A typical Florence day :)

I am very tired. I caught the cold that has been going around all the students at Gonzaga. It started out with a mild sore throat and stuffy nose and now I have a cough, runny and stuffy nose and a sore throat. Not to mention my energy is completely drained. Yesh! Not really what I need right now, but when do colds ever come at a good time?

Today was another beast day of classes but at least I didn't have my three hour econ class again. That is so brutal. Its hard to pay attention for that long! Today I had classes straight from 8:30-12:45 and then lunch is at one. Me and everyone else are like STARVING by the time lunch rolls around. For those who are curious, my pensione provides our meals mon-thurs and then we have thurs dinner on our own and the rest of the weekend we have to get out own meals. This is because most of the students travel on the weekends. The food is pretty good. I love the pasta but the meat can be sketch. Today we had pasta with an arrabiata (spicy tomato sauce) and eggplant. For the main course, we had sausage and beans. It was pretty good. Usually for desert (which is only during lunch) we have fruit. Today we had peaches... yum!

After lunch me and Lillian ran a few errands. We first went over to 85 Cavour where Giuseppe is, but he wasn't there when we got there. He is the one we go to for all our room problems. He owns three pensiones in this area. We ended up just writing him a note asking for another desk, and better lighting (one of the main bulbs in our room is out). Haha hopefully this time he actually brings us a real desk and not our patio furniture. Other than those two things, me and Lillian are very satisfied with our new room. Its a big step up from where we were before if you have been keeping up with my blog!

Once I finished writing the note, we went to try to find this old fashioned record store that Lillian is interested in. We ended up not being able to find it so she will prob go back sometime on her own and check it out. We also tried to go back to the electronic store that I got my straightener/blow dryer last week but I must've mixed up the streets because I couldn't find that place either. I am looking for a little video camera that I can attach through the USB drive. For those who have skype, I have heard it is really fun to be able to video chat with your friends/family. Hint hint to mom and dad! :) We ended up stumbling across this really fun store (much like H and M) which is called Promod. I ended up getting a charcoal cardigan, a turqoise long sleeve shirt, and a cute purple tee. Yay! I love new clothes. Our last stop was at Sephora, which is where I got some eyeliner. Very exciting day I know...

So right now I am relaxing while Lillian is at her three hour history class. I'm glad I'm not her right now! I am exhausted... tomorrow we are going to be having a walking tour of Florence with my Introduction to Florence class. It should be pretty fun!

Well I'm off for now.

Ciao ragazzi!

*note* the palm tree photo was taken in Elba. I loved the beachy atmosphere of the Island!

A weekend in Elba and a new room!

I hate to admit it, but I have been having blogger withdrawals! I have constantly been thinking about all the things I want to blog about, but I have just been so busy that I haven't had a chance to just sit down and write about all the fun things that I experienced over the past weekend.

As most of you know, me and most of the Gonzaga crew went to Elba Island. Let me tell you, it is so beautiful! The weather was gorgeous the entire short trip. We thought it was going to be in the low 60's, and it ended up being way warmer so we were able to sit out and catch some sun rays at the beach.

I ended up ditching the tours/hike that Gonzaga offered on Saturday. Me and my friend Cierra wanted to do our own thing on Saturday so we went down and talked to the hotel receptionist and she gave us a map and suggested several places to see on our own self-created walking tour. We decided to go on a little trek to a pretty large beach. The hike was pretty much all up hill by stairs and then it coasted off for awhile. The views from the top were so pretty! We then went down the hill and ended up at a breath-taking beach. We sat out and talked for a few hours and then were so hot that we decided to just jump in the water! It was so refreshing.

After awhile my friend Katie met us down at the beach and we hung out for a little while longer and had some pasta at a local restaurant. Once we had enough sun, we walked back and went shopping at the local stores. Elba is famous for turquoise, so I got a pretty wrap-around bracelet, and a simple necklace. Oh! And I got some really cute earings :)

The one bummer part of Elba was the night life was totally lacking. Even at the bars there was like no one... and there were no clubs of course. We just ended up making our own fun. On Saturday it was my friend Emma's 21st Birthday, so we had a nice Italian dinner and then my other friend Annie coordinated cake and champagne at a local bar called "Las Vegas". It was pretty fun, but the music could've been better. They were playing slow ballads that practically made us fall asleep..

On Sunday morning I woke up with a bad sore throat and stuffy nose so that wasn't so great. This has been going around though for quite some time so I was bound to get it. One of my room mates in Elba had a terrible cough, and I was also hanging out with Cierra who was recovering from a really bad cold. After I described my symptoms to her she said that is exactly what she started off having. She then added, "just wait till the nasty cough!" Oh boy...

Well I probably should be going to bed. I talked to my mom via skype messenger and she used the phrase "G2B" haha which means GO TO BED! Me and Lillian are all moved into our new room. It is great! It is much more spacious and the toliet doesnt growl! The only bizzare thing is our shower; it pretty much takes up the whole bathroom! I guess it is an Italian style where the drain is in the middle of the room. I wonder if the whole bathroom floor will be soaked after we take a shower. We will soon find out! The drain is slightly slanted downwards so perhaps it seperates part of the floor from getting wet. All we need now is a little more lighting, and a second desk. We are definitely way more happy with our living situation now though, and the best part is NO MOLD!

