Letter to Italy

Dear Italy,

First and foremost I would like to thank you for providing me with the most challenging, amazing, eye opening, and memorable experience of my life thus far. The three weeks that I spent with you will be a memory that I will cherish and appreciate for the rest of my life. Not that many people get to meet you and I am blessed to have had the opportunity to do so.

I have never seen anything as beautiful as the parts of you I got to see while studying abroad this summer. 

The cobblestone streets that tripped me up at least five times a day were exactly like something out of a movie. I will always wonder how women walked those streets in high heels without breaking an ankle, but that's a mystery to be solved later. I've never been honked at and almost ran over as many times as I did during the three weeks I spent exploring your streets. Vespas and cars always have the right away in your world and I actually somewhat learned to accept that. The abundance of people showing PDA, speaking your native tongue, trying to sell me selfie sticks, and playing music is something that I can close my eyes and relive all over again.

I got to visit Pisa and Venice, as you probably recall, but your most prized treasure in my eyes is without a doubt Cinque Terre. What an amazing jewel that wonderland is. Clear blue waters, clear blue skies, and colorful buildings hanging on to the cliffs for dear life. Maybe I'm being dramatic, but this is where I had my life changing moment. This is where I realized that I was immersed within you and how absolutely amazing that was. Even after my tan fades from laying on your beaches, I will have a permanent memory of your beauty and the time when I stopped everything and just saw the beautiful world around me (I also have a lovely scar on my arm from falling while trying to climb your jagged terrain).

Last, but not least, I would love to thank you for the incredible people that you introduced me to.

Day 22: Lasts

Today was a day full of lasts. It started off with the last walk to and from class with Veronica. The last morning waking up five minutes before I need to leave the apartment to meet Veronica at the bridge. The last time stopping at the café right before the J School to get a powdered doughnut and Coke. The last time sitting in a classroom for two and a half hours [although today we just took the final and did final presentations].

There was a first though. Meghan and I took a literal hike to the Fort di Belvedere, which is where Kim Kardashian got married. It was surprisingly a lot more beautiful than I expected it to be. Fort di Belvedere was once a literal fort made for protection but now serves as an open art exhibit. It has a beautiful view of Florence, kind of like what you get when you go the the Michelangelo Terrace but a lot closer. The exhibit that was there today was extremely weird. There were just figures of people in really odd positions. There was probably some profound meaning behind it but seeing as I don't know anything about art, I didn't get it. I asked like five people where exactly in the Fort Kim and Kanye got married and surprisingly no one who worked there actually knew. 

On the way out we met this guy named Devon who was from China. He was really nice to us at first.. and then he wasn't. He had this British accent and tried to convince us that he was more proper than us and generally better than us because we were American. And they say Americans are rude! He tried to make it seem like a joke but his arrogance was so extreme that we could tell that he was being dead serious.

After getting gelato [of course], we came back to the apartment. Today was and still is ridiculously hot. It's 91 degrees and the mosquitoes are out to avenge every single mom, dad, cousin, sibling, and grandparent of theirs that anyone has ever killed. I've gotten at least ten new bites just today. Valeria is leaving tomorrow so we went to SignorVino which is a restaurant that has a beautiful view of the river and Ponte Vecchio. I got Carbonara Pasta, which was really good. It was very rich in flavor though so I couldn't finish it all. Luckily they had take away [takeout] at that restaurant, which is a rarity in Italy. So I will be definitely finishing that for lunch tomorrow. I'm also so thankful to go back to the United States and be able to split checks at restaurants again because they also don't do that here which causes a big issue when none of us has the correct change for our food. 

Tonight we are going to a beach bar called Blanca for our last hoorah. Tomorrow will be spent packing and doing very last minute sight seeing of the things that I haven't had the chance to see yet. Oh yeah and getting souvenirs for a few more people. I'm actually getting more and more sad to leave this place. But my mouth is watering for the amazing food I'm about to eat when I get back to the States.

Smooches,

The College Natural

Day 21: Control

Throwing your hands in the air and saying whatever. Going with the flow. Always making the best out of a horrible situation. As a serious control freak, those are the characteristics I admire the most in people and characteristics I would love to possess. However, as demonstrated by the events of today, I am definitely lacking in that department. I woke up late to class this morning and just threw on a decent pair of shorts to go with my t-shirt that I sleep in literally every night. Still half asleep, I started walking to class and took a wrong turn because I of course wasn't paying any attention to where I was going in my daze. I finally woke up and realized that I had no idea where I was going and I was inevitably lost. I also was already 10 minutes late to class. I decided to just continue walking towards the sun [great tactic I know]. Eventually I saw something familiar and ended up in class just 20 minutes later than I was supposed to be there.

Adding on to my hectic morning, I kept getting a nagging thought to check my bank account just in case. The nagging was probably my stomach growling because I had decided to skip breakfast amidst my aimless wandering but anyway I checked my account. I had a negative amount. Freaking out, I checked the account activity and saw not one but two charges from the train station for my train ticket to Venice. Already in tears, I immediately called my mom who was just slightly annoyed that I was interrupting her at work with my dramatics. I decided to just go to the train station after class and demand a refund... HA!

So after class I go hunting for food and settle with a hot dog from the Conad near the school. I go back to the computer lab to type my paper that's due but all I can think about is the fact that I lost $100 due to a transactional mistake. So I packed up with zero out of 500 words down and left. I stopped again at the Conad to get some food to last me for the next couple of days because I had decided that my days of eating out and gelato were long gone. Then I headed back to my apartment and to the train station.

