3 Weeks In

It's been about 3 weeks since I've been living in Firenze. It's been really nice.....except for this crappy cold snap Europe has been having! It's been snowing, bellow freezing, and terrible winds. None of us left the apartment yesterday because it was just WAY to damn cold. It's actually the coldest it's been in like 30 years. I thought I was going to avoid all the snow and cold.

I almost freaked the fuck out on SUNY Oswego. They online service that they use almost everything for wasn't letting me apply for December 2012 graduation and apparently it was the last day to do it online. I called them and they did it for me manually. Even in another country, they still try and screw me. I've decided I'm getting a single next semester. I deserve it and I will make it happen. I just have to pay my housing deposit next week and then the housing selection starts. I swear if I have to make a trip to Oswego when I get back, someone is going to die! I might go back up to see some of my friends graduate but that's the only reason I will be making a trip back up there after Italy and then again when I have to go back in the fall.

Friday I went to Siena and San Gimignano. Both places were covered in snow and ice and both cities were completely hilly. Not exactly the best way to try and walk around a new city. Siena was gorgeous even covered in snow and ice. It was nice to be in more of a country side area than a city and much smaller than Firenze. We had a walking tour of Siena and then had some free time to explore on our own. It was way to cold to do any real exploring but we did explore some of the shops in the center of Siena where we ended the tour. San Gimignano on the other had is an extremely small village, you can walk it in 5 to 10 minutes, but so beautiful and also completely full of hills. It's nicknamed the city of beautiful towers which is true. There used to be 17 towers but now there are only 14 and I believe it has the tallest tower in Italy. The view from the top of one of the towers was so amazing! You could pretty much see the whole country side. I would love to go back there when the weather is much warmer and you could actually see all the vineyards and stuff. I saw some really nice looking olive trees too! Cullen, my one housemates boyfriend, thought olives grew on vines not trees. Friday was a nice all day outing.

Yesterday, it was so cold and windy and just miserable out that none of use left the apartment unless we needed to go to the little market that's right by the apartment. It was just miserable out and just way to cold to even try and walking into the center of the city. We also started a cooking cycle in the apartment. We all take turns making dinner one day of the week to save money and also it just makes a hell of a lot more sense to do that since we all live in the same apartment. We had fish tacos last night and it was really good! Dominique made her own salsa cause well you can't find it here. Almost everything we've made has been some kind of Italian version of something we've tried to make. I've made risotto twice and I'm totally getting better at it. I need a bigger pan though to make it better. Our cooking system seems to work pretty well and we'll probably keep it going. Oh and out heat and hot water turned off last night. We had to call the CAPA emergency number and they had to call our landlord to come downstairs and fix it. I think all he did was restart the hot water maker but I don't really know. At least we know we can knock on their door if we need anything now.

I still have to figure out what I'm going to do for spring break here. We were all going to go to Greece but then it changed just because Greece is in a lot more financial crisis than Italy and getting there seemed to be a bit of a hassle. Instead, they're going to be doing like a European tour kind of thing. You pick 5 countries to visit and you get this train pass to use within like 2 months or something. I'm not quite clear on how it works but I really don't have the money for it. It's $1,000 to do that trip and that's something I can't afford and I know my parents can't really afford that either so I'm going to try and stay in Italy. Maybe I'll spend a week in Venice or try and get down to Sicily. I don't know just yet. I have to really think about it. I never really did anything for spring break at home so it's a little weird for me to try and plan one now. We'll see what happens.

I plan on going to Venice and Viareggio for Carnivale because it's going on all month long and I think up until Easter. I'm excited for it! I might go next weekend but we'll see. Classes are good. They're starting to pick up a little bit. I still don't feel like I can say anything in Italian except for what my name is and how old I am. I really am better at understanding another language than speaking it which really sucks if you think about it. I'm nervous for the oral part of the final we're going to have to do. I might say something in class about practicing more with actually speaking the language cause I really feel lost sometimes in that class.

I still miss home a lot. I miss my boyfriend a lot too. I email him pretty much everyday because there's no privacy so talking to him on the phone or through skype I can't always say what I want to so I email him and that seems to be working out. I get my little piece of home by talking to my family and I can stream WRRV and WPDH here in Italy so I can get my radio stations at least. It's just hard being here and hearing about stuff that's going on at home and not being able to be there. I almost considered trying to get home for spring break but that would make things so much worse when I have to come back to Firenze again. I wish there was a way for them to come out and visit me but it's so expensive to get out here. It just get really hard sometimes. I haven't even talked to CAPA about seeeing someone to talk to while I'm here. Apparently the only way to do that is to see an outside therapist and I don't know if the insurance I have from SUNY Oswego covers that and I don't know if my parents insurance will cover it either. I'll have to actually talk to someone tomorrow and see what can be done. I kind of feel ashamed to ask but it's something I feel that is good to have just in case.

Other than all that, it's been really amazing being here and living here. I hope someday I can come back here with my family and boyfriend.