Well I will try and post tomorrow. I have lots of journal entries to make up for classes but I will keep you posted! Feel free to call my skype! It is up and running even though the internet is super slow :)

Love you all!

*Note* The first picture is of me and Cierra on the beach in Elba and the second is a scenic view from our little hike to the beach! :)

Off to Elba tommorow!

Well it is very late here right now. 1:10 AM to be exact. I should be off somewhere in snooze land, but I took a two hour nap earlier today so I am not quite sleepy. I haven't been able to post the past couple days because our internet has been down yet again. It is so annoying how it never seems to be consistent. Hopefully they will get it squared away by the time I get home later this weekend.

Tomorrow morning I am having a quick Breakfast at my pensione around 6:45 with Annie and then we are heading to meet the rest of the Gonzaga gang and we will be well on our way to the island of Elba around 7:30 AM! I am not looking forward to waking up that early; hopefully I will be able to take a nap on the bus. This weekend is the first optional trip that Gonzaga is hosting and only about twenty out of the 120 students are not going. I am super excited. The intinerary looks like it will be pretty interesting. There are a few hikes that we can go on (short and long) and I am choosing to visit the Napoleon museum as one of the optional tours. I heard the beach is absoloutely gorgeous; I am bringing my swimsuit just in case it is warm enough to swim. The weather report says it will be around 60-65 so that is a bit too cold for swimming. I will definately take some pictures so feel free to check them out on facebook as usual. I will not be bringing my laptop on this trip because I doubt our hotel/hostel has it offered, and even if they do, I am not sure how safe it is to leave it in the room. Maybe I will embark on an internet cafe. I always seem to have a knack for finding those on trips.

Anyways, I know this post is very short but I really should finish up some last minute packing and try to get at least a few hours of sleep before my big travel day tommorow.

I will try and post an entry on Sunday with my reflections of the weekend!

Arrivederci!

Note: The picture above is taken outside the archaelogical museum that I went to with my Introduction to Florence class. Pretty huh?

A beautiful Tuesday afternoon

Hello all!

Today has been a fabulous day. The weather outside is absolutely gorgeous and classes weren't too bad. I had four classes today; similar to my schedule yesterday without the three hour Global Economics class. Today we had a great lunch; it was some sort of vegetable pasta soup (kind of like minestrone) and bread. I loved it! It was a nice alternative to the pasta that we are usually served before our main course. The main course I wasn't fond of because it was pork chops. I never touch it, as my grandma says. I ended up just having some of the potatoes on the side. It was definitely enough though because I got seconds on the soup. For desert we had really ripe peaches which were amazing! I guess you can just say the food in our pensione is either a hit or miss.

Today I followed up with Dean Burke and he agreed that Il Paligio is a disaster. He evaluated the pensione with Giuseppe and he shared his concerns about the rooms. Come to find out me and Lillian's room is the smallest one in the entire program! That includes all the pensiones that Gonzaga is renting out. Boy, aren't we lucky! Haha. Anyways, Dr. Burke said that we have the option to move to another room if we so choose. Now, this would be a hassle and a half but we are truly unhappy with our living conditions as you may know after keeping up with my blog. We talked to Shelly (another Student Life employee at Gonzaga) and we told her that if there is space available, we would like to switch rooms and pronto! Hopefully everything works out... another thing that has increased rapidness of changing rooms is the fact that there is mold growing in our room. Gross I know, but apparently Lillian is very allergic to it. She has been coughing, sneezing, and wheezing for days and she is always exhausted. Poor thing! We alerted the pensione owner and he cleaned it himself, but there is still some remnants of mold throughout the room. Either we get a humidifier or we are out! Haha.

Today seems like it is going to be a pretty chill evening. I have a marketing assignment to do, and some reading for economics that I can get a head start in, but other than that I am golden. I guess I could brush up on my prepositions for my Italian class because we are playing a little game tomorrow in class. Tomorrow my Introduction to Florence group is meeting at the school at 8:30 am and we are heading over to the Archaeological Museum and getting a tour by either our teacher or one of her assistants. I love this class! We have lectures about the history of Florence twice a week (which is very interesting by the way), and then on Wednesdays every week we go to a different museum to look at the artwork that we have been studying in class. In addition to our tours, we are to write two journal entries a week. One entry must talk about our experience and thoughts about the tour from that week and the other entry talks about our experience going abroad on the weekends. Most students will be going on the first six weekend trips Gonzaga offers, but she would like us to journal about any particular place we go to on the weekends if we decide not to join the Gonzaga group. I am actually excited about this assignment; it will be fun to talk about my thoughts about all the tours I am going on and adding postcards and pictures will make it unique. I think it will be a great memoir of my studying abroad experience after I leave.

Anyways, I am rambling but I just wanted to jot down my thoughts for the day. I do not have much else planned for the day except my homework and dinner is at seven as usual. Hopefully tomorrow I can finally get another straightener! I have been going through withdrawals as sad and pathetic as that may sound.

Well I will post again tomorrow!

Arrivederci!