Upon arrival at the train station, I was hot [it was 90 degrees here today] and beyond irritated. To make matters worse, I explained my situation to five workers at the station and literally no one understood what I was trying to tell them. They all demanded that they see my train ticket from yesterday which was at my apartment of course. So basically I had to walk all the way back to my apartment.

Needless to say, I was fighting back more tears on my walk back to the apartment. I wanted to cry but I didn't want to draw attention to myself so I just made the ugly cry face all the way back without letting any actual tears fall. After crying in the bathroom and to my roommate Meghan, who probably thinks I'm the biggest crybaby in the world at this point, I do what anyone should do when they're in a situation like this. I take a nap.

Twinkling sounds wake me from my 15 minute slumber. I answer the phone to my mother telling me she has it all figured out and the $100 that mysteriously disappeared is now back in my account. My mother, who is not in the same country as me by the way, grew wings and an angelic halo today in my time of need and handled the situation like a boss. Like I should have. So long story long, I got my money back after crying, almost crying, crying again, throwing fits, and giving up on the situation.

I know this was a long story but I said all of that to say this: Things are never as bad as they seem. All you have to do is take a deep breath and handle the situation. Crying never solves anything, in fact it makes the situation worse. Do what you have to do to find a solution and then move on. There is no way for anyone to have ultimate control of the things that happen to them in their everyday lives. However, it is absolutely possible to have control of the way you react to the things that do happen. React, don't overreact. Control what you can and let the rest go. Everything is always going to be okay.

Smooches,
The College Natural

Day 20: Mazerunners

Today my roommates and I went to Venezia [Venice]! It was like a fairytale. Exactly like the pictures except one thousand times better. We bought our train tickets last week and boarded the train this morning sweaty from running and without a plan once we got there. Wandering aimlessly from the train station got old really quick so we stopped for a bite to eat and WiFi to see where we absolutely needed to go before we left.

I honestly don't know where we decided to go before we left free WiFi but nonetheless we didn't even stick to our plan. On the way to find some castle we discovered that Venice is designed like a maze. Finding your way is extremely difficult. The locals took pity on us tourists, however, as a nice old lady and her husband where hanging out their windows ready to point us in the right direction. Of course we still got lost and ended up going on a gondola ride. The only reason we did that first was because the man offered us a price of 60 euro. All gondola rides in Venice are 80 euro and haggling does no good so we were shocked at this offer and jumped right on it.

The ride was really nice. The gondola was driven [rowed] by an older gentleman named Paolo, how perfect. It was beautiful and quiet and absolutely breathtaking. The gondolas were also a lot fancier than I thought they would be. Perfect for a romantic ride through the canals with your significant other. Since I don't have one of those, my study abroad roommates worked just as well. The gondola ride was 30 minutes then we headed off to find something else to do.

After having an AMAZING smoothie at this outside bar called Frulala, we found a museum to go to. Since we are studying at Florence University of the Arts we got in for free. Shoutout to Meghan for asking about that student discount. The museum was very beautiful and surprisingly interesting. I'm not a huge fan of museums after this trip as I've been to what I feel like is too many but in real life probably isn't.

After the museum we headed to the Piazza de San Marco, which is somewhere that Valeria really wanted to go. When she realized she left her phone in the museum bathroom and rushed back to retrieve it, we decided to just sit and people watch. Monique got attacked by pigeons and I pretended to be homeless and held my hand out for free donations. Thanks to my iPhone and purse inconveniently placed beside me, I came out of that short adventure empty handed although I did get a few stares.

I had bomb lasagna today! Hands down my favorite meal I've had in Italy so far. I'll have a picture below for you to drool over. I'm convinced that lasagna is going to be the star of one of my dreams in the near future. Souvenir shopping and more wandering ensued after our late lunch and then we found our way to the train station.

Shoutout to Facebook for forcing me to make this post because homegirl was feeling extremely lazy and didn't want to do it. I hope you enjoyed even though I kinda sorta half assed it just a little bit. Three more days until I'm back in the States. Can't wait for some American food and TLC from my fam before I get back to work in Charlotte!

Smooches,
The College Natural

P.S. I'll try to upload more pictures tomorrow but these are all that the wifi would let me do at the moment! 

Day 19: Reflection

Sometimes it is really hard for us to get down on ourselves. I know that is the case for me especially. I spend a lot of time trying to convince myself that I don't care what other people think. Although that's true, it's also a lie as well. I could care less about what strangers think about me but the people who I care about most also carry a lot of weight in my life. One little disagreement or any type of tension and my day or week is automatically ruined. I start second guessing everything about myself from my looks to my character. I don't know about you guys but once I get one little thought in my mind it begins to consume me and everything that I do.

If there's anything that I've learned while here in Italy is that you have to be your own rock. Although I have amazing roommates and other friends that I've met here, it's still difficult to be able to open up about my true emotions. I can barely even do that with people that I have known my entire life. When my mother or best friends aren't just a phone call away, I've had to learn how to cope on my own. Thanks to the never reliable wifi here, instead of escaping into a movie or TV show like I usually do when I'm feeling down, I have to sit here and face my problems head on. And it's hard. However, nothing is ever impossible.

I am far from mastering the elusive art of being confident in everything about myself. But what comforts me is the fact that no one is 100% confident in their looks, their personality, their relationships, work, or anything else. It's a part of life to doubt oneself. It's only when you let those fears and doubts hold you back or change your outlook on life that it becomes a problem. You have to cry, scream, punch a punching bag or whatever it is that you do to get rid of all of the immediate tension and frustrations and then move on. Get to the root of your issue and work on that.

