The Sabbath

Today was Sunday, so everything is pretty much closed here in town (except for the very popular tourist-y areas), therefore making the town very quiet, which was kind of nice. Last night, the UK/UL football game was on, and since we weren't able to get it on ESPN360, my lovely boyfriend Michael set up his webcam and we watched the game via Skype from our apartment. It definitely was different because it was really hard to see the game clearly, but it was nice to be able to watch it nonetheless.

We took full advantage (unknowingly) to it being Sunday and everything being closed down and at a slower pace. Where we have been used to getting up and doing things by 9 or 10 every morning, Olivia and I didn't get out of our beds until probably 11.15 or so this morning (Sabrina followed 45 minutes later or so). Regardless of the fact that we slept half the day away, it was nice to finally get a good nights sleep and not have to worry about running around in the morning--especially since classes start tomorrow morning. It's a little weird to be starting class on Memorial Day, because at UK, we usually have that day off. So it's just a little unusual to keep seeing everyone's facebook statuses be about being at the lake or going home for the long weekend, when I know that I will be up bright and early tomorrow morning walking with Sabrina to my Italian Renaissance Architecture class at 9 am. Since we really didn't have anything to do, we decided to walk and find the 3 other classroom buildings that we haven't visited yet. FUA (or Florence University of the Arts-our host university) is actually just one school that is in a whole other community. And I saw community meaning that there is one large school called Palazzi which is made up of FUA, Apicius (the hospitality/food studies school), DiVA (Digital Imaging Visual Arts) and SQuola (the language school). And the thing is, there aren't all just on a campus like UK is...they are located in old historic buildings all throughout the city. So while it's kind of annoying to have to walk from one side of the city to another just to get to your next class, it really allows and forces you to start to become acclimated and know your way around the city. Plus, you get to experience the history of the city and the buildings everyday as you walk to class. What else could one ask for?

So I only have class on Monday and Wednesday, which is really nice, especially for getting school work done early in the week and having the weekends free to do whatever. ISA has a couple of day trips and even weekend excursions planned for us that are either at the end of the week or over the weekend, so I'm really glad that my schedule allows me the time to get done the necessary things, and then gives me the time to take full advantage of all the experiences that are put in front of me. Tomorrow, my class schedule goes as follows:

Monday
9-11:30: Italian Renaissance Architecture (which is the only class that I have with Sabrina)
12-2:30: Florence Sketchbook (with Olivia)
3-4:15: Italian Language Beginning (with Olivia)

Wednesday
9-11:30: Renaissance Art in Florence (with Olivia)
3-4:15: Italian Language Beginning

We got really lucky with our apartment placement, because we are pretty central when it comes to the placement and distance from all of our different class locations. I have 30 minutes in between my classes on Monday, and think that I should be able to make it to all of them in time (we'll see how it goes tomorrow!!) But I think that tomorrow is going to be a good day. Of course I'm a little nervous about starting new classes, but isn't everyone? I think that there is just a small level of stress involved because I am obviously still new to the city and still carry around a map so that I can figure out where I am, where I am going and how exactly to get there. But, I do have 16 weeks to learn that and I think that after a month, it's going to become second nature and I won't even have to think about it.

On that note, I think that I am going to sign off and go study my map some more. Since we slept away the day, we didn't end up going out and walking until 5, then went to a small supermarket close to our apartment, and then I talked to my Mom, Dad and little brother and then Michael for 2 hours total. Guess I should let someone else have the internet wire hookup!

Until next time....Buona notte e il sonno stretto (good night and sleep tight!)