Note: Above is a picture of me and my room mate Lillian in Prague!

Second day of classes

YAY! I now have internet in my pensione. Its been long enough! Its been so annoying to have to schlep all my stuff to campus every time I have wanted to check my email or skype. The only bummer is there is no internet in our room at the moment but at least we can get it in the lobby! I will look forward to having it my room so that I can skype without everyone hearing my conversations. That has been kind of awkward.

Today was the second day of classes. It was so intense! Mondays are my hard days so I had like seven hours of classes. I had four classes in a row this morning; ethics, principles of marketing, Italian 102, and introduction to Florence. I was originally in the second section of the intro to Florence class, but after talking to all my friends it sounded like they were in the first section, so I asked the teacher if I could switch into the other section and she had no problem with it so that was nice. After my 4 classes I walked back in a hurry for lunch at my pensione. We had penne pasta with tomato sauce. It was so yummy! And then after the antipasti we had these kabobs that were described as "three meats" and mexican vegetables. I liked the vegetables, but the meat was kinda sketch. I guess it was turkey, sausage, and chicken. Lets just say my chicken had a gristly texture, and the sausage tasted like cinnamon (reminds me of my brother-- Chris I hope your reading this!) and the turkey was just dry. Me and my other friends weren't fans of this dish. We have noticed that our pensione has been known for the crappy food. We all love the pasta but the main course tends to be pretty gross. So we are now learning to stuff our faces with pasta before the meal comes and then just pick at the main course because its pretty nast haha. Like last week for example we had this breaded "turkey" meal that was extremely dark meat. I was thinking in my head, "My mom would never eat this!" Anywho, come to find out it was VEAL and not turkey. Why did the owner say it was turkey? Haha probably because she knew no one would eat it. It definitely did NOT taste like turkey though. Other than the food at my pensione, Italian food on the streets and at the restaurants is amazing! I love the authentic Italian food. Its my favorite food. I don't think I will get sick of it, even though I am here for almost nine months. Its just so good, and there are so many varieties!

After lunch, I came back to my room and just relaxed for awhile. Around three ish me and my roomie walked to a local Tabacchi and got some more stamps and postcards to send to our friends and family back home. Now all I have to do is relocate the post office! If you want a postcard, feel free to email me your address at lmaher@gonzaga.edu. I would love cards and things back from the US too so let me know if you want my address too! After the little stop, I walked to campus and sat down for my three hour econ class. It was so long! At least the teacher has a lot of energy; but my attention span is short as it is. The class seems like it will be pretty interesting though; it is global economy. I have already taken macro and micro economics. This section seems like it is completely different than those so that is pretty cool I guess. I will really miss my econ teacher back at the GU campus! His name is Kevin Henrickson and he is my favorite teacher at school! I had him for both sections of econ and he is the coolest guy. Me and my friend Kate liked him so much that we often dropped by cupcakes and cookies during his office hour. Wow, I got on quite a tangent!

Once class was over, I went upstairs to check my email and such because I had no idea that internet was up and running in my pensione! I found out at dinner and me and everyone else were ecstatic. Dinner was really good tonight-- we had a vinaigrette salad again and amazing pesto spiral pasta! It was so good. Pesto pasta is my favorite pasta, so that just made my day. Its interesting that we have our big meal of the day during lunch. For dinner we usually just have salad and an antipasti. I don't mind; usually I'm starving by one and not so hungry at seven when we have our dinners. Pretty much from dinner on I have been checking email, skyping my bf and family, and writing this entry! I need to get to my homework pretty soon though. I have some ethics reading, a couple journal entries to write, and maybe I'll brush up on my Italian.

Well not much else to talk about-- my mom asked me to explain the pictures that I'm posting. Thats probably a good idea. The one I just posted is in the main piazza right by our pensione. There are lots of yummy little cafes around the circle. You gotta watch out for those vespas (Italian mopeds) though! They come flying out of no where! The last one is of me and some friends at a local bar from this past weekend. Its great being able to socialize at bars and not even being carded!

What a productive day!

hi everyone!

I am sitting in an empty classroom right now at the Gonzaga campus and I'd thought I'd just share whats been going on the past few days. The room situation is getting a little better because they fixed the door and brought in a little mini trashcan for our bathroom. But our shower still leaks (even after Giuseppe said he fixed it) and our "desk" that he brought in is a small end table that barely holds our books. I think me and Lillian are going to take turns using the big desk for schoolwork. Next week is my week to use it, and then we will alternate and she will have it the following week. Whatever works, right? I think we are both going to be doing most of our homework in the library or at little cafes around because the lighting in our room is terrible. There is just one small dangling lamp from the ceiling and it is super dark at night. Hopefully they can add more light to it, because it kind of feels like a jail cell at the moment... haha

Today was a pretty productive day for the most part. I slept in until around 10:30 and then me and Lillian got an early lunch at this little cafe in the city square. We had gnocchi with tomato sauce and a coke light. Super yummy! After that we walked around and got some money from an atm and went to this little store that had cute shoes, scarves, headbands, purses, etc. Everything was really cheap too! I got these little cute black flats, an umbrella, and a black headband for only 15 euro. What a deal! After that we went to the 99 cent euro store for like the 4th time. The guy that works there chuckles whenever we come in because we go there so often. Finally he asked, "Studi a Firenze?" "Si! Studiamo a Gonzaga University." Its nice being able to use some of my Italian. I hope I can continue to pick the language up quicker just being around everyone who speaks it fluently! I was telling my mom earlier today on the phone that its kinda a tricky situation using the Italian because if you greet someone and start speaking Italian, they will start speaking really fast and I cant keep up. So then I usually have to switch to English, which makes me feel dumb haha. Oh well, at least I'm trying, right?

