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3/9/15

Day 53

After back to back adventures, I want nothing more than to lie in my bed and not move for a very long time. I know I'm wasting my precious last few months in Florence but I just need a moment (or like a week) to relax. I haven't planned any more trips out of Italy and I kind of feel lazy for it but my bank account and my stamina need to recover. And I still haven't seen enough of Florence! I think the extra week that I stay here, I'll be able to focus on exploring Florence and learning Italian and all that but I don't want to miss out on the full experience of living here while I have the chance! If I come back to Europe on vacation, I'll only be able to visit a city here and a country there. I won't be able to live here again (unless I can find a job that's based in Europe). So I need to be taking full advantage of Florence now too! 

Anyway, Monday greeted me bright and early with an oral exam in Italian. I prepared for it to be brutal but it actually wasn't too bad. I treated myself to an espresso and a chocolate brioche/pastry from the cafe on the way to class so I was in a good mood and fully functional, despite being awake before noon. (I have been craving a day like a typical weekend in America, where I can sleep until I'm not tired anymore. That sounds like heaven to me right now, but I'm sure I'll just think of it as boring when I have it back... I guess the grass is always greener!) 

In my extra hour of Italian, me and my professor talked about the purpose of study abroad. It has become almost the same thing as backpacking Europe because it's seen as a time when you're here for awhile and who knows when you'll be back- depending on grad school, and your salary and real life. So you might as well see the world! 

On my flight back to Rome, I was sitting next to this cool Greek girl named Emma who was going to university in Siena. She was telling me about how hard it is to get a job in Greece so she came to Italy. The first year she was here, she went to the university's school for foreigners because she didn't speak any Italian but she learned it pretty quickly because the only way she could make friends was through Italian, the common language with the other foreigners. So if they wanted to go out together, they all had to speak Italian. With my program, we're lucky that our grades transfer and that we're surrounded by people that kind of understand where we're coming from if we make a joke, but we also miss out on really learning Italian. To make it worse, when we travel every weekend, we don't get the chance to involve ourselves in Italian culture and make Italian friends. My professor was saying that's changed a lot since she studied abroad. She pretty much just stayed in Bologna and really got to learn Italian and make friends. There's something to be said for both versions of studying abroad. Ideally, I'd be able to do both! If I had all the time and money in the world I would do what Emma did. 

It's kind of sad that so many Americans come all the way here but then live in an environment in Florence where it's basically just America plus the Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio. I guess the grass is always greener though because, like most other Europeans I've talked to, she really wishes she was American. At least, she was jealous that it's easier to find work. She would love to move there, but since her family's still in Greece, she doesn't want to be too far or else she wouldn't get to see them as much. It was interesting to hear a different perspective on Europe vs. America, even if her opinion mirrored most other Europeans. Moral of the story: there's always something to complain about. 

I got back home from our discussion to find the inside gates of my apartment locked! Usually, I have to open the outside doors to the building with a key, walk through a gate that's always open and I don't have a key to, and then open my apartment door with a key. But today the outside door was open and the gates were closed!

I tried to push on it or unlock it but had no luck. I stood and waited for someone to rescue me because I'm helpless when it comes to common sense. I have no idea what the lady did, but she just pulled a thing and it swung open and looked at me like I was an idiot. Basically, it was exactly like the train incident where you had to push a button (it wasn't clearly marked!) to open the door (I thought it might be automatic!)... Yeah. These Italian doors keep getting me. 

Safely in my apartment, I almost didn't want to leave but grocery shopping was next on the list. It's funny because when you travel for a week it's not a big deal, but when you travel for weeks on end, it's the little things that really start to drain you. Having to go out and buy food for every meal sucks and coming home to an empty refrigerator after your travels sucks more. Also, the laundry kind of builds up. And there is nothing nicer than getting home and taking a long, hot shower before crawling into bed. I stocked up on food and stashed it safely in my closet so my roommates can't steal it like usual. 

After all that, I had to get to work on a project and an essay I'd been putting off for my 9am class tomorrow... only to realize that when I got my computer back with its new harddrive, it didn't have Microsoft Office installed. Luckily I can download it from my schools website for free BUT the wifi in my apartment is slow and it would take all night. I started the download and fell asleep.