Whatever you do, do it yourself. Yes it's nice to confide in people sometimes but don't let other people solve your problems. The only person who knows what's good for you is you, whether you immediately realize it or not. And when you're in situations where you have no one to confide in, if you're used to always having someone the results can be disastrous. If you're accustomed to doing some reflecting and inner problem solving on your own, there's nothing you can't accomplish or get over.

I don't know if I'm even making sense right now. This was just really heavy on my homesick heart today. I also didn't do much of anything so I had no real substance to blog about. No matter, I hope that this helps someone or inspires someone to get over a road block and keep pushing forward.

Smooches,
The College Natural

Day 18: Last Sunday Funday

Today could not have been a more perfect way to end off our last weekend here in Italy. We signed up for a horseback riding and wine tasting excursion in the Tuscan countryside and boy was it beautiful! Not only did I get to ride a horse for the first time and be amazed by the view, I also found my Italian Stallion and Venezuelan husband in the tour guide [sorry dad]. Haha juuuuuust kidding.

The drive to the horse ranch was absolutely stunning but also terrifying. The roads were extremely narrow and winding. You literally couldn't see if a car was coming around the same curve you were turning. To make it worse Leo [our tour guide] was driving pretty fast in a stick shift van that sounded like it was going to fall apart with every shift in gear. Thankfully we made it there and to other places safe and sound.

The horse ranch was so cute. Everyone there was really friendly. It was like a family. They even had a little dog that actually came up to us! I was almost convinced the dogs here were trained not to like tourists. It smelled like shit of course but since my parents live around horses, it was a familiar smell. My horse's name was Frank. Frank and I definitely had an adventure. The tour lasted for about an hour and Frank was not having it. He kept stopping and trying to eat grass so I had to fight to pull his reigns but he was so stubborn that he didn't even respond to my silent demand to keep it moving. This happened multiple times. He also kept tripping which I thought was pretty funny and scary because that has been my life story while here. At one point, I think he started to mentally give up on the walk because he just started to slow down like he was going to stop. With a little kick, a neck rub, and a few soothing words he picked up the pace again. It was really nice to see the Tuscan countryside on horse. The sites were definitely breathtaking. However, the bugs were ridiculous and my pelvis is still killing me.

After the horse riding portion, we went to a winery. We got to walk around and learn how wine is made. It's actually a very interesting and complicated process that goes into making it. I wish I enjoyed wine a little bit more so that I could have had a deeper appreciation for the things that I was learning. Leo then took us to a quaint little town where we had some gelato [of course]. The town was mainly locals and it was very quiet. I loved how dead the streets were. It was a nice breath of fresh air after the daily hustle and bustle of Florence.

Last we finally got to do a little wine tasting and eat dinner. I'm not a huge fan of red wine. Because we are in southern Italy, the wine they made there was red and not white. So needless to say, I didn't enjoy it too much. Dinner was superb though. I really enjoyed it even though I didn't finish. Like always I was starving so I stacked my plate high with food just to get full quickly. What I did finish eating was delicious. Then we headed back.

I am really sad that this is my last weekend here. I didn't expect to be this heartbroken that this experience is coming to an end. I have five days after today to do everything that I haven't been able to do so far. That means no taking three hour naps in the middle of the day, no going to sleep at a reasonable hour, no wasting any time. It's time to make these next 120 hours count.

Smooches,
The College Natural

The winery  

Couldn't have been blessed with better roommates! 

Everyone meet Leo

Day 17: Seeing

Today we went to Cinque Terre for the second time. This experience was a little bit different and a lot bit more relaxed. We stopped at the first village of Riomaggiore and took a ferry to the last village of Monterosso. When I was on the ferry just looking at the beautiful rolling hills, the bright blue water, and the colorful buildings I felt like I was actually seeing for the first time. This probably sounds extremely cliche but I rarely stop and smell the roses. My life is always about going and going and going. When I'm not going, I'm thinking about it. I don't ever take the time to enjoy the moment and actually see everything for what it really is.

I read a blog post the other night from one of my friends I've met while here named Hannah Beers. She spoke about being present in every single day and all that you do...

"Live responsibly. Just don't live in a world of to-do lists. Live each moment. Be here." 

I think that post and those words specifically were definitely on my mind throughout this entire day. Everyone who knows me knows that I can talk a mile a minute. For once, I shut up and just opened my eyes and began seeing. I wasn't trying to take a thousand pictures [although I did take a few]. I wasn't worried about wifi. I was just living in the moment and it felt great.

As weird as it sounds, I feel like a switch flipped in me today. I wish that I could put it into words but I honestly can't. I'm just so unbelievably grateful for this trip and I'm sad that it's about to end. Yes I've spent entirely too much money and I've cried more times than I would like to admit but I wouldn't change a thing. I feel like everything I stress about isn't worth it. If I were to just stop and see the world like I did today, I have no reason to complain. I'm healthy. I can see, hear [barely], walk, and enjoy life. Not everyone can say that. Am I going to stop complaining and worrying cold turkey? Definitely not. But when I feel myself stressing about something that I can't change or I'm complaining about a minuscule issue, I'm going to try to stop and see the situation for what it is and be grateful for it anyway.

Every single day of this trip has been beautiful and memorable. Just thinking about it is almost leaving me breathless. It's so weird that it's taken me almost my entire stay to realize the intensity of what I'm experiencing but better late than never, right? Just know that I will not waste another second with my eyes anything less than wide open.

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing I would love for you to just take a second and see the world around you. It's so hard to clear your head and enjoy the splendor, but once you finally do you won't regret it. I promise.