After lunch we got our dirty clothes and took it to a local laundromat. I was able to get some of my ethics reading out of the way while blasting enya. We were there for a little over an hour because the washer and dryer each take about half an hour. There were so many GU students there with the same idea! Its a bummer not having a laundry machine in our pensiones, but that doesnt really surprise me... we have like nothing there to begin with haha. After our laundry was taken care of, we came back to our room and for like two hours I unpacked, organized, and cleaned up our room. For the past few days I have been living out of a suitcase because I didnt have anywhere to put my stuff! Luckily we were able to go to IKEA yesterday and get storage stuff and hangers. It was such a hassle getting to IKEA though! We had to walk about a mile and a half at least to the train station, and then take a bus from there. It was really hard walking back with a huge storage bin, hangers, a towel, comforter, and pillow. Whew! I am definitely sore today after schleping all that stuff.

Now that everything is unpacked and settled I immediately feel better. We are planning on doing more decorating in our room, but its getting there!

Well I have more Aristotle to read so I best be going, but I will try and post tommorow!

Arrivederci!

The stress of sending the consulate letter

This is going to be a super quick post but I just wanted to say hello! I am just waiting in the computer lab at the Gonzaga campus until 11, and then me and all the other students are going to venture down to Alexandro's (a staff member on campus) office to get a reciept that indicates that our consulate letter was sent. This morning I tried to get up around 8 am, but me and the roomie were just not wanting to get up. We are so sleep deprived! We hit the snooze button a couple times and then decided right then and there that we would get up at 8:30 instead. At that point we were pretty pressed for time so we got quickly out of bed and got ready in about fifteen minutes. We then went to the little cafe next to our pensione for a quick breakfast. We both got chocolate crossiants and then booked it to the Gonzaga Campus where we all were going to gather and pick up our packets and then walk together to the post office. As we were approaching the entrance, two of my frazzled peers told us that they had to go back to their pensione to collect their passports. I thought we had taken care of all the passport stuff, so I didn't have mine at the time as well. Soo basically I had to run back to my pensione and I luckily met two other students that forgot their passports as well. Who knew we needed them a second time?! Anyways, I hate the feeling of being rushed and plus it was rainy which was not pleasant.

We quickly walked back and met up with the other students to get our packets to send off to the consulate. This was an exhausting process because there are about 120 students and each person got a number from the post office that indicated where we stood in line. I was 62, so I had a good 45 minutes of just standing in the rain before I could drop off my letter. They have to stamp your letter and envelope several times and check your passport just to make sure its you that is sending the packet. I didn't realize everything was so official!

I only have a few minutes until I have to go downstairs but just wanted to drop a line in to all those back home!! Im not sure what my plans are the rest of the day. Its so nice having Fridays off though, I cant tell you enough! I am excited for my traveling starting next weekend. We are going to Elba, which is a volcano off Florence. Sounds super fun! Well keep in touch everyone. I will try to check my skype today, so feel free to leave voicemails!

Arrivederci!

My first few days in Firenze!

Ciao! I haven't been able to write in forever because guess what? We have nooo wireless internet. Zip, nada, nine, NOTHING! Haha it may not seem like a big deal but when they have promised us internet, I expect it. I guess they are finalizing the contract papers that deal with getting internet in the pensiones and apparently it may not work for another ten days. *sigh*. At least I can get internet on the GIF campus which is what I'm doing now.

So I am absoloutely stoked to be in Florence and somewhat settled in with a rountine, but I must take some time to complain about my pensione. I am living in the pensione "Il Palagio" which means the "Palace" in Italiano. This is an ironic name for this location, because it is anything but a palace. I had these expectations of my room and sadly, most of those expectations were shattered upon my first entrance. First off, there are two double doors as shown in one of the pictures below. The left hand side works, but my roommate Lillian found out the hard way that the left door is seperated from the wall and it hanging by a few bolts on the hinges. (see picture below of her struggles with the door) One word: Ghetto! Also, our bathroom door does not close all the way which basically means we have NO privacy when using the bathroom. Today, one of the Gonzaga coordinators Shelley, came into our room to investigate the scene, and she was able to close the door ONLY if you pull up on the handle at such an angle, and then force it shut. To open the door back up, you simply have to tug at the latch for about a good five seconds and use all your might to bust open the door. Not exactly what i'd call luxury. The next thing to mention is the toliet. It is not an American toliet by any means. It is powered by a motor, which is almost like a garbage disposal, in that you have to press the button several times before it starts to "hum" and from there it reves up and after about ten seconds it creates a god awful noise that sounds like a fog horn. Me and Lillian named him Oscar the Grouch, because he does NOT seem happy at all. For your viewing pleasure, I included a video that demonstrates the noise that occurs every time we want to flush the toliet. Please note that the shaking of the camera is done for emphasis. Haha, doesn't it seem like there is an earthquake that is happening?! When the toliet first went off, me and Lillian screamed and booked it to the door to evacuate. We thought it was blowing up!!

