Fifty Shades d’Italia

Now to try and push OUT the giant elephant I just brought into the room- in order to try and embrace the Italian culture (in this particular case listening to the language) I decided to see a movie in Italian and as could be deciphered by the title, that movie was:

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Content aside, I was able to translate a good portion of they were saying, so it was pretty interesting in that regard. I also attended a service at the DUOMO last weekend in keeping with that spirit.

Is it crazy to say that though I’ve only been here for a few weeks, I want to live here. Seriously, it is beautiful here, one of my favorite things being that Florence has retained most of it’s sort of “Renaissance” exterior not just in it’s historical buildings, but also on it’s streets (I’m walking over cobblestones most of the time). And for all the fear that’s been instilled in me about my stuff getting stolen, and I’m still keeping my eyes open don’t worry, the people I’ve come across have been super nice and super helpful. On my first day of class, I knew the building was close to the Duomo, so I asked someone: “Scusi, dove Duomo?” And he pointed me into the opposite direction and told me to take the first right. Low and behold, I saw the dome.

So quick tip for anyone wanting to visit here: “Dove” (Where?) is your best friend.

It’s been a little tricky getting used to my classes, and I’m still struggling a little bit, but for the sake of being here, I’ll manage. My art classes are really tough, like in my drawing class, the professor has us do two or three detailed drawings for homework. And oil painting, by God is that a pain to get off.

As for housing:

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This is the view outside my window: Right next to the Santa Croce. Not only that, my apartment is pretty massive in the sense that the ceilings are very high up. The downside to this location is of course the insane amounts of tourists in the square. But, it’s a good fifteen-twenty minute walk away from the school, and five to ten minutes away from the Palazzo Vecchio, which I had the pleasure of going to last Friday and climbing up to the tower. (So many stairs)

2 weeks ago however I went to Rome for API’s first excursion. All that I have to say about the city in general is that I’m glad I chose to study in Florence because save for the Roman Forum, Colosseum, St. Peter’s Church, and the Vatican (Museum and Sistine Chapel) there really isn’t much connected to Art from what I saw, though I will say that when I walked into the Sistine Chapel I stopped breathing for five to ten seconds.

Back in Florence, I’ve decided to do some volunteer work, teaching English to Italian students, which may or may not start next week. Can’t wait.

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