Ciao Italia

So today was my last day in Firenze, and a very sad one. I started my last day off by sleeping in. I set my alarm for 10 so that I could get up and be ready to leave for Pisa. As my alarm went off I woke and was wide awake and decided to stay in bed. I finally got out of bed and started getting ready around 10:30. I was all ready by 11 by Stacy was still in bed. When she woke we decided to stay in Florence and get stuff done around here. I decided I would go an get one last pizza for lunch. I went to a little trattoria next to the markets at San Lorenzo. I sat inside because it was kind of cold outside. I ordered a margharita pizza and a Coke. When the waiter brought out my pizza he put it down and said a special pizza. I thought he said this because I ordered from the special menu. I was wrong, it was because the pizza was shaped as a heart! It was so delicious, but I couldn't eat the whole thing because it was so big. After I paid I decided to go for a walk and look for a shirt with the Florence crest on it. I found one shop that had a bunch of shirts, but they were all really expensive so I left. Before I got to the store, however, I passed the Duomo and saw some people taking pictures for a wedding. I then took a walk down to the river one last time. I got down to the rive and took a few pictures and was happy to be there but sad because I knew that it would be my last time I would be able to visit the place where I found peace. I then walked back toward the Duomo and then headed home through the markets. As I walked I found a shirt that I wanted for 8 euro. After I bought the shirt I walked around the market one last time trying to find a necklace with the crest of Florence on it, but had no luck. I then went home because I knew I needed to finish packing and help clean the apartment. When Stacy got home we moved the furniture back, swept, and then just chilled out for a while. I was almost completely packed so I sat on my bed and read the journal that Mish sent us about Australia. After relaxing for a few hours I got up and made some pasta for dinner. Eventually all the roommates came home and made dinner. I then took a shower so I wouldn't have to get up tomorrow to do that before we leave because Stacy and I are getting up at 4:15 to leave. After my shower I sat down in the kitchen to talk to some friends online and Stacy cleaned the bathroom. I just took out all the garbage and as I was coming out of the apartment building I passed a kind of creepy guy, but I kept on walking. I thought he was just looking at me because I was in my pajama pants and had 6 bags of trash. As I came back he was waiting outside the building and tried to follow me inside, but I slammed the door on him before he could get in. That so weird and creepy. The creepy Italian men are one thing I won't miss when I go home. So I might try to go to bed early even though I know I won't be able to fall asleep. Goodbye Florence, I will miss you.

No Pisa For You!

So today was an interesting day. I started it out by sleeping late. I set my alarm for 10 just so I wouldn't sleep all day. I turned it off and went back to sleep for another half an hour. I finally got up and took a shower around 11. As I finished getting ready Stacy got up, and was feeling better, and she started to get ready for Pisa. While she was getting ready I went to the Vodafone store to end my cell phone contract and get my phone switched to prepaid. That took about 15 minutes and the lady said not to switch the SIM card for about an hour because it would take about an hour to switch over completely. After I left the Vodafone store I walked back toward the apartment but stopped at a small store around the corner to buy another suitcase. I found one that was 18 euro, bought it, and then heard people yelling outside. I looked to see what was going on, I thought it was the group of teenagers I passed earlier just being obnoxious. As I turned to look I saw that it had started hailing and pouring rain. The hail was amazing, the biggest hail I have ever seen in my entire life, I think it was the size of golf balls. I waited a few minutes for the hail to stop, but the rain only got harder. I decided to buy an umbrella and brave the down pouring rain to walk home around the corner. I rolled up my jeans so they wouldn't drag on the ground and the store owner put a bag over my suitcase for me. By the time I got home, 3 minutes later, my pants were soaked as was part of my hoodie and my shoes. Meg was coming out of the building and held the door open for me so I wouldn't have to struggle with my keys and suitcase. When I got upstairs Stacy and I decided to start packing and see how the weather was. After about an hour we decided to put Pisa off until tomorrow, hoping the weather would be better tomorrow, and finish packing. I got all of my artwork and paper stuff packed in my new suitcase and then started on my clothes. I packed everything that was dry, since we had done wash, and then decided to go to a laundromat to dry our clothes so that I could finish packing. I spent about half an hour there and then finished packing when I got home. After packing I laid down on my bed and watched Dark Knight while dozing in and out of sleep. After my movie was over I some chicken Stacy had made for dinner then took a shower since we are going to try to go to Pisa in the morning. The rest of my night will be relaxation and I might go to bed a little early because I am very tired for some reason. 1 more day...