As if that couldn't be enough to complain about, I must add that the shower LEAKS every time after use. But it doesnt leak right next to the shower where you might think; instead, it leaks next to the toliet. The owner of the pensione says he is worried about this because that might mean that there is a damaged or broken pipe that is causing the leakage. Joy! Also, there is only one dresser that consists of 5 pull-out drawers. I have no idea where we are going to fit all our stuff. Luckily we are all going to IKEA this weekend so we can get more storage supplies. Lastly, one more thing to note is that there is only one desk in our room. How can we both study with ONE desk? Needless to say, me and my roommate definitely complained to both Dean Burke and the owner of the pensione.We are about to get our requests in order! Haha I hope you enjoy the pictures that are below.

Enough complaining already! Haha I just had to get some steam off about that, because I am completely bummed about the living conditions. I guess its just culture shock, but I think they realize that things to need to be shaped up because I think we have a right to doors that work, and a toliet that doesnt leak... Today was the first day of classes! I had Ethics 301, Principles of Marketing, and Italian 102. All three of them went well, so I am thinking that I have pretty good professors so far. I have more classes that will start next week so I will keep you guys informed about those. I was pretty nervous coming into Italian 102 because even though I took 101 just this past semester, I found myself already forgetting the basics and I was worried that I would have a hard time picking up the language again. Well, it looks like the rest of this month is dedicated to just review, so thats really nice. She actually asked us questions in Italian like what sports do we play, where we are from, our names, what we liked to listen to, etc. I was surprised I was able to answer them and it made sense! Ha ha. I am glad that I have a whole weekend free to explore Florence now. After this weekend, the next 6 weekends are taken up by various trips around Italia. I am so happy we have no classes on Fridays! It will be great just to dedicate long weekends to trips around Europe.

What else is new?? I got into Florence around 11:30 two nights ago after a loongg 5 hour journey from Milan. I guess we flew in there because it was cheaper than flying into the Florence airport. Yesterday we had the day off to get situated around Florence, and we had our meeting about sending our visas into the consulate so we can be approved for our residence for 9 months. Also, me and my roomie went to the 99 cent Euro store where we got cheap school supplies. Who knew that the paper has 4 hole punches?! Craziness..and we got our first gelato! Me and Lillian had chocolate. It was super yummy! Also, we went to the supermarket to get snacks, and we walked towards the duomo, which is shown below. I cant wait to actual go inside the duomo!! After we walked past it, me and Lillian went to the little open air market and we got some great scarves (which are super popular around here). I also got a ciao bella shirt, and I actually bargained with a guy off the streets for a knock off LV bag! It looks legit to me.. haha what do you guys think? (the picture is below as well). After our little exploration, we went back to our pensione where dinner was served. We had yummy balsamic vingarette salad and garlic tomato pasta. It was so good! At least the food here is somewhat decent in comparison to the rest of the living conditions. Anyways... after dinner me and Lillian were feeling a little down about the room so we went out and found a couple guy friends and from there we had a beer at this local Irish Pub where sports are often played. It was a pretty chill night, and because it was a school night we went to bed at a reasonable hour at 11:30!

Well thats all I have for now. I hope that wasnt too much! Call me on skype or email me if you want to talk further. Love you all!




See our door? Its detached at the hinges as demonstrated by my lovely room-mate Lillian.




My new LV bag-- you like? I was able to bargain with the guy from 135 euro down to 40 euro! Now thats what I call a steal! :)



Behold OSCAR our angry toliet!

Prague; what a gorgeous city!

Wow! I cant believe opening tour is almost over. This whole experience has been absolutely amazing so far. I am now just excited to get to Florence and be able to settle into my Pensione! In a couple hours we are going to meet in the hotel lobby and going to deal with the whole stressful "lottery" situation to draw pensiones (hotels) that determine where we will live. The lottery number that was given is based on how fast the student turned in their paperwork. I am number 37 on the list of about 72. I figure that's pretty good. All the pensiones are equally nice, so I'm not too worried about that. I'm just worried the double rooms will run out, and I will have to live with someone random. That's about the worst that could happen though. I am going to live with my new friend Lillian Haines, who is actually a student from Trinity University in Texas. She is a sociology major and she is from Alabama. The only problem with our rooming situation is she is a semester only student and I am for the year, so I will probably just live with some random student that is coming in January for the second semester. I was hoping I could switch pensiones half-way through the year, but apparently it's illegal for you to switch pensiones. Who knew! So yeah.. thats the deal with that.

