for all those who are curious.

here is a virtual tour around my apartment in Italia. Video provided by Jacqueline Grace.

into the gardens.

today after class i met up with sarah and julianna and we grabbed a quick panino and decided to take advantage of a free afternoon and the sunshine in florence. so, what else would we do besides go to the bobeli gardens of course! to most what is considered a tourist attraction turned into an afternoon of pure bliss. the bobeli gardens are directly behind/ a part of the pitti palace where the medici family lived in florence. it was not until i was within the depths of the lush gardens that i realized how much i appreciated the exclusion from the crowded streets of the florentine city. birds singing and quiet footsteps replaced the clutter in my head consisting of homework, errands, chores, and responsibilities. i think it may be safe to say this is one of my favorite places in the city this far. looking up and seeing blue skies without the interference of buildings, green trees and soft ground, i was truly grateful for this moment of relaxation to reflect upon my surroundings, myself, and my day. deep breaths of crisp february air fill my lungs and the much appreciated sunshine kisses my skin--at this instant there is no other place i would rather be. julianna and i laid down on a bench and let the afternoon take us away. aka we took naps together while sarah was writing on the neighboring bench. one afternoon was was not nearly enough to capture all that the gardens had to offer. i could spend a whole day there and not even comprehend the hours passing me by. i am so thankful for God's creation of earth and the pure beauties i am fortunate enough to encounter.

a woman skill.

a skill in which i am proud to pertain, taught to me by my good friend Julianna is the art of crochet. after observing her womanly hands create a winder headband in barely 2 short sittings i was fixated on learning this trade. we made it a personal mission to locate a store which sold yearn and hooks, however this was a little more difficult than expected. in florence we finally found a sewing shop on a side street nearly 25 minutes from my apartment. at this small shop we were lucky enough to encounter a bargain of one euro per ball of yarn. i took full advantage of this opportunity and stocked up with 4 balls of yarn. yarn, check! apparently this miracle of a store was too good to be true. the store did not sell hooks. we trekked onward in search of another store that could possibly carry another crucial aspect of this desire or maybe obsession to learn to crochet. a little disappointed we continued to roam the streets of florence in search for the perfect store, and just before all hope was lost we stumbled upon an embroidery shop that did in fact sell hooks. success!

later that evening julianna began to teach us some of the crochet basics. it took time for me to get accustomed to the hand positioning and movement, it was something about this awkward shaped object resting in your hand while simultaneously pulling yarn tight and looping right and left that was throwing me off. this may explain my pathetic inability to use chopsticks. haha. during the beginning of my crochet career i became frustrated with the fraying yarn, the inconsistent stitching, and my lack of womanness in that it wansnt in my dna that i would immediately be able to crochet a warm blanket to sleep with! ah, defeat...or so i thought, julianna was an excellent teacher and she was very patient with the three of us while we were asking for her guidance and approval every stitch of the way. after repeating several rows and starting over twice-- i finally got the hang of it. i was on my way to obtaining the magic touch that must come after i have grandchildren  (only because grandmas are good at everything). I am now on my way to creating my very first headband!!

step one...2 chains complete!

halfway finished!!


final product coming soon.

in a land called fiesole.

on friday i ventured to a small town on the outskirts of firenzie. it was only about 20 minutes away but the ride there was quite an experience. this day trip was organized through my program and was previously paid for. we met at piazza san marco to catch a bus. i was mistakenly under the impression we would have a private bus since we are such a large group. cramming 50 american college students onto a city bus that also provided public transportation, with barely enough room to breathe, on the warmest day we have encountered in florence so far was quite an experience! although it may not have been the ideal means of transportation i would not have done it any other way. with the frequent and sometimes abrupt stops we were colliding into each other and other forentine passengers. i felt more sorry for the local passengers probably trying to catch the bus for work, than i did for a group of american tourists making their way to a lovely quaint town for a day trip.

when we arrived in fiesole, i was relieved to get off the crowded bus and excited for the adventures ahead. fiesole is much less city like than florence, and it was a nice change of pace from walking through the busy streets and crowded sidewalks. the vast countryside and stunning sunshine drew me into a place of peace immersed in thankfulness, happiness, and beauty.  we went to il musei di fiesole and explored the archaeological area of the museum. this part of the tour consisted of ancient temples, baths, and a theatre. when touring the theatre i learned that it is still used today for high school graduations, concerts and plays. i could not even fathom having the privilege of graduating within the walls of an ancient monument. it is astounding  to me to comprehend the thought that i was viewing the remnants of a temple that someone  once, long ago was attending church in. it makes me wonder about the lifestyle they lived, and how so long ago before Christ a community was formed. while studying the baths i imagined a mother taking her young children to the baths and experiencing the daily obstacles any mother would when trying to get her children to behave in a cooperative manner. as the tour came to a close i was just absorbing as much sunshine as i could. the weather was absolutely beautiful. we walked a couple of miles along the streets and down the hills of fiesole to where we were scheduled to have brunch.

