angry soccer fans,christmas lights,and teaching english

Another week has gone by in the blink of an eye. I think everyone is starting to realize that we only have a short amount of time left before we are separated by thousands of miles, however of course we will have free texting again! Because of Thanksgiving and finals we had our “Final Dinner” this week. It was at this beautiful banquet hall. There was a huge chandelier and the walls were decorated in gold architecture and there was even coat check! We had a 4 course meal with an appetizer, risotto, meat, and dessert! Yummy!

This weekend my Italian Literature teacher invited my friend Patricia and I to help her teach English in San Casciano (about 30 minutes away from the center of Florence). San Casciano was beautiful. It over looked mountain after mountain and the air you breathe was so much cleaner from where I live. We taught two groups of kids. The first age group was around 10 years and the second group was much younger, around 7 years. I was so impressed with the kids. They all seem to enjoy learning a new language and study hard. After teaching the kids, Debora took us to a pizza restaurant. They made it in the fire stone ovens and it was delicious! We met her daughter and she invited us over to her house for this coming weekend!

Later that night I went to another soccer game, but this time the Florentine fans were pissed!!! We lost to Parma and they were not happy about it, even the kid in my video is flipping of the officials. Everyone was yelling and screaming, the guy next to me was hitting his chair. I was laughing and recording it all!

Sunday I spent the afternoon studying for finals and working on a presentation and a power point!

Florence has the cutest Christmas lights set up. The picture of the lights is basically my street!Its soooo cute and makes me so excited for Christmas!

Cookies- these are my favorite Italian cookies. I eat them too much but they are amazing, everyone who tries them loves them!

This week: 2 finals, thanksgiving, Christmas shopping, and finishing up sight seeing in Firenze!!!

Xtreme Switzerland:)

A change of scenery was exactly what I needed. After a nine-hour bus ride, which included watching movies and reading Lucy, Tobyn, and I were finally in Interlaken, Switzerland at 4:30AM. We began our first day to a late start, so we went searching for some lunch. After walking through the breathtaking city surrounded by the Alps we ended up at this very cute restaurant where I had one of my favorite meals thus far: chicken, potatoes, bread, and special garlic sauce yummmmyy! I have never felt so foreign while being in Europe. We walked out and every person in the restaurant said bye to us, it was like we were celebrities. They were so grateful to have us come to Interlaken and our waitress gave us all sorts of info on things to do in town. Later that day while everyone was doing really expensive Xtreme sports, we decided to do some Xtreme bowling! It was so much fun, but Tobyn failed to mention she took a bowing class and annihilated Lucy and I. We ate dinner at our hotel and met other students traveling abroad. We decided that we hadn’t reached of Xtremeness for the day so we went ice-skating! It was so much fun! None of us are very good and I was trying not to break anything with 5 more weeks of traveling to go!

The next day we woke up bright and early and went on a morning hike. It was so beautiful. The leaves were orange and the mountains were covered in snow. On our hike we came across what looked like an old house/banquet room, the Rugen Brau factory (Swiss Beer), and ended up at a castle built in the 1200s. The castle was made of cement bricks and was on top of a hill so we could see the city. The different colored fall trees, the river, the Alps, the friendliness of the Swiss, chocolate, fondue, and yummy chicken: at this point Interlaken already had my heart. That same day we decided that we wanted to see another city so we made our way to Muren. We took a train and rode a gondola up the mountain. We were right in the middle of white mountain tops. It was worth the view, but there was nothing to do in Muren, I think the population of the city might have been 10 tops. We played with some snow that hadn’t melted from the previous days and I made a snowman! Even though there was nothing to do there I am still glad we went! We headed back to Interlaken to have dinner. I ate a huge sausage on hash browns with veal sauce…healthy I know. It is a common Swiss meal so I was trying to play the part! My friends got chocolate fondue and due to Lucy’s phobia of bananas she let me have a taste… it was delectable!

Our last day we wanted to see more of the small town and find some gifts for our families. We didn’t know that no one likes to work on Sundays so our options were limited. I only bought a spoon because everything was so expensive! A magnet was about 12 franks= almost 12 US dollars. No thank you!! We went to the Japanese Friendship Gardens and took pictures and of course made some jokes J

My words wont do what I have seen justice, if I try to use more describing words, people may stop reading my blog so im trying to keep it simple. I have seen so many cities within the last 3 months so it was so great to be around nature. The Swiss people also made this weekend trip so great! They were all so nice and helpful. They even didn’t try to run us over in the cross walks!

If you are wondering about my hat, I got it as an investment. It’s getting colder and my dad and I need to be prepared. I tried it out this weekend and it was so warm, but the funny looks I got from people made me want to keep wearing it. I had 3 people approach me about it. One of them only spoke Swiss German so I’m unsure if he was complimenting my hat or if he hated it, I just awkwardly giggled and walked away!

