A note to anyone who is coming in the winter: BRING AN UMBRELLA AND WATERPROOF SHOES! It is cold and wet here. COLD AND WET! It is so wonderful here, but you will freeze. Or you will spend a ton of money on rain shoes. We luckily got here during the winter sales, but even then my roommate spent 50 euros on a pair of shoes. So bring your own!
Oh, and I made the mistake of using some body wash on my face in the hotel. Let's just say that was NOT a good idea! My face got so itchy! Thank goodness it is not noticeable when I am out during the day, but it started getting dry and scaly. So DON'T do it. Stick to what you have, or you will be doing what I did tonight after using my moisturizer.. which burned like hot lava fire by the way. I frantically ran to my window to try to stick my face out of it so I could cool it, but these things are like a trap! I don't know.. maybe they thought I would want to kill myself or something, but they don't open! Oh my gosh! I ran to the door to get into the hallway (which is also freezing) but I realize I didn't have my key to open the door (the doors open by key inside and out).. so I ran to several other windows including the kitchen while my roommate looked at me like I was a crazy woman and opened the door for me. Finally I got into the hallway and had to put my face against the COLD cement walls. Yes. This felt like heaven. HEAVEN. She almost wanted to leave me out there to have a moment with the wall.. So, moral of the story: DON'T use soap unless you know that it is good for you.. or at least not on your precious face.

Getting Accustomed

What can I say about Firenze?

It's majestic. Just gorgeous. Stupendous. Lovely. Breath taking. A dreamland. That isn't even enough. My vocabulary is not large enough to describe how wonderful this place is. I have been roaming the streets for several days now and I have yet to see anything that I do not like. There is a main road that I use to get to school and even though I have been up and down it 15+ times, I am still seeing something new each time.

I keep telling people that I am so surprised how beautiful the architecture is from the outside alone. OH and when it is wet.. wow. The light hits the stones and they glisten and shine telling me a story of their history and strength. I can't help but stop and stare in aw. There is no other place in the world like Firenze.

Oh and the food.. mmm! Everything tastes so fresh. We went to a restaurant for our welcome dinner and had the big shabang. All courses! Nothing was bad... These people made chicken liver taste good.. bleh!

I spoke to a local man earlier and he asked where my friend and I were from, so I told him California, and he replied saying that California is a beautiful place. I couldn't help but respond that this place was nicer despite the constant clouds and rain since we arrived. He said that after 20-30 years a building as grand as the Duomo starts to look like just a regular building to him. I figure he is probably right. But there is something mysterious and romantic about seeing these old places, knowing that hundreds of thousands of people have walked these streets having lived and died with Firenze being their home. One of the AIFS worked told us that some of the apartments that we are living in are older than the United States.. and she is right! How many families lived in my little apartment? How many people had to share my room. How many people loved, laughed, cried, screamed, and stood in this very room of mine? There is so much history to just this one little corner of Florence and I am only part of its life for 3 months. But that is thrilling! I get to be a piece of Florence and it will be a piece of me.