Smooches,
The College Natural

My first Pina Colada. I didn't like it LOL 

Day 16: Nothing.

As the title suggests, today I didn't do much of anything. We were planning to go to Verona today but the tickets were a little pricier than we expected and the train had limited seating. So instead of waking up at the crack of dawn, I slept in until about 1 or 2 p.m. Last night we went out again and I had a little too much fun and didn't go to bed until around 5:30 a.m. so sleeping in was definitely needed.

When I woke up Meghan, Monique, and I went to the market and got lunch. I finally found somewhere that sells Italian ice. It's called granita here. I got fragola [strawberry] flavored and it was SO GOOD. After we left the market, we went to the Magnum Store. Unlike in the United States, Magnum is an ice cream brand and not a condom brand. We got to create our own Magnum ice cream bar and it was also SO GOOD.

After that I literally came home and laid in bed for five hours. Didn't even sleep. Just laid in my sports bra and some shorts because it was 85 degrees and we don't have air conditioning. Meghan and I just got back from grabbing a quick dinner at A Casa Cafe. I also finally made friends with the waitress who is always working when we go. Her name is Josie and she can't speak a lick of English just like I can't speak a lick of Italian. So yeah we mainly communicate through smiles and head nods, but whatever works right?

Tomorrow we're going back to Cinque Terre and I'm so excited. We have to be up at 6:30 a.m. though which I'm not as excited about. It should be a beautiful day for more pictures [on my phone instead of my broken camera] and more fun! Until then.

Smooches,
The College Natural

Food Porn. 

Day 15: Pisa

Today started the last weekend that I have in Italy! It's really weird because I'm so excited to go back home but I'm starting to also get really sad to leave. I also was in a pretty pissy mood today for some reason. I went to sleep the happiest girl in the world and woke up in a funk that I tried to shake off throughout the day but it definitely had its claws in deep because I'm still feeling it now. Despite the small chip on my shoulder, today was still an amazing day.

I had class this morning of course. After class a cleaning service came to clean our apartment. They literally came an hour late and left after about 20 minutes of cleaning. They did a pretty good job but they were super fast. They cleaned our kitchen, living room, and both bathrooms. They even swept and mopped. As soon as they were finished we made a quick lunch and once Veronica got to our apartment we headed to the train station.

The train station was extremely confusing and unnecessarily so. Instead of being able to just walk up to the window and get our ticket we had to get a number first then wait until our number appeared on the screen. What ever happened to just standing in a line like normal folk? And we weren't the only ones confused either. Monique, Meghan, Veronica, and I should've been hired by the train station to direct people to the kiosk where a man was handing out numbers. Once we got our tickets, we were still confused as to where we were supposed to board. Thanks to two nice old men we figured out what platform to wait for our train and how to validate our tickets. 

The train ride to Pisa lasted only about an hour. We got off the train, found a map and started walking. Pisa is a pretty small town with the train station on one end and the Leaning Tower of Pisa at the other. We decided to walk instead of taking a bus so that we could get a feel for the town [and a bit of exercise too]. It was a charming little town with a lot of cute shops. The buildings looked a lot more distressed than those in Florence so I enjoyed the traditional rustic look of the town. 

After 15 minutes we reached the tower and began the always interesting task of taking pictures to look like we were holding up the tower. It was actually hilarious to watch the different poses people were doing in order to take the perfect picture. However, thanks to people watching, we found an ideal spot and pose and took pictures in less than ten minutes. I thought it was going to take a lot longer so I was definitely impressed with our skills. 

Once the photo shoot was finished we found gelato [what else is new?] and sat on the grass. Sitting on grass in the sun was heaven. Until I smelled, saw, and sat on it I didn't even realize that Florence was lacking in the greenery of grass. We literally sat on the grass for a little over an hour and just soaked in the sun. I also took a few more cool pictures. 

Oh yeah and we made friends! These three guys who looked older than us, but acted younger, started bothering us like little brothers. Taking selfies with us in the background or even just taking pictures of us with their phones. It sounds creepy, but they were seriously harmless immature guys just having fun with the tourists [Don't worry mom and my mom's friends, I still guarded my purse and belongings with my life]. They were taking selfies with everyone. After circling us for a while they finally came over and attempted to talk to us. They barely spoke English and none of us spoke Italian so it was actually very difficult to carry on a conversation. However, we still managed it. It was mostly laughs and pictures but it was still pretty fun. I'm pretty sure making Italian friends was on my list of goals so I definitely accomplished that one today. I probably will never see them again but it's the closest I have gotten and probably will get to making Italian friends here. 

Once we started getting bored and annoyed with Cristiano Rinaldo, the 11 year old, and Super Mario [inside joke] we decided to head back to the train. It was then that I realized that my camera mysteriously broke. Luckily I still have my iPhone which takes considerably good pictures. I'm upset but it's not the end of the world. I'll get it fixed when I get back to the States.

We stopped at a kebab and pizza spot on the way and I had a very questionable kebab and Sprite. It was huge and I honestly had no idea what was in it. It literally could have been anything. To make it worse, Meghan thinks she found a bug in her pizza. Yeah... I'm getting nauseous again just thinking about it. 

Getting a train ticket back to Florence was slightly less confusing and complicated at the Pisa Station.  The ride back was pretty relaxed despite the moment of panic when we thought we were at the right train station, hopped off, realized we were at the wrong station, and had to hurry back on before the doors closed all in ten seconds. It was actually pretty hilarious. If anyone was watching they probably thought we were on drugs or something. 