It's Over

So today, surprisingly, was a really good day. I set my alarm for 8:30 and 9 because I had a feeling I wasn't going to feel like getting up and I was right. When my first alarm went off I turned it off and went back to sleep for another half an hour. I finally got up and made my way to the lab because I told Mom I would get my platelets checked. The guy who took my blood was talking to me in broken English and in Italian as well. He was telling me how I was in there a lot and I told him I was going home on Monday. Today was my last day at the lab. After the lab I walked to the bus stop and waited for about 10 minutes until my bus came. As I got on a bunch of people on the bus kept asking the driver questions, but I had my ipod on so I couldn't hear them. Every stop people kept coming up to the front of the bus where I was sitting and asking questions and looking angry. After about 4 or 5 stops I realized we were going a different route that usual and this is why people were freaking out. Finally I saw the river and felt relieved, until I realized we were driving the wrong direction away from the fresco studio! I got off at the next stop and walked more than half of the way because the darn bus stopped so far away. I got there and as I walked in it started to rain. I took a bunch of pictures and hung out with my friends for a few hours. While I was hanging out Mario touched up my tiger fresco that got a little messed up for me. While we were in class it rained a lot and then suddenly started to hail! It hailed for a few minutes and then turned into rain and then it got sunny again. I walked home around 1:30 and was starving because all I had has to eat were some crackers and juice. I think I inhaled my sandwich as I checked my email for my platelet results. After finding out that they were the same as they were on Monday, which is good for traveling, and then went over to SACI to give Chiara and Daniela the scarves I had bought them. They both loved them and then I got a hug from each of them and said goodbye because they won't be around over the weekend. I went home after saying goodbye and thank you to them and checked my email again. I found an email from Mish with her Australia journal in it. I started reading and I was laughing so hard and remembering the good times. I read about 4 days into it when Stacy asked me to go out shopping with her. It turned into a beautiful day and we went to buy her a small suitcase, something I am probably going to do as well, to put her ceramics in. After that we went to SACI to get her ceramic pieces and my photos from my final. We wrapped them loosely and then came home to hang out for half an hour. Around 6:30 we walked to SACI for the end of the semester party. That was a lot of fun to talk to my friends and then listened to some readings by the creative writing class and some videos by the video class. The last video was my favorite, everyone's favorite, because it was the teachers and T.A.s dancing to a funny song. I am now sitting on my bed writing this blog entry and reflecting on my time here in Florence. I think I am going to attempt to start packing after I take a shower. 2 more days....

A Sad Day

So today was a very sad day for me. Let me start at the beginning like I always do. I started my day off with my alarm going off at 8:30 so I could go to my class at 9. I tried for about 2 minutes to turn it off and couldn't because I was so tired. Once it was off I rolled over and went back to sleep for another 15 minutes. I finally dragged myself out of bed and got ready and left my apartment by 9:05. I was late to class, but we didn't start the critique for another half an hour and this allowed me to get a coffee. As the critique went on I kept getting this knot in my stomach, I was not nervous because I had my critique on Tuesday. By the last person I realized the knot was me realizing that was my last photo class. By the end of the class I was so upset because it has hit me that my time here in Florence, and my photo class which has been my favorite class, is just about over. I think I am more upset about my photo class being done than anything else because I have found a new passion and Jacopo has been such a big part of that and my stay here. I was happy to remember that our class was going out to dinner and I would see them all who I have gotten to be friends with one last time. As class ended Jacopo said he wanted to give each of us something and usually gives women flowers, but flowers die so he would give us each a print of his. He spread them out and we all picked one for ourselves and had him sign the back of it. After class I went home to make a quick lunch then went to graphic design. The critique lasted a few hours and I was the last to go. My project was completely different than everyone else's. We had to make a book to show all the work we have done this semester. I decided to make mine a newspaper so that it was pure design and easy to put together. Everyone made elaborate books and mine was one piece of paper, but that made it original and memorable. After the critique I came home and was so bored because I had no work to do and it was raining so I was not going to go out. Around 7 Stacy asked me to go help her look for some perfume. We did and had a good time despite the rain. I waited for half an hour and the headed over to SACI for my photo class dinner at 8. I had the best time with my class and met a new girl that I kind of just clicked with. I finally got a good picture of Jacopo. He also knows how badly I want to come back to SACI for my post-bacc in photography and said he would help me convince Mom to let me come back. As my class and I parted with Jacopo it started raining again. I am not waiting for the shower to be free so I can try to wash away the sadness of today, even though I don't think that is possible. I never thought I could feel so strongly about a place and have it change me so much. I have found a new passion, photography, and fell in love with a city. I actually cried because I am sad that I have to leave. I do miss my family and things at home, but I feel connected to Florence and at peace here. 4 more days.