Today is our last full day in Prague. This morning was pretty hectic because I thought I set my alarm for 8:40 on my new international cell phone, but it turns off I did not set it properly. My room-mate came back from the gym around 9:40 and woke me up saying, "didn't you want to go on the Jewish tour at 10?" I frantically jump out of bed and get ready in record speed. Like seriously, threw up my hair, barely put on any makeup and I was out the door in like 5 mins. I was able to run down to the buffet and grab a crossiant and piece of toast and called it a day. We all got tickets for the subway and we walked to the Jewish Synagogue exhibits where we were able to take a self-walking tour through about 5 of the old synagoges. They are soo gorgeous! Too bad we aren't allowed to take any pictures indoors. Thats a bummer.. . Oh well. I took a lot of pictures outside the synagogoes and of course of the architecture all around Prague. For those of you who have access to facebook, you should really check out all the new albums I have created of my Europe trip so far. I am going pretty picture crazy so there all all sorts of them on there. Anyways.. after the walking around the synagogues with my friends Lillian and Cierra, we were getting pretty hungry so we went to this cute little cafe called Monarch. I had the special which was this grilled chicken dish with fries. We all got a glass of red wine too. I am still not a fan of wine, but I am slowly acquiring a taste. My friends all tell me it takes awhile to start liking it, so they suggest to to have it only at meals. All I know was the wine we had was super strong. Gotta start somewhere though, right? :)

Its nice having some down time right now. I purchased the internet for an entire day for like 15 bucks so thats not too bad. Im glad I will have free wireless internet in my pensione in Florence. Its hard to believe classes are going to be starting in just a few short days! I still have to get all my school supplies.

Well thats about all I have to say right now. I think after the lottery for the rooms I am going to go shopping again at this little "200 stores" location which is just a few subway stops away. I went there briefly yesterday with my friend Lillian after giving up on trying to find the big GIF group for the optional church tour. Of course we went again to our favorite store, H & M and I spent too much money haha. I heard they don't have H & M in Florence though, so better stock up now! We only had time to go to that store, so we are going to go back later tonight and perhaps get some dinner after we are all "shopped" out. Other than that, I'm not sure what the whole group is doing. A few days ago we went to this famous "5 story club" that had great dancing! It was probably the funnest club I've ever been too. Rumor has it we may all go back tommorow because we can sleep in tommorow. My flight leaves for Milan around 3 pm and the other students are leaving around 7 pm. I think the drive from Milan to Florence is about 3 hours so its going to be pretty late before we all get in. I hope my luggage arrived safely!

Well I will post later!

Arrivederci!

A lovely tour of Poland followed with a sad tour of Auschwitz

Right now I am on a long bus ride on the way to Prague. The past few days have been so hectic and busy that I have not had a chance to reflect on my adventures in Krakow, Poland. Basically, the trip to Poland consisted of walking tours. Two days ago we went to Auschwitz, where the Jews were stationed at the concentration camps. It was probably the most depressing place I had ever been to. After touring the camps, I was extremely emotional and without words. Its one thing learning about the mass killings of the Jews during the Holocaust in school, but it is nothing in comparison to actually being inside the gas chambers and seeing the barbed wire fences that encompassed thousands of prisoners.

On a more positive note, the morning before the journey to Auschwitz, we went on a walking tour and visited a few beautiful churches, and a small museum that showed the history of the Krakow University. Downtown Krakow is adorable! It is very cute and artsy. I loved all the colors on the buildings. One thing that was weird is that the cars actually park on the sidewalk, because the streets are SO narrow! It was challenging for our big bus to fit on some of these side streets. Any who, during the walking tour, I took tons of pictures, so for those who are interested feel free to view my albums on face book. We had a really friendly and informative tour guide this time, so that was nice.

Everyone on our trip has been complaining about how much our feet hurt though. I am experiencing tendonitis in my left foot, which is extremely painful. I have never gotten it before, and it is a real pain in the butt. My mom told me it could last for awhile, and to maybe get some heel inserts for more support in my shoes. I have myself to blame though; I thought we were taking a small walking tour in Berlin a few days ago, and it turned out to be a whopping four hour tour that was very exhausting and boring. I wore my “comfortable” sandals, but I failed to realize that even though they were comfy on my feet, they have no support structure, so the part on my foot where I flex my big toe just kills. Needless to say, I am sticking with sneakers for the rest of the trip.

What else has gone on these past few days? So much… I have really been enjoying the night life in Europe so far. There are an abundance of clubs (dancing anyone?!) and bars for the young and old. I think we are all so excited to be able to actually go to these bars without even getting carded!

Yesterday we went on a tour to the Salt Mines. That ended up being really fun, and nothing like I expected. For some reason, when I heard “salt mine,” I thought we were actually going to a rustic salt mine that was still in existence and functioning. It turned out to be more of a museum of an actual salt mine that once was in use. We had to walk down so many stairs to get down to the actual mine! It was crazy; and at the end of the tour we had to take this really creepy elevator that did not seem stable at all. It was pretty rickety, and it was super fast. I am just glad we got off safely!