brunch, ha. so we thought. it had a much greater resemblance to a feast! i am pretty positive i ate more than the past two year's thanksgivings combined! the food was so delicious it was difficult to even put my fork down. we were served dishes of lasagna, salad, proscuttio and roast beef, cheeses, eggs, spinach and mushroom pies, bruschetta, and a dessert consisting of tiramisu cheesecake and fresh fruit. needless to say i took full advantage of this superb meal that was so generously put before me. i was surrounded by delicious food, great people, a beautiful city, and amazing opportunities just within my reach. i feel so blessed and fortunate to be exposed to so many wonderful prospects.

do something..

that scares you

for yourself

nice for someone else, with no expectations of anything in return

you have always dreamed of

you have never imagined to do

brave

or

silly

for no reason other than you genuinely want to

because it is Sunday

in the name of love

you felt you were called to do

that keeps you young, do not let age defy the joy of blowing bubbles or playing tic-tac-toe

spontaneous and adventurous

anything

and do that something, whatever it may be, do it today, with no fears that anything will stand in your way, for we do not always have the securities of tomorrow to lean on. Do not be shy, live for yourself and stay true to your morals and beliefs. Do not hesitate in life. Be sure of yourself and do not be afraid to be wrong. Speak your mind, others do not always know what you are thinking. In life we must take chances and live the life we were given. What is the point of always holding back? We feel we cannot read a good book because we do not have time. Must we always live by the concept of time? Relax and remember to breathe. Our work and responsibilities of everyday life will always be there waiting for us when the day is done. What are we waiting for? Let us live in the here and now. The possibilities are endless and only you can make them a reality.

words of encouragement.

“keep your eyes on what’s ahead. do not lose sight of your dream. it is easy to get distracted, do not let others try to defer your path.”


“take chances every day. if you do not you will never know what could have been.”

Day 3 in Florence: I mastered the art of… grocery shopping?

Yes that’s right, grocery shopping! We received prepaid supermarket gift cards as part of our meal plan, and my roommate, some friends and I decided to stock up on some of the essentials. Since we live about 20 minutes from school, and most of the restaurants are located around school as a central point, sometimes it is not our greatest desire to walk across town to eat. My roommate Jacqueline and I decided we would put our cooking skills (mostly hers) to the test in our brand new, never been used kitchen! We walked to a market about 15 minutes from our apartment called Essalunga. Walking in we were about to get a cart until we saw the 1 euro usage fee. Even though I am in Italy I am still a college student, therefore I decided to pass. Lucky for us there were shopping baskets free of charge inside. We casually walked through the automatic doors, grabbed our baskets and BOOM- a mixture of babies crying, produce flying, and Italian words were circulating all around me. Okay, so maybe it was not quite that dramatic, but it was a very hectic experience. I was instantly overwhelmed. I have quickly learned that the Italian culture has a very different take on proxemics than Americans do. Their concept of personal space is much smaller than ours. This is fine it just takes some getting used to-there was not much order to the process of collecting groceries here, it was more like a free for all on black Friday. Trying to dodge the little bambinos helping their parents shop, attempting to locate items on our list, and once we found what we thought these items were, trying to read and distinguish what it was we were actually going to purchase was a serious mission! I did my best not to let myself be consumed by the chaos and stick to our ultimate goal; dinner. Once our baskets were filling to the brim with pasta, oil, butter, salad, basil, fruit, yogurt, and a few other items we promptly remembered the lengthy walk back to the apartment we still had ahead of us. As we were about to check out we saw we would not only have to pay for our groceries, but our grocery bags as well. To avoid the extra cost each time we went to the grocery store we bought large reusable bags for 1 euro. Walking back to the apartment I left accomplished and successful. It sounds silly but it’s the small cultural advances that can sometimes mean the most.

When we arrived back at our apartment Jacqueline and I made our first home-cooked meal in our new apartment. With the basics and limited ingredients at hand we prepared penne pasta with oil, butter, and garlic, salad, which was a much needed fulfillment to my vegetable deprived diet, and white wine. It was not the most gourmet of meals but I was proud of us for our accomplishments! We set out little table in our little living room and enjoyed our meal in the comfort of our apartment with Mr. Sinatra gracing our ears with his majestic voice. It was a wonderful way to spend a lovely evening and to end a very busy day.