Benvenuti in Italia!

Bonjourno blogosphere! I am super excited to finally get this blog up and running once again. Apparently my creativity and wit only grace me when I am off having an adventure, and if there is one thing this trip has been so far, it's an adventure. Let's start with the journey from hell and then get to the good stuff.

Sarah does Italy began on Monday afternoon when my dad and Josh drove me to Miami International Airport and graciously agreed to carry the obscene amount of luggage I brought through check in and up to security (come on, did you really think I would be able to "pack light?"). An hour and a half later I said goodbye (cried) to Josh and was on my way through security when I got chosen for a personal bag check. After my carry-on was rifled through and torn apart, they were satisfied I wasn't a bomber and I finally met some people on my trip at the gate. It was an uneventful couple hours and then we finally boarded what is now known as the Flight from HELL. Now, I have made the 9 hour journey to Europe on a plane before, so the pure length was not the issue with this flight. Was it the two screaming infants two rows in front of me? The Italian family who were split by my seat and proceeded to lean and talk over me as if I didn't exist? Big Mama's House 3 being the only movie played? I think the combination was the doozy. Even two dramamine couldn't knock me out, and consequently, the plane ride inched to the nine hour mark. Finally, we arrived in Paris around 8:30 am Paris time.

After the initial flight, we had a SIX hour layover at Charles DeGaulle. No sleep + a 12 Euro half a sandwich and water + hours of no wifi= not a happy Sarah. We finally boarded the two hour flight from Paris to Rome and I promptly passed out the entire way.

Now we get to the true meat of the journey. After landing in Rome, we were told we had a three hour bus ride to Florence and then we would be greeted by taxis who would take us to our individual apartments. Already completely worn out and cranky, we boarded two busses and after about ten minutes, hit a wall of bumper to bumper traffic that lasted over an hour. The bus ride turned into about six hours, and when we finally got to Florence, we had to wait nearly two hours to be taken by taxi to our apartment. Now, I am truly grateful for being allowed to come to Italy and have this experience, but let's be real. The trip here was a 36 hour nightmare and the only thing I could do when we finally got to the apartments past midnight was fall into a travel-induced coma.

Enough about the journey- what you really want to hear about is Firenze (Florence in Italian)! First off, my apartment is absolutely gorgeous. I have two roommates who requested eachother and our apartment has two rooms, so me being the loner, I got the single! And the single just happens to be the master bedroom of the apartment! Out the windows of my bedroom is the Ponte Vecchio, the river, and beautiful panoramic scenes of the other side of Florence, including the mountains. It is breathtaking and the description gives it no justice, so check out the pictures I posted on my Facebook to get a better visual. I am so happy with my living arrangements and I'm a five minute walk to school, shops, cafes and the other apartments of girls I've met (we all stay in rented apartments scattered across the historic center of Florence). If this is Italian living, I could get used to this.

Yesterday (Wednesday) was our first day in Florence, and it began with orientation. Nothing too exciting there, but we did get our Italian cellphones- they are the Nokias me and all my friends had in 7th grade with the see through covers. Such nostalgia. After orientation, I had my first Italian meal with one of my roommates- pasta bolognese! It was delicious and honestly not as expensive as I thought- we got a drink, bread and big portion of pasta for 8 euros. I'm starting to realize if you look, there are lots of restaurants that are affordable and have deals for students- hurray, more pasta for me! We had a walking tour of Florence in the afternoon with a guide and it was so beautiful. The weather is in the high 60s and windy but sunny- perfect for walking around but not sweating profusely. Again, the pictures say it all so check out my Facebook for pics of the tour. After the tour, everyone headed back to their apartments, took naps (or watched Glee..) and then me and two girls went out for dinner around 9. Interesting fact about Florence- most restaurants don't even open for dinner service until 7 or 7:30, so dinner is typically eaten much later than in the US. I had my first Italian pizza and it was delicious! The fresh mozzarella here is gonna be a problem. After dinner I headed back to my apartment because today was the first day of class!

I have my international food policy class at 9 am and leadership at noon. First class went well even though the final project is gonna be a big challenge. There were no prereqs for the class, so there are only about three of us out of 14 who are seniors and have taken the majority of the PR major classes at UF, so we are probably going to shoulder a lot of responsibility. Now I am off to grab a snack and have my first leadership class! Florence is just beyond beautiful and I feel like I am already starting to get the gist of where things are. If I had to compare it to a US city I would say its kind of like Boston- a smaller walking city where the streets are in no sort of grid or order, but if you wander around long enough you'll find where you're going. Tomorrow I leave for a weekend in Venice at 7:30 am and I can't wait (even though I will miss my queen sized bed in my apartment)! I miss all of you back at home- please bbm/email/facebook me and keep in touch! Until next time :)