I hope you like the pictures and videos! I love you all J

Roman Days and Roman Nights

Today I was inspired. From what I know of her, my Italian Literature teacher has been the most influential person I have met while abroad. In class I learn about the great novels like The Divine Comedy, but it has been my few 30-minute conversations with her where I have learned the most. Today I realized she has also been the most honest person to me here in Italy. I told her this and she responded to me, “ When you are honest, you are not scared.”

I feel a lot of time when people blog they try to make every aspect of their life sound amazing or in this case every place that you see sound amazing. My teacher, Deborah, has been so honest about her feelings toward Italy, religion, politics, and I am starting to hear her own personal story. Which leads me to my time in Rome.

Rome was great and again I laughed a lot. My friends Lucy, Meghan, Amanda and I shared a room together. Our beds were so close together it might as well have been one gigantic bed for all of us! I got to see many things and I know that I am fortunate to have done so. We went through many churches analyzing artwork and its meanings and the influence the have had on the church and society. I even saw a church mentioned in Dan Browns, “Angels and Demons”… great movie. I went to the Coliseum (my favorite), the Vatican, St Peters Basilica, the Ancient forum, the Pantheon, attempted to see the Pope, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish steps, and Campo di Fiori. I rode endless buses, metros, trains, and a taxi. It is filled with people from all over the world to see what it has to offer. Rome is beautiful at night and is something that you have to see with your own eyes to understand.

Rome has in incredible history and is a place I have learned about since junior high. Unfortunately, for me, I was in the “observing the culture mode” while I was there. I could not get past the dark clothing, graffiti, uneasy glares, and pushing and shoving. We were warned numerous times to watch our bag, so that our things would not get stolen. It felt like in order to fit in; I had to look pissed off. All of the Italian cities are so unique and so different. In Florence you bike or walk, in Rome you run to catch the next bus. It is MUCH more fast paced in Rome and the majority of the people that I came in to contact with, both tourist and Roman, seemed to be more concerned about their own agenda. Needless to say, im not a big city girl.

To brighten up Rome, I got to hang out with Shea! She took me to Chinese food (haven’t had it in three months, so don’t laugh), we spent time at her apartment, took my friends and I to a market, attempted to see the pope together, and ate dinner together. She loves Rome so much and its fast paced life style. It has been so nice to experience this process together and have someone who really understands day-to-day problems that Italy tends to throw at you. We agreed that we both picked the perfect spot for our personalities! (she is nice though, no mean glares)

Homesickness comes and goes, but among everyone, with most people leaving in 3 weeks, people are about done. Attitudes are going down hill and the comfort of home is beginning to be something we all want. My dad is coming in 3 weeks and I know as soon as I see him my spirits will be lifted! Prayers are always helpful and I would appreciate it so much!

If you are a fan of the book it is also worthy mentioning I gave in and started reading Twilight….enough said. CIAO!!! I love you all J

Halloween and internet complications

Halloween in Italy is something I never thought I would do. In case you are wondering, Italians don’t celebrate Halloween, the American students do though and lets just say the “discoteques” fully take advantage of this American holiday. Meghan and I decided that we needed to be festive, so we headed to the “Tutto 99 cent” (Everything 99 cent) store and picked up some Halloween decor. We decorated our new small home and invited a few close friends over! It was a blast! I dressed as a Gondolier! Other costumes were a vampire, witch, and a pirate. My personal favorite was coming home to my friend Lucy. I walked in the door and she had gone through my closet and was wearing all my clothes and she said, “ Guess what I am?” and I respond, “ I have no idea, a hippie?” and she says, “I am you!”… Her excuse for not wanting to buy a costume, but I still thought it was funny! Needless to say we had a very fun and very American Halloween!

Over the weekend Shea was able to come to Florence for about two days with her awesome parents and funny aunt! It was so great to see them! We went to dinner and to the Uffizi, not my favorite but with them it was much more fun J Thanks Mama and Papa Sanden for coming to Firenze!!! I get to see Shea again this week when I go to Roma!

The bottom pictures are pictures of some things I don’t see at home

1. When you buy fruit and veggies you have to weigh them and put these stickers on them that tells you the price. I usually buy more than one apple and one banana, but that’s all I needed so I put the sticker right on my fruit. I have decided that Italy has the tastiest apples in the world.

2. I have not put my clothes in a dryer in almost 3 months. I love this awesome drying rack, but my jeans are very stretched out! I’m sorry to say, but I am not a fan of the outside lines from house to house, I get nervous and have shaky hands because I think my clothes are going to fall off the line.

3. Bikes are the way of transportation, and its something I will definitely miss seeing. In the center of town it is illegal to have a car unless you have a permit or own a shop. Everyone rides vespas, bikes, or walks. It seems so normal to me now, but I know when I go home I will really miss walking through the narrow streets and seeing the lines of vespas parked on the side of the street.

This weekend: I was in Rome and wanted to have this blog up before I left, but after trying to get internet connection for an hour, i gave up. Rome was fun, tiring, different from what I imagined. I have lots of pictures and tonnnsss of videos to post later this week. I love you and miss you! I cant wait to go to Bagels and Brew, have free water, and go in a jacuzzi!