"This should be illegal..."

Yes, after 3 weeks here I am finally sitting down to write my blog. Blogs are the thing to have here so we shall see how this goes. Well there are a few words I would use to describe Florence, but only one really stands out: DEODORANT! If these sleezy Italian men ever expect to get a second glance from us American girls, they should really look into some strong deodorant. The guys in Florence are quite interesting. We are constantly getting hit on, whistled at, stared at from males of all ages (literally 12-60). Quite shocking. Other than the creepy Italians, Florence is amazing! In my short three weeks I have had many memorable experiences from late night conversations to crazy nights hanging out at the steps of the Duomo and making friends. Everything about Florence is different from home and I wouldn't have it any other way. It has been quite a growing experience for me (and my body!) My body is still getting used to everything here from all the dairy to all the walking. We must walk 5 miles every day, which I am actually enjoying because taking different streets allows me to stumble upon various gelaterias, bars, panini shops, etc that I have been told about. 

I would have to say that my favorite thing about being here is having my independence. It feels so great to be able to be responsible for everything, even though I am frequently checking in with my parents to verify that what I am doing is right. For example, I surprisingly went 2 and a half weeks without hitting up the ATM. (Partly because I was scared of getting robbed but still 2 and half weeks is impressive I think!) 

Well now down to the interesting stuff, my travels. The first weekend in Florence was spent walking around and just getting to know the streets, where the markets were, where the good shopping vendors are, what gelateria is best, etc. And then school started. Buzzkill considering I came to Italy with the idea that I was being given 4 extra months of summer vacation. Even though I don't have much to complain about, my classes are at least 2 and a half hours each ( my art class is 5 and a 1/2 hours!!) and none of my teachers are okay with using travelling as an excused absence. Crazy right?!? I mean don't they know that's why everyone studies abroad! Dad, you know I came here for my studies :) 

So after my first week of classes, my roommates and I decided to do a day trip to Pisa and Lucca just to mark those off the list before we become to lazy and procrastinate! It was easy to fit both in during one day considering all there is to do in Pisa is take a picture with the leaning tower and maybe get some gelato. Lucca, on the other hand, was pretty awesome. It's known as the city within the walls, and compared to Florence it was so neat and clean! Also, we had these tasty treats there called Fritte? I kind of forget the name, but I know they tasted like pure heaven (and fat). Anyways, after the long day I was quite tired, but one thing that has changed since coming to Italy is that I am not the complainer in the group! (haha sorry Leaner!) I am pretty proud of myself, but don't expect me to never complain again, because last week was quite the test for my patience. 

Last week we went to the Amalfi Coast with Florence for Fun, which is a little company that organizes weekend trips for students at a discounted price. This was quite the packed weekend. First, we left the train station around 7 and got to Sorrento around 2 a.m. on Friday. After getting about 4 hours of sleep, we had to be at breakfast before 7 so we could leave at 8. Little did we know that when they shouted "the bus leaves in 5 minutes!" that really there was no bus, but they were gearing us up for the 30 minute walk along the edge of a windy road down to the water. After walking this long hoping that we would climb aboard every bus in sight, we got the ferry harbor and oh yes...got to wait another 30 mins for the ferry. After the ferry dropped us off in Capri we took a private boat tour around the island and got to see Mussolini's summer house, as well as Sophia Loren's and Julia Robert's. Then we got to walk down another windy road to get to the "beach." Obviously Italians have never been to the lovely sandy San Diego beaches, because their beaches are made of not so comfortable ROCKS. yay. Anyways, after my much needed nap on the beach, we headed back to the hotel (luckily the bus was there to drive us the 2 miles back up the hill) and we were greeted with hardly any running water and no blow driers. Let me just tell you...all the USD girls look quite different without any mirror time. 

After dinner they took us to the pub and that was quite a treat. I'll never get tired of being able to order drinks and walk around outside with them! The next day was spent in Positano, where I finally got to work on my tan and almost die. Yes, we almost died. About 8 of us girls rented a boat and drove around the ocean for an hour. It's amazing the lack of information needed to rent a boat. They didn't even ask if anyone knew how to drive a boat, let alone swim. But that was the most fun I've had since being here!! That night could have been better, since my friend got pee thrown on her on our walk back from the bars and then some security guard decided to follow us home. Luckily, Doug got me pepper spray before I left! 

Sunday was spent in Pompei and on Mt. Vesuvius. Although I had already been to Pompei 4 years ago, I actually learned something this time. It's amazing what listening to the tourguide does! They had plenty of brothels in Pompei because everyones lives were so short, so they wanted to "enjoy themselves and live it up!" according to our guide. I saw some interesting statues and it is really cool because you can still see the bones in their fingers and feet, as well as their teeth and eye sockets. It was pretty heartbreaking and sureal. I don't quite understand the logic of this, but after visiting Pompei and hearing the horror stories of those people's death, we were to hike Mt. Vesuvius? I wasn't too stoked on that, but I'm glad I did it. It was a lot bigger than I actually expected, and I can officially cross "walk in the clouds" off my bucket list. The ride home I was quite cranky because I was lacking sleep, and they ran out of real food at the bus stop, as well as toilet paper in the bathrooms. (well at least they didn't charge us 50 cents to use the bathroom!) But we eventually made it home. And here I am staying up until the wee hours, battling a cold I've had since the first weekend here that is probably due to lack of sleep, but oh well. When in Florence, right?!?