It is important to add that me and my peers have already been experiencing quite severe culture shock. I am trying to stay positive and be open to all these new changes, but sometimes its hard when things are just so comfortable in the U.S. For one, I absolutely hate having to pay to use the restroom. I mean, I understand that those who are just walking off the street and go into a restaurant or bar should have to pay to use the facilities, but if I order a drink or buy something from a vendor, why should I have to pay?! It’s ridiculous… Also, it’s hard getting used to all the new food. It hasn’t been horrible, but like in Poland for instance, EVERY thing is fried. Don’t get me wrong, I like fried food now and then, but the whole meal? Literally for one meal I had chicken-fried chicken, fried potatoes and fried pierogies. It does not sit well in your stomach after having it over and over. I am trying to be open to the new culture food, but that is a big struggle for me being a picky eater. Luckily, I have found a new good friend who is the same way. She doesn’t eat much beef, pork, or seafood. I thought I was the only one! Ha ha. Also, it is annoying to have to pay for water at dinner. Its water for crying out loud! One last observation is reading labels; yesterday it was definitely a struggle to find conditioner. I saw the label “Pantene pro-v” but the rest of the label was completely in Polish. I had to relie on my other observations to realize the difference between the shampoo and the conditioner. My friend pointed out that the shampoo bottles usually open at the top, whereas conditioner is at the bottom. I was like, “oh yeah!” that makes sense… this is definitely a period of adjustment but I’m willing and able to embrace it!

Well that pretty much wraps up the past couple days in a nutshell. Feel free to call my skype or shoot me an email if you have other questions or just want to talk. I really miss everyone, but I’m making so many new friends it helps distract me from becoming too home sick!

I will post this entry once I get internet in Prague. We will be there until Tuesday and then I will be heading to Milan with 18 other students and then taking a bus to our pensiones in Florence! Woo hoo!

Arrivederci!

Another wonderful day in Berlin

I only have like fifteen minutes to write a killer blog post, so this might be cut short again, but I definitely wanted to keep you all informed about my amazing adventures in Berlin!

Today I woke up around 8:30 and took a nice shower, and then me and my roomie Jen went down to the second floor of the hotel for a buffet breakfast. At the buffet, we met up with a few of my other new friends Katie, Annie, and Emma. I just had some cereal, scrambled eggs, and potatoes.. yum! After Breakfast we met the rest of the GIF gang for our optional trip to the Jewish artifact museum, which showcased information about the Holocaust, and also provided information about the history of the Jewish culture. It was all pretty interesting except I felt that the museum was never ending, and after awhile, everything was looking the same. I guess I will have to wait for Florence where Michaelangelo awaits me! Ha ha.

Because we had such a large group, 68 of us to be exact, we were allowed to wander the museum about and leave as we pleased. Me and my friend Emma got through the museum pretty quickly, so we waited at the exit of the museum for Jen, Katie, and Annie. It is so weird not to have cell phones, but at least we are all in the same boat. Its funny how we Americans take so many little things for granted such as a simple phone call, "hey where are ya??" This has definitely been a humbling experience for me so far. Also, for those who know me well know I tend to text ALL the time. It has been so hard not to text my friends back home and check up. I think this is a good experience for me though, it is nice not to be distracted all the time with beeps and calls. That way I can fully experience Europa! Woohoo! he he. Can you tell I am trying to be optimistic in my time of struggle?? Ha Ha. Its not that bad, just something to get used to.

After we met up with the rest of our small group, us 5 ladies went on out an adventure. We were all pretty starving after getting done with the museum around one. We ended up at a little Italian restaurant where the waiter did not speak one bit of English! Luckily, most of us have some practice in Italian, so we ordered our food saying, "Io mi voglio le penne ...." it was really fun! I hope I will be able to use my Italian in Florence. I really want to try to engage in the culture as best as I can. I know I may get frustrated and perhaps get a few weird looks now and then for my poor pronunciation in Italian, but oh well! I ended up getting this lovely penne tomato dish with garlic and basil. Yum! Also, I ordered a vodka and mango drink. It was super yummy! I love being able to finally order drinks, and the best part about it is I pretty much never get carded. Thats very different than the US! One thing I found interesting about restaurants in Europe is that it is not common to tip the waiter unless you found their service absoloutely outstanding.

Once lunch was over, we had shopping on our minds. We tried to use the maps and the subway system as best as we could to find the "shopping hot spot" that our tour guide was telling us about yesterday. After talking with a few people in local shops, we were able to stumble open one of our favorite American stores, h & m! That was such a relief when we saw the sign in the distance. In the middle of our shopping experience though, the power went out! We were instructed to leave immediately, which almost completely bummed us out, but we ended up going back five minutes later and the power was back on. Whew! I purchased a cute argile sweater and a dressy blouse to go underneath it. It was pretty similiar to the outfit I got for my boyfriend, Chris, actually so maybe we can be matching when I come back. Ha ha.

Well I only have like two minutes left on the screen, so I best be going but the plans for tonight are still up in the air. I know we are all having dinner with the whole GIF group at 7:30 at some local restaurant, but other than that it will be spur of the moment! I love that. I will post later about my adventures in Poland! It will be a long bus ride tommorow, twelve hours!

Arrivederci!

A day in Berlin

Today has been another crazy day jammed back with adventures. I am loving Europe so far. I am just trying to take everything in and savor the moments. Today I woke up around 6:30 A.M and felt completely rested. I went to bed last night around 7 p.m so I pretty much got like eleven and a half hours of sleep. It was amazing and definitely much needed.

