class we had our first weekly meeting. It started okay, but then turned into an awkward high-school-like conversation about the things that we shouldn’t be doing while in another country. For instance, having parties in a 1,000 year old city where you have native neighbors. Or getting so trashed that you think you can do a handstand on the top of the 10-foot city walls. Or flirting with Albanians and telling them were you live, which leads to stalking. Yeah, this is what a select few people in our group had decided to do this weekend. Hey, we’re Italy! Let’s get drunk…like we were at home?? It was so embarrassing. I thought that coming on this trip meant you had a certain caliber of maturity, but these people can’t stay sober for more than 12 hours! I was furious. And I know the instructors were too.

So meeting ended and we went grocery shopping. Which was badly needed. For the first couple days we were living off of water, bread, and cheese. Not a bad meal, but not really filling. On the way to the grocery store, we ended up in a monsoon. Rain here is about like Georgia. It comes out of nowhere and you don’t know how long it will last. This little storm was about 20 minutes long. And it was a down pour. Walking back from the grocery store? Warm and sticky. Felt like Georgia!

Yesterday we went to Florence. The buildings there were beautiful! Especially seeing the Santa Maria after reading Brunechelli's Dome. I got to see the David, which is much larger than I thought. Overall though, Florence is dirty and so hot! :( There isn't any wind through the city though which made it miserable! We managed to make our way back to the bus stop around 3, but no one else was there AND we found out the bus wouldn't be there for another hour and a half. UGH! So, my little group and I headed to the hotel across the street to bask in the A/C!

A/C is a luxury around here. The apartment doesn't have any, but they retain cool air pretty well. So during the day we leave the windows and shutters closed. At night, windows stay open to let in the cool air. At night it can get to about 50 degrees or so. Tuesday morning I woke up FREEZING!!

Well, that's all I want to write for now. I'll be off until Sunday, so until then...

¡Ciao!

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