Ciao!

Events since last post:

Rain: So much rain. Florence is beautiful in the sun, not so much when it is pouring rain and still 80+ degrees out. The good news is we only got caught in the rain once, and there were vendors selling umbrellas for only 3 euro. It is similar to tropical areas where the rain comes out of nowhere, dumps buckets of water and then clears up twenty minutes later.

Walking tour: Our program organized a walking tour of Florence (thankfully in the morning so we missed the afternoon rain) and it was very informative. I have been walking around Florence looking at all of the buildings and monuments and I finally know a little bit about what I see every day. I will put together a nice little post with pictures / descriptions.

Class: Oh my goodness, this is definitely STUDY abroad. We will be in Florence for 15 weeks, as compared to 10 weeks back at UCI. We will be completing 22.5 quarter units…. 22.5. For those who don't know, full time status is 12 units, most people take 16 or 18, and I was taking 20 so I could finish my degrees in 4 years. We are taking 22.5 units -.- Luckily, 18 of those units are three consecutive language classes that we have almost every day. The other 4.5 units is an elective class, the History and Culture of Food in Italy. We have wine tastings, bread tastings, and food tastings scheduled, as well as a field trip to the most famous olive farm in Italy!

Caffe: Did I mention the coffee before? It's amazing :)

Goodnight!