The Easter Bunny Is Sam's Mom?

So today was a blah day for me. I woke up at 9 which was earlier than I had wanted. Since I had no class today I was hoping to be able to sleep until I woke up on my own. I had to get up at 9 because Chiara was going to call Dr. Longo for me this morning around 9 to see if we could set up a treatment for me today. I can't have a treatment any other day because I have finals tomorrow and my last fresco class on Friday during which I want to do some touchup work on one of my frescos. Also, if I have the treatment after today I would have headaches while I was traveling home and probably would get worse on the flights. Dr. Longo was still on vacation today, but we did get a hold of Dr. Baldini and he said my platelets are not low enough to bump me up above people who already had appointments today. Dr. Travis said it was alright if I did not get treated because my platelets were high enough that she was not worried and I would just be treated when I get home. For some reason I ended up in a bad mood after waiting for the doctors to give me an answer, I thought it may have been because I was extremely tired. After figuring out that I was not having a treatment today I went to the dark room to do some printing. However, I got very frustrated because all my images were coming out blurry and my negatives had streaks on them. Luckily Jacopo happened to be at SACI today and he looked at my negatives. He said the streaks would not show and the most of my images were not blurry, just the ones I was trying to print. I was too frustrated to stay so I left to go home.  As I was walking home I remembered I told Mom that I would go to the market and find out about the bag since she still had not received it. The guy told me it should get there by Friday because he forgot that the 10 days it takes to ship it does not include the weekend, especially this weekend since it was Easter. I went home and told this to Mom and she said we would wait until Friday. He also told me I needed the receipt in case we didn't get the bag by Friday for him to give me a new one, so I after talking to Mom I looked for the receipt and found it after looking for about 5 minutes. Once I was done talking to Mom I worked on my graphic design final and was happy to finish the new layout and then decided to take a nap since I was so tired and my mood kept getting worse. I slept for about an hour and then my phone rang. It was someone from the Vodafone place who did not speak English. I decided that since I was still in a bad mood I would take a walk and stop at the Vodafone store on m way to the river. The woman at the store said the call was nothing to worry about since I was going to be ending m contract on Friday and going back to the USA on Monday. The walk was very good for me. I walked to my favorite bridge and rolled my t-shirt sleeves up onto my shoulders and enjoyed the beautiful weather. The Arno, the name of the river, must be magic because it took me out of my bad mood. After walking around and window shopping a little, I walked over to the Design Center to print my graphic design final out. As I got there I realized that something was spelled wrong, which was an easy fix. I am extremely happy to be done with that project and all I have to do now is hand it in tomorrow. When I got home I moved myself into the kitchen and and heated up my pasta from last night. As I was finishing up my dinner Sam and her parents walked in, her parents are staying with us until the end of the term. As I was moving my computer back into my room to give them some space, Sam's mom came out and gave me Pez and Dove chocolate bunny and said it was in case the Easter Bunny didn't visit me. I showed Stacy and we both laughed about it. I decided to take a shower next because I felt gross from being sweaty from my walk. When I got out of the shower Stacy told me she got a bunny and Pez as well. So I am sitting on my bed for the rest of the night. I told Stacy I would help her study, so I will be doing that in a few minutes. Today is my last Wednesday and I am ending it in a good mood.