Now I'm back in my apartment and showered. I had a weird anxiety episode where I got nauseous and just started feeling really anxious and my entire body got hot. Monique came in and helped talk me out of it and I'm feeling a little better than I was. I have no idea where it came from but it was no bueno. I think we're going to try to go out and have fun since we don't have class tomorrow so hopefully it will be completely gone by then. Ciao until next time! 

Smooches, 

The College Natural 

Day 14: Sunset

This morning was so beyond rough. I was exhausted from the last few nights of going out on the town. I had my first quiz in my Social Media class and it was a lot easier than I expected it to be and then we had presentations. I feel like I haven't spoken much about my class that I'm taking but honestly there's not much to speak about. My teacher, Isabella, is really chill. She's pretty young and very interesting. I like her a lot. We got to hang out with her when we went on our field trip to Cinque Terre and I really enjoyed it. The only thing I don't like about class is that it's 2.5 hours, which seems like forever because I'm used to classes that are only 1 hour and 15 minutes. But we only have four more classes left! Turn up.

Anyway, after class I stopped at this place called Anni 50 that's right across the street from my apartment. It's literally the Italian version of Andy's the restaurant. The name even sounds like it. It's old fashioned on the inside as well like a 1950's diner. They were playing oldies and clips from movies like Grease. They sell burgers, hot dogs, milkshakes, french fries, and pretty much everything I've been missing over the last two weeks. I ordered a BBQ burger and fries and it was SO good. The burger was Tuscan style, so not completely American but I still really enjoyed it. And the fries were to die for. I'll definitely be going back a few more times before I leave next week.

After I left the restaurant and took a much needed nap, my roommates and I decided to walk up to the Piazza de Michelangelo again and watch the sunset. We made it around 8 and we just sat on the terrace and dangled our feet and talked. It was really relaxing minus the pesky mosquitoes. The sunset was beautiful and we got as many pictures of it as we could. I definitely want to go back and do that again. We stopped at the way back and got gelato at Cantina Delgelato which is my favorite gelato place so far. Then we moseyed back to the apartment.

I'm so exhausted of course so I'm going to be knocked out soon. Tomorrow we start our weekend of traveling. I can't wait to take tons of pictures and blog about it!

Smooches,
The College Natural

Day 13: Ringing

Continuous ringing in the ears is called tinnitus. Last night we spontaneously decided to go to a club called Yab which is literally a three minute walk from our apartment. At first it was kind of lame but then as time went on and more people came, they started playing better music. All American music of course. Apparently American music rules the world. We ended up basically in the DJ's booth and of course the music was pumping ridiculously loud there. When we left, my ears were ringing extremely bad... And almost 24 hours later they still haven't stopped. I'm adjusting to it but at the same time, I'm really over this continuous noise in my head. Some people have tinnitus where it literally never goes away. I hope once I get some sleep it will go away because I cannot live my life like this.

Today was another basic day. I went to class this morning, then went to the Conad to get some groceries for the week. I also stopped by the ISA office so I could speak to someone about our stove not working. Luckily, our stove does work. We were just using it wrong of course. All that matters is that we can use it now. I cooked a delicious meal tonight. It was frozen and I couldn't read the directions on the bag but I winged it and it turned out pretty great.

After I ate, Valeria and Monique and I went on a hunt for kebabs. We found this Turkish restaurant that sold them and they were oh so amazing. Even though I had just eaten dinner, I still ate a kabab and I had zero regrets. Then we went to a gelato place near the duomo. I got the melon and strawberry flavors for 2.5 euros. I tried to give the man a 10 euro bill but he wouldn't take it and I had no change. So here I am holding up a line out of the store because I don't have anything smaller than a 10 for my gelato that I've been waiting all week to try. Luckily Monique just paid for mine and I'll pay her back later.

Now I'm back in the apartment, ears still ringing. I'm getting progressively more annoyed with this sound because it's quiet in here so I'll probably put my headphones on and listen to some music until I doze off. Let's just cross our fingers this noise is gone in the morning.

Smooches,
The College Natural

Our view of the Duomo while eating gelato. 

BEYONCE WAS IN FLORENCE!! NO I DIDN'T TAKE THIS PICTURE BUT I'M CRYING BECAUSE I DIDN'T GET TO SEE HER.

They're also shooting a movie here? Photo creds to Veronica for taking this picture of me. 

Day 12: Celebration

Today I finished reading Paper Towns by John Green and all I can say is wow. There has not been a book in years that has made me feel the way that this book did. What was worse about it is that I didn't even know it was ending. There were still pages left after the last chapter but they were just "Acknowledgements." So when I read the last sentence and turned the page, I was literally devastated that there were no more words to read. I am so excited to see the movie when it comes out. I just hope it doesn't ruin the book for me, because movies based off books tend to do that. Okay so no more babbling about books, I know that's not what y'all are here for. I just really needed to dedicate at least one paragraph to John Green and his genius-ness when it comes to writing books.

Today was my roommate Monique's 20th birthday [shoutout to Monique]. At 12 a.m. precisely we bombarded her in her room and sang a horrible rendition of that 50 Cent song. Don't worry, I got it all on my camera. After class today I rushed to the 99 Cent Store to try to find things to decorate her room with. Of course everything was in Italian so I picked up some random things and dashed out so I could beat her and Meghan home. The balloons didn't work at all. I think maybe they're the ones you need helium to blow up because the carbon dioxide that was being released from my lungs didn't do the trick. After I finished reading the magnificent book discussed above and Monique got home and saw her decorations I took a 3 hour nap.

