Fiorenze -> Firenze

I decided to take this chance to post all of the (1) random pictures I've taken on my phone when I didn't have my camera handy.

A fountain on the way to class... Turns out it's in the Borghese Villa.

Saturday I traveled to Florence all by myself. It was only a little stressful, but it was totally worth it. Unfortunately I left my camera at home, so lots of phone pictures. (also the title of this post is the old Italian name of Florence and the new) Now, in Italy there are very few places that have air conditioning, and even fewer places that use it. Churches are one of these exceptions. So while I was in Florence Saturday I decided to cool off in various churches and pull out my Kindle and read for awhile. It felt a little weird at first, but then I decided whatever, I paid 3.50 to get in, I might as well enjoy and make the most of my time there.

So Saturday I sat and read in Santa Maria Novella
 for about 1.5 hours today.

Ha! It says: Today's rich and powerful are unfortunately
not as tasteful as the Medici.

I went and got lunch at a small cafe, and paid extra to sit down. Unusual in my neighborhood at home, but quite expected in Florence. I sat and read while waiting for my food. One of the waitresses saw my Kindle, and exclaimed something in Italian speaking much too fast for me to follow what she was saying.
Her friend came over and said (in Italian), "It's like a little computer right? Like an Ipod?"
I quickly recovered myself and agreed and then added, "Well, it's only for books, but many books."
She replied, "Oh, how do you get them on there do you scan them?"
"No, you download them from the internet"
"Oh then they cost money?"
I thought about how to say it for a second and said, "Yes, some, but very old books are free. Only new books cost money."
She asked "How many books does it hold?"
Now, I have no idea how many books a kindle holds, but I figured a guess would be fine. "I'm not sure, more than 100."
She said, "Wow, you're German, no, English?" Which seems to be everyone's guess on meeting me. I guess I look rather German, but have an accent that reminds them of English. I also assume many Americans that come to Italy don't take the time to learn the language, whereas British people seem to know at least one other language. I told her I was from Texas, of course (because Texas is better than America). And that was all of our conversation until I left when she said, "Ciao bella!" and I felt like I'd made a new friend. It was pretty fun.

And a blurry picture of Basilica di San Lorenzo
where I read for another 2 hours.

I also spent a lot of time walking around generally being a little lost, but I had a map and was confident enough that I would be able to make it back to the train station by simply asking anyone I saw "Dov'è Santa Maria Novella?" My mediocre knowledge of Italian is very very handy in those sorts of situations. It really doesn't take much command of the language to ask that though (or so I've tried to convince my CEA roommates). However it was unnecessary as I was quickly able to find and orient myself on the map I had been given on my previous trip to Florence.

Some fun chalk artists.

Every time I go to this market, the one by il Porcellino, I buy one thing at least. First it was a purse, then some gifts for other people, and I almost bought a scarf, but didn't feel like haggling. And I know 18Euros is WAY too much to pay for a scarf, even a nice one. The fun thing about this is, I now really know about the right price to pay for things, where you can haggle, and where you can't. It's really fun learning all of this, because it makes me feel like I'm really, well not a native, but at least like I'm fitting in.

Il Porcellino! I love that market!
There's so many fun things to buy!

I love street art! It's so much fun!! Although Florence doesn't have quite as much as Rome, and not nearly as much politically oriented art, it's still interesting. The political things are the most interesting to me. I love propaganda because It's just so interesting. How it works on people, what works in one culture, and what doesn't in another. I may have mentioned this before, but I'm taking a class on Propaganda and Dissidence in the fall and I'm really excited for that class, I'm sure it will be a lot of work, but it's also sure to be fun.

I had a picture of one of these from the first time
I went to Florence 3 years ago, and I thought
it was cool someone's still putting them up.

This next bit doesn't particularly pertain to Europe so, if you're only interested in my adventures, you can stop here. But otherwise feel free to continue if you wish.

I've refrained from mentioning this in my blog because I feel it's not really the place, but today I can't help it. Background: (My best friend told me he liked me two days before I left for Europe. Terrible timing right? But he's my best friend and my favorite person ever and so we started dating. We try to talk a lot, every day if we can. And I just can't wait until I can see him when I get back.) So anyways he's pretty awesome, and knows that I get bored a lot. So he made me an activity book of sorts. I'm saving most of it, so that it will be a surprise. Today I opened the first page, and it is a word-finder puzzle-thingy. The words I have to look for are either Roman Emperors, fantasy things (like from Lord of the Rings) or other things pertaining to Italy. It's so much fun, because it's custom made from a list of my favorite things. And I'm just too excited to not tell everyone ever about it!!

Fun Classes & Hot Weather

     So this week we've gone to museums and churches for the most part in both of my classes. It's been pretty fun. And very convenient since they are both usually air-conditioned and it's in the high nineties around here. My room however is not air-conditioned, and I don't have a fan.. So that's less fun. Having the windows open only helps when there's a breeze and today there was none... I'm considering finding a church or museum or something to go study in.

     My Art and Archaeology class visited the catacombs under the basilica of St. Agnes today (where she was actually buried). It was pretty cool, and conversely to what movies and stories tell you, Christians did not hide in these catacombs during their persecution. First, they couldn't have survived the air down there for more than twenty minutes. And second, the Romans actually sold them the land and recently following the opening of the catacombs, Christianity was made legal by Constantine in 313AD. Anyway, the catacombs were interesting to see, most of the ones we saw were from the 4th Century AD (Constantine's reign.) It was a little creepy, seeing all the "shelves" where people were buried. But there were only 4 skeletons and they were behind glass. It was interesting to see just how small they would have been, maybe 4-4.5 feet at the most, and weighing only 150-170lbs. Crazy.

(viewer's discretion advised, description below.)
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     Photography class went to several churches including a church/museum with an area that was decorated entirely with bones of monks who were found nearby. It was kind of funny though because we weren't allowed to take pictures there, and we went there for a photo class. But it was still really interesting to see. A lot of the people in the program are anxious to see everything they possibly can, so I feel a little lazy, but I have another month to see some of this stuff, and My next Art&Arch class will be taking us to a lot of other churches and museums so I'll get to see even more stuff.

      So anyway finals are tomorrow meaning I'd better get back to work. (Although I am slightly farther along than I'd originally expected to be.)