I Don't Think I'm In Boca Anymore....

I survived my first week of classes; time for the weekend! I was used to a 7 day weekend at UF, and now I have classes 3 days a week that are 2.5 hours each. My Italian teacher doesn't speak English very well so the entire time the only thing she says to us is "Ba bene" and we all just shake our heads agreeing (we usually don't understand what we are agreeing to).  My business teacher is an American man who who moved to Rome 12 years ago not knowing a single word of Italian. He always goes off on a tangent, tells us stories about when he met Mike "The Situation" and usually ends class early- no complaints there. He is taking us to the Gucci museum for us to get a closer look at family businesses in Italy….maybe it's time for a new purse.

This week was full of new experiences. My roommates and I took a trip to the supermarket. We walked in and saw all of the locals walking around with a yellow basket that you pull like a wagon…of course we had no idea where to find this basket. I then proceeded to get some apples. In Italy it is frowned upon to grab the fruit with your hand so you have to use a plastic glove. I got my two apples and then saw a machine that required me to print a sticker with a bar code on it. Obviously I had no idea how to work the machine so I couldn't buy any apples. After about 45 minutes of walking around the supermarket we got to the cash register and the cashier said "borse?"and I just smiled and shook me head. When we left we realized when he said "borse?" he was asking us if we wanted a plastic bag, which we were charged for because most Italians bring their own bag to the market.  I was still able to get the necessities…shampoo, conditioner, Honey Nut Cherrios, and Nutella.

Last night was our first real night out. We walked up and down the streets asking people "Dove Club 21"and on the way we made some friends with a couple of English girls. We finally made it the club and they were playing Outcast, Usher, & Nelly. We definitely felt at home.

Tonight we went to one of the "best pizza ristoranti" in Florence, Gusta Pizza. It was packed with locals, which is always a sign of good food. A group of locals tried to take our table and the owner walked over, kicked them out, and made sure we sat down. Our food came shortly after and was DELICIOUS. When we ordered our food we felt very rushed so we all just ordered our own pizza for 5 euros each. We then realized that next time we will be each sharing a pizza. Oh….in Italy they do not believe in taking leftover food home, which made us feel like we had to eat our entire plate, and that we did.

Tomorrow will be our first day that we can sleep in, relax, and explore Florence, which we are very excited about. On Saturday we are taking a trip to Siena and San Gimignano and on Sunday we are going to Cinque Terre.