If you ask most people who have studied a semester abroad, they'll be pretty quick to tell you your first week there is going to be a long. Not only are you adjusting to jet lag but you're left in an entirely new culture, with new people and an environment so unlike your own that finding things as simple as towels, coffee filters, and snacks feels kind of impossible. With all of that said, SACI's orientation this week has left me incredibly busy and - more importantly - plenty of time to photograph the beginnings of what Florence has to offer.
Monday
I left for my flight at 9:30 a.m. on Monday and didn't even arrive until Tuesday at 8:20!
Needless to say, Monday was a lot of nerves (I highly recommend meditation, a pianist of your choosing, and a great deal of faith to help remedy this) but I took each flight one step at a time (which is really important). Even though my layover in Zurich was less than 10 minutes, I still arrived on time the follow morning to the Florentine airport! Unfortunately, this arrival did not come with any luggage...
Tuesday
After discovering my and a number of other American abroad student's luggage had missed its flight to the airport and would not be arriving for about 5 hours, me and another SACI student split a taxi to the main office and collected our keys (this was a rather stressful mission I must say). From there, I discovered my apartment was absolutely beautiful! It's certainly not easy carrying a 45 pound suitcase up 3 flights of stairs, but the apartment has a beautiful kitchen and bedding that's fully stocked, a view I cannot stop looking at, and roommates who are absolutely wonderful! Needless to say, the second I discovered this I fell asleep straight away. That night, my roommates and I also ended up checking out the nearby market to eat and I realized figuring out meals might be more difficult than I thought!
Wednesday and Thursday
Wednesday and Thursday was a lot of exploring and orientation events - I also got my first Italian pizza! Our orientation was a lot of walking tours around Florence and explanations of Italian behavior - including a lot of pickpocketing and gypsy warnings. The tours were long and tiring but honestly I'm not sure I would have been brave enough to explore Florence without it. There was a lot of information about Michelangelo's school (His famous David is a 10 minute walk from my apartment), the Medici Palace, and architecture beyond belief. There are honestly layers and layers of gorgeous facades that are free to look at whether it's 10:30 p.m. or 3 in the afternoon. The Duomo can be seen from absolutely every point in the city (including my apartment as you can see from above) - it's basically the North Star of the city.
Friday
Friday was theoretically our first day of classes, however I don't actually have any classes on Fridays! Because of this I tentatively was able to take more photographs of Florence and finally explore it on my own while also checking out this underground mall by the train station. That night we ended up going to a lantern festival by a Hospital (the basement of this hospital is where Leonardo Da Vinci secretly did dissections on people!). This is a lovely tradition in which young kids and their parents will create these beautiful lanterns and the young boys even shoot spit balls at the young girls they think are pretty. My roommates and I also made lovely salads (with the best parmesan of my life) that night!
Saturday
Oh my goodness Saturday was by far my busiest day this week. I actually had my first field trip for my High Renaissance class to Leonardo da Vinci's birthplace (the town of Vinci) as well as the Medici Villas. These towns were gorgeous and so much of the art we saw was absolutely breathtaking - there were so many still life's and Medici portraits (this is a very powerful family including multiple Dukes, Popes, and Queens). Being allowed to listen to my professor speak about this was also adding to the experience because we got to learn crazy facts (for instance, the Medici paintings tended to include a giraffe who was a gift from a foreign country, however it's believed that he ended up passing away because he got stuck in the rafters). It was also a very exhausting trip, but it was also pretty special to experience these magnificent countrysides and artworks in Italy!