This post won't be too long (sigh of relief) because I am currently in the computer room at my school, after finishing my first Italian test! I think I did alright...some things in this language are just so freaking tricky!
This past week was wonderful, as expected. The week started off with a class meeting at a bus stop. My tiny little class consisting of only 12 people total met at a crazy piazza, with buses zooming all around us and fast-paced Italians giving us nasty looks as we stopped traffic trying to find our teacher. We finally spotter her bright red hat and rushed over to her safety. She handed us all our bus passes and we waited for #10! As it rounded the corner, I got so excited because this would be my first bus trip within the city. This sounds like NOTHING to get excited about, I know, but everything here is just so new and different. We validated our tickets upon entering the bus from the MIDDLE (if you don't validate your ticket you can be fined up to 200 euros, and if you don't enter in the middle, you are pummeled by exiting Italians) and held onto the handles for dear life. I say dear life because these bus drivers are just like all the other drivers of vehicles in the city, INSANE! I felt like I was on "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" as I catapulted from one side of the bus to the other. The driver would zoom through these very narrow streets and then leave 2 seconds to stop, almost always stopping just inches away from the car/bus/vespa in front of him.
After a 20 minute ride outside of the city, we arrived in the town of Fiesole! We were just on the outskirts of the town, so there wasn't much to see, but it was still vastly different from the city of Florence. There were rolling hills and trees and castles in the background and vineyards and just nature. I felt I could breathe easier. Our teacher led us to the nearby field and we all plopped down on our towels and began to share stories from Boccaccio's "Decameron".
Side note: I am getting much better at participating in class! Maybe because there are so few people, or maybe because I am finally just getting over it, but I am not so scared to talk and share with other students!
Anyways, our class few by in the blink of an eye and after we took a slight detour along a very narrow, tree-lined road to see the "House of Bo", we re-boarded the buses and made our way back into the city. I have never in my life had a class like that, and it is something I will always remember. I feel soooooooooooo privileged! Story of my life.
Next big thing that happened this week: IT SNOWED!!!!!!!!! I am from California. I have never lived in the snow. Let me be excited :)
I was anticipating the snow all day, and when the flakes finally started to make their way down, I was ecstatic. My housemates didn't quite understand my enthusiasm, but I nonetheless dragged them downstairs and into the flurry. We had a mini adventure and found some gelato after walking around our neighborhood for a while. After we got gelato it was REALLY coming down and I couldn't help but smile. I didn't feel the cold or the wet, all I felt was the light snow coming down all around me. It enveloped me in happiness and I went to bed extremely content.
I woke up the next morning to a winter wonderland and as I skipped to school, I thanked my lucky stars over and over again. By the time school ended, though, the snow had melted :( At least I got one good day of it!
Okay time to go back to class, but as I speak it is snowing again! I'll go run downstairs and play in it for a while!
Ciao!
Oh, by the way, I go to Paris in like 6 hours!!!! I AM SO EXCITED! Please pray and cross your fingers that it doesn't snow too much, or else our flight will be cancelled and I might be stuck there (but would that really be the worst thing?)
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