School is Rough...

The market behind our apartment

School is rough.... just kidding!!! I love going to school here! I get to go on fieldtrips everyday for some classes! Yesterday I had my first day of school. In the morning I had Italian Renaissance Architecture. She is British and very enthused. We will go on walking tours every class to museums, churches, and buildings with architectural significance. The only thing I don't like about the class is that I am not allowed to wear shorts, and have to wear a sweater to every class. This is because the churches have a strict dress code and if a kid is not admitted into the church, he/she fails because we aren't allowed to miss a single class. We walked over to the Duomo, the largest church in Italy, and she told us a little bit about it. The church was built in the 1200's to compete with the churches in other cities. It took about 70 years to build because the facade is so intricate.

After class, my roommates and I went to the fresh food market behind our street. The produce selection was amazing. I got green beans, tomatoes, an apple, and lettuce for $2. Yummm, apparently tomatoes are in season, and mine are the best I have ever tasted, really red and juicy. I also got my 30 meal vouchers for Gonzo, the school's restaurant. Conveniently, it is only 2 doors down from us. Super swankyyy.

In the afternoon I had beginning Italian. That was really funny. I was pretty much the only one laughing though. The teacher loves music and always has it on in the background. He only had 60's music, I thought this was hilarious because we are in Italy! I heard "My Girl" and "Ain't no Mountain". My roommate Tracy and friend Luisa are in the class so it was fun practicing "Mi chiamo Katherine" with them. Luisa is from Munich and is only 18. She is just taking a year of art classes here before she applies for college. She is also in my mixed media class which I had today and was extremely boring...

My favorite class is my Michelangelo, Carvaggio, and Bernini class. My teacher is very energetic and young. He knows every single historic detail of Florence. We got an overview today of the history. Apparently, Florence was founded by Julius Caesar (44BCE-100BCE) as a city for retired war generals. Florence, a retired community!!! Back in the day it would have looked like a classic Roman city. The reason Florence is still celebrated for it's architectural genius is because it still has the thumbprint of the original city plan. There are streets that make a semi circle, which are on top of what used to be an ancient ampitheater. Today there is a merry go round where the Roman Forum used to be. Throughout the middle ages, the Florentinians wanted to forget their ancient history. The Renaissance was the time of rebirth right after the plague of 1348. Over 2/3 of the population died, and about 50 years later, Florence was ready to reboot. They covered all the ancient buildings with plaster and started painting with perspective, something that had never been done before. Michelangelo was born in 1475 in Caprese, right after the Renaissance, and began his apprenticeship as a boy in Florence. I live by the garden where he was discovered sculpting by Lorenzo il Magnifico dei Medici. It was all history from there! I can't wait to learn more in this class! We also have numerous walking field trips in this class as well. I have one more Italin Renaissance Art class tomorrow. I hope I have a good teacher!

For dinner I made a chicken parmesan sandwich with my fresh lettuce, juicy tomatoes and grated cheese! mmmm.

My roommate Lindsay has a new descriptive word for the smells on some of the streets of Florence: barnyard. They don't smell bad everywhere but there are some interesting smelling areas.

Thursday I am going to the Amalfi Coast: Capri, Sorrento, Positano, and Pompeii!!!