While I was napping, Emily and Monique walked to this restaurant and made a reservation. So once Valeria got home from class we all went and ate. I had this really good dish. It had Pici noodles in it which are literally oversized spaghetti noodles. It was actually really good but I couldn't finish it all. Of course I had gelato right after. We sang Happy Birthday to Monique at the restaurant and got a few extra applause much to her embarrassment. 

We all walked back to the apartment after dinner and sat around and talked. Now we just randomly decided to go out and do a little bit more celebrating. I am really happy with the roommates that I have been put with. We all really get along well and we do pretty much everything together. We have some inside jokes and we get closer and closer every single day. I mean, I've cried in front of them so they've pretty much seen me in all forms. I'm going to miss them once this trip is over but luckily most of them aren't too far away. 

We're headed out now for some more birthday celebrations. Until next time!

Smooches,

The College Natural 

Day 11: Sunday Funday #2

Today I actually woke up at 8:30 a.m. and layed in bed for about an hour before I got out of bed and showered. My health seemed to have vastly improved over night which I was extremely grateful for. Nose was still a little runny but for the most part I was back to my regular self. The initial plan was to go visit Fort de Belvedere which is where Kanye West and Kim Kardashian got married but that didn't happen.

Meghan and Monique really wanted to go visit the duomo and then we were planning to head across the bridge to Fort de Belvedere. We did visit the duomo and then went to Zara to look around. While I was trying on these boyfriend jeans that didn't fit me like I wanted to, I lost Monique and Meghan somewhere in Zara. I waited outside, bought some Pringles, and went home and still couldn't find them. I was going to just stay in and wait for them to come home but I decided to go back out and look for them again. Luckily I found them as they were just leaving Zara.

We decided to ride the carousel that was in the piazza. We were literally the oldest people on it but that was okay for 1.5 euros we couldn't beat that. After that bit of excitement we headed back to the apartment and chilled out for a little while. Once Emily and Valeria got in, we decided to try out Gusta Pizza which is a really good place where you can get take out pizza. Take out food is extremely hard to find here, so this was a big deal. The pizza was okay. We ate on the steps of this church where everybody who gets take out from Gusta Pizza congregates. Last we got gelato (of course). Now I'm back on my bed getting ready to go shave and prepare for class tomorrow.

As my second Sunday in Florence comes to a close, I'm beginning to get excited for the next two weeks ahead. I really miss my family, friends, dogs, and American food but I'm also going to miss gelato, my roommates, and the view when I go back to my normal everyday life.

Smooches,
The College Natural

Day 10: Sick.

Every action has a reaction. Today I just so happened to learn this the hard way. Thanks to my wonderful idea of walking in the freezing rain with no umbrella or jacket to indulge in my gelato addiction, I am now sick. Yesterday while exploring Cinque Terre, I felt some sickness coming along so I stopped at the pharmacy on my way home and picked up some Vitamin C dissolvable tablets (making my mother proud). However, those tablets didn't stand a chance against this cold-sinus-thingy that's going on with my body.

Thankfully there was nothing on my agenda today so I got to lay in bed and be sick and lazy. I guess I wasn't that lazy though because I did do all of my laundry. The laundry situation here is pretty strange and of course foreign to me. The washer machine is itty bitty and there is no dryer. So basically I have to air dry all of my clothes. I'm glad I decided to go ahead and do laundry today instead of holding it off like I always do because I probably would still be cleaning clothes right now. I guess I will have to suck it up and do laundry every weekend like most normal people do. I think I'm okay with that.

I did venture out for about an hour today. My initial goal was to find a pharmacy so I could purchase the Italian version of Benadryl and knock out for the rest of the day. However, I found myself at H&M and Zara instead. The H&M here is four stories and smells like a fart upon entering. I bought a sweater since it's been unpleasantly freezing and I didn't pack accordingly. I also bought a water bottle, wet wipes, and some perfume. I really only went into Zara to see what kind of clothes they had as I've never shopped there before. Then I saw the black high-waisted jeggings for 19 euros and I felt obliged to purchase them. Finally, I stopped at a pharmacy to find out that there is no Italian medicine equivalent to Benadryl but there is medicine for messed up sinuses so I bought that and made my way back to my apartment.

Another productive thing I did today was edit and post a YouTube video documenting Cinque Terra. I wish I had better footage from yesterday but I made do with what I had. I basically had the entire apartment to myself today. Two of my roommates went on their class trips and the other two went to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower. That would've been fun but I begrudgingly put my health first. It's been quiet on the home front today and kind of creepy as well. I took a small nap and could've sworn I heard someone walking around the apartment. Of course there was no one but me, myself, and I.

Tomorrow I really want to visit the place in Florence where Kanye West and Kim Kardashian got married. Coincidentally today was their wedding anniversary. I already looked up where it is in relation to my apartment and it's only about a 20 minute walk. Hopefully I will be feeling better and be ready to fangirl over a location where two extremely famous people declared their love for one another.

On that note, I will continue my sick day by watching my hundredth YouTube video and blowing my nose until it's raw.

Smooches,
The College Natural

This is some really cool street art that I've been finding all around Florence.  

Day 9: The Cure

My mind is still reeling from the dreamlike events that took place today. If you are ever in Italy and are starting to feel homesick, take like five trains until you arrive at Cinque Terre. Homesickness instantly cured. This trip literally could not have happened at a more convenient time. I was definitely dreading this trip when I woke up at 5:30 a.m. and looked at the rainy forecast. However, I'm so glad that I sucked it up and went anyway (even though I didn't really have a choice).

