April 24

Well, this is it. I'm sitting here in the airport lounge waiting to board my flight to go home. I have mixed feelings about my study abroad experience here. In a lot of ways, I was disappointed. I didn't really connect with many people because they just wanted to party and drink, our apartment was a disaster (as far as appliances but also as far as the roommate situation), Florence was way smaller than I thought it was and there wasn't too much to do, and there weren't really any events hosted by SACI. I came to Italy having really high expectations because of my study abroad experience in Rome and that may be part of the problem. I find the people in Rome to be much nicer (they actually speak Italian with you, they aren't annoyed if you ask them for directions, and they are interested in talking to you). Also, even though the school that I was at in Rome was smaller than SACI, it at least had clubs, and cooking classes where you actually cooked. Plus there is always so much going on in Rome.

All that being said, there were some moments that I will cherish. Even though many people didn't want to spend money and go out (surprisingly) that didn't stop me from doing what I wanted to do. I went horseback riding, took a trip to the Amalfi Coast, and took a trip to Rome. All by myself. Previously, I was scared to go places by myself. Not just because I'm in a foreign country and the Italian men love American girls, but because I naturally like being around people and don't like eating meals in restaurants by myself or traveling alone. But I did it, and I think that has made me an even stronger person. I also had fun going on field trips with my classes, especially the Carrara/Pietrasanta sculpture trip, the Certaldo ceramics trip, and a lot of the museums I visited with my museology class were pretty cool. I had fun on the Siena and San Gimignano trip, until I sprained my ankle of course (which still hasn't healed.. I'm getting an x-ray when I get back to the States).

Looking back, I think it would have been better for me to study abroad at another school, but should I ever find myself with the opportunity to study abroad again, I would love to go back to Rome. Every time I go back (I've been there four times now) I always find something new to do, something new to see, and always find myself talking to interesting people. LCAD has a nice summer study abroad trip that goes to different locations each year, so I hope to one day do that if I can't do a full semester abroad.

In any case, I left the apartment bright and early today and said goodbye to my tiny room. I won't miss the church bells, the noise from the bar, or the noise from my apartment. But I will miss people watching from my window... All the tourists used our street. Everything is empty now...

I got to the airport really early (before check-in even started) but it was better than sitting at the apartment. I was the first in line for check in, and then had to do a tax refund for some sunglasses I bought here. Now, I'm sitting in the lounge waiting to board. 

I'll probably do another post once I get home to LA since I love taking pictures out the window of the plane so...

Ciao for now!

April 23

Today was my last day of school here in Italy. I had my museology final presentation which went pretty well. Compared to others, my presentation was pretty long (considering one girl presented for only five minutes) and there weren't a lot of questions for me, so hopefully I did well. Either way, it feels great to be done with classes. 

When I got back to my apartment, I was a bit excited so I ran around my apartment... I'm a bit excited!

I have an early flight tomorrow so...

Ciao for now!

April 22

Today was my second to last day in Italy so I ran around all day getting ready for my departure. In the morning, I went to the shipping company across the river to ship my ceramics home. I wasn't given a price today because they have to wrap it differently than my sculptures that were shipped last week. So, if I don't hear from them before tomorrow afternoon, I won't be able to pay cash which would be a bummer. But it is what it is. All the staff at the office was impressed with my work though, so that made me feel good! They all loved my safari animals. That seems to be the favorite.

When I got back from the shipping company, I went to Conad to get snacks for the plane. I found the Italian version of matzo, which I thought was pretty funny. I got some pesto and the guy weighed it, put the price tag on it for me and then put in extra. I'll miss my friends at the supermarket!

I did a bit of cleaning when I got home, and now my room looks like this. 

I was finally able to take a nap and actually sleep, which was really nice because I am sleep deprived right now. It's loud almost every hour of the day (and night for that matter) so it was good to catch up on sleep a little. 

Tomorrow is my last day in Florence and I have to present my museology final on MOMA. I'm still trying to think of what I want for my last meal. It's between ZaZa's for their balsamic vinegar steak and Gusta pizza for their, well, pizza! As good as it is, I am so pizza-d out, so we'll see where I go. 

Ciao for now!

April 21

Today was very exciting. I had my cinema class where we just turned in our papers and left. This was my last class so that's one class down! I also had ceramics where I took my final. Our professor uses the exact same questions as the ones that are on the study guide so it was really easy. I also ended up having my final ceramics critique of all my work which went well. My professor was pretty pleased with what I have accomplished. She mentioned my dedication and eye for detail, so hopefully I'll have an A in the class. The remainder of class was spent cleaning the studio but even then I was able to leave early. My professor told me I don't have to come to class on Thursday since I'm all done and students are just having individual critiques then. So, that's another class down! And since I've been done with my sculpture class for weeks... That just leaves one more class: museology on Thursday. And then I'm free! Anyways, here's all my work ready for shipping! 