My Last Tuesday :(

So today is my last Tuesday in Florence and this makes me very sad. However, I had a really good day. I had to get up early to get my platelets checked at the lab so I got up at 8 and walked over. As I walked in to check in I saw the line was pretty long. I was worried about this because I had to be at SACI main building at 9 for my photo final critique. I was relieved to find the line diminished quickly and I had no wait to get my blood drawn. I was really thirsty after so I stopped and got a soda, not what I wanted at 8:45 in the morning but it would have to do. I walked as fast as I could to get to class since I was supposed to have my critique first and I was worried my grade would suffer if I was late even though I had a good reason. Surprisingly, I got to class 5 minutes early and walked in at the same time as Jacopo. As I waited for class to start I tired to print my artist statement out but the printer was backed up, which I found annoying. I went back to class and we got started with my critique. Jacopo only had good things to say, as did the rest of my class. He said I have improved so much and this made him very happy. He also said that all of my prints were excellent. In my opinion, my critique went the best out of the 4 that we had today. I left class feeling very satisfied after talking to Jacopo about continuing with photography in the future. Before I went home, I stopped to have Chiara call Dr. Longo to give him my blood results and try to set up a treatment for tomorrow so my platelets would not be low when I fly home next week. Chiara was out so Daniela called for me, but both Dr. Longo and Dr. Baldini were not there so we are going to try to call tomorrow morning. Next, I went home and made myself a sandwich before packing up my laptop to go to graphic design. I got to class an grabbed my teacher to ask her a simple question before anyone else could get to her. I was very happy to finish my final and print it out. As it printed, however, my teacher suggested a different layout and pretty much redesigned my whole project. Even though I was happy with my project, this new layout makes more sense so I will finish the new layout and reprint it on Thursday before class. After this little disappointment I walked home and decided to take a nap because as usual I had trouble falling asleep last night, part of which was due to Sam being so loud with some guy she brought home. I slept for about 2 hours and woke up feeling refreshed and ready for dinner. Both Stacy and I were in the kitchen at the same time which is always interesting because of how small the kitchen is. As I started eating my pasta I got a stomach ache and was only able to eat about 10 bites before I decided to put it in the fridge for dinner tomorrow.  After dinner I took a shower so I won't have to get up quite so early tomorrow since I need to be at SACI at 9 to call Dr. Longo. So that is how I spent my last Tuesday in Florence. The rest of my night will be spent on the couch as usual.

7 Days

So today was an awesome day. I woke up around 10:30, but didn't feel like getting out of bed so I stayed in bed until 11:15. By then I still didn't want to get out of bed, but knew if I didn't I would get nothing done today. After getting up I talked to Sam for a while and found out the Conad was open so I could go and buy some more food. I took a quick shower while Sam and Stacy were out. As I was going down to Conad they both came home, perfect timing. I was so happy to get some more procuitto so that I could have my sandwiches again. After eating and talking to Stacy for a while I decided to go for a walk. I was pleasantly surprised with how warm it was today. I regretted taking my hoodie and wearing a t-shirt. I had a tank top on under my t-shirt, but it was breezy out so I just pushed the sleeves up on my shoulders. I wonder if I got a tan. I walked down by the river and ended up walking down to the little park by the waterfall. I sat on the ledge in the sunshine and listened to music for about an hour just enjoying the day. I was having fun watching a guy fish and the ducks swimming around. After a while the sun went behind a cloud and I got a little cold from the breeze coming off the water and turned around and started walking home. The sun came out again as soon as I left the park and made it warm to walk in, but I loved it. I walked down to the Ponte Vecchio and thought about getting some gelato. Once I got to the area where I could buy some good gelato I was slightly annoyed by tourists and decided I would just go home since I needed to work on my finals anyway. I got home and avoided doing work for about an hour. I finally sat down in the kitchen with the window open and started working. I am just about done all my work. All I have left is to write an artist statement for my photo final tomorrow and ask my graphic design teacher a quick question and print my final. I cannot believe I am almost done and only have a week left. I am going to miss Florence and SACI so much. After doing my work I started talking to a friend and watching videos on Youtube until I made my dinner. After dinner I cleaned the bathroom since I told Stacy I would do that today and forgot to do it earlier. Next up for me was a shower and then relaxation. Stacy asked me to quiz her for her final tomorrow and as I was doing that Sam started cooking something. We don't know what it was but it smelled like dirty feet and then she added something that made us start choking. I am still coughing from it and she has been done cooking for about half an hour! So the rest of my night will be resting, talking to my friends, and writing an artist statement.