Cinque Terre is a chain of five villages that are all off of the coast next to the Mediterranean Sea. We visited just two of the three and it was absolutely breathtaking. Years ago the area suffered from a major landslide which made for a unique architectural norm; a lot of the houses actually "hang" from the cliffs there. I don't want to sound like a typical tourist but the water was so blue. With the clear blue water, shining sun, colorful houses, and cute little shops I felt like I was dreaming. Cinque Terra is definitely the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my entire life. I'm literally getting chills just thinking about it.

Probably my favorite village was Monterosso, the very last one. It was more of a beach setting than the rest were. I had the best hot dog with tomatoes, lettuce, mayonnaise, and ketchup. It was absolutely delicious. There was this huge rock connecting to the beach that looked like Pride Rock from The Lion King so of course I had to climb it. The terrain was definitely more than I bargained for because of course I fell flat in front of like twenty people. I dropped my camera and got a little scraped up at the same time. Obviously the first thing I did after this was laugh hysterically and thank God that I didn't fall down the entire cliff because that would have been a tragic situation. I also got it on video which was even more hysterical. Although I completely embarrassed myself, I for sure got an interesting memory out of it.

The last place we went to was called Viajerro I believe. It kind of reminded me of a strip in like Florida (or what I would imagine one would look like). Our teacher, Isabella, has spent the past week in class raving about seafood that she always gets from there so of course we had to try it. Ever heard of a food truck? Well this was a food boat that you walked up to and there was a cute older lady frying all kinds of seafood. I just got regular shrimp and fries with a Coke. It was so good. The shrimp was extra fresh and the batter she used was sunflower so that was healthier as well. After that we went to a gelato place per usual and had a dessert. The pigeons here were extra bold but I'm bolder so we all know who won that fight. After gelato and yelling at dirty birds, we headed back to Florence where I'm now in bed trying to stay awake to finish this post.

I think it's amazing that just last night I was so utterly sad and then Italy reminded me that I should never doubt it's ability to impress. I had a lot of fun and laughs with the girls I was with for the majority of the day. I am so thankful for this trip today and for the amazing women I got to spend it with. They really boosted my spirits and made today the most phenomenal day I've had so far. Special shoutout to Veronica for being extra awesome. She also has a blog linked here!! Tomorrow I get to sleep in so homegirl is about to get a head start on them z's. Sorry this post was extra long but at least it wasn't depressing like yesterday's haha.

Smooches,
The College Natural

Obsessed 

Hannah, McKayla, Monique, and Haley <3 

I still can't believe I'm the one who took this picture! 

Thanks Veronica for ensuring I had an amazing day! 

You don't understand the deliciousness of this food right here. 

Day 8: Homesick

Today was kind of a rough one for me. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love it here, but I would kind of love to go back home right about now. I don't want to seem ungrateful for this opportunity because it is an amazing one that not that many people get to experience. It's just homesickness and probably a little bit of culture shock as well. A lot of people experience this so I know it's normal but I'm just having a hard time with it right now.

I've been feeling really sad for no reason and having a hard time getting out of bed after class. I'm just not feeling like myself at all. I hope that I'm just stuck in a rut and I will start to feel better soon but right now it's not looking like that's going to happen. It just really solidifies that I cannot live far away from home no matter how much I think I want to. I'm good for about one week and then reality sets in. 

For now, I'm really enjoying eating gelato every single day. And I'm loving the scenery. I just need to get out more and find different things to do so that I won't have time to think about how much I miss Chik Fil A and driving. Tomorrow my class is taking a field trip to Cinque Terra, which is a beautiful little town on the coast. Hopefully the change of scenery will boost my mood and inspire me to start appreciating everything a little bit more. 

Speaking of Cinque Terra, I have to wake up at 5 a.m. to make sure I catch the train on time so I'm about to hit the sack early tonight. 

Smooches,

The College Natural 

Day 7: Ganzo

This post is going to be extremely short (this time I'm not kidding). It's 1 a.m. here and I'm actually not in the best mood right now. Today was a basic day. I had class this morning and then I came home and declared today my Day of Rest. I took a 2 hour nap and then stayed in bed for the rest of the day. It was also raining here too which only made me even more lazy. I will say that I walked in the rain to get some gelato. I didn't even bring an umbrella. The rain was really refreshing.

My roommates and I went to Ganzo around 8. Ganzo is a student-run nonprofit restaurant. They have this tradition here called aperitivo where you can pay a small amount of euros and get wine or a cocktail and have unlimited access to a buffet. The buffet is filled with smaller finger foods but if you keep going back for more, you'll get pretty full. Ganzo actually means "cool" in Italian.

I video chatted with my mom tonight which definitely boosted my mood a little bit. We were going to go to a club but we are grandmas and decided to just stay in and go to sleep. So that's literally what I'm about to do. Goodnight.

Smooches,
The College Natural

I took this while walking home from class in the rain. Thought it was pretty cool. 

Day 6: The Climb

Today I started classes. I was seriously dreading it because first of all it's a 9 a.m. class. Second of all it's 2.5 hours. I started feeling like I was on vacation instead of studying abroad but today quickly brought me back to reality. I don't think the class will be too difficult, it's just getting there four days per week. This Friday we have a day trip for my class to Cinque De Terre which is a small town off of the Italian coast. I googled some pictures and it looks beautiful. Despite it being required for class, I'm really excited to go. ISA is also planning a trip there next weekend so it will be fun to go twice.