 Now, I can ship all my ceramics home since there's no way I can take it all in my suitcases. But in order to do that, I have to walk 20-30 minutes to the shipping company across the river. So, since I don't want my ceramics to bang against each other on the walk over there tomorrow, I have to wrap them up. I don't have any bubble wrap or paper towels, so I had to improvise... With trash bags and rolls of toilet paper. Whatever works, right?

After I ship all this home tomorrow, I'll just have to give my final presentation for museology on Thursday before flying out Friday morning. I may have to go to Gusta pizza one more time and I may also have to go to ZaZa's to get the balsamic vinegar steak with rosemary potatoes that I love so much. But first... We'll see how much it costs to ship all my ceramics home. Yikes... 

Ciao for now!

April 20

Today was a lazy day where I tried to catch up on sleep (and failed, of course. It's so noisy... I have bags under my eyes). Tomorrow I have my ceramics final and critique and I also have to turn in a paper for my cinema class. After that, I'll just have to ship my ceramics home on Wednesday and I'll have my museology presentation on Thursday... Then I'll be all done! I'm pretty much all done with packing up my suitcases and there's hardly anything left in my room. Needless to say, I'm excited for Friday haha.

Ciao for now!

April 19

Today I was supposed to take a half day to Ostia, Rome's former city, but the trip got cancelled because not enough people signed up. It would have been really expensive to take a taxi and going on the metro wasn't appealing after my metro experience in Naples. So, I ended up just spending time at the hotel. Originally, I was supposed to be on a 4pm train but since I've been everywhere around the hotel (Colosseum, churches, etc.) many times, I went to the train station early to change my train. Luckily I only waited about half an hour (this is considered very short) for my number to be called at the office (in Italy you have to take numbers everywhere you are.. Pharmacy, police station, train ticket office, etc). I ended up taking a train at noon, and although it was really crowded it went well. On my way home from the train station, I had to take a slight detour because some Italian guy was following me and trying to talk to me. Yay Italy... In any case, he finally walked away and I went home. Now I'm just counting down the days until I fly home!

Ciao for now!

April 18

Today could not have been any more perfect. I took a trip to Hadrian's Villa, Villa d'Este and Tivoli. The weather was absolutely perfect. It was warm, sunny, and felt more like summer than spring. Our first stop was Hadrian's Villa, or Villa Adriana in Italian, which was almost like a mini Pompei with the ruins.

 I thought it would be more in tact than it was, but it was still very nice. This was one of the main pools, and it even had fish and turtles swimming around. 

This pool reminded me of the Getty Villa in LA! 

After a quick lunch break in Tivoli (where I had lunch with a really nice Australian high school teacher who was also traveling alone and a newly engaged couple) we headed to Villa d'Este. The Boboli Gardens in Florence are nothing compared to these. There were tulips in bloom everywhere...

And the fountains looked like something you would see in a Disney movie or a fairy tale.

Not to mention, the wisteria here is in full bloom now and it is beyond gorgeous (and smells amazing). 

This is just one of the many places in the gardens that had wisteria in bloom. 

This fountain was probably my favorite. The water was turquoise-green and unlike anything I've ever seen. With the huge waterfall, sculptures, and ivy growing everywhere, this is probably one of my top three things I've seen in Italy and possibly even in my life. 

These fountains went on endlessly (probably longer than the Washington Monument if you turned it on its side!!!) and had sculptures of eagles, and water coming out of lions' mouths.

We walked down a ton of stairs to the bottom of the Villa, which looked like this from the top level...

And like this from the bottom level.. At the structure at the very top there were organs playing in the middle of the fountain. So while we looked at the wisteria, fountains, gardens, and sculptures, the organs played beautiful music, which echoed. It was amazing. 

I was supposed to take a tour to Ostia tomorrow, but the tour ended up getting cancelled because not enough people signed up... Even though I can't go, I am so glad I came back to Rome to see Tivoli and Ostia just gives me another excuse to come back to Rome in the future! I'm going back to Florence in the late afternoon tomorrow, and then I have a final, a presentation, and then I'm coming home on Friday! It's incredible how I've been to Rome four times now and every time I come, there is still so much more to see. Besides horseback riding, this has been one of my favorite days during my time abroad. 

Ciao for now!