After I woke up I packed up all my things that I needed for my ten day opening tour and then me and my small group of friends checked out of the hotel around 9:30 and called a shuttle to the airport to meet up with the rest of the Gonzaga in Florence group. Ironically, it was the same gentleman that helped us out the first time from the airport to the hotel and he just chuckled as he loaded our huge bags into the caravan.

Once we got to the airport the question was where exactly do we meet up with the group?? We were quite confused and we took shifts in groups looking for a familiar face or sign that could point us in the right direction as to where to meet up with the GIF group. First, David and Ashley looked around for about fifteen minutes, and no luck. Me and Sarah gave it a shot and first got a little pastry from a German cafe in the airport, and then I stumbled upon a man that held a sign that said "Gonzaga". I knew at that point we were in the right place. He told us where to meet the rest of the group and we were on our way.

Basically the day consisted of us walking around the Berlin streets, taking lots of pictures, and relaxing. Me and a group of friends enjoyed our first legal beer at a local pub. It has been a blast so far! I will post more pictures later. I wish this post could be longer but I am holding up my friends so I will write more later.

I miss you all!

Day 1 in Europe; my arrival in berlin

Hey everyone!

Today I am writting my first official blog post. It is nothing fancy, or creative like my mother´s, but I have an excuse... I am EXTREMELY jet lagged. In fact, I have not slept at all since the Friday morning I left for the airport. And it is around 6 pm here. I am trying to stay awake as long as possible so that I can get a good night´s rest tonight and be ready to meet up with the rest of the Florence Study Abroad gang tommoro. We are meeting bright and early at 10:30 at the hotel we are staying at for the next three nights. Its going to be really nice to see my friends again, and I am also very excited to meet new people on the opening tour from Gonzaga and other schools that are participating in the program.

Today was definitely an interesting day to say the least. I woke up to my mother in a flurry at 8 am and from that point on the day was absolute chaos; yet it was nothing less than I expected it to be. Traveling is a stressful experience, and especially when I am leaving for nine months and dealing with the anxiety that comes from worrying about my luggage and having all the right things, weight limits, etc. Finally my mother and I decided to just surrender to the whole packing firenze and adopt an attitude that basically says that "whatever happens happens, and at least we know we put in our best effort". Well, we did exactly just that. As we approached the daunting front desk of the Lufthansa check in, we were greeted with skeptical expressions. I think everyone knew that I had overpacked... I had two huge black suitcases in addition to a purse, a medium sized backpack, and a medium sized carry-on duffel bag. Needless to say, I was around 4 kilos over on one of my big black bags. However, I wasn't going to let that cramp my style! Luckily, because we signed up for the flight ahead of time in May instead of August, we were able to get away with a fifty dollar fee instead of a whopping 150 fee. OUCH!

Many other small stressful happenings occured at the airport such as almost misplacing my red carry on, my friend Sarah accidentilly leaving her passport behind at security check point, and my friend ashley dealing with nit picky check in clerks who insisted on her rearanging her bags so that the weight was more evenly distributed.

Anywhooo, once we got on board, the flight mainly consisted of attempted naps, reading pointless magazines, listening to music (my personal favorite relaxation mix was enya), watching maid of honor (as one of the movies the plane provided), eating, and watching Ps I love you on ashley´s laptop. It was a long journey, but we made it with ease. After spending a few hours between flights, we smoothly transitioned unto our last flight from Frankfurt to Berlin. It was a bumpy ride, but we got there none the less.

I was very impressed with how easy it was to get our luggage after arriving at our destination. The baggage claim was literally RIGHT there after we got off our flight. It was just a matter of time between getting our luggage and walking literally through what we think were customs. However, after having second thoughts we recall in Frankfurt a man looking at our passports in detail to make we were the individuals represented on the IDs. I guess we thought that were going to be asked more questions, held up longer, who knows... but no complaining! It was for the most part an easy traveling experience.

Once we picked up our luggage, and me and David were recruited to find an information desk which would allow us to get a shuttle from the airport to our hotel. We scurried around with some confusion for quite some time, but we managed to find someone who spoke English, and she called a shuttle for us. After we loaded the caravan with literally a truckfull of luggage (believe me it looked ridiculous), we knew were ALMOST there. Once we got to our hotel we pretty much just "parked butt" as my family would say. We relaxed, watched tv, took showers, and sent a few emails to our parents. We were originally thinking of getting pizza for our dinner choice, but we were quickly shot down after we realized how vastly different pizza is in Germany compared to the U.S. The only choices that seemed remotely appealing were a beef and jalepeno pizza, a bagel pizza (WTF?!) and a curry pizza... whatever that is... instead we decided to go on a little adventure and we embarked on a local gas station which had your basic every day necessities. Of course, with all new marks, brands, and labels. Good thing for pictures! The only brand that was familiar was coke, gingerale, tropicana, and a select few of candies. All I can say is we must of looked pretty funny with our hands full of soda, candies, and chips. Typical American behavior, but we wanted a cheap meal, and we wanted it now. All I can say is it will hold us over till tommorow.

So much for a short post! I guess I am already starting to like this blog thing. And yes mother, if you are reading this, you can say I told you so!

I will keep you informed about my opening tour adventures in Berlin, Poland, and Prague.

Arrivederci!