After class I went on my first real grocery shopping trip at a supermarket literally 3 minutes from my school. Supermarkets here are called Conads. They look really small but once you step inside, the market goes way back into the building. It wasn't too hard shopping for food. Everything was in Italian and I pretty much had to guess what I was buying but I think it went okay. I bought food to make for dinner but the directions to make it was also in Italian and I also didn't know how to work the stove so I just settled for Ramen. Ramen never disappoints.

Around 4 p.m. we took a "hike" to this beautiful area overlooking the entire city of Florence. I put the word hike in quotation marks because it literally took 10 minutes to get there and I'm used to hikes that take a few hours to get to the top and back. It was really for tourists but I did enjoy it. I got a lot of good pictures and a small workout as well. On the way back we stopped at this new gelato place called Cantina Delgato and it was SO good. I had the strawberry and mango flavors and just thinking about it now is causing my mouth to water.

We just got back from an Irish pub not too long ago. It wasn't my favorite place that I've been so far. They played some major American throwbacks that made me a tad bit nostalgic. The entire place was full of Americans, which was nice, but overall it was kind of boring so we left pretty soon after we got there.

I'm starting to feel a tad bit homesick. I'm really not enjoying this whole walking thing. I feel like everything is such a bigger hassle because I have to walk everywhere. It takes more time to walk to places than it takes to actually be there and enjoy it. I don't know, maybe I'm just hitting a bump and next week I'm going to love walking. I also miss American food. I would kill for a good burger right now. It's just funny to me because it's only been one week tomorrow that I will have been out of the country and I'm already starting to feel this way. Don't get me wrong, I love it here. I think I just miss home a little bit too. I'll be back sooner than I think though and then I'll be wishing I was still in Florence walking 10 miles and eating gelato every single day. I guess we'll have to just wait and see how it goes.

Smooches,
The College Natural

Day 5: Dejá Vu

This post is going to be really short because as the title suggests, we did pretty much the same exact thing that we did yesterday. In the morning we did have an orientation at FUA [Florence University of the Arts] where we will be taking our classes for the next few weeks. We learned a lot about the university and more basic information about Florence.

After orientation we ate breakfast at a cafe across from FUA and went hunting for the 99 cent store to find basic school supplies. It took us awhile to find the store - like it takes us forever to find everything- but once we found it and got what we needed we were on our way.

Later in the day Monique and I went on a guided walking tour of Florence. I finally came to the conclusion that I'm not a huge fan of tours. Or walking. The first one isn't a big deal but the second one is a huge issue because we have to walk everywhere here. It was really hot today too so that just made it ten times worse than it should have been. I saw a lot of cool places I would like to visit before I leave but my knees and legs were killing me by the time it was all over.

Just like last night we went to the same restaurant but this time we had free wine because we got our student ids in orientation. Between the five of us we drank three bottles of wine and had the best conversation ever. Afterwards we went to the same gelato place from last night and ate gelato and listened to music by the river. I realized how much I love my roommates already. I like how no matter which one of us is with the other, we can all get along somehow. There is never any awkwardness. We came to the conclusion that we got extremely lucky by getting matched up with each other. I don't think it was just the wine talking either.

Today I also spent a lot of time editing my montage of our weekend in Rome. It wouldn't upload onto YouTube but I'm going to try to attach it below and hopefully it will work. This is the very first time I've ever edited a video and frankly I'm pretty proud of it. I hope you enjoy it.

Smooches,
The College Natural

Day 4: Sunday Funday

Last night we went out on the town for our first night in Florence. It was literally the most fun I've had so far. Monique's friend who has been here since January showed us around and told us the places that we have to go to before our short adventure here ends. We ended up at a pub called Red Garter and that's where we spent the majority of the night. Emily, Valeria, Haley, some other ISA girls and myself all failed miserably at karaoke in front of a bunch of drunk people. Then we danced the rest of the night away.

I learned two lessons during our night out 1. Italians love American music. All of the music that was played last night was American with a little Spanish jams thrown in there as well and 2. Italian men are persistent. I have never said "no" to dancing with someone and they literally ask 100 more times before they get the hint. In the end I began to just literally put my hand in their face and they got it. It sounds rude but if you were there you would definitely understand.

After the pub we went searching for a secret bakery. A secret bakery is what they call bakeries that make pastries at like 2 or 3 a.m. for restaurants that will be open the next day. If you can find one and knock on the back door, you get a pastry for just 1 euro. It's a secret because no one is supposed to know where they are and once you do know, you aren't allowed to tell anyone else. A lot of people spend months or years trying to find a secret bakery and we found one on our very first night. I just got a plain croissant. It was delicious.

After that, we left and got lost in Florence for a while. That may sound scary to you but we were all together and we stumbled upon a lot of good places that we might potentially visit when it's not 4 a.m. If you could see how beautiful this city is morning, afternoon, and night I don't think you would mind being lost in it either.

Today we slept in so late. Our window was locked and closed so literally no light came in. I woke up multiple times but thinking that it was still nighttime because it was pitch black, I kept going back to sleep. After we forced ourselves out of bed Megan, Monique, and I went to this bistro called A Casa Cafe that Megan and I found yesterday and had brunch. Later, all of us wandered around Florence and ate dinner that gives students free wine. We spent a lot of time searching for a gelato place that apparently doesn't exist and then settled on a place right beside the river. We sat on the bridge and ate our gelato and enjoyed the fantastic view.

I cannot get over how beautiful this city is. Cobblestone streets, buildings that look like they came straight out of a magazine, and some kind of statue every 10 minutes of walking. I'm in love with this place. I'm sad because I know these next three weeks are going to fly by. However, I'm so happy that I am getting the chance to live out this once in a lifetime experience.

Smooches,
The College Natural